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Higher Education News

World & Nation
A report released by the Government Accountability Office found that it is nearly impossible to estimate how effective the Pell Grant program is in reaching out to the low-income students it is intended to serve.

There is no sufficient measure of the eligible population for Federal Pell Grants, according to Sally Stroup, the Department of Education’s assistant secretary for post-secondary education. She said that the department is considering creating a new national database that could help measure participation in the Pell Grant program.

A new study by the U.S. Department of Education suggests that rising tuition, higher borrowing limits on government loans, and a new wave of low-income students have pushed the average debt burden of college graduates higher than ever.

From 1992–02, the volume of federal loans rose 137 percent, up to $20.7 billion. In 2002, undergraduates borrowed on average $19,300, up from $12,100 a decade before. Experts worry that low-income students will suffer as tuition increases, higher interest rates, and inflation price them out of the market for a college education.

If given the chance, 57 million nonunion workers in the United States would form a union tomorrow. That’s 53 percent of nonunion workers, according to a poll by Peter D. Hart and Associates. In the year 2004, more than 20,000 workers were fired or discriminated against for union activities.

Black applicants without criminal records are no more likely to get a job than white applicants just out of prison, according to a Princeton University study of nearly 1,500 private employers in New York City. By recording which applicants were invited back for interviews or were offered jobs, the study shows how an applicant's race or criminal background may be used as a screening mechanism by employers. For an abstract of the report, go to http://paa2005.princeton.edu/download.aspx?submissionId=50874.

Faculty & Staff
A faculty committee appointed by the president of Columbia University to investigate complaints that professors in the Middle Eastern Studies department had intimidated pro-Israel students found no evidence that faculty members exhibited anti-Semitic behavior.

The Ad Hoc Grievance Committee Report did cite one instance in which a Professor Joseph Massad harshly criticized a student defending Israel and dismissed her from his classroom. Massad denied dismissing the student from class.

The Committee noted that there had been an organized attempt by internal and external forces to intimidate faculty at Columbia, including Massad.

The report also highlighted a lack of civility on the campus, tension in classrooms, and an erosion of trust between faculty and students because of Columbia’s failure to expeditiously handle student complaints.

New grievance procedures for students and faculty are in the works.

Professional News
Graduate teaching assistants at Columbia and Yale Universities went on strike for one week in April in an effort to prompt administrators to recognize and negotiate with their union.

Last summer, the National Labor Relations Board ruled that graduate teaching assistants at private colleges are students, not employees, denying them the right to form a union.

“Declining By Degrees: Higher Education at Risk,” a PBS documentary special, will air June 23, 2005, from 9 to 11 p.m.

The documentary examines the quality of higher education in America, taking a critical and in-depth look at four of the nation’s colleges through the eyes of students, parents, professors, and college administrators.

The film, which will visit a community college, as well as liberal arts, comprehensive, and doctoral institutions in what has been called a revealing and disturbing look at the nation’s colleges, aims to see if higher education is delivering on its promise.

Levels of Satisfaction with College and University Administrations

Source: 2004 NEA Higher Education Members Nationwide Survey
* Includes part-time and full-time faculty members.