… [A]s higher education expands its reach, it’s increasingly hard to say what college is like and what college is for. In the United States, where I now teach, more than 17 million undergraduates will be enrolling in classes this fall. They will be passing through institutions small and large, public and private, two-year and … Continue reading
Filed under Career Technical Education …
Want to Change The World? Start With Community Colleges
Community college is often perceived as the underdog in American higher education. Many are plagued by treacherous drop-out rates, poor teaching standards and dismal job prospects. And that’s if you’re lucky enough to graduate. But inside some of these institutions, revolution is stirring. A lack of opportunities for ordinary Americans is driving colleges to rebuild and … Continue reading
University-Run Boot Camps Offer Students Marketable Skills — but Not Course Credit
Level, a venture that offers students courses in data analytics, has a motto of sorts. It’s written in large letters across the program’s website: “Real skills. Real experience. Two months.” The motto sounds a lot like the boot-camp style of education offered by companies like General Assembly. But Level, a product of Northeastern University, is neither … Continue reading
A Boon to Boot Camps? U.S. Extends Aid to Campus Deals With Nontraditional Programs
The U.S. Education Department is cracking open the door to federal financial aid for students enrolled in nontraditional education programs — and trying out alternatives to accreditation in the process. On Wednesday the department will announce a pilot program that will allow federal grants and loans to flow to educational-technology companies that team up with … Continue reading
20 Colleges and Universities Launch Innovative Orientation Activities to Retain STEM Students
As this academic year begins, 20 higher education institutions are welcoming their incoming students in a unique way as part of a national STEM initiative called #uifresh (University Innovation Freshmen). Through this initiative, participating institutions are exposing incoming freshmen to design thinking, entrepreneurship, and innovation in order to attract and retain more students in STEM … Continue reading
New Student Loans For A New For-Profit Education Sector
Coder boot camps. Accelerated learning programs. New economy skills training. Whatever you call them, these new players in higher education are multiplying. The intensive programs say they can teach job-ready skills in technology, design and related fields. In record time. In three or four months of really long days, students with little prior experience are … Continue reading
Jake Schwartz Offers Education Designed for the Job Market
Jake Schwartz initially missed the on-ramp from college to a career. He describes the years after he graduated from Yale University, in 2000, as a series of often frustrating misadventures — he briefly managed a singer/songwriter, created a nonprofit performing-arts space, applied to law school, and ended up going to business school. “I spent a … Continue reading
Meet the New, Self-Appointed MOOC Accreditors: Google and Instagram
A big question for MOOCs, the free online courses that hundreds of colleges now offer, is whether employers will take them seriously as credentials. But some of the biggest MOOC producers may have figured out how to jump-start employer buy-in: Get big-name companies to help design them. On Wednesday, Coursera, one of the largest MOOC … Continue reading
Why Are So Many College Students Failing to Gain Job Skills Before Graduation?
If you watch college sports on television, you’ve probably seen the ad for Enterprise Rent-A-Car featuring former college athletes working behind the counter at your nearby Enterprise location. Enterprise – which hires more entry-level college graduates annually than any other company in the U.S. — likes recruiting college athletes because they know how to work … Continue reading
Governor Proposes Boost For Career Education
Career education is projected to receive a boost under Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed budget, part of a larger push for workforce development training in California. The governor’s budget proposal for 2015-16 includes $876 million for career technical education and other job training initiatives at K-12 schools and community colleges – welcome news for programs that … Continue reading
Professor Van Ry 