QUICK HITS
Will Pell Grant Changes Hurt Rural Enrollments?
Survey of financial aid administrators in three Southern states says
new restrictions could result in a loss of financial aid for thousands
BY COREY MURRAY
Five thousand students
in three states—Alabama,
Arkansas, and Mississippi
—lost Pell Grant eligi-
bility in the fall 2012
semester, according to
a survey conducted by
Janice Friedel, associate
professor at Iowa State
University’s School of
Education.
“Financial aid administrators at the community colleges in those states indicated
that the new Pell restrictions
had a direct relationship on
the drop in their enrollment,”
Friedel said in a statement.
Respondents pinned the
reductions on three factors:
( 1) a decrease, from $32,000
to $23,000, in the Estimated
Family Contribution, which
determines if students are
eligible for Pell and how
much they can receive, ( 2) a
reduction in the maximum
number of terms students
are eligible—under new rules
full-time students can receive
grants for no more than 12
semesters, and ( 3) a change
that precludes certificate or
short-term job training pur-
suers from applying for grants.
17K
Number of community college
students in three Southern states
with less Pell Grant eligibility over
the next two semesters.
Source: Iowa State University
The report estimates that
17,000 students in those
states could face similar
eligibility concerns in the
next two semesters.
For more, see:
http://bit.ly/YEXY5L.
GLOW IMAGES
On the Horizon
Tracking the latest tech trends in higher education
every piece of student information collected is parsed and analyzed to improve academic and
institutional performance.
BY COREY MURRAY
Want to know what the classroom of the future looks like? The New Media
Consortium and EDUCAUSE recently teamed up to release the 2013 higher education “NMC Horizon Report.” Here’s what to expect in the not-too-distant future:
Game-Based Learning: Already a hot topic on college campuses, game-based learning will soon become even more immersive, employing real-world
environments as a backdrop to teaching practical concepts.
14-5
4 to 5 Years
1 Year or Less
Massive Open Online Courses: Are community colleges
poised to tap into higher education’s hottest trend? See our
interview with Khan Academy founder Sal Khan on page 64.
3D Printing: Imagine an
environment that would enable
engineering and architecture students to print
working 3D replicas of computer-aided designs, including buildings and bridges molded to
scale. Far out, right? The technology is closer to reality than you might think.
Wearable Technology: Google recently demoed a prototype of its
Project Glass, computer-aided eyeglasses that project digital images in a
user’s periphery by way of voice-activated commands. An emerging crop
of wearable devices promises to change how we live, teach, and learn.
For more, see:
http://bit.ly/10pz3V2.
Source: “NMC Horizon Report,” 2013
ICONS: PALSUR/VEER; SMOKI/VEER; TOP LEFT: PEDRO NOGUEIRA/VEER
Tablet Computing: Tablets such as Apple’s uber-popular iPad have been
around for a while. But researchers say a growing stable of multimedia-rich content ensures increased use on college campuses.
2 to 3 Years
Big Data, Learning Analytics: Many of you
are already using Big Data to affect change.
Prognosticators say it won’t be long until
2-3
