Education category, Page 50
How can college students stay safe? Regional college officials weigh in
Since November, the murders of four University of Idaho students have captivated cable news audiences, permeated social media dialogues and caused some college students to question their safety on and around their campuses. The four students were fatally stabbed in their off-campus rental home in the early hours of Nov....
Schools face pressure to take harder line on discipline
As kids’ behavior reaches crisis points after the stress and isolation of pandemic shutdowns, many schools are facing pressure from critics to rethink their approaches to discipline — including policies intended to reduce suspensions and expulsions. Approaches such as “restorative justice” were adopted widely in recent decades as educators updated...
Point Park University president steps down
Point Park University President Donald Green is stepping down after 18 months on the job. The 58-year-old notified the university’s board of trustees that his decision “is for private, personal and family reasons,” officials said in a statement Friday. Green’s resignation was effective immediately. Green follows at least three other...
Fate of Pitt’s English Language Institute remains uncertain
For years, Taylor Swift fans have sung along with the artist’s mega-hit “I Knew You Were Trouble” as they nursed their own heartbreaks, speculating which one of her exes inspired the song. But for two instructors at the University of Pittsburgh’s English Language Institute, there’s another reason why many people...
Derry Area student surprised with full tuition scholarship to Thiel
When Derry Area High School senior Cydney Wierzbowski was called down to the school guidance office early Tuesday morning, for a moment, she thought she might be in trouble. “I was in math class, and I was pulled out to go to guidance for I did not know what,” Wierzbowski...
Wealth looms big as ever in post-scandal college admissions
Celebrities wept in court. Coaches lost their jobs. Elite universities saw their reputations stained. And nearly four years later, the mastermind of the Varsity Blues scheme was sentenced this month to more than three years in prison. But there’s little belief the college bribery scandal has stirred significant change in...
Carnegie Mellon administrator Rick Siger nominated by Gov.-elect Shapiro for cabinet post
A Carnegie Mellon University administrator and former Obama administration official is Gov.-elect Josh Shapiro’s pick to serve as secretary of the state Department of Community and Economic Development. Rick Siger, chief of staff and senior adviser to the president at Carnegie Mellon, will begin the job next Tuesday after Shapiro...
Pitt to close English Language Institute
For almost six decades, international students have come to a University of Pittsburgh institute to improve their English and, in many cases, they would eventually teach the language to others. Most who have enrolled in the university’s English Language Institute are in Pittsburgh to immerse themselves in intensive, noncredit training...
Feds propose ‘student loan safety net’ alongside forgiveness
WASHINGTON — The White House is moving forward with a proposal that would lower student debt payments for millions of Americans now and in the future, offering a new route to repay federal loans under far more generous terms. President Joe Biden announced the repayment plan in August, but it...
Western Pa. technical schools among recipients of $1.2M in state equipment grants
Parkway West Career & Technology Center Executive Director Darby Copeland was frank about educators’ ability to keep their students on the cutting edge of technology. “Like all schools, none of us has a big bucket of money laying around,” Copeland said. That made it all the more important for Copeland...
$19.5M Life Sciences Building set for debut at Pitt-Greensburg campus
The University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg plans to unveil its new Life Sciences Building this week, as the spring semester gets underway at the campus in Hempfield. An open house for the campus community Monday will be followed Thursday by a 4 p.m. public dedication ceremony and walk-through of the two-story...
Pa. state system schools look to outfit police with body cameras
Slippery Rock University is seeking grants to begin outfitting its 11 police officers and five patrol cars with body and vehicle cameras that can record interactions with students, employees and the general public. The school with 8,200 students isn’t the only state-owned university poised to take that step. Campuses across...
Biggest boost in a decade brings maximum Pell Grant award to nearly $7,400 for college students
Millions of college students who receive the federal need-based Pell Grant will see the yearly maximum award increase by $500 to $7,395 this fall, the largest boost in a decade and the second increase in two years. The boost is tucked into the $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill to operate...
Pa. state system universities try to rein in student costs to reverse enrollment losses
The promise of a new $90 million science hall, suite-style dorms and a scenic oak grove aren’t bad selling points for a public university. But these days, Indiana University of Pennsylvania can trumpet something else that might have seemed unlikely not long ago: It’s noticeably less expensive. The typical total...
Pitt offering $300K grant to group that comes up with best carbon neutrality plan
Maybe the spark will come from a group of students with an idea bigger than their budgets or from professors whose research needs a financial nudge toward fruition. It might even originate with philanthropic groups or businesses beyond campus that share an environmental bent. If money motivates, then the University...
$2.2M federal grant to advance Duquesne’s new college of osteopathic medicine
The first entering class of students at Duquesne University’s proposed college of osteopathic medicine will be outfitted with devices to aid patient examinations in remote areas under an award from the federal government. Money for the portable ultrasound handheld devices is included in a $2.2 million grant to help finance...
Duquesne University to begin construction on new 11-story student apartment building next month
Duquesne University plans to begin construction next month on a new 11-story student apartment building on Forbes Avenue. The 556-bed facility will include amenity spaces, bicycle parking, a fitness area and outdoor courtyards available to residents, students and others in the community, the university said. The new building, located next...
Pitt’s chancellor, top deputies receive 4.25% raises
Ten top University of Pittsburgh officials will receive 4.25% raises next year, boosting their base salaries to between $260,625 and just more than $1 million. The Compensation Committee of Pitt’s board of trustees approved the raises for Chancellor Patrick Gallagher and nine of his top deputies in a unanimous vote...
Pitt committee approves up to $10M for land deal in BioForge project
A panel of University of Pittsburgh trustees on Wednesday authorized spending up to $10 million to acquire a piece of property in Hazelwood Green to develop a cell and gene therapy manufacturing facility. The three-acre property known as Lot 18 would become home to BioForge. “BioForge will be designed to...
Karen Riley named 18th president of Slippery Rock University
Karen Riley, provost at Regis University in Denver, has been named the next president of Slippery Rock University. The State System of Higher Education’s board of governors on Wednesday chose Riley to succeed William Behre, who in February announced that he would retire at the end of this academic year....
Some Penn State Law faculty say main campus presence needed in possible law schools merger
Dozens of Penn State Law faculty are urging those weighing their school’s reunification with Dickinson Law in Carlisle to consider what Penn State University would lose if the combined entity lacks a significant University Park presence. A statement endorsed by 42 of Penn State Law’s 51 fulltime faculty stopped short...
States’ varying laws on reproductive rights impacting college decisions for some Pa. students
Mt. Lebanon High School senior Janet Montgomery said she will continue her education at St. John’s College in Maryland mostly because of what the picturesque liberal arts school has to offer academically. But what some states aren’t offering — or soon might not be offering — in terms of reproductive...
Slippery Rock University trustees narrow choices for new president down to 2 people
The search for Slippery Rock University’s next president is down to a pair of provosts, one from Colorado and the other from Texas. Slippery Rock’s council of trustees, meeting Friday, voted to send to the State System of Higher Education the candidacies of Karen Riley, provost at Regis University in...
Real-world events, from Mars rover to covid-19 to Artemis rocket, are shaping future scientists
For Alison Bresnahan, there isn’t a better time to be a science teacher. From NASA’s Artemis 1 moon mission to the James Webb Space Telescope to the Mars Perseverance rover to even the covid-19 pandemic, significant real-world events are inspiring the next generation of scientists — even if they don’t...
Indiana University of Pennsylvania to cut tuition for full-time, out-of-state undergrads by 20%
Indiana University of Pennsylvania says it is cutting the tuition price it will charge out-of-state undergraduate students next fall by as much as nearly 20%. It is switching to a flat rate instead of per-credit pricing for such students who are enrolled full time. The school’s Council of Trustees on...
