Monday, May 12College Admissions News

Author: Editor

Biden Will Extend Student Loan Payment Pause On Day One
17Jan By EditorNo Comments
Financial Aid

Biden Will Extend Student Loan Payment Pause On Day One

Biden Will Extend Student Loan Payment Pause On Day OnePresident-elect Joe Biden will be busy on his first day, signing nearly a dozen executive actions just after his inauguration. According to a memo obtained by Forbes from incoming White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain, Biden will issue these actions to combat four crises: the pandemic, the economic crisis, the climate crisis, and the racial equity crisis. Among the actions includes are re-joining the Paris Agreement, reversing the Muslim ban, and more. Student loan borrowers will also be happy to see that Biden will “ask the Department of Education to extend the existing pause on student loan payments and interest for millions of Americans with federal student loans.” Payments and interest for federally-held student loans are curre...
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Meet Joe Biden’s Science Team
17Jan By EditorNo Comments
Financial Aid

Meet Joe Biden’s Science Team

Meet Joe Biden’s Science TeamPresident-elect Joe Biden introduced the lead members of his White House science team on Saturday, saying "These are among the brightest, most dedicated people not only in the country but the world." Here are the seven senior members of Biden’s science group, along with brief summaries of their academic credentials. Eric Lander is Biden’s choice to lead the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and will also serve as his science adviser, a position that will be promoted to Cabinet status. "For the first time in history, I'm going to be elevating the presidential science adviser to a Cabinet rank, because we think it's that important," Biden said. Of course, that move is also intended to send a larger message to the American people - that science...
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Faculty Network interview: Daniel Cullen, Rhodes College
21Dec By EditorNo Comments
College Rankings

Faculty Network interview: Daniel Cullen, Rhodes College

Faculty Network interview: Daniel Cullen, Rhodes CollegeIn this occasional feature, FIRE interviews members of our Faculty Network to discuss their research, teaching, and advocacy on free expression at their institutions. This month, we interviewed Daniel Cullen, professor of political philosophy at Rhodes College. He was recently named to the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Academic Leaders Task Force on Campus Free Expression. Interviews are conducted via email and are lightly edited for length and clarity. They will run on FIRE’s Newsdesk about once a month. Most of our Newsdesk readers will be meeting you for the first time, so would you mind briefly discussing your academic background and teaching and research interests? I am a professor of political philosophy and the humanities at Rhod...
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CU Denver revises email policy, commits to upholding free speech
18Dec By EditorNo Comments
Financial Aid

CU Denver revises email policy, commits to upholding free speech

CU Denver revises email policy, commits to upholding free speechEach month, FIRE highlights one restrictive policy at a college or university as our “Speech Code of the Month.” Because it’s far from an award to be proud of, FIRE encourages institutions with these policies to amend them quickly. However, our words often go unheeded, exposing the university or college to costly legal battles and chilling student expression.  But not all institutions are content with leaving bad policies on their books. This month, FIRE’s December Speech Code of the Month recipient, the University of Colorado Denver, lived up to its obligation under the First Amendment by quickly revising an email policy that restricted student and faculty speech. From FIRE's 2021 Spotlight on Speech Codes Report. FIRE f...
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University of Notre Dame Merit Scholarships
17Dec By EditorNo Comments
College Search

University of Notre Dame Merit Scholarships

University of Notre Dame Merit ScholarshipsDescription English: The Main Building, Golden Dome, at the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana. Date 7 May 2015, 16:07:13 Source Own work Author Matthew Rice https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Main_Building_at_the_University_of_Notre_Dame.jpgFinding individual college merit scholarship information can take a lot of time. Instead, we’ve gathered the statistics you need to know about University of Notre Dame’s merit scholarships, at a quick glance. Before diving in, make sure to review The Ultimate Guide to Merit Scholarships.   University of Notre Dame’s Merit Scholarships Statistics Percentage of students with no financial need: 50% Percentage of students with no financial need who were awarded merit scholarships: 4% Averag...
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First Amendment News 281: Clearview face-recognition controversy continues — privacy v. free speech
17Dec By EditorNo Comments
College Search

First Amendment News 281: Clearview face-recognition controversy continues — privacy v. free speech

First Amendment News 281: Clearview face-recognition controversy continues — privacy v. free speechLast August we posted a story titled “Floyd Abrams’ march into postmodernity — facial recognition and the First Amendment.” That post began by quoting from a New York Times article: Clearview AI has hired Floyd Abrams, a top lawyer, to help fight claims that selling its data to law enforcement agencies violates privacy laws. . . . Litigation against the start-up “has the potential of leading to a major decision about the interrelationship between privacy claims and First Amendment defenses in the 21st century,” Mr. Abrams said in a phone interview. He said the underlying legal questions could one day reach the Supreme Court. At the time of that post, Mr. Abrams told FAN that there “are t...
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Professor Mike Adams’ suicide will always haunt me
15Dec By EditorNo Comments
Online Colleges

Professor Mike Adams’ suicide will always haunt me

Professor Mike Adams’ suicide will always haunt meIt’s been more than five months since former University of North Carolina Wilmington professor Mike Adams killed himself after being pushed into early retirement for offensive tweets. My friend David French and my colleague Robert Shibley already wrote powerful articles about it, but I knew eventually I needed to say my piece.  Mike S. Adams, from TwitterI first met Mike Adams back in 2001, when he was under investigation for responding dismissively to a student who was, as Mike summarized later, “blaming the 9/11 attacks on the United States Government,” all while the rubble was literally still smoking.  At the time, I was brand-new to FIRE.  Mike and I spoke on the phone many times as his case progressed. During one conver...
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FAFSA Resources for Students and Professionals
15Dec By EditorNo Comments
College Planning

FAFSA Resources for Students and Professionals

FAFSA Resources for Students and ProfessionalsTwitterFacebookLinkedinemailiStock Last week, the Department of Education wrapped up its four-day virtual Federal Student Aid (FSA) Training Conference. The conference mainly serves as an annual training for financial aid professionals who disburse federal aid to students on campus. COVID-19 has created a great deal of uncertainty among students and families, as well as admission and financial aid professionals. Foremost among these uncertainties is the fact that there has been a 15 percent decline in FAFSA submissions from high school seniors nationwide compared with the same time last year. Now, more than ever, students and families need information and support to complete the financial aid process. Some resources highlighted at the conferenc...
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Five years of the ‘Chicago Statement’: What have we learned? Part 2
14Dec By EditorNo Comments
College Search

Five years of the ‘Chicago Statement’: What have we learned? Part 2

Five years of the ‘Chicago Statement’: What have we learned? Part 2Editor’s Note: This is the second in a multi-part series reflecting on the impact of the “Report of the Committee on Freedom of Expression” at the University of Chicago (better known as the “Chicago Statement”), which was released in January 2015. Since then, FIRE has successfully advocated for colleges and universities across the nation to adopt the statement themselves in order to express their commitment to freedom of expression. In our first installment of this series, we journeyed back to 2014 to explore the beginnings of the Chicago Statement and discuss the impact it had on campuses across the nation to begin conversations about free expression. In this entry, we’ll explore some common critiques of the Chicago State...
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A breathtaking shift from autocracy to an open HE system
13Dec By EditorNo Comments
College Planning

A breathtaking shift from autocracy to an open HE system

A breathtaking shift from autocracy to an open HE systemUZBEKISTAN The higher education landscape in Uzbekistan, Central Asia, has been changing rapidly over the past three years. Since the passing of Uzbekistan’s first president, Islam Karimov, in 2016, who had been in power since 1991, the country has seen an about-face under the leadership of his successor, Shavkat Mirziyoyev.Under Mirziyoyev, a swathe of policies aim to transform higher education into what one government minister has called ‘Universities 3.0’. These policies will give universities more autonomy to choose their own leaders and to manage their own affairs through their governing bodies, will give universities greater control over student numbers and course offerings and will liberalise price controls on tuition fees a...
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Department of Education announces email hotline to report free speech violations
13Dec By EditorNo Comments
Online Colleges

Department of Education announces email hotline to report free speech violations

Department of Education announces email hotline to report free speech violationsEarlier this week, the Department of Education announced an email hotline for people to report campus free speech violations. Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education Robert King asserted that “any abridgment of free speech on a college campus can and should be reported to this new hotline.” Kirkwood Community College finalized a settlement with Jeff Klinzman, who was fired for his political speech on Facebook. FIRE knows from years of experience that censorship comes from across the ideological spectrum and silences students and faculty of all political stripes. For example, UCLA professor Gordon Klein was placed on administrative leave last June after 20,000 people petitioned the university to fire him...
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How to take advantage of college admission changes during COVID-19
13Dec By EditorNo Comments
College Rankings

How to take advantage of college admission changes during COVID-19

How to take advantage of college admission changes during COVID-19No matter when COVID-19 finally disappears, the college admission practices that changed due to the pandemic, will not completely disappear. In a recent webinar, I discussed how the pandemic has impacted college admissions in significant ways and how families can take advantage of these changes going forward. [embedded content] COVID-19 and College Admissions Here are some COVID-19 developments that you should know about: 1.  The vast majority of colleges and universities are now test-optional. That includes more than 90% of all highly selective and elite schools. 2. Because two-year-old tax returns are used when completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and the CSS Profile, many a family’s financial infor...
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Get the Most Out of ACT Academy Free Test Prep With These 5 Tips
12Dec By EditorNo Comments
College Planning

Get the Most Out of ACT Academy Free Test Prep With These 5 Tips

Get the Most Out of ACT Academy Free Test Prep With These 5 TipsIf you’re looking for ACT prep that provides questions that are just like the real exam, look no further than ACT Academy, a (free!) test prep resource created by the makers of the ACT. If you’ve heard of ACT Academy but aren’t exactly sure how to use it or who it’s a good fit for, this overview of ACT Academy test prep is for you. In this article, we’ll cover all of the following info about ACT Academy: How to use ACT Academy test prep Four things that ACT Academy is good for in terms of test prep Four things that ACT Academy isn’t good for in terms of test prep Five tips for getting the most out of ACT Academy test prep. Let’s begin! What Is ACT Academy Test Prep? ACT Academy is a free, self-guided and self-paced online ...
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Why a new higher education review is a waste of time
12Dec By EditorNo Comments
Online Colleges

Why a new higher education review is a waste of time

Why a new higher education review is a waste of timeINDIA In the first 100 days of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s second administration, the government has launched yet another rethink of higher education policies and priorities through the draft National Education Policy (NEP) and the Education Quality Upgradation and Inclusion Programme (EQUIP).This is the latest, and seemingly one of the most elaborate, of an endless series of official reports and programmes aimed at improving higher education in the post-independence period. These documents – the first of which was the Radhakrishnan Commission of 1949, continuing with the national education policies of 1968 and 1986, the Yashpal Committee of 2009, the National Knowledge Commission in 2007, and most recently the draft NEP of 2...
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