Questioning College Admissions and Affordability

March 15, 2019 – Here’s our weekly roundup of education news you may have missed. Headlines about college admissions and affordability dominate higher education coverage. Articles also discuss the state of K-12 school buildings and student mental health.

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Elementary & Secondary Education:

  • “Rates of mental-health incidents among teens and young adults have arced upward over the last decade,” states Education Week. “Teachers and principals must be more versed in the warning signs of serious issues like mood disorders, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts so that they can better serve students in crisis”.
  • In The Conversation, Michael Addonizio discusses why school facilities are “deteriorating” in many districts.
  • The National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) explains the importance of the federal Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Program, which “support[s] the vulnerable minority and low-income gifted students who are too often overlooked.”

 

Higher Education:

  • Vanity Fair summarizes the college admissions scandal that is making headlines this week. Additional coverage is available from the Los Angeles Times, The Hechinger Report, and Connecticut Public Radio.
  • Textbook prices increased 88 percent over a 10-year period. Vox looks at the causes behind the trend, which include a reliance on adjunct faculty and online supplementary materials.
  • ABC News describes the House Education and Labor Committee’s hearing on college affordability, including video of Jenae Parker’s testimony. Parker shared her experiences with food and housing insecurity while working and attending college full-time and raising a child.

 

Cooke Foundation Highlights:

  • Victoria Davidjohn is a Cooke Scholar, a senior at Princeton University, and now a Martin A. Dale Fellow. The Dale Fellowship will provide Victoria with a $35,000 grant for her project, a musical theater piece on the life of civil rights leader Ella Jo Baker.
  • Cooke Scholar Maria Paula Salazar-Valiente recently revisited her alma mater, Washtenaw Community College, to share transfer tips with current students.
  • Our senior program manager of outreach and partnerships, Alan Royal, shares Cooke Scholar success stories and scholarship application information with the STEMx blog.
  • Nancy Lee Sánchez, executive director of Kaplan Educational Foundation, speaks with Arizona’s KJZZ 91.5 FM about findings from our recent “Persistence” report.

 

Social Media Spotlight:

Header image: Cooke Scholars meet at Scholars Weekend 2014.