DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Social Class Is Not About Only Race
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( David Leonhardt | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The same is true at some other public universities, including Auburn, Georgia Tech and William & Mary. It is also true at a larger group of elite private colleges, including Bates, Brown, Georgetown, Oberlin, Tulane and Wake Forest. Nearly every college with an affluent enrollment has historically used race-based admissions policies. Those policies often succeeded at producing racial diversity without producing as much economic diversity. And whether they figure out how to do so is important (as I’ve previously covered).

Persons: Mary, Bates, Brown Organizations: University of Virginia, UVA, Grants, Georgia Tech, Oberlin, Tulane, Wake Locations: Auburn, Georgetown

☆ By striking down affirmative action, the Supreme Court put forth a dangerous and false ideal of 'colorblindness'
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-01 | by ( Trisha Gopal | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Sotomayor and Thomas are both the likely beneficiaries of affirmative action. A student at Harvard University at a rally in support of keeping affirmative action policies outside the Supreme Court on October 31, 2022. A young boy at the University of California, Berkeley in 1995 as students and families protested to keep affirmative action policies. In a statement following the ruling, former president Barack Obama wrote, "Like any policy, affirmative action wasn't perfect. Roberts accused the colleges' affirmative action programs of "employ[ing] race in a negative manner" without any "meaningful end points."

Persons: Sotomayor, —, Clarence Thomas, Thomas, Sonia Sotomayor, colorblindness, Colorblindness, Howard Schultz, Tomi Lahren, Plessy, Ferguson, John Marshall Harlan, Antonin Scalia, Justice Roberts, Harlan's, David Butow, Roberts, Barack Obama, Michelle, haven't, Evelyn Hockstein, Michelle Obama, Katherine Phillips, Phillips Organizations: Supreme, Service, Harvard University, University of North, Latina, Yale Law School, Starbucks, Washington Post, Getty, Black, Seattle School District, University of California, Harvard, UCLA, UC, REUTERS, Princeton, Scientific, Columbia Business Locations: Berkeley, University of North Carolina, California, Idaho

☆ Supreme Court block of Biden’s student loan forgiveness could cause college enrollment to fall, experts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Jessica Dickler | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

At four-year private colleges, it now costs $39,400, according to the College Board, which tracks trends in college pricing and student aid. Many students borrow to cover the tab, which has already propelled collective student loan debt in the U.S. past $1.7 trillion. The share of parents taking out federal parent PLUS loans to help cover the costs of their children's college education has also grown, NerdWallet found. High schoolers are also putting more emphasis on career training and post-college employment, a recent report by ECMC Group found. How to avoid taking on too much student debt

Persons: Sarah Foster, NerdWallet, Parker O'Neill Organizations: College Board, Bankrate.com, The Institute, College, National Center for Education Statistics, Century College, ECMC Group Locations: U.S, White Bear Lake , Minnesota

Those figures are now 20% at Berkeley Law and 15% at Michigan Law. The Association of American Law Schools on July 10 is convening a virtual conference focused on admissions in a post-affirmative action landscape, chaired by Berkeley Law dean Erwin Chemerinsky. Alongside strategies to recruit and admit diverse students, Zearfoss said the changing demographics of the law school applicant pool have helped Michigan Law bolster student diversity—good news for law schools now facing an affirmative action ban. The law school also prioritizes recruiting at events geared toward minority applicants and at college and universities with significant minority enrollment, Zearfoss added. Michigan Law and Berkeley Law both voluntarily withhold information about each applicant's race to ensure they comply with their state laws, admissions officials said.

Persons: Sarah Zearfoss, Erwin Chemerinsky, Edward Blum, ”, Michigan’s Zearfoss, Zearfoss, Chemerinsky, “, ” Chemerinsky, Karen Sloan, Leigh Jones Organizations: U.S, Supreme, University of Michigan Law School, University of California, Berkeley School of Law, Berkeley Law, American Bar Association, Michigan Law's, ABA, Michigan Law, Association of American Law Schools, Berkeley, Fair Admissions, Harvard University, University of North, Asian, Fair, Association of American Medical Colleges, American Dental Association, Law, Thomson Locations: Michigan, California, American, Sarah Zearfoss , Michigan, University of North Carolina, U.S

☆ Why more and more colleges are closing down across America
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-17 | by ( Devan Burris | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailWhy more and more colleges are closing down across AmericaThe mid-2010′s saw an uptick in U.S. college closures, particularly among private nonprofit schools. This trend has affected tens of thousands of college students across the country. Since 2016, 91 U.S. private colleges have closed, merged with another school, or announced plans to close, according to a CNBC analysis of data from Higher Ed Dive. Almost half of those schools closed after the onset of the Covid pandemic in 2020. For many struggling schools the pandemic was the final straw — but two major themes showed up consistently throughout the closures: finances and enrollment.

Organizations: CNBC Locations: America

☆ Why more and more colleges are closing down across the U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-17 | by ( Devan Burris | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The mid-2010's saw an uptick in U.S. college closures, particularly among private nonprofit schools. This trend has affected tens of thousands of college students across the country. Since 2016, 91 U.S. private colleges have closed, merged with another school, or announced plans to close, according to a CNBC analysis of data from Higher Ed Dive. About 95% of U.S. colleges rely on tuition, according to Franek, meaning they rely on money from students to operate. Watch the video above to learn what headwinds higher education is facing and hear from students affected by college closures.

Persons: Robert Franek, We'll, Fitch, Emily Wadhwani Organizations: CNBC, The Princeton

☆ Canada freezes deportation of Indian students who used fraudulent university letters
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

OTTAWA, June 14 (Reuters) - Canada will freeze the planned deportation of dozens of students who entered the country using fraudulent university letters of acceptance, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser said on Wednesday. Fraser spoke after the Canadian Broadcasting Corp reported in March that several students from India had been served deportation papers for using forged documents to enter Canada in an alleged immigration scheme. Official data show there were more than 800,000 foreign students with active visas in Canada in 2022. Canada is a popular destination for international students since it is relatively easy to obtain a work permit. The Migrant Workers Alliance for Change has been supporting the students, saying they have spent years in Canada.

Persons: Sean Fraser, Fraser, fraudsters, Sarom Rho, David Ljunggren, Aurora Ellis Organizations: OTTAWA, Immigration, Canadian Broadcasting Corp, Canada, Canada Border Services Agency, CBC, Migrant Workers Alliance, Thomson Locations: Canada, India

☆ Online College Classes Are Making the Student Debt Crisis Worse
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +18 min

She applied and was accepted to the online program in 2020. In exchange for expanding course offerings and recruiting students, OPMs receive a big chunk of the tuition revenue from the online programs, which usually cost the same as in-person schooling. While it's not always the case, many experts and grads told me that OPMs were offering online students a worse education for a sky-high price. A third-party provider to those schools, 2U signs a contract to offer services such as recruiting and technology to boost online enrollment. OPMs have helped fuel the student debt crisis, saddling may students with tens of thousands of dollars worth of debt and an uncertain future.

Persons: Iola Favell, Favell, Rossier, Zavareei, USC Rossier, OPMs, it's, grads, Eric Rothschild, John Katzman, Katzman, Clare McCann, McCann, —, Aaron Ament, Barack Obama, That's, STEFANI REYNOLDS, Helen Drinan, Cabrini University —, Drinan, Democratic Sens, Elizabeth Warren, Tina Smith, Sherrod Brown, Pearson, Rosa DeLauro, Virginia Foxx, Ament Organizations: University of Southern California's Rossier School of Education, USC, Student Defense, Zavareei LLP, US, Education Department upended, Education Department, Arnold Ventures, OPM, Office, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street, Canyon University, Grand Canyon, Century Foundation, Getty, Cabrini University, Simmons University, Democratic, GAO, Republican, GOP, Universities, Protection, Consumer Financial, Bureau Locations: California, Georgetown, —, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts

☆ New York sends college acceptance letters to 125,000 high school seniors, but broader enrollment crisis may be hard to fix
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Jessica Dickler | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

"There's a broad-based drop in belief or trust in higher education as an institution," said Cole Clark, a managing director within Deloitte's higher education practice and co-author of a recent trends report. These days, only about 62% of high school seniors in the U.S. immediately go on to college, down from 68% in 2010. High schoolers are more interested in career trainingMost Americans still agree a college education is worthwhile when it comes to career goals and advancement. High schoolers are putting more emphasis on career training and post-college employment, the nonprofit found after polling more than 5,000 high school students six times since February 2020. Earning a college degree is almost always worthwhile

Persons: Bebeto Matthews, Cole Clark, Connie Livingston Organizations: Baruch College, Barclays Center, AP, College Board, Public, USA, ECMC Group, Junior Achievement, Citizens, Brown University Locations: Brooklyn , New York, U.S

☆ Online College Class Providers Screwing Over Students, Adding to Debt Crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +18 min

She applied and was accepted to the online program in 2020. In exchange for expanding course offerings and recruiting students, OPMs receive a big chunk of the tuition revenue from the online programs, which usually cost the same as in-person schooling. While it's not always the case, many experts and grads told me that OPMs were offering online students a worse education for a sky-high price. A third-party provider to those schools, 2U signs a contract to offer services such as recruiting and technology to boost online enrollment. But beyond scandals, the everyday business of OPMs is leaving many online students with exorbitant bills, despite how cheap it is to administer the courses.

Persons: Iola Favell, Favell, Rossier, USC Rossier, OPMs, it's, grads, Eric Rothschild, John Katzman, Katzman, Clare McCann, McCann, —, Aaron Ament, Barack Obama, That's, STEFANI REYNOLDS, Helen Drinan, Cabrini University —, Drinan, Democratic Sens, Elizabeth Warren, Tina Smith, Sherrod Brown, Pearson, Rosa DeLauro, Virginia Foxx, Ament Organizations: University of Southern California's Rossier School of Education, USC, Student Defense, US, Education Department upended, Education Department, Arnold Ventures, OPM, Office, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street, Canyon University, Grand Canyon, Century Foundation, Getty, Cabrini University, Simmons University, Democratic, GAO, Republican, GOP, Universities, Protection, Consumer Financial, Bureau Locations: California, Georgetown, —, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts

☆ Meet the average South American millennial, who has no student debt but is struggling against high inflation
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The typical South American millennial doesn't have student debt, either because they didn't go to college or because it was tuition-free. In 2021, Colombia announced that tuition would be free for 97% of all students attending public colleges and technical schools. Tuition for private colleges in Brazil and Argentina typically ranges between $2,000 and $10,000 per academic year, according to some estimates. But lower college tuition doesn't mean everyone in these countries is happy with the education system. Less well-off students in Brazil have been left to take on student debt to afford to attend the less-prestigious private schools.

Persons: millennials, Louis Fed, they're Organizations: Getty, Organisation for Economic Co, US, OECD Locations: South America, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, United States

☆ Will the Supreme Court strike down student loan forgiveness?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Delon Thornton | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Student loan debt has ballooned to over $1.6 trillion for more than 45 million borrowers. In order to help working and middle-class American borrowers the Biden administration in August announced a three-part plan to forgive a portion of student loans for borrowers. It points to the fact that the Heroes Act of 2003 grants the U.S. secretary of education the authority to waive regulations related to student loans during national emergencies. Federal student loan payments won't resume until the end of August, unless the litigation over the Biden administration's student loan forgiveness plan is resolved sooner. Watch the video above to find out more about what's at stake in the student loan forgiveness battle.

☆ A College President Defends Seeking Money From Jeffrey Epstein
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Vimal Patel | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

It may seem, at first blush, an unlikely connection: Leon Botstein, the president of Bard, one of the country’s most progressive colleges, and Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced billionaire accused of sexually abusing teenage girls. But reporting from The Wall Street Journal this week showed that Dr. Botstein did not just pursue Mr. Epstein hoping to raise money, he did so repeatedly. He made frequent visits to Mr. Epstein’s Upper East Side townhouse, and Mr. Epstein and his entourage hopped by helicopter to Bard’s lush campus in the Hudson Valley. Dr. Botstein said in interviews with The New York Times that the visits were all about funding for Bard — for the school’s commitment to social justice, its prisoner education program, its liberal arts mission. Capitalism is a rough system.”

☆ Making these 5 moves can help you save big on the massive cost of college
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Sharon Epperson | In Sharoneppersoncnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

As the mother of a college sophomore and high school senior, I know thinking about paying for college is daunting. Financial aid is determined by income information that is not necessarily up to date. If your circumstances are now different, that should be brought to the financial aid office's attention, he said. If you're concerned about making ends meet based on the financial aid award letter your child has already received, you can still ask for more aid. "So performing well throughout your high school career is not only important for admission but also for scholarship awards."

☆ Supreme Court decision on Biden's student loan forgiveness plan is key for those who never finish college
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Jessica Dickler | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

"Growing numbers of stop-outs and fewer returning students have contributed to the broader enrollment declines in recent years," said Doug Shapiro, executive director of the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. "There's a variety of issues students face in college, many unexpected," said Rick Castellano, a spokesperson for Sallie Mae. Students with 'some college' more likely to defaultIf Biden's plan to cancel $400 billion in student loans is blocked, default rates may spike, the U.S. Department of Education has warned. But the borrowers most in jeopardy of defaulting are those who start college but never finish. The default rate among borrowers who leave with student debt but no degree is three times higher than the rate for borrowers who have a diploma.

☆ India’s population is on track to exceed China’s, but a report says its workforce is weighed down by thousands of people with worthless college degrees
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Aditi Bharade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

As India's population inches past China's, it remains burdened by a workforce with worthless degrees. This glut of incompetent workers comes as India's population is set to overtake China's by mid-2023, per the United Nations. While some colleges provide inadequate training, a private university in North India went one step further, and sold fake degrees. Bloomberg's report on India's failing education system comes as India is set to overtake China as the world's most populous country. By mid-2023, India's population is estimated to reach 1.4286 billion, 2.9 million more than China's 1.4257 billion people, per the United Nations Population Fund's "State of World Population Report."

☆ More students are learning to be mechanics, chefs, and construction workers as college enrollment shrinks
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Grace Mayer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Construction, culinary, and mechanic trade programs all saw enrollment increase last year. Across construction, culinary, and mechanic trade programs, all experienced increases in enrollment between spring 2021 to 2022, the study found. Enrollment in culinary programs increased 12.7% and 11.5% in mechanic and repair trade programs over the same time period. Prior to the pandemic, these sectors were experiencing labor shortages in skilled trade workers, particularly in construction, according to data from the Federal Reserve Economic Data. Overall, total college enrollment was down 4.1% from spring 2021 to spring 2022.

☆ Ambitious parents are spending hundreds of thousands on consultants to help get their kids into Ivy League schools, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Parents are paying consultants up to $750,000 to help get their kids into Ivy League colleges. The six-figure outlay to get their kids into college adds to the increasingly prohibitive cost of attending those institutions. Bloomberg reported that the cost of attending Ivy League schools — including tuition, accommodation, and fees — was pushing $90,000 a year, with four years of attendance potentially costing more than $300,000. Consultants told the outlet that the increasing exclusivity of Ivy League attendance may work as its own status symbol for some parents, encouraging a bigger outlay on preparation. While its generally accepted that Ivy League graduates have higher earning potential than their peers, it seems that Americans are increasingly discounting the value of having a college degree at all.

☆ On 'Ivy Day,' college hopefuls hear from Harvard, Princeton — but here's the school more students want to attend
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Jessica Dickler | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

watch nowMarch 30 is "Ivy Day," when many Ivy League schools release those long-awaited admissions decisions. The colleges that ranked the highest on students' wish lists are "perennial favorites," according to Robert Franek, The Princeton Review's editor-in-chief. They are also among the most competitive: MIT's acceptance rate is just under 4%; at Harvard, it's about 3%. Coming out of the pandemic, a small group of universities, including many in the Ivy League, have experienced a record-breaking increase in applications this season, according to a report by the Common Application. The report found application volume jumped 30% since the 2019-20 school year, even as enrollment has slumped nationwide.

☆ Elizabeth Warren wants Biden's Education Department to go beyond broad student-loan forgiveness and crack down on the institutions that cause borrowers' debt loads to spiral
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Sen. Elizabeth Warren sent a letter to the Education Department with recommendations to better protect student-loan borrowers. Biden's Education Department has reformed the borrower defense to repayment, which are claims students can file if they believe they were defrauded by the school they attended. In her letter, Warren urged Cardona to ensure predatory schools cannot receive federal aid. It aimed to prevent students from borrowing federal loans for programs they probably wouldn't be able to pay off. But in 2010, former President Donald Trump repealed the rule, and Biden's Education Department pushed off reinstating it until 2024.

☆ College hopefuls have a new ultimate dream school — and it's not Harvard, Princeton or Yale
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Jessica Dickler | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Most of the colleges at the very top of students' wish lists are "perennial favorites," according to Robert Franek, The Princeton Review's editor-in-chief. They are also among the most competitive: Stanford's acceptance rate is also just below 4%; at Harvard, it's about 3%. The report found application volume jumped 30% since the 2019-20 school year, even as enrollment has slumped nationwide. At that point, they must pay a non-refundable deposit to secure their seat at the school of their choice. Tuition and fees plus room and board for a four-year private college averaged $53,430 in the 2022-2023 school year; at four-year, in-state public colleges, it was $23,250, according to the College Board.

☆ How universities became giant piggy banks for hedge-fund billionaires
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Catherine Liu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

The move also marked the beginning of a new way to manage endowment funds. The arrangement has been a boon for the hedge-fund managers who received university endowment cash, but the benefits for the schools are trickier to parse. As Eaton put it in his book, universities directed funds to "wherever those allocations would generate the largest further investment returns." Eaton estimated in 2017 that tax breaks for university endowments cost federal coffers up to $19 billion a year. As the influence of billionaires and hedge-fund managers has grown, universities have moved further away from their ultimate goal: educating people.

☆ Canceling student debt for millions of borrowers 'cheated by for-profit colleges' isn't enough, Biden's Education Department says — it's time for the top executives to pay up
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The Education Department released new guidance to hold executives of for-profit colleges financially liable for unpaid costs to the government. When a school shuts down or is accused of fraud, taxpayers or students often pay the costs. Last week, the Education Department released new guidance on implementing the Education Secretary's authority to hold executives of private colleges financially liable for the cost of unpaid debts defrauded students took on. "The Biden-Harris Administration is canceling the loans of more than a million borrowers cheated by for-profit colleges. But too often, the owners and executives of these colleges escape liability," Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal said in a statement.

☆ As the Supreme Court considers canceling Biden's student-debt relief, here is how other rich countries handle student loans
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Biden wants to cancel up to $10,000 in student loans for those who earn less than $125,000 per year. In most other rich countries, student debt is easier to get written off than in the US. Here's a look at how other rich countries handle student debt, according to data from Lendingtree and the New York Times. In these countries, students take out loans or work part-time to cover living expenses. Even if Biden's loan repayment cancellations are blocked by the Supreme Court, there may be plenty to learn from other countries in reforming the US student loans system.

☆ Apprenticeship programs are becoming more popular as an alternative to college
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Jessica Dickler | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Daniel Swan, 26, started as an apprentice and now works full time as an HVAC technician in California. For Daniel Swan, a 26-year-old father of two, it was simply a means to a well-paying job during an uncertain time. Armed with a technical degree, Swan joined an apprenticeship program with Lee’s Air in Fresno, California, in 2019. More from Personal Finance:How to decide if you should go back to schoolThe cheapest states for in-state college tuitionThe most-regretted college majorsIncreasingly, young adults are rethinking the value of college. As enrollment falls, alternatives such as apprenticeship programs are quietly gaining steam, particularly for families anticipating the sticker shock of a college education, which currently averages around $53,430, including tuition, fees and room and board, at private colleges and $40,550 at public colleges for the 2022-23 school year, according to the College Board.

Search resuls for: "Private College"

25 mentions found