increasing access and success

The odds that students will graduate from college are neither improved nor worsened when they go to schools with average admission test scores higher or lower than theirs, according to a new study.

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Earlier this month, the U.S. Education Department froze funding to Corinthian Colleges, one of the country's biggest for-profit higher education institutions, for reporting inaccurate job placement and graduation figures. Critics have long argued the for-profit industry misuses federal aid money at the expense of students and taxpayers. WGBH's On Campus took a closer look at the numbers.

Harvard will implement its first university-wide sexual assault policy this fall. As part of the policy, a team of trained civil rights investigators, working out of a new centralized office, will review all sexual assault cases at each of the university's thirteen schools. Previously, academic administrators had been the ones to investigate those reports.

It’s been 50 years since Massachusetts Governor Endicott Peabody signed a bill creating a Boston campus for the University of Massachusetts, a move that came after UMass Amherst turned down more than 1,000 qualified applicants from the city.

Across more than 40 states, teachers are aligning their curricula to the Common Core State Standards—K-12 education standards in Mathematics and English Language Arts. A state-led effort often believed to be a federal initiative (it's not), the Common Core has come under increasing scrutiny this past year. According to Stateline, 65 bills have been introduced across the country to delay or halt college- and career-readiness standards.

On Wednesday, the Senate voted against a bill filed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., that would allow college graduates to refinance their outstanding student loans at lower interest rates. 

Despite the public outcry about mounting student loan debt, Republican leaders widely dismissed the measure as a progressive political stunt during an election year because it called for a new tax on millionaires and billionaires to cover the cost. 

President Obama issued an executive order on Monday, authorizing college students who take out federal loans to cap their loan repayments at 10 percent of their monthly incomes. Obama said the order would allow an additional five million borrowers to cap their student loans beginning next year.  

The president is also urging Congress to pass a bill introduced by Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren that would allow students to refinance their federal and private student loans at lower interest rates.

During this graduation season, many students are reflecting on their college experience and wondering what's next. A new poll from Gallup and Purdue University measures what about a college experience can lead to engaging careers and great jobs.

Gallup interviewed more than 30,000 college graduates from across the nation and WGBH's On Campus talked to Brandon Busteed of Gallup about the results.

Former mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg advised Harvard University graduates “to do a better job of promoting tolerance of diverse ideas.” On Thursday, Bloomberg delivered Harvard’s commencement address and cited incidents where students have shouted down speakers on campus and elsewhere. 

After decades of rising costs, students are less willing and able to pay a premium for college education. Many families are asking whether college is worth it. And that question has been posed repeatedly in recent headlines. From a New York Times op-ed to NPR's Education Blog, many pundits are making their voices heard.

For those who don't want to slog through every op-ed and article, WGBH’s On Campus has aggregated highlights in one place.

So… is college worth it?