Education category, Page 6
Penn State president’s raise turns heads, but some say it’s a reflection of the industry
To some Penn State faculty members, recent decisions from the university’s Board of Trustees have had a bit of a whiplash effect. In May, trustees voted to close the New Kensington and Fayette campuses in two years — as well as five others — citing enrollment and financial declines and...
Slippery Rock enrollment up 2.75% — its highest increase in 9 years
Slippery Rock University is experiencing record enrollment and retention rates this fall semester. Total enrollment at the Butler County state college is 8,625 students, a 2.75% increase from last fall, according to the university. It’s Slippery Rock’s largest single-year increase in the past nine years. There are 1,549 full-time, first-year...
PennWest, IUP partner with Google to expand AI training
When leaders in the business, manufacturing and education fields seek PennWest University students for internships and jobs, they’re not just asking if candidates are skilled in artificial intelligence. They’re also asking if the students can lead AI training and development for their potential peers, said Camille Dempsey, director of the...
Hempfield to pilot Lego-based therapy program at 2 elementaries
Two Hempfield Area elementary schools will pilot a Lego-based therapy program this school year. Carnegie Mellon University partnered with a Western Pennsylvania nonprofit called Matt’s Maker Space to bring the Brick Club program to the region’s schools. The concept comes from Play Included, a company based in Cambridge, England, that...
Pitt’s new $240M rec center is a game-changer for students — and it’s free to use
Carla Panzella says she has a different answer each time she’s asked about her favorite part of the University of Pittsburgh’s new 270,000-square-foot recreation and wellness center. There’s much to pick from at the new space, which opened to Pitt students Sunday at 3921 O’Hara St. It boasts nine stories,...
Duquesne University to offer real estate major
A college degree isn’t required to hold a real estate license, but Duquesne University officials say a new program they’ll offer will give students a leg up in that field. Duquesne will be offering an undergraduate Real Estate major, minor and certificate program beginning next fall. “There’s a lot of...
Oklahoma court stops social studies standards with 2020 election misinformation from taking effect
OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma Supreme Court temporarily put on hold proposed new social studies standards for K-12 public school students that include conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. The state’s high court issued a temporary stay on Monday while a lawsuit filed by a group of parents and educators...
CCAC reports 9% enrollment increase over last fall
The Community College of Allegheny County is seeing a larger student population — just over 9% more than last year — this fall, said President Quintin Bullock. “This is probably the largest increase we’ve experienced in the last five years,” Bullock told TribLive. While numbers will be finalized later in...
Trump administration boosts HBCU funding after cutting grants for Hispanic-serving colleges
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is redirecting nearly $500 million in federal funding toward historically Black colleges and tribal colleges, a one-time investment covered primarily by cuts to other colleges serving large numbers of minority students. The Education Department announced the funding boost days after cutting $350 million from other...
Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi gets 47% raise in wake of campus closure decision
Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi’s base salary will increase 47% in an effort, approved Friday by the university’s board of trustees, to keep her as president until 2032. The trustees voted 34-1 to approve Bendapudi’s new compensation package, which increases her base salary from $950,000 to $1.4 million, an increase...
Penn State to close WPSU radio station
Penn State will shut down its public radio station, WPSU, after trustees voted against a proposal to transfer its operating assets to WHYY, a public media organization in Philadelphia. WPSU has depended on annual subsidies of at least $3.4 million from the university to operate the station. The university budgeted...
Western Pa. college campuses grapple with fear and security after Charlie Kirk’s killing
Seton Hill student Romilleigh Donovan disagreed with viewpoints of late conservative political activist Charlie Kirk, who was shot and killed while speaking at a college in Utah. Still, Donovan, a sophomore studying criminal justice, was deeply troubled by Kirk’s death on Wednesday. “I was appalled, but I was not surprised...
Western Pa. college students grapple with fear and security after Charlie Kirk’s killing
Seton Hill University student Romilleigh Donovan disagreed with viewpoints of late conservative political activist Charlie Kirk, who was shot and killed while speaking at a college in Utah. Still the sophomore studying criminal justice was deeply troubled by Kirk’s death on Wednesday. “I was appalled, but I was not surprised...
Judge issues nationwide block on Trump policy that cuts off Head Start for people in U.S. illegally
A federal judge has issued a nationwide block on a Trump administration directive that prevented children in the U.S. illegally from enrolling in Head Start, a federally funded preschool program. Head Start associations in several states filed suit against the policy change by the U.S. Department of Health and Human...
Hundreds of Pennsylvania educators call for cyber charter funding reform in state budget
Hundreds of Pennsylvania school district administrators are calling for cyber charter funding reform to be included in the state’s 2025-26 budget. A letter featuring signatures from administrators at 215 schools was sent to state legislators Thursday — calling for a cyber charter funding formula that reflects the true cost of...
Trump administration cuts grants for minority-serving colleges, declaring them unconstitutional
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is ending several grant programs reserved for colleges that have large numbers of minority students, saying they amount to illegal discrimination by tying federal money to racial quotas. In a shift upending decades of precedent, the Education Department said Wednesday it now believes it’s unconstitutional...
High school seniors’ math, reading scores declining, national report says
High school seniors’ math and reading comprehension are on the decline, according to a national report. The National Center for Education Statistics, part of the U.S. Department of Education, administered the National Assessment of Educational Progress to a sample of students from 1,500 schools throughout the country from January to...
U.S. high school students lose ground in math and reading, continuing yearslong decline
WASHINGTON — A decade-long slide in high schoolers’ reading and math performance persisted during the covid-19 pandemic, with 12th graders’ scores dropping to their lowest level in more than 20 years, according to results released Tuesday from an exam known as the nation’s report card. Eighth-grade students also lost significant...
Central Westmoreland CTC eyes campus, program expansion as enrollment increases
Central Westmoreland Career and Technology Center is outgrowing the buildings on its 44-acre campus in New Stanton — noting a more than 500-student increase in enrollment in the past five years. One of more than 80 career and technical education centers statewide, Central Westmoreland will educate 1,518 students this year...
Carnegie Mellon creates committee to discuss role of The Fence tradition
Carnegie Mellon University President Farnam Jahanian on Thursday announced an official 17-member group tasked with making new recommendations for operation of The Fence, which has been a long-standing campus tradition. The announcement came in a letter two months after Jahanian temporarily shut down use of the Fence. The closure followed...
Students return to an updated Sewickley Academy Senior School
Nataliya DiDomenico, Global Studies Coordinator and English as a Foreign Language teacher, sat at a new desk waiting for her first class of the school year. “I am excited,” said DiDomenico, who is in her 14th year at Sewickley Academy. “I feel like my students will be energized. Everything is...
Judge reverses Trump administration’s cuts of billions of dollars to Harvard University
BOSTON — A federal judge in Boston on Wednesday ordered the reversal of the Trump administration’s cuts to more than $2.6 billion in funding research grants for Harvard University. U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs sided with the Ivy League school, ruling the cuts amounted to illegal retaliation for Harvard’s rejection...
Fetterman, McCormick call on Pa. universities to combat antisemitism
Pennsylvania’s two U.S. senators are calling on five of the state’s universities, including the University of Pittsburgh, to ensure that Jewish organizations on their campuses are “equipped to protect the students they serve.” U.S. Sens. John Fetterman, D-Braddock, and Dave McCormick, R-Pittsburgh, said their request comes on the heels of...
Hempfield resident’s donation to WCCC will support students in skilled trades, allied health
After a 43-year career in highway construction, Hempfield resident Bob Miner Jr. wants to give back to the skilled trades industry and his lifelong home, Westmoreland County. Miner, 70, started the Robert Miner Family Foundation in 2023 alongside his wife and daughter after selling his company, Donegal Construction. The foundation...
Nursing school? Workforce training? Ideas pitched for future use of PSNK property
Suggestions for what the Penn State New Kensington property will become post-spring 2027 range from a nursing school, to a manufacturing training center or a mixed-use site. But regardless of what eventually pans out, those who attended a invitation-only meeting with Penn State leadership at the PSNK campus this week...
