Education category, Page 12
GOP lawmakers berate Haverford College president for not discussing discipline for antisemitism
WASHINGTON — The president of Haverford College was berated by Republican lawmakers in a congressional hearing on campus antisemitism Wednesday, with some suggesting the school should lose federal funding because of her refusal to discuss student discipline in the wake of pro-Palestinian protests. Wendy Raymond appeared alongside two other college...
How Penn State trustees’ plan to vote on campus closures could run afoul of transparency law
This story was produced by the State College regional bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to investigative and public-service journalism for Pennsylvania. Sign up for Talk of the Town, a weekly newsletter of local stories that dig deep, events, and more from north-central PA, at spotlightpa.org/newsletters/talkofthetown. The...
Derry native donates to IUP’s proposed osteopathic medicine college
A Derry native and veteran has made a $50,000 donation to the proposed osteopathic medicine college at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Lt. Col. Barry Gasdek, a 1964 IUP graduate, offered the donation, which is part of $32 million the university has collected in private and government funding to develop the...
As deadline looms for Penn State’s future, former PSNK chancellors share thoughts
Robert Arbuckle has myriad suggestions for what Penn State could do to combat declining enrollment and financial issues at its branch campuses. None of them include closing campuses. “You have to use your imagination and be creative,” said Arbuckle, who was the Upper Burrell college’s CEO from 1977 to 1992....
Carnegie Mellon to pause merit raises amid economic uncertainty
Employees at Carnegie Mellon University will not receive merit increases in their salaries for the upcoming fiscal year. In an email addressed to colleagues Friday obtained by TribLive, CMU President Farnam Jahanian revealed the decision, which he said is a “pause” in merit increases. “I write to you with a...
Penn State faculty senate asks admin to pause campus closure decision
The Penn State faculty senate passed a positional report this week opposing the closure of commonwealth campuses and asked the university administration to pause the decision until an impact assessment can be conducted. Faculty senators have not shied away from expressing their concerns about closing campuses and how even before...
Costly cyber charter tuition is consuming tens of millions of new state dollars for poor Pa. schools
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. HARRISBURG — A surge of taxpayer money approved last year to help students in Pennsylvania’s poorest schools is being used by dozens of districts to...
Chatham University names interim president
With Chatham University President Rhonda Phillips set to leave at the end of May, the school on Monday announced a new interim president. The Board of Trustees has appointed Lisa Lambert, provost and vice president of academic affairs, to take on the lead duties, effective June 1. Phillips is leaving...
Pa. educators push for additional dollars to equitably fund schools
New Kensington-Arnold Superintendent Chris Sefcheck is grateful for the unprecedented funding that was granted to Pennsylvania’s public schools this academic year. But, as education experts continue to note inadequate funding among the majority of the state’s K-12 schools, Sefcheck knows there is still a long way to go in properly...
Duquesne receives record number of applications for class of 2029
Duquesne University has received a record number of applications for the class of 2029. More than 13,000 first-year students applied to Duquesne’s undergraduate programs, the university announced Monday. From those applicants, Duquesne expects to enroll a class of approximately 1,500 first-year students and 200 transfer students, as the pool is...
Fox Chapel Area High School senior earns Girl Scout Gold Award
When Devon Grimsby McDonald reads books filled with varying emotions to children sitting in a circle around her, she invites them to share their feelings about what they’ve just heard. “I’ve struggled with mental health and anxiety, especially my freshman year of high school,” said Devon, now a senior at...
19 states sue Trump administration over push to end diversity programs in public schools
CONCORD, N.H. — Nineteen states that refused to comply with a Trump administration directive aimed at eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion programs in public schools went a step further Friday, filing a federal lawsuit challenging what they consider an illegal threat to cut federal funding. The lawsuit filed in Massachusetts...
Trump administration reverses course on foreign students’ U.S. visa registrations
SAN FRANCISCO — The federal government is reversing the termination of legal status for international students around the U.S. after many filed court challenges against the Trump administration crackdown, a government lawyer said Friday. The records in a federal student database maintained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had been...
Judge blocks Trump push to cut funding to public schools over diversity programs
CONCORD, N.H. — A federal judge on Thursday blocked Trump administration directives that threatened to cut federal funding for public schools with diversity, equity and inclusion programs. The ruling came in a lawsuit brought by the National Education Association and the American Civil Liberties Union, which accused the Republican administration...
Trump signs executive orders targeting colleges, plus schools’ equity efforts
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has ordered sharper scrutiny of America’s colleges and the accreditors that oversee them, part of his escalating campaign to end what he calls “wokeness” and diversity efforts in education. In a series of executive actions signed Wednesday, Trump targeted universities that he views as liberal...
International students stripped of legal status in U.S. are piling up wins in court
ATLANTA — Anjan Roy was studying with friends at Missouri State University when he got an email that turned his world upside down. His legal status as an international student had been terminated, and he was suddenly at risk for deportation. “I was in literal shock, like, what the hell...
Carnegie Mellon president joins university leaders in condemning ‘unprecedented government overreach’
Presidents of nearly 200 U.S. colleges and universities, including a dozen in Pennsylvania, have co-signed a letter condemning what they called “unprecedented government overreach and political interference” by the federal government. Carnegie Mellon University President Farnam Jahanian was the lone co-signer from a Southwestern Pennsylvania institution. A Carnegie Mellon spokeswoman...
Student loans in default will be sent for collection. Here’s what to know for borrowers
NEW YORK — Starting next month, the Education Department says student loans that are in default will be referred for collections. Roughly 5.3 million borrowers are in default on their federal student loans and soon could be subject to having their wages garnished. Referrals for collection had been put on...
Hempfield adjusts school start times to consolidate bus runs, address driver shortage
Board members of Hempfield Area School District voted unanimously — although reluctantly in some cases — to shift the start and end times for school next year. “I think this is the better option. But I still feel bad,” school board member Diane Ciabattoni said. The start and end of...
Harvard sues Trump administration to stop freeze of more than $2 billion in grants
BOSTON — Harvard University announced Monday that it was suing the Trump administration to halt a freeze on more than $2.2 billion in grants after the institution said it would defy the Trump administration’s demands to limit activism on campus. In a letter to Harvard earlier this month, the Trump...
Student loans in default to be referred to debt collection, Education Department saysVideo
WASHINGTON — The Education Department will begin collection next month on student loans that are in default, including the garnishing of wages for potentially millions of borrowers, officials said Monday. Currently, roughly 5.3 million borrowers are in default on their federal student loans. The Trump administration ’s announcement marks an...
Team that resurrected dire wolf has Pitt, Penn State connectionsVideo
Some of the scientific groundwork that paved the way for a rebirth of the long-extinct dire wolf took place in Pennsylvania. With much fanfare, Texas company Colossal Biosciences announced April 7 that its scientists had returned the dire wolf, a species extinct for more than 10,000 years, “to its rightful...
Power tools: Robotics research at Carnegie Mellon aims to revolutionize everyday tasksVideo
At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, the world’s foremost tech conference, farming machinery giant Kubota introduced Flash, a vehicle-mounted camera that creates ultra-detailed images to help farmers care for their crops. It was an idea born in a Carnegie Mellon University robotics lab and another example of the revolutionary technology...
Questions emerge about how a deputy’s stepson became the accused gunman in deadly FSU shooting
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Amid the abandoned chemistry notes and other debris left behind after a deadly shooting at Florida State University are lingering questions about how the stepson of a beloved sheriff’s deputy tasked with school safety at a middle school became the accused gunman. Political science student Phoenix Ikner...
DEI rollbacks hit campus support systems for students of color
WASHINGTON — Campus mentors. Move-in events. Scholarships. Diversity offices that made them feel welcome on predominantly white campuses. As U.S. colleges pull back on diversity, equity and inclusion practices, students of color say they are starting to lose all of these things and more. The full scope of campus DEI...
