Higher Ed News of the Week 4/5/19

A weekly roundup of news in higher education, organized by the numbers making the headlines:

One college every 10 days: Test optional admissions policies in which applicants are not required to submit standardized test scores such as the ACT and SAT have become much more common in the past several years. So far in 2019, there have been 10 colleges and universities that have announced they will no longer require standardized test scores, a pace of about one announcement every ten days. The watershed moment in the move to test-optional policies was the University of Chicago’s decision last year to no longer require standardized test scores for acceptance. Chicago’s decision lent legitimacy to the practice that was once seen as a safer option for less selective schools. It remains to be seen whether the latest college admissions scandal, which included falsified test scores, will lead other schools to abandon standardized tests. (Inside Higher Ed)

14% of waitlisted students: A Quartz article this week explored the ethics of college waitlists. Some schools have waitlists with thousands of students and will only end up admitting a small fraction of them. The National Association of College Admissions Counseling found in 2016 that only 14% of students on waitlists at the most selective colleges were admitted. At some schools, it’s even lower: last year, Cornell University admitted just 1.3% of the 5,714 students on its waitlist. To some, waitlists seem like a cruel purgatory that just prolongs a student’s misery. To others, waitlists are a nice way of letting someone down by allowing them to say, “I was almost admitted to _____.” I think schools should use waitlists with an admissions purpose in mind (e.g., rounding out the class) and worry less about the quasi-prestige they may give to a student (or their parents) with a waitlist offer. (Quartz)

2011: In an excellent longform piece published this week, Kevin Carey details how online program managers (OPMs) have fundamentally changed online education and “corporatized” what was once promised as a low-cost alternative. A significant moment in the development of OPMs was a decision by the Department of Education in 2011 to approve tuition-sharing between colleges and third-party firms. This, according to Carey, opened the doors for OPMs to reap enormous profits by managing course content, marketing, technology, and support services for online education. (HuffPost)

$425 per month: Speaking on online programs (though in a more positive light), Boise State University has piloted a new initiative to offer online programs on a monthly subscription basis. The program, called Passport for Education, offers two online bachelor’s degrees that students pay for on a month-to-month basis. A student enrolling in 18 credits per year would pay $425 per month, which is 18% less than standard tuition rates. And the rates won’t change for 7 years. This program is intended to reach Idaho’s rural population, which doesn’t have ready access to higher education, and the 300,000 Idaho residents who either have an associate’s degree or have some college experience but no degree. (Inside Higher Ed)

150+ college teams: Colorado State University hosted a collegiate log-rolling competition this week with over 150 colleges competing. I’ve previously reported on the rise of esports on college campuses, but never would have guessed there were so many log rolling teams! (KDVR Fox Denver)