Remember “Scared Straight,” that late-1970s documentary in which prison inmates warned juvenile delinquents against turning to a life of crime? Watch Buzzfeed’s take for the college crowd: “Scared Straight: Liberal Arts Edition.” You can guess what happens: Down-and-out college grads with arts and humanities degrees get in the faces of a crop of liberal-arts students, yelling Read more →
Minnesota’s nonprofit private colleges have tied for fourth nationally in the percentage of students who complete school in four years, according to data published this month by the Minnesota Private College Council. The colleges had average four-year grad rates of 62 percent. (Note: Measured by another, probably more accurate way — not ranked by groupings Read more →
Carleton College classics professor Clara Shaw Hardy tells the Star Tribune that the college’s Pathways website, which helps students figure out how to turn a liberal-arts degree into a career, reflects a relatively recent parental desire to make such education relevant: “When I got here 20 years ago, I know I would have found it almost offensive. Read more →
Macalester College President Brian Rosenberg writes in The Huffington Post why he disagrees with North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory’s recent remarks on how he’s drafting legislation to change higher-education funding. In essence, the Republican governor said he wants college funding “not based upon how many butts in seats but how many of those butts can Read more →
After reading so much about education and jobs for my work, it’s good for me to step back and read about the issue through the eyes of an outsider — a potential student, a parent, a laid-off worker. That’s what I did with this one that appeared in Sunday’s Star Tribune. After reading it, I’m Read more →
“… We should be able to say exactly where the students who crossed the stage and shook the President’s hand at the last commencement are six months later: what percent have jobs, what percent have gone on to graduate or professional school, what percent are doing other things and what those things are. This information Read more →
Higher-education marketing executive John Lawlor of The Lawlor Group in Eden Prairie gives one reason colleges need to better explain the need for a liberal-arts education: Most people have a vague understanding of what “liberal arts” means, in the sense of well rounded, broad-based, etc. But some people are at the extreme of thinking it’s Read more →
In this video on the installation of Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) system Chancellor Steven Rosenstone at the Capitol last week, Gov. Mark Dayton mentions a Winona business leader telling him technical colleges shouldn’t be teaching history. Instead, they should be teaching current and future events. (Future events?) Not having seen the whole speech, Read more →
Alex Friedrich