Student Debt, By the Numbers: Part 6: Factors—For-Profit Higher Ed

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Bloomberg News, Chronicle of Higher Education, Blumenstyk and Fuller Number of post-secondary institutions newly accredited between 2005 and 2009:  483. Percentage of post-secondary institutions newly accredited between 2005 and 2009 that were private for-profit institutions:  77%. Percentage of total accredited post-secondary institutions in the U.S. that were private for-profit…

“Who,” Yes, But “How” May Be the Real Question

In “Who Will Hold Colleges Accountable?”, Kevin Carey of the New America Foundation writes in The New York Times: I suspect those courses that will be most valued will be those where students actually learn. Of course. Most of us who teach don’t just suspect that–we know it (as does Carey, I am sure… he’s deliberately understating the obvious).…

Student Debt, By the Numbers: Part 4: Factors—Changes in Student Financial Aid

Source: National Center for Education Statistics Percentage of those enrolled in public four-year institutions who received financial aid in 2009:  79%. Percentage of those enrolled in private not-for-profit four-year institutions who received financial aid in 2009:  87%. Percentage of those enrolled in private for-profit four-year institutions who received financial aid in 2009:  86%. Percent of…

Student Debt, By the Numbers: Part 3: Factors—Increases in Tuition

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Goldwater Institute, New Republic Average annual tuition at public four-year institutions in the U.S. in 2010:  $7,605. Average annual tuition at private four-year institutions in the U.S. in 2009:  $27,293. Average annual tuition at public two-year institutions in the U.S. in 2009:  $2,713. Percentage increase in tuition and room-and-board…

Student Debt, By the Numbers: Part 2: Factors–Increases in Higher Ed Enrollment

Source: National Center for Education Statistics Total number of degree-granting colleges and universities in the United States in 2009:  4,495 Post-secondary enrollment in 2009:  20.4 million Percentage of the total U.S. population enrolled in 2009:  5.7% Enrollment by percentage in four-year institutions in 2009:  62% Enrollment by percentage in two-year institutions in 2009:  38%

Student Debt, By the Numbers: Part 1, The Scope of the Problem

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, New Deal 2.0, Nation of Change Total student loan debt in the U.S. in 2012: $1 trillion. Total student loan debt in the U.S. in 2011: $830 billion. Total credit-card debt in the U.S. in 2011: $826.5 billion. Total value of the federal student loans taken in 2010:  $100…

The Gates Foundation and Three Composition MOOCs.

MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) have been getting a lot of attention lately.  The idea of free access to higher education via  online classes challenges our traditional assumptions about good undergraduate pedagogy–that small class sizes and significant face-to-face time with professors are crucial to learning.  As a parent with two kids at private universities, I find…

Badges!

“Badges? We ain’t got no badges. We don’t need no badges! I don’t have to show you any stinkin’ badges!” That, from The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, of course, is all I could think of on reading Kevin Carey’s New York Times piece “Show Me Your Badge” a few days before the election. I hope most…