Pine Technical College‘s attempt to become Pine Technical and Community College is part of a long-term change among Minnesota’s technical colleges. A handful of technical colleges have become comprehensive campuses in the last decade or so, leaving another handful with a purely technical orientation. Pine’s bid to become a comprehensive campus comes a workforce development Read more →
The Rochester Post-Bulletin writes why MnSCU’s recent tuition freeze gives its community colleges a competitive boost: You don’t have to be an accounting major to realize that spending two years at a community college can save you tens of thousands of dollars. By capping tuition now, Minnesota will widen the price disparity between state and Read more →
Over on the NewsCut blog, MPR’s Paul Tosto discusses an element that he finds disturbing in the 3-year graduation rate trends, as laid out in a report by Minnesota Compass. He expected grad rates to be higher for the flood of students and laid-off workers seeking shelter from the Great Recession: Many were dislocated by Read more →
“I just have a hard time understanding the facts being used by Ms. Jacoby to conclude that, you know, that… some community colleges provide one or two years of bad training. From my world view, education is a broad spectrum. There’s a place for everyone. There’s a time and place for everyone. You make what Read more →
In light of the post I wrote about U’s decision to scale back a little on the number of transfers it’s accepting, I called up Geoff Dittberner, president of the Minnesota State College Student Association, the organization that represents students at Minnesota’s two-year colleges. Like a lot of his constituents, Dittberner is a student who Read more →
Daniel Luzer of Washington Monthly magazine — the publication that last year ranked St. Paul College as the best community college in America — reacts to Tim Post’s article on the University of Minnesota cutting back on transfers: (University of Minnesota Dean of Undergraduate Education Bob) McMaster also told Post that the university needs to Read more →
“Our transfer students on balance do not have the same kind of positive experience here as our undergraduates. … We haven’t been quite as selective with transfers as we have been with freshmen.” — University of Minnesota Dean of Undergraduate Education Bob McMaster on why the U is cutting back a little on the number Read more →
Considering the recent focus on two-year schools and vocational education, I found pretty interesting this piece on jobs that pay a median salary of $45,000 a year and require just a two-year degree — at least for entry: Registered Nurse Dental Hygienist Respiratory Therapist Programmer Telecom Installer Industrial Engineering Technician Police Officer (Federal) HVAC Mechanic Read more →
I had to leave the House higher-ed committee hearing early yesterday, so I missed the testimony of community college students. But here are some snippets from their prepared remarks, which I obtained after the session. Don’t dismiss them. These students aren’t exactly slackers with a sense of entitlement. 1) South Central College student Maureen Wanous. Read more →
So how are students and community-college folks reacting to TV series Community? It’s been out for a bit, but I stumbled across a silly little piece that looked at some of the things that it got right — and a few that it didn’t. (And it has several clips from the series.) Made me think Read more →
Alex Friedrich