Hoyas, meet Hova. At Georgetown University, the class, Sociology of Hip Hop: Jay Z, attracts many students who want to learn about the culture. Those students did not expect to be able to talk in person to Jay-Z, who called into the class from Europe on Monday. (The Washingtonian)

Improving students’ academic outcomes. This infographic argues for better information to students who are onContinue Reading »

The National Student Clearinghouse’s most recent analysis closes gaping holes in how we currently report college graduation rates. It gives us rates for full-time and part-time students, a distinction we haven’t previously had, and it counts students who transfer among institutions—a glaring omission in the federally managed IPEDs database. When these students are added to the equation, the natContinue Reading »

The Queen's Jubilee kicks off today!

A teacher firing case in Virginia. This piece provides a behind-the-scenes look at a tenured teacher, who was dismissed because of poor performance, and a fact-finding panel that eventually recommended she be reinstated. (Washington Post)

The fifth year is on them. If students at Indiana State University cContinue Reading »

I just might have to pinch myself. One of my dreams for higher education looks like it is actually going to come true. On Wednesday, the Department of Education released an action plan to enhance postsecondary graduation rate data. If you’re not excited about this, you should be. For years, we’ve been using incomplete—woefully incomplete—completion data. And yet policymakers and researcContinue Reading »

America’s college completion agenda is more urgent than ever.  As Degreeless in Debt found, rising college prices are putting more students between a rock and a hard place: the things they do to avoid borrowing too much – like delaying enrollment, enrolling part-time, or working full-time – also make it much harder for them to complete their degrees.   While controlling costs and expandContinue Reading »

Today marks the first day of Student Debt Week of Action. This makes Degreeless in Debt: What Happens to Borrowers Who Drop Out even timelier as I investigated what happens to a growing class of students who drop out of college, but have loans to repay.  Unlike their degree-holding peers, those who drop out are more likely to be unemployed and earn less money, making it harder for them to pay bContinue Reading »

While yesterday may have been another sad day for ESEA reauthorization hopes, there was an unexpected and understated glimmer of good education policy hope as  Representative Hunter (R-CA) introduced The Student Right to Know Before You Go Act.

Faithful readers of The Quick and the Ed might be asking, “But didn’t Senator Wyden—a Democrat— just introduce the same thing?” Given the completContinue Reading »

Photo from whitehouse.gov

Given the increasing attention being paid by the President, Vice President, and Secretary of Education to college costs, we expected to hear something about it in the State of the Union. The question was whether the President would just continue to use his bully pulpit to implore institutions and states to keep costs down or whether heContinue Reading »

I’ve written in the past (see here and here) about how early colleges are a great strategy to help high school students earn college credits toward both their high school diploma and college degree.   On average, these students earn 23 credits – amounting to nearly two semester’s worth of time and tuition.  Another group of students could also reap the benefits of prior college credit—but are rContinue Reading »

What happens after high school? About two in five Connecticut high school graduates go on to earn a college degree or certificate within six years, according to data from the National Student Clearinghouse. State officials requested and compiled the data, some of which was previously unavailable, to distribute to policymakers. Education Sector’s Amy Laitinen has previously emphasized the Continue Reading »