Notes in the Margins: Professional doctorates, NYU compensation, and how not to help the poor

Democratic Rifts Stymie Senate Bill on Student Loan Rates A bipartisan Senate coalition blocked a Democratic proposal to retroactively cut interest rates on higher education loans in half, leaving any student loan rescue in doubt. (The New York Times)

N.Y.U. Impeding Compensation Inquiry, Senator Says Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, wants to examine the university’s loans to faculty and executives, but a university representative said the scrutiny was unfair. (The New York Times)

How Not to Help the Poor: The Lesson of Soaring College Prices Many public universities have tried to keep tuition down for low-income students while raising it for the rest. Instead, they've made education less affordable for everyone. (The Atlantic via University Business)

What’s driving the new professional doctorates? In the past 10 to 15 years, new kinds of doctorate degrees – in fields that had never had doctorates before – have burst onto the higher education scene in the United States. These new ‘professional practice doctorate’, or PPD, degrees have emerged in at least a dozen fields, ranging from physical therapy to bioethics. (University World News)

The Future of Higher Education Looks Nothing Like the Present More and more students are attending two-year colleges instead of four-year schools. Within five years, minorities will make up more than half of the country's under-18 population. And, by 2020, two thirds of all jobs will require education beyond high school—up from roughly a quarter 40 years ago. There are major changes in store for the nation's higher-education system, and it needs to adjust accordingly. (National Journal via NAICU)

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