Must Reads: 3/23/10

For-Profit partnerships with community colleges?

If we provided capital and marketing and distance learning assistance to a college, could they attract people to a fast-track type program where students can get off the waiting list immediately and graduate in two years? The only catch is that they have to pay a slightly differentiated tuition. I think older students, in particular, understand the opportunity cost of something like this and that waiting a few years just isn’t valuable to them

In this age of scarce resources and burgeoning enrollments, we’re just not going to get money from our state,” Sbrega said. “I think public-private partnerships like this one are the wave of the future. This is an outstanding example of what can be done through these partnerships. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s replicated around the state and the country.”

Kevin Kuzma:

the question about career college integrity has gone on for at least three or four decades now. The question lost its luster a long time ago. The answer isn’t likely to come in the Times or any other publication where the journalists were educated at four-year schools and have a fundamental misunderstanding about the way the sector operates. The only truth I can find is in our sector’s longevity. Those are the numbers that count.

Kaplan Survey Finds That Grading Leniency Can Influence Student Choice of Professor:

Although grading leniency is a consideration for many, within the RateMyProfessors category options, peer opinion seemed to be the greatest influencer, with “Prior student comments about the professor” as the element most often cited by Kaplan survey respondents (77%) as the factor they most consider in choosing classes. “Overall quality of a professor” was the second most considered factor (70%), and “engaging teaching style of professor” was third (66%), followed by “easy grading reputation.”