More Attention & Scrutiny On Students Loans Debt, Etc.--By Parents & Students Urgently Needed

Before committing to a college or university, both parents and students need to consider the costs at the university (not just tuition, but all fees, travel, books, etc.) before selecting the university.  What will be the size of the debt that the student will be left with at completion, what type of job opportunities will be available, how does the university do at student job placement etc., etc..  Don' t just be "dazzled" by the university name and hype.   

http://www.wsj.com/articles/questions-families-need-to-ask-about-paying-for-college-1442800935

 

Better College & Career Advice Demanded: Bridge Magazine. #highered. #edpolicy.

A good read from Bridge Online Magazine.  Helping high school students and parents understand what choices are available and options might be best for them.  "Middle Colleges" are a good option for many young people and create need partnerships between K-12 school districts and colleges/universities.  Good opportunity to begin first year of trade options at a college or university during your senior high school year.  Good job placement after the second year at the college.  Also many students in these programs find out they can really do "college" and continue on at the college/university to get the baccalaureate degree.  Often they do this while continuing to work in their trade, earning a good salary and avoiding college student debt.  Good for them, good for their employers and good for America.   article below is a good read on this topic. 

http://bridgemi.com/2015/09/michigan-residents-demand-better-college-career-advice/

Doing More For Low Income Students

Some universities across the country who do more for students from low income families have more financial resources to do more than others who do not have these resources (see below).  We need a new national policy on how to assure access to students who are part of this nation's huge number of children living in poverty.  If we are ever going to close the "opportunity gap" in this country we need to increase access to young people from low income/poverty families.  We need to assure that once there and they graduate they don't carry tens of thousands of dollars in debt into the workforce with them.  That is why we need a new national policy on college access and affordability.  http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/09/17/upshot/top-colleges-doing-the-most-for-low-income-students.html 

 

Community College and Online Course Suspension

Interesting read.  Maybe legislature ought to be more careful before it authorizes community colleges to offer 4 year degrees.  This article is another "caution light".  At the same time universities need to be more conscious of the consumer outrage about university tuition increases/costs.  We might want to a look at how university trustees are meeting their oversight obligations on tuition and other policy issues.  

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/oakland-county/2015/08/28/occ-online/71290028/

Michigan Prison Population And Reducing The Population Policies

http://bridgemi.com/2015/08/43000-michigan-prisoners-who-should-we-cut-loose-first/

The prison population is now about 43,000 and is down from a high around 60, 000.  The cost per prison for a year of incarceration is about $35, 000.  The Michigan prison system budget is at $2 Billion.

There is a lot of demand to reduce the population but this article talks about who do you let out first and how do you reduce the future flow into our prisons.  

Well worth a read.

Freedom

"Freedom is what you do with what's been done to you."  Jean Paul Sarte

Personal Brand

"Your brand is what people say about you when you are not in the room. ". Tim LeBerecht. 

NLRB "Punts" On Collegiate Football Union. #highered. #edpolicy

Now lets see where this goes:  to state legislatures or to the judiciary?

Michigan has already pass a law that prohibits collegiate athletes from joining a union.

We have not heard the last of this.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/08/17/national-labor-relations-board-declines-assert-role-northwestern-football-union?utm_content=bufferffc78&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=IHEbuffer

Fewer Good Jobs For College Grads? New Study Says Not So. Better Pay and Benefits Increasing. #highered. #edpolicy.

 

"The emerging conventional wisdom is that America's post-recession recovery was dominated by the rise of low-paying, part-time service jobs. But a new analysis challenges that narrative, finding that 2.9 million of the 6.6 million jobs added in the recovery were "good jobs" providing high pay and, in many cases, benefits."

http://chronicle.com/article/Fewer-Good-Jobs-for-College/232407/

How Secure Are Private Email Servers? Important Info Based On Current Public Affairs Situation

I think we all have thought about this issue at the same time we have thought about Cybersecurity. 

Based on what Ms. Clinton and others have done (and are now confronting) this article gives some good and useful information. 


http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2015/08/13/just-how-secure-are-private-e-mail-servers-hint-not-very/?utm_content=buffer32522&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

K-12 Enrollments Continue Fall: Major New Priority Setting

Will colleges and universities be next (or continuing the falling numbers of past few years) in major declining enrollment?  We should make sure we see numbers that reflect what the Michigan "resident" numbers are when they release their enrollment numbers this Fall.  Are they balancing their budgets with out of state students and their high out of state tuition?  K-12 does not have the ability to do this!  K-12 districts do not have the ability to raise taxes--called tuition--on its students.  Let's watch the in state versus the out of state student numbers this Fall. 

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/education/2015/08/16/michigan-enrollment/31834901/

Detroit News Editorial: "Hypocrites in the House"

Leadership in every organization requires quick and thorough inestigations into fraud, dishonest actions and failure to act in an ethical manner.  The Michigan House leadership is on the right track with their "investigation" into the allegations about these two legislators.  However,  this is a situation where the Michigan recall statute is useful and should be applied if the House does not act- or if the two legislators do not resign.  This is a good editorial by the Detroit News. A shameful situation creat s by these two legislators. 

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/opinion/editorials/2015/08/10/edit-hypocrites-house/31293065/