Here are some new resources and news for the field of higher education.
Dual/concurrent enrollment policies: A comprehensive 50-state comparison on dual/concurrent enrollment policies, the only one of its kind, provides a national look at the number of states that have each of 20 policies in place regarding dual enrollment basics, as well as the four key dual enrollment policy areas of access, finance, ensuring course quality and transferability.
Illinois State University and DePaul University Named to Inaugural Transfer Honor Roll: 40 Colleges & Universities Recognized for Dynamic Transfer Pathways.
Funding Formulas: According to a policy report by ECS on state-based funding formulas for public colleges and universities, 17 states use a formula to calculate and distribute funding for higher education institutions, 19 states that use non-formula-based funding models, and 14 states that employ a hybrid approach.
Improving the Transition to College: Estimating the Impact of High School Transition Courses on Short-Term College Outcomes. Some states, districts, and individual high schools have introduced “transition courses” to prepare students for college-level math and English coursework. The authors found that among students who scored very close to the cutoff score on an assessment used to decide what students took the course, the math transition course had no statistically significant effect on improving college readiness and in fact had a negative impact on students’ likelihood of passing a college gatekeeper math course. (Source: Community College Research Center).
From the National Skills Coalition: Congress has already taken important steps towards modernization of the nation’s workforce investment system through the 2014 passage of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), which called for strengthening alignment across multiple federal workforce and education programs to support better outcomes for jobseekers and businesses. The pending reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA) offers an important opportunity for Congress to build on WIOA’s reforms and ensure that federal postsecondary policy meets the skill demands of the 21st century economy.
Parents and Students Pay High Price for College Remediation, Study Finds. (Inside Higher Ed – April 6). Half a million college students enroll in some type of remedial course after graduating high school. And that remediation can be costly, not only to colleges, but to students and their families. Those costs can raise the overall price of attending college.
New Blog Post: Keeping tabs on dual enrollment: Some encouraging improvement in state dual/concurrent enrollment policy. An excerpt: “Several states completely overhauled their dual enrollment policies in 2015. These include Kentucky, where the Council on Postsecondary Education and Kentucky Department of Education collaborated to adopt a dual credit policy that fairly closely aligns with Education Commission of the States’ 13 model policy components for dual enrollment.”
New Publication: The States and Higher Education: An Evolving Relationship at a Pivotal Moment. The article provides a historical overview of educational attitudes. Finding that today, Americans remain largely convinced that postsecondary education is critical for both life and career goals. But they also think that that critical service is increasingly out of their financial reach, and they’re not sure that they like what institutions choose to offer.
How to Fix Remediation at Scale. (New America). This report discusses new models of remediation that some community colleges are using to improve college persistence and success.
