Education category, Page 13
Glitches, unproven tech in Pa.’s new financial aid system exacerbated delays for thousands of students
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. By October, the scale of the crisis was clear. State grants that thousands of students were counting on to pay for college were weeks behind...
Judge pauses effort to revoke status of Gannon U. students from India
A federal judge in Pittsburgh on Thursday reinstated — at least temporarily — two international students at Gannon University in Erie who learned this month their status as scholars had been terminated by the Trump administration. The students — who sued the U.S. attorney general, secretary of the Department of...
College faculty, students, union members rally in Pittsburgh to defend higher education
The government is robbing Americans of the research and treatments they deserve, a University of Pittsburgh laboratory manager said during a rally Thursday in Schenley Plaza. Diversity, equity and inclusion aren’t mere buzzwords, said an associate dean from Pitt. This was the sentiment from Pittsburgh-based professors, leaders and union members...
Penn State branch campus closure announcement delayed
Upper Burrell Supervisor Ross G. Walker III hopes no news is good news. The longtime township supervisor said that, since learning of the potential closure of his township’s Penn State New Kensington campus, he has not heard anything from Penn State administration regarding the school’s future. “It could make you...
Trump administration takes aim at Harvard’s international students and tax-exempt status
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s administration has escalated its ongoing battle with Harvard, threatening to revoke the university’s ability to host international students as the president called for withdrawing Harvard’s tax-exempt status. The Department of Homeland Security ordered Harvard late Tuesday to turn over “detailed records” of its foreign student...
LEAP preschool at Sharpsburg’s Watson Institute the only one of its kind in Allegheny County
Teacher Christine Kunkel kicks off each day with a morning meeting that finds her shaking her arms, patting her stomach and pretending to swim. The meeting participants — 3- and 4-year-olds at the Watson Institute’s LEAP preschool in Sharpsburg — follow suit, singing and dancing on a colorful mat near...
Ingomar Middle School teacher leaves lasting legacy of inspiring and uplifting students
Students at Ingomar Middle School are learning how to connect to different communities and have healthy habits, thanks to Margo Hinton. Hinton, a physical education teacher at Ingomar, has organized and helped lead several programs at the middle school, including the Student Ambassador Program, which she started in 2019. “The...
Head Start funding lags by nearly $1 billion this year, causing some preschool closures
Head Start centers across the U.S. have received nearly $1 billion less in federal money compared with this time last year — and a lag in funding this week has caused some preschool classrooms for low-income children to close. The federal government has distributed $1.6 billion for Head Start from...
How war, money and the quest for discovery entwined U.S. government and universities
NEW YORK — The showdown between the Trump administration and Harvard University is spotlighting bare-knuckled politics and big dollar figures. But in the battle of the moment, it’s easy to lose sight of a decades-long alliance between the U.S. government and the nation’s most prominent universities, forged to fight a...
Podcast: College students voice fear, anxiety over visa revocations
A rising wave of fear and uncertainty is spreading among international students in Pittsburgh and throughout the United States, as visa revocations become more frequent under the Trump administration. Some students who have not violated any immigration rules are choosing to stay in the U.S., during college breaks, rather than...
Trump administration sues Maine over participation of transgender athletes in girls sports
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration said Wednesday it is suing Maine’s education department for not complying with the government’s push to ban transgender athletes in girls and women’s sports, escalating a dispute over whether the state is abiding by a federal law that bars discrimination in education based on sex....
‘I have not even stepped out of the house’: 2 Carnegie Mellon students testify to keep federal exchange status intact
Two international Carnegie Mellon University graduate students, whose ability to study in the U.S. was terminated under a crackdown by the Trump administration, testified Tuesday in federal court as they sought to restore their status and complete their education. The students said their appearance in a Downtown Pittsburgh courtroom marked...
Hempfield Area School Board considers shifting school start, dismissal times
Hempfield Area School District’s students might get home earlier next academic year. The school board will vote next week on whether to make an adjustment to the district’s arrival and dismissal schedule. The adjustment would place the high school and middle school students on the same schedule — shifting the...
Building projects, staffing among priorities for Hempfield Area’s school board candidates
Renovation projects. Teacher recruitment and retention. Student performance. Open communication with the community. These are the priorities for the five candidates running for four open spots on the Hempfield Area School Board this year. Two candidates are incumbents — Jerry Radebaugh and Scott Learn. The newcomers are Cory Thoma, Lindsay...
Faced with a perfect storm, small local colleges try to navigate the future
“If you build it, they will come” was not the way to go about higher education in Pennsylvania, experts say. Declining birth rates and rising tuition costs are combining with other economic factors to make it harder — especially for smaller campuses — to fight enrollment declines and survive. “It’s...
Greensburg Salem Food launches food program through Ashley Kertes memorial fund
Christina Gongaware Noga knows her late sister would be proud that money raised in her memory is helping combat food insecurity at Greensburg Salem’s Hutchinson Elementary. Gongaware Noga launched the Ashley Gongaware Kertes Fund last year on behalf of her sister, who died unexpectedly at age 36 in March 2023....
Local administrators give job interview practice to Pitt-Greensburg education students amid statewide teacher shortage
A smile still comes to Alex Murray’s face when he recalls the words his Beaver County high school art teacher told him two days out from summer vacation. Murray spent four weeks creating a face mask inspired by characters from book-turned-film “Pan’s Labyrinth” — a task his teacher once told...
Seton Hill students pitch business ideas, solutions in ‘Shark Tank’-style contest
Seton Hill student Nora Ozimek knew in high school she wanted to pursue a career in science. But even Ozimek, a junior studying biology and chemistry, admits that reading through research papers and journal articles is not her favorite task. The aspiring research and development scientist was one of a...
Carnegie Mellon students tense and anxious amid visa revocations
Skand Vijay won’t attempt to visit his home in India until he graduates from Carnegie Mellon University. He’s too nervous about the possibility of not being allowed back into the United States. Vijay hasn’t done anything to jeopardize his visa. Still, as fellow international students are having their visas revoked,...
Trump administration freezes $1.8 billion for Cornell and Northwestern
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has frozen more than $1 billion in federal funding for Cornell University and about $790 million for Northwestern University while the government investigates alleged civil rights violations at the schools, the White House said. It’s part of a broader push of using taxpayer dollars to...
‘I only have a semester left’: Carnegie Mellon student among those whose visas were terminated
Jayson Ma received the same email as everyone else at Carnegie Mellon University on Monday afternoon. The message, sent by the provost, announced the federal government had terminated the visas for two of Carnegie Mellon’s current international students, making them ineligible to continue studying in the United States. “I was...
Are you smarter than a 6th grader? Western Pa. middle schoolers compete in Civics Bee
Which unmet constitutional standard did James Madison and Thomas Jefferson cite in their arguments against establishing a national bank? If your answer to that query was not the “Necessary and Proper Clause,” you may not have performed well against the 18 middle school students who competed in the Civics Bee...
Trump administration halts $1 billion in federal funding for Cornell, $790 million for Northwestern
WASHINGTON — More than $1 billion in federal funding for Cornell University and around $790 million for Northwestern University has been frozen while the government investigates alleged civil rights violations at the schools, the White House said. It’s part of a broader push to use government funding to get major...
Federal crackdown on foreign students hits CMU, Pitt, Penn State
The U.S. government in recent weeks has terminated the visas of international students at universities across Pennsylvania, including in Pittsburgh, as part of a national crackdown on foreign scholars. Students have been targeted at Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh, Penn State University, the University of Pennsylvania and elsewhere....
Westmoreland Intermediate Unit to host interactive technology walk for students, families
The Westmoreland Intermediate Unit will host a Tech Trek event for families with students in grades three to eight from 6 to 8 p.m. on May 2. Educational technology company CodeJoy will engage attendees in a live robot television show, where students will learn to write code and control real...
