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Advocate Online
Higher Education News
World & Nation
A coalition of unions, including the AFL-CIO and NEA, and religious, community, student, and civil rights groups are preparing for a massive national mobilization in support of workers' freedom to form unions and bargain collectively.
Events, ranging from rallies and demonstrations to town hall meetings, teach-ins, and workers' rights board hearings, are scheduled in dozens of cities internationally during the week leading up to International Human Rights Day, December 10.
All events are intended to show how a broad-based coalition of organizations see a union card as the best solution for uplifting working-class people. For events in your area go to www.aflcio.org/joinaunion/voiceatwork.
The U.S. Department of Defense is under pressure to stop collecting data on high school and college students. A coalition of more than 100 student groups, antiwar organizations, and privacy advocates have written to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld charging that the department's data base—which includes birth dates, Social Security numbers, fields of study, grade point averages and other information on students—violates the Family and Privacy Act of 1974. That Act prohibits colleges from releasing personal information without the student's consent.
The American Civil Liberties Union, the Republican Liberty Caucus, Rock the Vote and Veterans for Common Sense are among the signatories to the letter, which comes at a time when the armed forces faces challenges in recruiting for the war in Iraq.
Chasms between the literacy rates of "less developed" and "developed" countries and access to primary and secondary education are shrinking. Gail D. Fosler of The Conference Board documented that developing countries are producing large numbers of college graduates in all fields. With the continuance of this trend it is possible that by 2035 the emerging world may achieve 100 percent literacy. For more information visit www.conference-board.org and search News for: Advanced Economies Losing Lead In Education.
Faculty & Staff
Tuition rates at public colleges and universities rose 7 percent in 2005-06, the smallest increase in four years, and 5 percent at community college, the smallest increase in three years, according to the annual tuition survey by the College Board. But, while low-income students receive more grant aid, on average, than higher-income students, because of the stagnant value of Pell Grants and the increase in merit-based rather than need-based financial aid, low income students still have a more difficult time paying for college.
Measures designed to make college more affordable, such as tuition tax breaks and merit-based aid, provide a disproportionately high benefit to families who make over $50,000 a year. This group received 43 percent of education tax breaks credits and 70 percent of the benefits of federal tuition tax deductions in 2003. The survey is available at the College Board Web site www.collegeboard.com/press/article/0,,48884,00.html.
Professional News
Enrollment numbers for the nation's prison population taking college-level courses are increasing again after a decade of decline, according to a report from the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP). Participation had declined after Congress declared in 1994 that prisoners could no longer get Pell Grants and many states closed inmate education programs as part of get-tough-on-crime efforts.
Interest picked up again after two studies found that allowing inmates to take college level classes is more cost effective in reducing recidivism rates. The full IHEP report "Learning to Reduce Recidivism" is at www.ihep.com.
Eighty-six percent of college faculty members are reasonably confident they will have adequate income in retirement, as opposed to only 65 percent of all working Americans, according to TIAA-CREF's first Retirement Confidence Survey of college and university faculty. The Retirement Confidence Survey of College and University Faculty is posted at www.tiaa-cref.org.
Source: www.higheredinfo.org
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