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Outcomes/Careers/Benefits of Higher Ed


Should Professors Be Tested? Should David Brooks?

Chronicle of Higher Education - Brainstorm Blog
April 22, 2012

Brooks' latest dumb idea is that the solution for the high costs of higher ed would be some form of standardized testing. Pushing standardized testing on higher-ed, like Bush's "No Child Left Behind," is hardly the solution. The schools that already rank high in U.S. News and World Report are also the ones most likely to rank highest in assessment testing for two reasons: They tend to have more tenured faculty who have the time to teach well and they tend to attract students who are already incredibly well-prepared to learn.

Banking on Success

Inside Higher Ed
April 20, 2012

Technical colleges in Texas are poised to up the ante on performance-based state funding, linking 45 percent of their annual budget to the employment rates and salaries of alumni.

Half of new graduates are jobless or underemployed

Assoiciated Press
April 20, 2012

A weak labor market has left half of young college graduates jobless or underemployed, in positions that don't fully use their skills and knowledge. Young adults with bachelor's degrees are increasingly scraping by in lower-wage jobs - waiter or waitress, bartender, retail clerk or receptionist, for example - and that's confounding their hopes that a degree would pay off despite higher tuition and mounting student loans. An analysis of government data conducted for The Associated Press lays bare the highly uneven prospects for holders of bachelor's degrees.

Education Dept. Proposes Reforms in Vocational-Education Programs

Chronicle of Higher Education
April 19, 2012

The U.S. Department of Education released a blueprint on Thursday outlining reforms it would like to see enacted when the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act is reauthorized.

More young women want high-paying career, Pew finds

USA Today
April 19, 2012

Two thirds of 18- to 34-year-old women say being successful in a high-paying career is "one of the most important things" or "very important" in their lives, according to a Pew Research Center report out Thursday. Women with that attitude surpass their male counterparts: 59% of young men have the same stance.

Which colleges are worth the price?

Philadelphia Inquirer - Opinion Piece
April 18, 2012

Peyton R. Helm, president, Muhlenberg College, writes:  Those urging Democrats and Republicans to reach consensus more often should be careful what they wish for. The higher-education policies of the Bush and Obama administrations, for example, have had much in common: They have been equally simpleminded, equally unhelpful, and equally intrusive.

Are colleges afraid of Peter Thiel?

CNN.com - Opinion Piece
April 18, 2012

What are colleges and universities providing for the most talented and accomplished students? If something we call higher education isn't the best choice for our highest achieving students, then what is its purpose? In this regard, Peter Thiel, the billionaire co-founder of PayPal and one of the most vocal critics of higher education, believes that college classrooms are doing little to equip our future CEOs, innovators and industry leaders.

Colleges Weigh Common Assessments

The Hoya, Georgetown University
April 17, 2012

According to David Paris, the executive director of the New Leadership Alliance for Student Learning and Accountability, an organization that encourages higher education institutions to gather and publicize evidence of student learning, much of the enthusiasm for a standardized assessment of colleges stems from concerns about rising tuition costs amid a weak economy. But administrators at Georgetown, including Associate Provost Randy Bass, say that standardized assessments are often too general and fail to take into consideration goals of a particular course or department.

The Liberal Arts and Careers

Inside Higher Ed
April 12, 2012

In the "Options in the World of Work" course, the professor leads the class in a discussion of a range of issues to consider when deciding where to pursue jobs - the possibility for advancement (or moving to different companies in the same city), the quality of these jobs, opportunities for a social life. The students' homework assignment will be to do a comparison of salary and expense prospects in two cities they select, for a career they want to pursue. The course is one of four new offerings that are part of Wake Forest University's answer to the questions posed by a national conference that began Wednesday, "Rethinking Success: From Liberal Arts to Careers in the 21st Century."

Unemployment Falls Fast in U.S. If Men Get College Degree

Bloomberg News
April 11, 2012

The U.S. workplace is polarizing between the education haves and have-nots, says David Autor, professor of economics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. So-called middle-skill jobs, typically well-paying work that doesn't require extensive higher education, are vanishing, dividing the labor force into high- and low-skill positions. While women are moving up the knowledge ladder, male educational attainment is growing at a slower rate. "It is terrific that women are getting higher levels of education," Autor says. "The problem is that males are not."

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