The higher education sector needs to come together to renew its commitment to enhancing student engagement
Wonkhe
FEBRUARY 2, 2025
Students can struggle to make the most of university.
February, 2025
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A final post as a farewell and thanks
Higher Ed Data Stories
FEBRUARY 24, 2025
It's been said the Internet is like a party: You don't have to announce that you're leaving. But this will be the final post on Higher Ed Data Stories. After 4,183 days, it's time to call it quits. To save myself the time necessary to reply to both of you who are still faithfully reading these posts, I feel compelled to offer a few words of explanation.
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Howard University Makes History as First HBCU to Achieve Top Research Status
Diverse: Issues in Higher Education
FEBRUARY 13, 2025
In a groundbreaking achievement that marks a significant milestone for historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), Howard University has become the first HBCU to receive the prestigious Research One (R1) Carnegie Classification, placing it among the nation's most elite research institutions. The announcement from the American Council of Education (ACE) on Thursday, recognizes Howard's designation as an institution of very high research spending and doctorate production, a status that f
Ohio Senate passes bill to ban DEI and faculty strikes at public colleges
Higher Ed Dive
FEBRUARY 13, 2025
The legislation would also establish post-tenure reviews and require all instructors to share their contact information and syllabi publicly.
Navigating Higher Ed’s Tech & Budget Crunch: Yes, You Can Survive
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As Higher Ed institutions continue struggling with budget constraints and enrollment pressures, making smart decisions about technology is crucial. How do institutions enhance data security, optimize their tech stack and engage students effectively…all while managing limited resources? Bret Ingerman, former Vice President for Information Technology at Tallahassee State College, digs into these conundrums, exploring how Pathify offers solutions to enhance student engagement while giving instituti
Cambridge risks losing ‘unbelievable talent’ amid PhD funding cut
The Guardian - Higher Education
FEBRUARY 8, 2025
Warning by vice-chancellor Deborah Prentice comes as Silicon Valley planned between Oxford and Cambridge The University of Cambridge risks losing unbelievable talent owing to a drop-off in funding for PhDs, the vice-chancellor has cautioned. Prof Deborah Prentice, who took over as vice-chancellor in 2023, described PhD students as the lifeblood of the universitys research and innovation work, and expressed concern that funding from research councils had dropped off significantly.
AI for everyone – but not everything
HEPI
FEBRUARY 26, 2025
Mary Curnock Cook CBE chairs the Emerge/Jisc HE Edtech Advisory Board, and Bess Brennan is Chief of University Partnerships with Cadmus. Cadmus is running a series of collaborative roundtables with UK university leaders about the challenges and opportunities of generative AI in higher education. Yesterday, Wednesday 26th February, HEPI and Kortext published the Student Generative AI Survey 2025: you can read that here.
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How Higher Ed Institutions Are Using Built-In Generative AI Tools
EdTech Magazine - Higher Education
FEBRUARY 6, 2025
With generative artificial intelligence exploding in higher education, students, faculty and staff are eager to get their hands on these powerful tools. To meet the need, some IT teams are leveraging AI in the products they already have. In December 2023, for example, Microsoft made Copilot available to all higher education students and faculty as part of Microsoft 365.
Legacy Admissions Hit Historic Low as More States Ban Practice at U.S. Colleges
Diverse: Issues in Higher Education
FEBRUARY 10, 2025
Legacy preferences in college admissions have plummeted to their lowest recorded level, with just 24% of four-year colleges still considering family alumni status in admissions decisions, according to a comprehensive new report from Education Reform Now. The dramatic decline signals a potential end to a controversial practice that critics have long condemned as perpetuating inequality in higher education.
Why the University of Texas System is offering microcredentials to students — for free
Higher Ed Dive
FEBRUARY 26, 2025
The public network is providing access to Coursera’s Career Academy, which includes professional certificates from companies like Microsoft and Google.
‘What’s Going to Happen to Science?’
Inside Higher Ed
FEBRUARY 10, 2025
The U.S. university-federal partnership is a miracle for global scientific progress. It must be protected, Mary Sue Coleman writes. There was a moment during World War II when President Roosevelt summoned Vannevar Bush to the Oval Office. Bush was director of the Office of Scientific Research and Development and a close Roosevelt ally. It was 1944 and becoming increasingly clear that the Allies would achieve victory in Europe.
Understanding the Social Change Model of Leadership (SCM): Igniting Students’ Academic Development P
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The article addresses the Social Change Model of Leadership Development. It elucidates the SMC background, key assumptions, and the main pillars of the model to form a a change agent who could be helpful with institutional in-service delivery.
Is going to university still worth it? A widening participation student’s view
HEPI
FEBRUARY 2, 2025
By David Lam, Activities Officer at the Students’ Union Bath. As a child, I always envisioned a very traditional educational journey. I would work my way through high school, do my A levels and then end up at a good university, graduating into a well-paid job. I think this is the journey most undertake or are pointed towards as we were told that university students almost always earn more than those without one.
We are living through the legacy of unrestrained borrowing
Wonkhe
FEBRUARY 16, 2025
How did it come to pass that universities in England could borrow money without restrictions?
Technology Initiatives Support Student Mental Health in a Modern Higher Ed Environment
EdTech Magazine - Higher Education
FEBRUARY 7, 2025
Mental health has become an increased focus recently for both students and the schools they attend. According to a 2024 U.S. News-Generation Lab report, 70% of students have experienced mental health challenges since starting college. However, only 37% sought mental health resources at their school in some cases, because they were uncertain about how to utilize them.
UNC Journalism Dean Navigates Diversity Mission Amid DEI Restrictions
Diverse: Issues in Higher Education
FEBRUARY 16, 2025
Last May, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Board of Governors voted to eliminate all diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) offices. At the Dean Raul Reis states flagship, UNC Chapel Hill, cut at least 20 positions and reassigned nearly 30 more, resulting in around $5.4 million in spending cuts. The move aligned Chapel Hill with other public universities in states with Republican-controlled legislatures such as the University of Florida that have similarly banned diversity spendi
Which colleges gained R1 status under the revamped Carnegie Classifications?
Higher Ed Dive
FEBRUARY 13, 2025
Howard University, a historically Black college, gained the coveted designation, as did about three dozen other institutions.
Fall in overseas students fuels threat to English universities despite rise in fees
The Guardian - Higher Education
FEBRUARY 15, 2025
Higher tuition costs have already been wiped out by government tax hikes, critics claim A fall in international students applying for visas risks prolonging the existential threat facing some of Englands universities, sources in higher education say, amid warnings that an increase in tuition fees has already been wiped out by the governments tax rises.
Employment scams targeting int’l students in UK sparks campaign
The PIE News
FEBRUARY 24, 2025
The rise in job scams in the UK has raised concerns among international students, who are being targeted by fraudsters and losing thousands of pounds under the pretence of securing employment. A BBC report last year revealed that middlemen posing as recruitment agents are scamming international students seeking skilled work visas, with some paying up to 17,000 for sponsorship certificates that should have been free.
There’s nothing certain about the circumstances when a duty of care applies to students
Wonkhe
FEBRUARY 6, 2025
The government has quietly revised its definition of a duty of care in universities.
Excluding Level 7 modules from the LLE is a huge, missed opportunity
HEPI
FEBRUARY 4, 2025
Ahead of a House of Lords debate on the topic of lifelong learning later this week , today’s blog features two posts on the topic. Elsewhere on the site, Professor Harriet Dunbar-Morris, Pro Vice-Chancellor Academic and Provost at The University of Buckingham, highlights what is, in her view, a critical flaw in the LLE: the unfair funding gap facing students on accelerated two-year degree programmes, despite their clear benefits for employability and skills development.
Morgan State University Launches Task Force to Combat Declining Black Male Enrollment
Diverse: Issues in Higher Education
FEBRUARY 2, 2025
Morgan State University, Maryland's largest Historically Black University, is taking decisive action to address a concerning trend: the steady decline in Black male Dr. David K. Wilson enrollment. University President Dr. David K. Wilson has announced the formation of a specialized task force to investigate and reverse this downturn, which mirrors a broader national challenge facing HBCUs across America.
DeSantis moves to create Florida’s own DOGE to target college spending
Higher Ed Dive
FEBRUARY 25, 2025
The governor also suggested the department would eliminate what he called “ideological” curriculum and programming.
Only 5% of UK medical school entrants are working class, data shows
The Guardian - Higher Education
FEBRUARY 26, 2025
Sutton Trust says underrepresentation of poorer students is outrageous but number has doubled in 10 years to 2022 Students from working class backgrounds still only make up 5% of entrants to medical schools across the UK, a proportion that has doubled over the past decade, analysis has found. The research, conducted by the Sutton Trust and University College London (UCL), looked at almost 94,000 applicants to UK medical schools between 2012 and 2022, which represent almost half of all UK medical
International graduates found to earn less than Canadian peers
The PIE News
FEBRUARY 10, 2025
Average earnings of international graduates in full-time employment were 20% lower than their Canadian counterparts in 2023, according to a report from Canadas national statistics agency. Among bachelors degree holders, the difference can be explained by the fact that international graduates were over three times more likely to work in lower-paid sales and service jobs, suggested the reports author, Brittany Etmanski.
OfS is starting to better understand the student interest
Wonkhe
FEBRUARY 13, 2025
England's higher education regulator has published highlights of research into what students think, want and expect.
North Carolina Community Colleges Launch Program Modeled After CUNY ASAP
Inside Higher Ed
FEBRUARY 6, 2025
The NorthCarolina Community College System is launching NC Community Colleges Boost, a new program to move students into high-demand careers in the state. The program is modeled after the City University of New Yorks Accelerated Study in Associate Programs, or CUNY ASAP, known for offering extensive wraparound supports for low-income students to increase their completion rates, including personalized academic advising and covering various college costs.
CUNY’s Black Male Initiative Marks 20 Years of Success Amid National DEI Pushbacks
Diverse: Issues in Higher Education
FEBRUARY 4, 2025
As the country witnesses the shuttering of multiple diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) offices and as businesses retract their plans to intentionally diversify their employees and leaders, one college-based program in New York City, originally designed to support the education of young Black men, is celebrating its 20th anniversary with no signs of slowing.
A surge of DEI cuts hits colleges across the US
Higher Ed Dive
FEBRUARY 27, 2025
Some colleges, like Ohio State University, are reversing their stances on diversity efforts as federal and state policymakers ratchet up the pressure.
Early warning system for climate tipping points given £81m kickstart
The Guardian - Higher Education
FEBRUARY 18, 2025
Ambitious UK project aims to forecast climate catastrophes using fleets of drones, cosmic ray detection, patterns of plankton blooms and more An ambitious attempt to develop an early warning system for climate tipping points will combine fleets of drones, cosmic ray detection and the patterns of plankton blooms with artificial intelligence and the most detailed computer models to date.
HBCUs Use Federal Funding to Connect Students and Communities
EdTech Magazine - Higher Education
FEBRUARY 11, 2025
Historically Black colleges and universities across the U.S. are making creative use of millions of dollars in federal funding to narrow the digital divide and support the upward mobility of both their students and members of the community. Created by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), the Connecting Minority Communities Pilot Program has distributed more than $262 million to 93 colleges and universities.
The barriers that must be removed for degree apprenticeships to meet NHS workforce targets
Wonkhe
FEBRUARY 9, 2025
Denise Baker presents new research on making healthcare apprenticeships work, and warns that changes to level 7 eligibility could stifle NHS workforce development
Beyond Syllabus Week: Creative Strategies to Engage Students from Day One
Faculty Focus
FEBRUARY 25, 2025
Ever wonder why students dont read the syllabus, despite the time and effort we put into creating it? It serves as a contract between instructors and students (Eberly, Newton, & Wiggins, 2001), outlining the entire semesters expectations, assignments, and deadlines. Yet, many students simply arent motivated to read it. They often find syllabi overwhelming, unengaging, or even unreadable.
What Dr. Ibram Kendi’s Appointment to Howard Means for HBCUs—and Black Scholarship
Diverse: Issues in Higher Education
FEBRUARY 4, 2025
Supporters of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) welcomed Howard University's announcement late last week of Dr. Ibram X. Kendi's appointment Dr. Crystal A. deGregory as a history professor and director of the Howard Institute for Advanced Study. Kendi, a historian and antiracist activist, has made waves since publishing Stamped from the Beginning , which won the 2016 National Book Award for Nonfiction.
Legacy admissions tumbled dramatically over past decade
Higher Ed Dive
FEBRUARY 10, 2025
The share of four-year institutions considering an applicant's family ties to an alum has dropped by half since 2015, Education Reform Now found.
African history students awarded compensation after master’s axed
The Guardian - Higher Education
FEBRUARY 20, 2025
University of Chichester had suspended recruitment to its history of Africa and the African diaspora MRes An independent adjudicator has ruled partly in favour of students who challenged the University of Chichester after their African history course was abruptly terminated in 2023. The University of Chichester suspended recruitment to its research masters (MRes) in the history of Africa and the African diaspora without warning, and made the course leader, Prof Hakim Adi , an academic and expert
Making Space for Student ‘Sorrow’ Over AI
Inside Higher Ed
FEBRUARY 10, 2025
An art assignment using generative AI sparked fierce controversy, vandalism and the specter of Hitler at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, last falland then offered a lesson in navigating student anxiety about the technology. Last November, a hallway on the first floor of the fine arts building at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, transformed into a contentious forum for an ongoing debate: Should generative artificial intelligence have a place in making art?
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