In this week's roundup:
The new FAFSA is set to open on Oct. 1, Sam’s Club looks for student athletes to sponsor and a Mississippi Board for eight public universities has voted to ban a vaccine requirement.
September 16 - 22
- As of Oct. 1, the new FAFSA will be available to students who are interested in applying for financial aid for the 2022-23 academic year. While FAFSA is expected to roll out several new changes to make the form more streamlined in the coming years, that will not be the case with this version.
- New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy passed a piece of legislation requiring colleges and universities to “provide all enrolled students an itemized breakdown of their expenses, estimated debt, financial aid and other subsidies they may be eligible to receive.”
- Since 2016, Amarillo College in Texas has been surveying its students about their lives outside of the classroom. That data has reportedly helped them nearly double their graduation and transfer rates.
- Higher education groups hoped U.S. News & World Report would finally stop factoring standardized test scores into their rankings. However, next year’s rankings may change as the pandemic forced testing sites to close and nearly 75% of institutions are test-optional for Fall 2022.
- The University System of Georgia will vote on changes in tenure procedures, including periodic formal evaluations of tenured professors’ performance and returning control over tenure approval back to the governing board.
- Iowa’s three public universities are requesting $22 million in additional funding for the 2023 fiscal year. These institutions increased tuition and even after coronavirus relief, say that their pandemic-related expenses were not covered. Presidents say the $22 million would go to retaining faculty with competitive salaries, and financial aid.
- Sam’s Club wants to give $10,000 to 10 student athletes with a variation of the name Sam. So far, Sam’s Club has signed four athletes. This was made possible after the NCAA changed a rule, allowing athletes to profit off their name, image and likeness.
- Colleges in the Milwaukee area, northern Kentucky and southern Pennsylvania join Moon Shot for Equity, a project that seeks to eliminate college graduation equity gaps by 2030. The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, in its efforts to follow the 15 recommendations set by Moon Shot for Equity, found that loans and scholarships were not covering students’ bills, so the university created an emergency fund to help them re-enroll.
- California passed a bill setting aside affordable housing for full-time college students attending public universities and community colleges. Half of the $500 million will be reserved for community colleges, 30% for the California State University system and 20% for the University of California system.
- The board of trustees for the eight public universities in Mississippi voted to prevent those universities from mandating Covid-19 vaccines for students and employees. This is the first case of a board of public colleges prohibiting a vaccine requirement.
