No Signs of Progress From White House or Republicans in ‘Tough’ Debt Ceiling Talks

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Representatives of U.S. President Joe Biden and congressional Republicans ended another round of debt ceiling talks on Tuesday with no signs of progress as the deadline to raise the government’s $31.4 trillion borrowing limit or risk default ticked closer. The two parties remain deeply divided about how to rein in the federal deficit, with Democrats arguing wealthy Americans and businesses should pay more taxes while Republicans want spending cuts. White House negotiators Shalanda Young, director of the Office of Management and Budget, and senior White House adviser Steve Ricchetti met with their Republican counterparts for about two hours. They leftmore

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How Much Is Tuition, Really?

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In the U.S., there’s often a big gap between the “sticker price” advertised on a college website, and what students pay after grants, scholarships and aid are awarded. The Hechinger Report’s Tuition Tracker tool uses historical data to estimate how much students similar to you have been charged in the past. (May 2023) …

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Could AI Decide If You Get Into College?

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Universities in the U.S. are beginning to experiment with using AI in admissions decisions. AI programs can already review transcripts, and one school is even training an AI program to accept or reject the same applicants as its admissions committee. While AI could lessen the workload for admissions departments, critics worry its reasoning could be biased or difficult for humans to understand. Scott Jaschik of Inside Higher Ed sums up the debate. (May 2023) …

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What Kinds of Recreation Do US Colleges Offer?

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To attract students, colleges can lower costs or improve their academics – or they can make their colleges more fun. Schools across the U.S. have built lavish recreation centers with gym equipment, sports facilities and even designated spaces for video games. Dan Friedell of VOA Learning English has more. (May 2023) …

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2 Dorm Directors Fired at Small Christian College After Using ‘He/Him,’ ‘She/Her’ in Emails

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Shua Wilmot and Raegan Zelaya, two former dorm directors at a small Christian university in western New York, acknowledge their names are unconventional, which explains why they attached gender identities to their work email signatures.  Wilmot uses “he/him.” Zelaya goes by “she/her.”  Their former employer, Houghton University, wanted them to drop the identifiers in line with a new policy for email formats implemented in September. Both refused and were fired.  “My name is Shua. It’s an unusual name. And it ends with a vowel, ‘a,’ that is traditionally feminine in many languages,” Wilmot said in a nearly one-hour video hemore

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US Education Lands International Student Dream Career

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A Nigerian student who earned a graduate degree at the University of Arkansas Little Rock has scored a job as a data engineer at American Express. “Coming in as an international student, it’s like a dream come true for me,” Ifeanyichukwu Umoga said. “I am very excited to graduate and see what awaits me.” The school’s website has the full story. (May 2023) …

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South Carolina Republicans Hear Pitches From 2024 Candidates, Reelect State Party Chairman

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South Carolina Republicans on Saturday selected Drew McKissick as their chairman for a fourth term at a convention where some of the party’s 2024 presidential hopefuls made pitches to voters in the first-in-the-South primary state.  McKissick has led the party since 2017 in a state where Republicans hold all statewide-elected positions, all but one U.S. House seat, and control of both legislative chambers. He defeated three challengers. Party officials said in a release that under McKissick’s leadership, “more Republicans than ever before” had won elections.  Neither of South Carolina’s presidential contenders, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and U.S. Senatormore

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Head of Taiwanese Legislature Talks Self-Defense in Washington

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The head of Taiwan’s legislature visited Washington this week, where he met with top U.S. lawmakers and told audiences that the Taiwanese people are determined to defend themselves should Beijing try to invade. During a time when the island is under greater political and military pressure from Beijing, You Si-Kun, head of Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan, met with members of the House committee focused on China, as well as with former Speaker Nancy Pelosi who said they discussed security and democracy. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul said the two discussed “opportunities to work toward a tax agreement and expeditingmore

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US Debt Limit Talks Halted Again Amid ‘Real Differences’

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Debt limit talks halted again late Friday at the U.S. Capitol shortly after resuming, another sudden turn of events after negotiations had come to an abrupt standstill earlier in the day when Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said it was time to “pause” negotiations, and a White House official acknowledged there are “real differences.” Top Republican negotiators for McCarthy exited the brief meeting shortly after talks restarted Friday evening. They said there were no further negotiations planned for Friday and they were uncertain on next steps. But a top White House adviser to President Joe Biden said they were hopefulmore

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Will Colleges Start Funding Paid Internships?

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Internships help students build their resumes and learn real world skills that can help secure job offers after graduation. Yet many opportunities are unpaid, and only the best-off students can afford to work for free. Now, state universities in Wisconsin and New York are using their budgets to pay students who complete internships in their communities. Johanna Alonso of Inside Higher Ed reports on the promising outcomes of these programs. (May 2023) …

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The Most Influential US College Ranking Is Under Fire — Can It Adapt?

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Each year, U.S. News and World Report ranks U.S. undergraduate and graduate programs. But recently, many prestigious medical and law schools, as well as undergraduate colleges, have opted out of the rankings, claiming they are inaccurate and don’t capture the nuances of each school. The newest rankings address this by prioritizing student outcomes over test scores and reputations. Jeremy Bauer-Wolf of Higher Ed Dive analyzes the changes. (May 2023) …

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How Diverse Is US Higher Education?

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The Chronicle of Higher Education reviewed data from the U.S. Department of Education for almost 4,000 schools. Scroll through their findings to see how schools stack up on racial and gender diversity, as well as their proportion of “nonresident foreign” students. (May 2023) …

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US Supreme Court Lets Illinois Keep Ban on Sale of Some Semiautomatic Guns for Now

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The U.S. Supreme Court said Wednesday that Illinois can, for now, keep in place a new law that bars the sale of certain semiautomatic guns and large-capacity magazines. The high court denied an emergency request from people challenging the law, which bans so-called assault weapons. The law’s opponents had asked the court to put the law on hold while a court challenge continues. The court did not comment and no justice publicly dissented. The high court’s action comes at a time when gun violence has been heavily in the news. Since the beginning of the year, 115 people have diedmore

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‘Waste of Time’: Community College Transfers Derail Students

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First came the good news. After taking classes at a community college, Ricki Korba was admitted to California State University, Bakersfield, as a transfer student. But when she logged on to her student account, she got a gut punch: Most of her previous classes wouldn’t count. The university rejected most of her science classes, she was told, because they were deemed less rigorous than those at Bakersfield — even though some used the same textbooks. Several other courses were rejected because Korba exceeded a cap on how many credits can be transferred. Now Korba, a chemistry and music major, ismore

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Do Western Universities Impart ‘Western Values’?

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The dominance of Western universities in global rankings is often cited as a kind of “soft power,” which allegedly makes elites around the world think and act like liberal democrats. But is this really true? Some leaders such as Viktor Orbán in Hungary or Bashar al-Assad in Syria, are illiberal, despite their extensive Western educations. Yet others seem to hold more liberal values than their educators did, like the anti-colonial Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi in India or Jomo Kenyatta in Kenya. Ultimately, we can’t predict how leaders will turn out based on their schooling. But international education can, andmore

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Are International Students a Benefit or a Loss for Source Countries?

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India recently became the world’s most populous country, and 25% of the world’s population under the age of 25 live there. Unsurprisingly, it’s one of the biggest sources of international students in the Western world. But India’s government questions the value of this “one-way traffic,” arguing that the country loses valuable talent and should be attracting international students of its own. One member of India’s Economic Advisory Council said there are “too many university campuses on the planet,” since digital education is cheaper and more sustainable. Read the analysis from Viggo Stacey, editor of The PIE. (April 2023) …

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US Debt Ceiling Looms Over Biden’s Foreign Trips

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The monthslong impasse between the White House and congressional Republicans over raising the debt ceiling to keep the U.S. from defaulting on its obligations could derail Joe Biden’s upcoming meeting with allies in Japan and Australia. The U.S. president is scheduled to depart Washington for Hiroshima on May 17 to attend a meeting of the Group of Seven leaders. On May 22 he is to continue to Sydney for the Quad Summit with a brief stop in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, to meet with Pacific Island Forum leaders. The meetings have been billed as opportunities to deepen cooperation onmore

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