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The United States of America and Mexico are strategic allies and critical economic partners. We share not only a 2,000 mile border but a dynamic commercial relationship that generates more than $500 billion in two-way trade and supports millions of jobs in both countries. Together with Canada, Mexico and the United States comprise one of the most competitive and successful regional economic platforms in the world, the sustained competitiveness of which is dependent in large measure on continued and deepened economic and commercial cooperation, integration, and policy alignment.
To further elevate and strengthen this dynamic bilateral commercial and economic relationship, President Obama and President Peña Nieto have agreed to establish a High Level Economic Dialogue (HLED). The HLED, which will be led at the cabinet level, is envisioned as a flexible platform intended to advance strategic economic and commercial priorities central to promoting mutual economic growth, job creation, and global competitiveness.
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A diverse group of higher education and state leaders, accreditors, and regulators led by former U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley and with deep involvement from APLU President Peter McPherson unveiled plans for an interstate reciprocity system that will streamline regulations and allow universities and colleges to more easily offer online courses across the country. A report by the Commission on the Regulation of Postsecondary Distance Educations seeks to free higher education institutions from the maze of costly, inefficient, and inconsistent regulations and laws in different states that often make it difficult to offer online courses to students who reside outside an institutions home state. The plan also sets in place consumer protections to safeguard students.
While the Commissions plan is based on the voluntary participation of states and institutions, it is expected to be widely adopted across the country since the proposal was developed by a diverse group of leaders representing the full spectrum of stakeholders in postsecondary distance education policy. To promptly move forward with implementation of the Commissions work, the Presidents' Forum and the Council of State Governments are hosting 47 state teams in Indianapolis next week to discuss the recommendations and corresponding next steps.
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A new study about grade inflation begins by quoting an 1894 report of a Harvard University committee that was distressed by grade inflation. Apparently at Harvard at the end of the 19th century, students were earning As for "work of not very high merit" and Bs "for work not far above mediocrity."
But after establishing that complaints about grade inflation have been rampant for well over 100 years, the study goes on the question the phenomenon as well as the significance of the evidence cited in many studies of grade inflation, namely changes in the average grade-point average. One author on grade inflation is charging that this new paper is flat-out wrong, in its numbers and analysis.
A better way to measure grade inflation, the new study argues, is to look at the "signaling" power of grades for employment (landing prestigious jobs and higher salaries). To the extent the relationship between earning high grades and doing better after college is unchanged and thats what the study finds the "value" of grades can be presumed to have held its ground, not eroded.
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It's hard to think of a study in the last decade that has had a bigger impact on public discourse about higher education and the internal workings of colleges and universities alike than has Academically Adrift.
The 2011 book, among the most extensive analyses of the extent and quality of college-level learning in many years, found that many students showed no meaningful gains on key measures of learning during their college years. The findings fed a burgeoning critique of higher education -- adding doubts about student learning to existing qualms about rising costs and degree completion -- and led many campuses to take a closer look at their students' performance and at the rigor and depth of their curriculums.
Two recent reports by a prominent researcher purport to challenge Academically Adrift's underlying conclusions about students' critical thinking gains in college, and especially the extent to which others have seized on those findings to suggest that too little learning takes place in college. The studies by the Council for Aid to Education show that students taking the Collegiate Learning Assessment made an average gain of 0.73 of a standard deviation in their critical thinking scores, significantly more than that found by the authors of Academically Adrift.
"The notion that college doesn't matter is inaccurate," Roger Benjamin, president of the Council for Aid to Education, said in an interview. (The council produces the CLA.) In the paper and a recent presentation of its data, Benjamin said that CAE's findings contrast with Academically Adrift's, though in the interview he sought to play down the extent to which his findings undermine those of the book.
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The project will assist institutions working on increasing participation in study abroad, encouraging diversity of participants, promoting health and safety, and enhancing the value of study abroad programs for its students.
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The University of Pennsylvania is like most colleges and universities in wanting to increase the number of its students with international experiences. But while many institutions have focused on increasing their study abroad numbers -- and a select few colleges and schools have even implemented requirements that students study overseas -- Penn has made a particularly big push on promoting noncredit international internships and post-graduation work opportunities as alternative ways for students to gain meaningful experiences abroad.
"Were not trying to undercut semesters abroad or years abroad; we are, however, recognizing the reality that theyre not growing," said Ezekiel J. Emanuel, the universitys vice provost for global initiatives, who speculates this is the case because students today have so many competing opportunities on campus. Semesterlong study abroad at Penn has been fairly flat, with the undergraduate participation rate hovering between 23 and 25 percent, while the total number of undergraduates studying abroad for a full year has decreased from 83 in 2005-6 to just 11 in 2011-12.
Summer and short-term study abroad has been growing, however, and the university is making a push to increase non-credit-bearing international internships and volunteer opportunities.
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A couple of years ago, the WorldWise contributor Francisco Marmolejo pondered whether the United States was moving backward in its connections with Brazil. He was concerned that the U.S.-Brazil Higher Education Consortia Program run by the U.S. Education Department was being hurt by budget cuts. He argued that in a time when higher education was growing in Latin America, there needed to be more, not fewer, programs focused on developing relationships between the United States and Brazil.
He was right about the importance of such links. But things are not so dire as our colleague predicted.
Just a few days ago, President Obama announced a new United States-Mexico Bilateral Forum on Higher Education, Innovation, and Research. "This forum will build upon the many positive educational and research linkages that already exist through federal, state, and local governments, public and private academic institutions, civil society, and the private sector," a press release notes. "It will bring together government agency counterparts to deepen cooperation on higher education, innovation, and research. It will also draw on the expertise of the higher-education community in both countries."
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Since the Boston Marathon bombings three weeks ago, the U.S. government has enacted just one significant security change: It has ordered increased scrutiny of international students coming into the country.
The policy directive, by the Department of Homeland Security, was prompted by news that a Kazakh student who is accused of hiding evidence for one of the bombing suspects had been permitted to enter the United States on a student visa that was no longer valid. The University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth had apparently terminated Azamat Tazhayakov's status as an international student weeks earlier, but a border agent at the airport did not have access to that information, even though it had been filed in a federal-government database.
While colleges applaud the steps to improve the sharing of informationand say they should have been made years agosome educators wonder if subjecting every foreign student to additional border screening, which can take up to several hours, is an overreaction. But more than that, they worry that the student-visa system could be scapegoated, as government officials seek to ensure a rattled public that they're taking national security seriously.
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U.S. higher education is uniquely positioned to contribute to the agriculture, health, and economic prosperity of developing countries. And the U.S. government plays an important role supporting such work. But that partnership between government and universities could be threatened as lawmakers look for places to cut federal spending-- and with foreign aid an all-too-frequent target. As a former administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development and a former president of Michigan State University, Ive seen what we can do in developing countries and strongly believe we must continue to do such work even in tight budgetary times.
Broad-based economic growth in developing countries requires three things: a more educated population, stronger institutions, and new technology. U.S. higher education has in the past made a contribution to those areas and must continue to to do so.
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