Most clicked story of the week:
East Carolina University plans to discontinue 44 academic programs that senior leaders said “aren’t meeting expectations.” The public institution in North Carolina is ultimately trying to cut its budget by 2%, or about $25 million, as it navigates declining enrollment and demographic pressures.
Number of the week: 67%
That’s the share of high school graduates opting against college who cited cost-of-living expenses as the reason, according to the latest data from EAB. That share is up 16 percentage points from last year, as economic pressures weigh on traditional-age students.
Saint Augustine’s University and others face financial distress:
- Long-troubled Saint Augustine’s University declared bankruptcy last week. The historically Black institution in North Carolina described the Chapter 11 filing as a “deliberate and strategic step” to address its finances and long-term sustainability. Going forward, Saint Augustine’s intends to restructure around certificates and apprenticeships while it builds “a pathway toward reaccreditation.”
- Deloitte consultants presented a plan to Southern Oregon University’s governing board that would make deep cuts to operations and academics. In their view, the beleaguered public institution — which could have run out of cash by next spring if not for emergency state aid — should plan for a “controlled winddown” if it can’t successfully execute a turnaround.
- Anna Maria College in Massachusetts plans to close at the end of its spring term, the Catholic institution announced late last month. The decision “reflects years of financial pressure that we were ultimately unable to overcome,” the college’s president and board chair said. The announcement came on the 80th anniversary of its founding.
The latest from the Education Department:
- The U.S. Department of Education released final regulations on Thursday that tighten the federal student loan system per Republicans’ big spending and tax law passed last year. The rule sticks with a controversial definition of “professional degree” that excludes students in most fields from borrowing under a much higher federal loan limit.
- A day earlier, the department announced a probe into Stanford University over whether the private California institution is violating civil rights law through a program meant to help K-12 teachers obtain certification and diversify the state’s ranks of educators.
- U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon went to Capitol Hill to defend the Trump administration’s efforts to slash away at the agency’s programs and eventually dismantle it. Proposed cuts include all $1.6 billion in federal funding for the TRIO and Gear Up programs, both meant to help underserved students attend college. Senators grilled McMahon about the programs, the outsourcing of department operations to other federal agencies, and the Office for Civil Rights’ vanishingly low complaint resolution rate.
Quote of the week:
“You can just see the conflict of interest.”
Isaac Kamola
Director, American Association of University Professors’ Center for the Defense of Academic Freedom
Kamola voiced faculty concerns about a new college accreditor launched by a group of public Southern university systems, the Commission for Public Higher Education. Kamola and other critics worry that CPHE will give state governments even more power over higher education at their public colleges.
