Florida's public universities are facing massive potential budget cuts and tuition hikes next year, The New York Times reported on Sunday. Lawmakers in the Florida House of Representatives hope to raise tuition between 8 and 15 percent and reduce state financing for higher education by close to $250 million, while the Senate may cut more than $500 million, according to The Times. Gov. Rick Scott, R-Fla., claims that education is an essential part of a healthy economy and does not support cuts in higher education, nor does he approve of the suggested tuition hikes, according to The Times. Next year's proposal would be the fifth consecutive year of tuition increases for Florida's 11 public universities. Last year, 41 other states slashed higher education spending, ranging from 1 percent in Indiana and North Carolina to 41 percent in New Hampshire, according to The Times.
The South Asian student who claimed to have been rejected from Harvard University and Princeton University due to his ethnicity and whose case was under review by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights has withdrawn his complaint, according to Inside Higher Ed. Although the Office of Civil Rights has notified the colleges of the withdrawal, the investigation into Princeton's treatment of Asian applicants will continue, Inside Higher Ed reported. A student of Indian descent whose name has not been released originally submitted the complaint in August 2011, according to Inside Higher Ed. Since the case has been dropped, the Office of Civil Rights will not be able to use his complaint as evidence in the overall review of the treatment of Asians in college admissions nationwide, according to Inside Higher Ed. Critics still argue, however, that Asian-Americans require higher grades and test scores in order to be admitted to a college or university and say some colleges may be using quotas for Asian students.
American colleges may be putting themselves at risk by delving into uncertain international educational partnerships, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported on Saturday. Such overseas partnerships allow students to earn degrees from American colleges while gaining international prestige and foreign dollars for the institution, according to The Chronicle. Some programs, however, have caused trouble for universities by offering lower admission standards and allowing students to take home a degree without meeting graduation requirements, The Chronicle reported. Dickinson State College in North Dakota, for example, has admitted hundreds of unqualified students, mainly from China, to a dual-degree program, according to The Chronicle. Only 10 of the 410 students who have received such a degree actually completed the necessary requirements, The Chronicle reported.
