Alex FriedrichSt. Cloud State St. Cloud State University’s decision to eliminate its nationally respected aviation program has two parties saying it’s a really bad move, the Star Tribune reports. City officials tell the paper the St. Cloud Regional Airport will lose crucial federal funding that’s dependent on the students’ use of the airport: “It’s a downward Read more →
MPR News Intelligence on higher education
Archives for May 2011
Nice try, dude. At Macalester College’s graduation ceremony on May 14, student Tue Quang Tran of Morrisville, PA, attempted a cartwheel that hit the podium, knocking over a water pitcher and apparently breaking a microphone. Registrar Jayne Niemi rolled with it, apparently finding it finding it funny, and then quipped: “I sense a new rule Read more →
I’ve written about what three executives have said about the state of vocational-technical education in Minnesota during a conference on the subject last week. They’ve recognized its importance. They see the use of a strong, organized apprenticeship system. They’re willing to help. And Bill Symonds of Harvard, who organized the gathering, said the success of Read more →
Graduate School Debt Often Curtails Plans of Nonprofit Work Educational debt increases the barriers for public-service-minded individuals, reports show. (U.S. News & World Report) Much praise, and several penalties, for Division I academics The academic performance of Division I athletes is improving under the watchful eye of the NCAA, an organization that has assembled one Read more →
As you may know, yesterday St. John’s University announced that Father Bob Koopmann had decided to step down as president next summer, citing the stress of the job and its potential affect on his health. Because he’d only been on job for two of his three-year contract, the announcement seemed odd. So fellow MPR reporter Read more →
Students at the St. Paul campuses of the University of St. Thomas, Macalester College, Hamline and Concordia universities will soon have access to the Nice Ride bike rental system, now that the program is spreading from Minneapolis to St. Paul this summer, my old colleague Fred Melo at the Pioneer Press reports. (Nice Ride also Read more →
Rob Jenkins, associate professor of English at Georgia Perimeter College, writes in the Chronicle of Higher Education that it’s time colleges really analyze the ups and downs of online education — and not just blindly use online courses as a cash cow. Considering the “abysmal” success rate of such courses, he writes, something is way Read more →
Just as MnSCU Chancellor James McCormick has been hit by a newspaper editorial on his way out, so has University of Minnesota President Robert Bruininks — but he’s got the student paper after him. The Minnesota Daily says he accepted years of tuition cuts too readily, and that his recent “I’m hot as hell about Read more →
In it’s big piece, “Moving Home: When College Grads Face Uncertain Futures,” The Huffington Post looks at college grads and what they’re going through to cope with crushing debt and a poor job market. It profiles art history grad Sabrina Malik, who through a year and a half of futile searching, has been doing odd Read more →
$100,000 To Forgo College? The Thiel Foundation today named the first winners of its controversial “20 Under 20” fellowship program, which hands young people $100,000 to pursue entrepreneurial ideas rather than a university education. It’s a limited program designed to showcase a bigger — and for many, a troubling — idea: That higher education is Read more →