Education News

MPR News keeps track of the latest education news in Minnesota so you can understand the events shaping the future of learning and how it impacts students at any level.

Stay informed about local education events, policies and more happening in schools and colleges across Minnesota.

Duncan Calls for Urgency on College Costs As Occupy movement protests helped push spiraling college costs into the national spotlight, Education Secretary Arne Duncan urged higher-education officials Tuesday to “think more creatively — and with much greater urgency” about ways to contain costs and reduce student debt. (The New York Times) Study assesses graduation rates Report finds analyzing characteristics…
MnSCU official won't elaborate on reaction to U transfer decision
After changing his tune to the news media on the University of Minnesota’s cutback in transfer students, MnSCU’s interim academic and student affairs chief Larry Litecky turned down my request yesterday to explain why. MnSCU spokeswoman Melinda Voss said he had “no time” this week to discuss his change of views, and essentially repeated what…
Midmorning Wednesday at 9: The jobs-skills mismatch
I’ll be live-blogging this conversation on MPR’s Midmorning show with Kerri Miller tomorrow at 9 a.m. There should be a higher-education-and-training component in there, so please follow along — and feel free to comment. I think it’ll be a good conversation. Here’s the program intro: Educators, employers and economists say it all the time: American…
Gov. Mark Dayton will announce an executive order this afternoon to address bullying in Minnesota schools. Education reporter Tom Weber joins us to discuss the state's evolving policy on bullying.
“The ability to cash out six-figure sums upon retirement appears to make MnSCU an outlier not merely compared to the private sector, but compared to other state agencies and departments as well.” — Rep. Joe Atkins (DFL-Inver Grove Heights) in the Pioneer Press on his request that the state legislative auditor look into unused sick…
What Bemidji students think of their insurance mandate
“In the beginning there was a lot of frustrations with it and a lot of confusion. Students didn’t think they were informed enough about it. They didn’t understand what it meant. (Now) more students are passing along the word that this might be a good idea for college student. They can go to health services…
Want cheaper tuition? Find religion With church membership dwindling and more families struggling to afford the cost of college, many private religiously-affiliated colleges and universities are slashing tuition and offering incentives to attract new students — and to stay afloat. (CNN via NAICU) Universities need to get better at telling their stories Universities have multiple narratives to…