Education category, Page 51
IUP officials consider school of osteopathic medicine — 1st at a Pa. public university
Indiana University of Pennsylvania could open the state’s first school of osteopathic medicine at a public university, a venture to train and graduate professionals to improve rural health and advance Pennsylvania’s economy. A resolution to endorse the state-owned university to explore the school’s possible development was approved unanimously by IUP’s...
Pitt faculty members protest slow contract talks
About 75 University of Pittsburgh faculty members, frustrated by the slow pace of trying to secure their first union contract, protested Wednesday outside the provost’s office in the Cathedral of Learning. They did not manage to get a face-to-face meeting with Provost Ann Cudd, Pitt’s chief academic officer. Instead, the...
Citing competition and cost, Penn State looks to reunite its 2 law schools
Penn State University’s two separately accredited law schools would be reunited into one under a recommendation from university President Neeli Bendapudi. She and other leaders Tuesday cited an “extremely competitive legal education marketplace” and a desire to better focus resources in explaining the plan to combine Penn State Dickinson Law...
Pittsburgh school board takes stance on race, gender identity teaching in classroom
Pittsburgh Public Schools board members this week took a stance on four state House and Senate bills, unanimously passing a resolution that called the measures regarding race and gender identity “inconsistent” with the needs of district students. Pennsylvania House Bills 1532 and 2813 restrict certain teachings about race and sex,...
Biden to extend student loan pause as court battle drags on
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that his administration will extend the pause on federal student loan payments while the White House fights a legal battle to save his plan to cancel portions of the debt. “It isn’t fair to ask tens of millions of borrowers eligible for relief...
Slippery Rock University narrows presidential search to 4 finalists
Four finalists have emerged in the search for Slippery Rock University’s next president, with the short list including current and former campus leaders in Colorado, Minnesota, Texas and West Virginia. A panel seeking a successor to President William Behre identified the four finalists Tuesday and said each will be on...
Washington & Jefferson slashes published tuition price in attempt to remain competitive
Washington & Jefferson College is cutting its published tuition price nearly in half for fall 2023, a 44% price reset and another sign of the aggressive competition among the region’s colleges to keep seats filled in a slumping higher education market. The school with roughly 1,150 students calls the move...
Many colleges have dropped SAT requirements, but prospective students still face an uncertain landscape
An internal battle waged in Gabby Smith’s mind over her college admissions process. It wasn’t over which colleges to apply to or which major to choose. It had nothing to do with tuition costs or scholarships. The Plum senior struggled over a weighty decision that has come to the forefront...
Penn State president asks for ‘time and grace’ to meet diversity, inclusion goals
Penn State’s top official on Friday met with a handful of faculty to discuss concerns over the administration’s controversial decision to slash plans for a center designed to promote diversity and equality on campus. President Neeli Bendapudi participated in an online town hall-style meeting with six members of the faculty...
Survey asks Duquesne students about race, gender, sexuality as classroom topics
Students at Duquesne University received emails this month asking them to take a short survey to identify topics — such as race, gender and sexuality — that can make them uncomfortable when raised in class. It asks them to describe cases where professors responded well or poorly. “Recently, students have...
Pittsburgh Public School board member Kevin Carter won’t seek re-election
After serving two terms, Pittsburgh Public Schools board member Kevin Carter announced Thursday that he will not seek re-election. Carter, 33, was the youngest person ever elected to the school board when he took office in December 2015. He replaced longtime incumbent Mark Brently in PPS District 8, which includes...
Pittsburgh Career Institute juggles refunds, transfers, job losses as closure approaches
The president of a Pittsburgh for-profit career school that is headed for closure says its leaders sought a new accreditor and even considered selling the school but ultimately decided it had to close. Patti Yakshe said that her health care training school, Pittsburgh Career Institute, itself faced no sanctions from...
After pandemic plunge, international enrollment on nation’s campuses rebounds
A year after absorbing historic pandemic-driven losses, international enrollment at colleges in Pennsylvania and nationwide has rebounded, spurred by an 80% jump in new students and other gains, a new report says. The New York-based nonprofit Institute of International Education, in a survey released Monday, says the nation’s total international...
Hundreds of Penn State faculty are publicly and privately questioning university leadership
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 our regional newsletter, Talk of the Town. STATE COLLEGE — Hundreds of Penn State employees are challenging the university president’s leadership and...
Tuition border wars: Using Penn State threshold, SUNY the latest to target Pa. high schoolers
The pitch delivered on Twitter got right to the point: “If your high schooler wants to go to college in New York, the State University of New York offers same in-state tuition as Penn State.” In recent days, SUNY has made similar overtures in seven other states, mostly in the...
Penn State trustees set to vote on proposed $95M residence hall project at University Park
The sixth and final phase of work on Penn State University’s largest main campus residence complex is one step closer to moving forward now that a trustee committee has endorsed the proposed $95.3 million project. Penn State’s full Board of Trustees is scheduled to act on a project called East...
In 1 classroom, 4 teachers manage 135 kids — and love it
MESA, Ariz. — A teacher-in-training darted among students, tallying how many needed his help with a history unit on Islam. A veteran math teacher hovered near a cluster of desks, coaching some 50 freshmen on a geometry assignment. A science teacher checked students’ homework, while an English teacher spoke into...
Western Pa. campuses vow to stay diverse amid Supreme Court’s mulling of race-based admissions
If the U.S. Supreme Court prohibits universities from considering race in admissions, overturning four decades of legal precedent, campuses in Western Pennsylvania and across the country say they’ll still look for ways to make their enrollments diverse. “It will definitely have an effect on schools,” said Ann Schiavone, an associate...
Why Black faculty are questioning Penn State’s commitment to diversity, anti-racism
With Penn State in the spotlight for scrapping plans for a Center for Racial Justice, Black faculty members are questioning the university’s commitment to diversity and anti-racism — and a co-author of two reports that previously outlined Penn State’s shortcomings says its latest response simply isn’t good enough. At least...
New Stanton man, Seton Hill cybersecurity teacher, wins scholarship for IUP doctoral work
There has never been more need for cybersecurity , given growing concerns about cyberattacks on businesses and institutions and the threat of meddling on behalf of other countries. Brad Messner of New Stanton is teaching potential cybersecurity professionals at Greensburg’s Seton Hill University while continuing his own education in the...
Penn State cancels its Center for Racial Justice after faculty push for funding decision
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 our regional newsletter, Talk of the Town. STATE COLLEGE — Penn State will not launch its Center for Racial Justice, a key...
Design work to begin on $22M expansion of IUP’s growing Academy of Culinary Arts
Design work for a $22 million project in Punxsutawney to expand and renovate Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s Academy of Culinary Arts is expected to start now that funding to develop drawings has been approved. The $2.9 million for that work, included in the State System of Higher Education’s recently adopted...
Test scores show historic covid setbacks for kids across U.S.Video
WASHINGTON — The covid-19 pandemic caused historic learning setbacks for America’s children, sparing no state or region as it erased decades of academic progress and widened racial disparities, according to results of a national test that provide the sharpest look yet at the scale of the crisis. Across the country,...
Here’s how to apply for student loan forgiveness
NEW YORK — President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness program. announced in August, will cancel up to $20,000 in debt per borrower. The application process is now open, and the administration says the forms should take five minutes to complete. Borrowers who apply before mid-November should see forgiveness before Jan....
Application site launches for Biden student debt cancellation
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Education Department has begun accepting applications for President Joe Biden’s student debt cancellation — a plan that makes 43 million Americans eligible for at least some debt forgiveness. Borrowers were notified late Friday that an early, “beta launch” version of a new online form was made...
