News Links | May 28, 2015

SYSTEM NEWS | OPINIONS

Students tell Sen. Murray about challenges of working through college Congress is working on rewriting the rules that determine how federal financial aid for college is distributed, and U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, is playing a key role. On Tuesday, Murray spent an hour talking to three Washington college students about how financial aid has worked for them — and how it hasn’t. ... In the meeting at Seattle Central College, all three students talked about how difficult it has been to work their way through school by holding down one or two jobs. Green River College student Karen Gamez, who moved here from Mexico when she was 3 years old, told Murray that for many years she thought she’d be able to take advantage of the College Bound Scholarship, a state program that helps students from low-income families cover the costs of attending a public college. The Seattle Times, May 27, 2015 YVCC will share grant to extend winery education program An $853,000 grant will help expand Yakima Valley Community College’s winery and vineyard technology programs beyond its two campuses. The National Science Foundation has awarded a three-year grant to YVCC, South Seattle College and Wenatchee Valley College in order for the three schools to offer students enhanced opportunities to become well-rounded in the state’s wine and grape industry. Yakima Herald, May 27, 2015 WWCC, Central team up to offer 4-year IT degree Walla Walla Community College and Central Washington University have worked out an agreement for students wanting to stay here but earn a four-year bachelor’s of applied science in information technology and administrative management. The deal is aimed at meeting growing demands of students like Luke Fidge, an IT specialist for the community college who graduated with a two-year associate of applied arts and sciences degree in 2003. Walla Walla Union- Bulletin, May 27, 2015 'Big Fish' the Musical premieres at Seattle's Shoreline Community College - dynamic, inspiring, entertaining Big Fish the Musical recently premiered in the Northwest at Shoreline Community College, and the production was well beyond what one would expect of local theater.Big Fish is no easy tale to tell; yet the cast, crew and orchestra at Shoreline Community College did a magnificent job of making the story of Edward Bloom and his son Will come alive on stage. The Huffington Post, May 27, 2015 Hispanic outreach discussed by BBCC trustees How to get more Hispanic students to take advantage of the opportunities at Big Bend Community College was a topic of discussion at the regular meeting of college trustees recently. Columbia Basin Herald, May 27, 2015 Editorial: We are creating the future we want It was only a symbolic spadeful of dirt, but last week’s groundbreaking on Jefferson Healthcare’s $21 million Emergency and Specialty Services Building (ESSB) was very significant from a community standpoint. It represents a commitment on the part of the hospital district to provide quality health care for our community now and into the future. “This building is not only an investment in Jefferson Healthcare, it is an investment in Jefferson County,” noted Chief Executive Officer Mike Glenn. Glenn also observed the hospital is not alone in its drive to update and expand. Peninsula College is starting work on Building 202 at Fort Worden and will create a permanent home on the Fort Worden campus. Port Townsend Leader, May 27, 2015 CPTC: Learning across cultures Clover Park Technical College welcomed 38 students from Osaka Jikei College for a three-day study tour May 19-21. The medical laboratory students from OJC visit CPTC twice a year for the opportunity to learn from the students in CPTC’s Medical Histology Technicianand Medical Laboratory Technician programs. The recent visit was hosted by the Medical Histology Technician Program. The Suburban Times, May 27, 2015 EdCC center celebrates Week of the Young Child™ with 10th annual ladybug release The Center for Families (CFF) at Edmonds Community College celebrated the Week of the Young Child™ by participating in different events and activities throughout the month of April. The Week of the Young Child is sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). One event is the CFF 10th annual ladybug release, held every Earth Day. Edmonds Beacon, May 27, 2015 Donation from Moses Lake Classic Car Club helps BBCC automotive students Last week, members of the Moses Lake Classic Car Club rove to Big Bend Community College's automotive shop in their classic pickups to make a $1,500 donation. The money will be used to buy performance tool kits for automotive technology students at the college. KXLY, May 26, 2015 Centralia College Memorial Day ceremony Gun shots rang out across Centralia College’s campus on Friday afternoon as the Marine Corps League paid tribute to the veterans who paid the ultimate sacrifice for their country. In the annual Memorial Day ceremony held at the Veterans Monument on campus, the honor guard and members of both the community and college took a moment of silence to recognize those who have died. Centralia Chronicle, May 22, 2015 Training to transition With 14 active-duty service members from Joint Base Lewis-McChord enrolled in Clover Park Technical College’s 18-credit certificate Fundamental Skills for Manufacturing and Engineering program, training for their transition out of the military has become easier with the help of key partners. Northwest Guardian, May 21, 2015

TRENDS| HORIZONS | EDUCATION

Addressing the inequity gap Community colleges tend to receive the least amount of public financial support compared to other institutions, yet they are asked to push high numbers of low-income students into the middle class with few resources. A report released by the Century Foundation today — "How Higher Education Funding Shortchanges Community Colleges" — calls on states to reform funding models to better help two-year institutions jump-start social mobility. Inside Higher Ed, May 28, 2015 Diversifying study abroad Sometimes, solutions come easily. After the University of Texas at Austin started holding study abroad-focused receptions for sophomores receiving Pell Grants, the number of students receiving federally funded Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarships — which are only available to students on Pell Grants — "shot up," said Heather Barclay Hamir, the former director of study abroad at UT Austin and now the president-elect at the Institute for Study Abroad, Butler University. "It was that simple." Inside Higher Ed, May 28, 2015 Like numbers? Read the Education Dept.’s mammoth report on education in 2015 The U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics on Wednesday released its annual report on the condition of American education. Included in the many-paged report are facts and figures encompassing higher, secondary, and elementary education. The Chronicle of Higher Education, May 28, 2015 On being undocumented The group of undocumented students who gathered at the City University of New York this month to recognize their selection as scholarship recipients looks more diverse than one might expect. From countries as different as Haiti, Poland, South Korea, and Zambia, all are enrolled at CUNY with the help of TheDream.US scholarship fund. Eighteen young men and women, known as Dreamers, spoke with The Chronicle about their uncertain status. The Chronicle of Higher Education, May 27, 2015 Opinion: Which college students deserve debt relief? A push is on among consumer groups to have the U.S. Department of Education cancel the federal student debt incurred by students at Corinthian Colleges, a for-profit chain that just went belly up. These students are finding out that the credits for which they borrowed thousands of dollars have no value. Other colleges and universities won’t accept them and employers don’t respect them. I support the Corinthian students in their quest for relief. But what about the others? What happens to the millions of people all over the nation who were lured into debt traps by expensive schools that never delivered on their promises of quality educations and careers? The News Tribune, May 26, 2015

POLITICS | LOCAL, STATE, NATIONAL

Judge upholds ‘gainful’ rule A federal judge on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit that challenged the U.S. Department of Education’s rewritten “gainful employment” rule, handing a victory to the Obama administration in its longstanding regulatory battle with for-profit colleges. Inside Higher Ed, May 28, 2015 Education Dept. finds little evidence servicers are failing troops The Education Department has cleared the companies that manage its student-loan payments of wrongdoing in a yearlong investigation into their treatment of military borrowers. ... The department's findings stand in stark contrast to the results of a 2014 audit by the Department of Justice, which found that one of the servicers had unfairly denied the benefit to 93 percent of applicants. The discrepancy appears to be a result of different standards applied by the agencies. The Chronicle of Higher Ed, May 27, 2015 Loan servicers cleared The U.S. Department of Education said Tuesday that its four main federal student loan servicers, including Navient, have mostly followed the law in granting special interest-rate benefits to members of the military. Inside Higher Ed, May 27, 2015