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Welcome to The EDU Ledger! We’ve moved from Diverse: Issues In Higher Education.

Coordinating University and Religious Calendars: An Inclusive Practice

Like most university students, at the start of every semester I look at my course syllabi. I skim the course readings and assignments, but what I am really looking for is the calendar. More specifically, I am looking for how the calendar will overlap with the religious holidays I observe. Like most non-Christian university students, I can expect my holidays to be largely overlooked when it comes to course planning and university events.

July 14, 2021

University of Kentucky College of Medicine Receives $22M From Alumnus

The University of Kentucky’s College of Medicine received $22 million — its second largest donation ever — from Kentucky native and UK alumnus Dr. Michael D. Rankin. In donating the gift, Rankin described his own challenges of struggling to pay for a degree as a rural student who dreamed of becoming a doctor. “UK was […]

July 14, 2021

Dr. Michael Rankin. Photo by Steve Shaffer | UKphoto

African-American

Amid Falling Enrollment, SC State Board of Trustees Fires Its President

In a 10-3 vote, the South Carolina State University’s board of trustees voted to fire SCSU President Dr. James Clark, reports The State. Alexander Conyers, a retired U.S. Army Colonel, SCSU alumnus and a current vice president at the university, will serve as acting president for the historically Black university. According to The State, Clark was fired […]

July 14, 2021

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Illinois Bill Could Require a Liaison for Undocumented Students at Public Universities

Illinois colleges and universities could be required to create a liaison position to support undocumented students if the state’s governor, J.B. Pritzker, signs House Bill 3438 into law, reports the Illinois News Room. Sent to Pritzker in June, the bill requires all public universities and colleges designate a “Dream Resource Liaison,” who would help undocumented […]

July 14, 2021

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Dept. of Education Temporarily Changes Student Aid Verification Process

The U.S. Department of Education will temporarily change its federal student aid verification process for the 2021-22 award year by focusing on identity theft and fraud in an effort to help students hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic. Verification is an administrative process that requires Pell-eligible student aid applicants to submit additional documentation, such as transcripts […]

July 14, 2021

NCAA Name, Image, and Likeness Policy Change Ushers in a New Paradigm

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) adoption of a new policy on July 1 that allowed players to be able to profit from their name, image, and likeness (NIL), has ushered in a new era for college athletics. It is an inflection point that will create a new paradigm that multiple stakeholders will have to adjust to. It represents a major deviation from a status quo that has been in place for generations. Players will now be able to cash in on the fame that the platform of college sports provides for the first time.

July 14, 2021

Webinar Calls on K-12, Higher Education to Promote Civic Learning and Engagement

As misinformation and government-related conspiracy theories continue to divide the nation, the Educational Testing Service (ETS) hosted a webinar on Tuesday to discuss the need to promote civic readiness within the K-12 education system.

July 13, 2021

ETS Civic Engagement

Emory University’s Business School Creates $5M Endowment to Increase Graduate Women Enrollment

Educator Rosemary Brown and John Brown, chairman emeritus of Stryker Corporation, donated $5 million to Emory University’s Goizueta Business School with the goal of increasing graduate program enrollment of women. While females earn over half of all undergraduate degrees, only 38% hold an MBA degree, according to the Women’s Leadership Gap. The gift by the […]

July 13, 2021

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NASA Donates $64.1M to Fund University-Led Research Initiative

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) awarded The Catholic University of America $64.1 million—the largest research grant in the school’s history—to establish the Partnership for Heliophysics and Space Environment Research (PHaSER). Through a cooperative agreement between Catholic’s Institute for Astrophysics and Computational Sciences, University of Maryland College Park, George Mason University, Univ. of Maryland […]

July 13, 2021

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Boston’s Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology Names Its First Female President

Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology (BFIT), a nonprofit technical and trade college in Boston, has named Dr. Aisha Francis as its new president. She is the first woman to serve in the role in the school’s more than 100 year history. Francis has nearly two decades of higher education and nonprofit experience under her belt. […]

July 13, 2021

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Coppin State Creates Scholarship in Honor of Freddie Gray

Baltimore’s Coppin State University has created a new scholarship — the Freddie Gray Student Success Scholarship — that will benefit graduates of the local Carver Vocational-Technical High School. Gray, who died in 2015 after he was arrested by Baltimore police, was an alumni of the high school. The scholarship is worth $25,000 and is funded […]

July 13, 2021

Steve Fund, JED’s Equity in Mental Health Framework Shows Promising Results

Students of color are almost twice as likely to not seek mental health care, compared to White students, according to the Steve Fund, a mental health nonprofit devoted to young people of color, and The Jed Foundation, a nonprofit devoted to preventing suicide. That’s why, in 2017, the two nonprofits provided institutions with a set […]

July 13, 2021

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American Educational Research Association Announces 2021’s Fellows

Having demonstration “distinguished and sustained research achievements,” 19 scholars have been named AERA Fellows by the American Educational Research Association. They join the 676 current AERA Fellows. “We are delighted to honor these highly accomplished scholars for their contributions to education research and their commitment to the field,” said AERA Executive Director Dr. Felice J. […]

July 13, 2021

Improving on Branson’s “Affirmative Action” to Space

If Richard Branson really wants to make a mass impact, here’s how to make a difference. Endow no-strings scholarships to people for whom a quality education would be out of reach, and the idea of going to a great college seems like the University of Pluto. Far more than a mere flight to the edge of space, Branson could put wealth and people into orbit in a much more effective and practical way.

July 13, 2021

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New Approaches To STEM Engage Traditionally Underrepresented Students

When Dr. Felesia Stukes joined the faculty at Johnson C. Smith University (JCSU) in 2017, she was the first Black computer science faculty member in the HBCU’s 150-year history. Today, she is working hard to lay a foundation for her students to become future colleagues. Part of that process requires understanding the reasons why students of color all too often choose not to pursue STEM fields despite interest and ability.

July 13, 2021

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Fall 2019 Freshman Class: How COVID Impacted Re-Enrollment

The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center’s report on retention and persistence rates for the fall 2019 freshman cohort, shows a marked decrease in return enrollment and is a direct reflection of the pandemic-related struggles experienced by first-year higher education students during the onset of COVID-19.

July 12, 2021

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Six Months Later, MacKenzie Scott’s Gifts Are Already Making an Impact

With the freedom of no-strings attached, HBCUs are planning to use MacKenzie Scott’s philanthropic gifts in a variety of ways including helping their students financially, doubling their institutional endowments, and investing in faculty development. With a new school year slated to begin next month, many of these institutions have already started to put the funds to use.

July 12, 2021

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N.J. To Distribute $30M More in Federal COVID Aid to Colleges and Universities

New Jersey is doling out $30 million more in federal aid to help its colleges and universities recover from the coronavirus pandemic and prepare for the future. The majority of the funding, $28.5 million, will go to nearly three dozen schools that applied to the state’s competitive grant program, “Opportunity Meets Innovation Challenge,” in which the money […]

July 12, 2021