David Evans, a former staff director to the late  Sen. Pell (who devised the Pell Grant), says that the Pell Grant has been an important aid for students during economic downturns, and that cuts to  the grant would be  “penny wise but pound foolish”. He calls instead for a reexamination of  current requirements, such as degree completion, and to cut back on the use of Pell Grants by students attending for-profit schools.

Meanwhile, Frederick Hess, scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, believes the Pell Grant should be  re-imagined for a new era and a new type of student.  He calls for four major changes to the program that would encourage quicker completion of degrees, more customization of course offerings,  and lower costs.

Other experts who discussed the future of the Pell Grant included Sandy Baum, an independent higher-education-policy analyst and professor emerita of economics at Skidmore College, Michael McPherson, president of the Spencer Foundation, former University of Phoenix president Jorge Klor de Alva, University of Pennsylvania registrar Michelle H. Brown-Nevers, and Michelle Asha Cooper, president of the Institute for Higher Education Policy.

Read the full article here.

The participating schools were the International Academy of Design & Technology, Harrington College of Design, Brooks Institute,  and Collins College. The CEC donated $1 for each  “Like” on the schools’ fan pages.

The CEC says it has been partnering with the Ronald McDonald House Charities since the fall of  2009, and since then, CEC students, faculty, and staff  have contributed more than 3,000 volunteer hours to the RMHC.

According to this recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription required), Indiana is eager to help those who started college but never finished return to earn their degrees –  at less cost and with more convenient scheduling. Gov. Daniels of Indiana chartered the fully online Western Governors University as a state school in 2010. Indiana hopes the new school will help it meets its educational goal:  60% of residents holding baccalaureate degrees by 2025.

WGU was founded by 19 state governors in 1999, and serves students from all over the U.S. It’s supported by over 20 private corporations and foundations, such as AT&T, Google, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and Lumina Foundation, among others.

Classes at WGU are offered fully online, and are “competency-based” rather than credit-based. This means prior experience and knowledge can be a real benefit for those returning from the working world. They can work at their own pace and focus on the areas they don’t know rather the ones they do.  The school awards master’s and bachelor degrees in education, business, IT, and healthcare.

Though WGU is offered fully online, many other state schools throughout the country offer only some classes or degrees online. But as budgets are squeezed, it’s likely that an increasing number of state schools may take the online route to attract returning students.

Colleges and universities in Japan sent students and professors home over the past few days and wound down to basic functions amid fears of a meltdown at the nuclear plant 160 miles north of the city. The government has also imposed rolling blackouts and asked institutions to restrict their use of power.

Fifteen American students studying in Japan through a Reno-based program are safe and were not in any danger from last week’s historic earthquake, Carmelo Urza, who heads the University Studies Abroad Consortium, said Monday.

For those that remained in Tokyo, many had trouble even making it into work due to irregular train schedules and blackouts affecting traffic lights in bedroom communities outside Tokyo.

At least 2,400 deaths have been reported in the wake of a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan on Friday.

The number is expected to rise as officials grapple with the damage, and thousands more are missing or displaced from homes, according to the Associated Press.

Whether you’re focused on advertising and copywriting or painting and photography, you’ll want to customize your portfolio to highlight your particular creative strengths. And remember, whatever you do, make sure to avoid these five common portfolio mistakes!

Read more about creating a “killer” portfolio

Numerous gay suicides in the fall, including that of a student at Rutgers University, raised awareness of bullying, as have other incidents of bias: a gay-pride flag shredded last year at Elmhurst College, in Illinois, and one burned at Albion College, in Michigan.

Concerns about safety and comfort, recently reflected in the first national survey of the GLBT campus population, are leading more administrators to consider how their students feel and what kinds of programs and services may help.

A tragedy on an otherwise supportive campus can also alter perceptions of its climate. Tyler Clementi, a freshman at Rutgers, jumped to his death in October after his roommate used an Internet chat program to broadcast live video of Mr. Clementi and a male companion, investigators say.

“How students feel regardless of resources is the really important thing,” says Thomas E. Wesley, a master’s candidate in student-affairs administration at Michigan State University who works with the LGBT Resource Center there.

At Rhode Island, the GLBT Center is moving forward with a total budget of $181,000 this year (compared with $276,000 for the university’s multicultural center) and next month it will hold a symposium, a weeklong series of speakers and other events. The student-led Gay-Straight Alliance is helping organize Marriage Equality Week in the state and planning to cosponsor a campus show with the Asian Student Association.

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Boyd came to Kaplan last April after working as a professor of marketing and associate dean at the Mihaylo College of Business and Economics at  California State University – Fullerton.

For students at Amelia Earhart Middle School, an Algebra 1 app includes videos, the ability to take notes or record audio notes, equations broken down step by step, and sample problems that give students instant feedback on their progress.

Elsewhere in the Riverside district, as part of an effort to increase parent communication, expand learning time, and eliminate the digital divide between students of different socioeconomic backgrounds, all students at Central Middle School have been given netbooks loaded with digital textbooks.

Overall, the numerous digital-textbook and other technology initiatives in the district have been widely embraced, Superintendent Rick Miller says.

But the reality, in most schools districts, is that schools are struggling to find the money to build the infrastructure to support digital textbooks and provide students with the tools they need to access the materials.

Education officials believe that digital textbooks have moved fast forward in higher education over the past two years, and he predicts that K-12 will eventually follow.

OnlineSchools.net Relaunched

Education.org, a division of Monster Worldwide, has re-launched OnlineSchools.net to assist students and working adults seeking to enhance their lives through higher education.  With the addition of online and distance learning locations for many colleges and universities, it is now easier than ever to “learn anywhere, anytime”.

The revamped site serves as an important hub of valuable information from leaders in the market for online and distance learning programs.

OnlineSchools.net features a diverse mix of accredited online colleges and universities offering degree and certification programs in everything from Business and Technology to Criminal Justice and Design.

Visit OnlineSchools.net today for educational articles, interviews, accreditation information, financial resources,and tips for online learning success.

“That’s exciting and has important implications,” lead author, Dr. Catherine L. Davis, an associate professor of pediatrics at GHSU told the Augusta Chronicle.

“I think it shows that children being sedentary may adversely impact their ability to do mathematics. And that’s very important.”

Published online in the journal Health Psychology, the study showed that Augusta children, ages 7 to 11, were assigned to a group that received 20 minutes of aerobic exercise in an after-school program at the institute, one that got 40 minutes of exercise in a similar program or a group that had no exercise program. It used assessment tests to gauge cognitive and academic achievement.

Animal studies have found exercise seems to increase the release of growth factors in the brain that would result in more neurons and more blood vessels, Davis said.

Even more encouraging was that the study found that gender, race, socioeconomic factors or parental education did not change the impact of the exercise-induced increases. “Hopefully, it will be helpful for the disadvantaged groups,” she said.