Standard &
Poor’s issues negative outlook for nonprofit higher education
Standard & Poor’s Rating Services has issued a negative outlook for
nonprofit higher education for 2015, citing, among other things, tension
between rising costs to colleges and a focus on student affordability.
In a report released on Thursday, the agency says the ensuing
competition among colleges to attract top students will weigh heaviest on
“those whose credit characteristics are already on the cusp of a lower
rating.”
The Chronicle of Higher Education, Jan. 15, 2015
Want more kids
in college? Check school counselor caseloads
The job of high school guidance counselor is a catch-all: Part
graduation-credits overseer, testing administrator, shrink and
higher-education shepherd. Seem like too much to do well? New research
agrees. So while President Obama talks about getting more students
into community college, and Washington state does its part
with College Bound Scholarships, the people actually tasked with
guiding kids in this direction — high school counselors — are spread much
too thin. The result: Many states essentially expect students to “just
figure it out,” says the Education Commission of the States, a think tank
tracking education policy. But that is not happening.
The Seattle Times, Jan. 13, 2015
When colleges
abandon phys ed, what else is lost?
Although colleges have built lots of swanky recreation centers in recent
years, studies indicate that college physical-education requirements are at
an an all-time low. Meanwhile, researchers have seen alarming trends
among the college-aged population: significant rates
of obesity, hypertension,depression, anxiety. Paradoxically,
colleges are cutting back on physical education just as a growing body
of research indicates that regular physical activity is key to
cognitive development and helps people focus, process information faster,
and remember things more easily.
The Chronicle of Higher Education, Jan. 12, 2015
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