Protests force UPR president to resign
Jose Ramon de La Torre, president of the University of Puerto Rico, resigned last week amidst a wave of ongoing violent student protests.
Since December, students have been boycotting classes in response to a compulsory $800 fee imposed by Gov. Luis Fortuno. The charge, designed to help reduce Puerto Rico's gaping budget deficit, is more than half of what students already pay in annual tuition. Over 60 percent of the student body comes from families earning less than $20,000 per year, according to the New York Daily News.
More than 200 people have been arrested as a result of the protests and university faculty recently staged a two-day walkout in support of the students. Until Fortuno ordered a pullout on Monday, police forces occupied the 11 campuses for the first time in over 30 years.
Tennessee school lowers tuition
In an unprecedented move among top-ranking U.S. institutions of higher education, Sewanee University in Tennessee is slashing its $46,000 tuition bill by 10 percent.
Officials from the university said they hope the move toward lower tuition will help it compete with other private colleges whose tuition generally rises 4 to 5 percent annually, as well as with public universities that detract from Sewanee's applicant pool.
Figures from the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities show that Sewanee is the only school to lower tuition this year. Over the next three years, the university will lose approximately $6 to $8 million as a result of the cut, according to the New York Times.
Change to U.S. News ranking system rankles administrators
A recent change to the U.S. News and World Report's ranking system, which could fail schools of higher education for not responding to researchers, has angered college officials across the country.
Until recently, the report did not include schools that chose not to participate. The change, made by U.S. News and World Report editor Brian Kelly, allows the system to provide an "estimated" ranking for non-responsive schools.
Education officials from 36 different institutions — including several Big 12 Conference members — signed a letter to the magazine protesting the change as "inconsistent with professional journalistic practices." Kate Walsh, president of the National Council on Teacher Quality — a co-sponsor of the ranking system — responded in a letter that schools can choose not to participate, but they will still be included in the rankings.
