Nancy Marcus of Florida State University to Serve as Chair of CGS Board (12/12/2016)

The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) Board of Directors has announced its officers for the 2017 term. CGS is governed by a 12-member Board of Directors drawn from member institutions. Board members serve for set terms.

 

Cornell University Receives ETS/CGS Award for Innovation in Promoting Success in Graduate Education (12/8/2016)

The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) and the Educational Testing Service (ETS) presented Cornell University with this year’s ETS/CGS Award for Innovation in Promoting Success in Graduate Education: From Admission through Completion. Dr. Barbara Knuth, senior vice provost and dean of the Graduate School, accepted the co-sponsored award on Cornell’s behalf during the 56^th Annual Meeting of the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS).

 

Karen DePauw Wins Debra W. Stewart Award for Outstanding Leadership in Graduate Education (12/8/2016)

The Board of Directors of the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) has announced that Dr. Karen DePauw, vice president and dean for graduate education at Virginia Tech University, is the 2016 Winner of the Debra W. Stewart Award for Outstanding Leadership in Graduate Education. The awards ceremony was held during the CGS 56th Annual Meeting in Washington, DC.

 

Bartow J. Elmore Wins 2016 Arlt Award in the Humanities (12/8/2016)

The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) has awarded the 2016 Gustave O. Arlt Award in the Humanities to Dr. Barlow J. Elmore, assistant professor of environmental history at The Ohio State University. The awards ceremony was held during the CGS 56th Annual Meeting.

 

Winners of 2016 CGS/ProQuest® Distinguished Dissertation Awards Announced (12/8/2016)

The Council of Graduate Schools / ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Awards, the nation’s most prestigious honors for doctoral dissertations, were presented to Scott Cushing and Michael Muthukrishna at an awards ceremony during the Council’s 56th Annual Meeting. Dr. Cushing completed his PhD in 2015 at West Virginia University in Physics, and Dr. Muthukrishna received his PhD in 2015 from the University of British Columbia in Psychology.

 

Majority of Graduate Students Stress About Finances, Seek Information on Long-term Financial Security (11/15/2016)

Research conducted by the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) in conjunction with TIAA, a leading financial services provider, found that 60 percent of master’s students and 55 percent of doctoral students report feeling stressed about their finances. While most students were able to make ends meet, 38 percent of master’s students and 36 percent of doctoral students worry about meeting their monthly expenses.

 

CGS Announces Multi-University Project to Collect Data on Career Pathways of Humanities PhDs (10/27/2016)

The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) announced today that it has been awarded a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to help universities collect data on the career pathways of humanities PhDs. Through a competitive sub-award process, CGS will select 15 doctoral institutions to pilot surveys of humanities PhD students and alumni, gathering information about their professional aspirations, career pathways, and career preparation.

 

Graduate Schools Report Strong Growth in First-Time Enrollment of Underrepresented Minorities (9/16/2016)

The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) today reported modest growth in first-time enrollments for a number of key demographic groups enrolling in graduate school. Notably, all underrepresented minority (URM) groups monitored by the survey saw greater increases in first-time graduate enrollment than their White, non-Hispanic counterparts, although their overall representation in the graduate student body still remains relatively low. Among first-time U.S. citizens and permanent resident graduate students in Fall 2015, at least 22.5% were underrepresented minorities, including American Indian/Alaska Native (0.5%), Black/African American (11.8%), Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander (0.2%), and Hispanic/Latino (10%).

 

Graduate Education Leaders Consider Importance of International Research Experiences for Graduate Students (8/10/2016)

The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) recently released a report: Evaluating International Research Experiences for Graduate Students, which outlines the findings of a one-day workshop convened in February 2016 along with the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Division of Graduate Education (DGE), the NSF Office of International Science and Engineering, and the North American Office of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation, DFG). This project was driven by the graduate education community’s desire for a deeper understanding of the impact of international collaboration on subsequent graduate careers and a need from funding agencies to validate their investment in international research collaboration.

 

Key Points from the CGS International Graduate Admissions Survey: Preliminary Applications (6/6/2016)

Since 2004 the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) has conducted the International Graduate Admissions Survey, an annual study of applications and offers of admission, as well as first-time and total enrollment of international graduate students in master’s/certificate and research doctoral programs. The data from the 2016 preliminary applications survey provide an initial look into Fall 2016 international graduate admissions at U.S. institutions, and suggest that it will follow recent trends.

 

Thought-Leaders Convene to Consider the Future of the Doctoral Dissertation (2/10/2016)

On January 27-28, the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) convened approximately 40 scholars and leaders in graduate education, scholarly publishing, academic libraries, and disciplinary associations to deliberate the future of the doctoral dissertation.  Over a two-day workshop supported by ProQuest, the group considered trends shaping the format and dissemination of dissertation research, including new modes of scholarly communication and publication, open access, emerging technologies, diversifying PhD career paths, and changes in disciplinary cultures.

 

New Report Highlights Promise of Holistic Graduate Admissions to Increase Diversity (1/19/2016)

The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) today released a report that outlines the findings of a year-long research project on holistic graduate admissions. Supported by Hobsons, the project takes a look at emerging best practices and surveys more than 500 university admissions professionals to better understand the current state of graduate admissions at U.S. institutions.

Graduate Students Escaped Tax Increases, but They Still Feel a Target on Their Backs

New York Times, 12/19/2017

Samantha Hernandez was finishing up an argument for her dissertation about Latinos and affirmative action on Thursday when the emails started pouring in with the subject line “Congratulations.” President Trump had finished a celebratory news conference to announce the completion of a sweeping overhaul of the nation’s tax code, and graduate students were breathing a deep sigh of relief. House Republicans had targeted them for a hefty tax increase, one that many of them could not hope to pay, but they had escaped unscathed.

 

GOP removes graduate student provision in updated tax reform bill

The State Press, 12/16/2017

Congress Republicans dropped part of the original tax bill Friday that would tax graduate student tuition waivers as income, relieving graduates across the country and more than 3,900 at ASU. The rhetoric for the graduate student tuition waiver tax was in both the House and Senate bills, but lawmakers cut the provision while in reconciliation.

 

Grad students: You've been spared under the GOP tax plan

CNN Money, 12/15/2017

Graduate students across the country have loudly protested a controversial provision of the tax plans that moved through the House and Senate in recent weeks. The proposal would have significantly driven up the tax burdens for those who receive tuition waivers from their schools. They are often teaching and research assistants.

 

Tax reform bill to tax graduate students' tuition breaks

The Oracle, 12/13/2017

A tax reform bill passed through the House on Nov. 16 could affect US graduate students’ income by taxing tuition breaks, significantly impacting the finances of staff and faculty at universities. As the House and the Senate pass their respective version of the tax bill, the Republican Party tried to reach a compromise. Depending on which changes stay, the cost of education could potentially increase the taxable income graduate students receive every year.

 

Reversal on Graduate Lending

Inside Higher Ed, 12/11/2017

The GOP’s proposed update to the law governing higher education would force a U-turn for long-standing federal policies on graduate student lending. Students who pursue graduate degrees have been allowed to take out an unlimited amount in federal student loans since Congress authorized the Grad PLUS program in 2005. But the legislation proposed last week by Representative Virginia Foxx, the North Carolina Republican who chairs the House education committee, would cap annual borrowing amounts for grad students at $28,500 annually.

 

Making Your Way Through the Doldrums

Inside Higher Ed, 12/11/2017

The Council of Graduate Schools Ph.D. Completion Project found 10-year Ph.D. completion rates to range around only 50 to 65 percent, depending on field. The project, which collected data on 29 institutions, discovered that the reasons people leave Ph.D. programs are complex, but that few students drop out because they are intellectually incapable of doing the work. Stress, lack of financial support and problematic relationships with faculty members are among the factors cited to explain the remarkable rate at which students who have successfully completed other educational challenges leave graduate school.

 

Why the GOP tax plan worries VCU graduate students

Richmond Times-Dispatch 12/10/2017

If the House version of a Republican tax plan going through Congress triumphs, Sarah Braun’s federal taxes would spike 250 percent. She’s not alone. The fifth-year clinical psychology graduate student and her peers at Virginia Commonwealth University have all been on edge since the future of tax waivers that allow them to attend school was plunged into uncertainty.

 

Editorial: Tax reform may impact EKU graduate students

Eastern Progress, 12/08/2017

While not attracting much attention among the general public, the tax reform proposals now making their way through the U.S. House and Senate may have a significant impact on graduate students across the country, including our own graduate students at Eastern Kentucky University.

 

Political climate may deter international grad students, UMN officials say

Minnesota Daily, 12/08/2017

Though numbers of international graduate students at the University of Minnesota are increasing, the school still lags behind the national average for international grad student enrollment. University officials worry the current political climate could reverse the trend of growth at the University and other institutions. Some say existing burdens on international students — like challenges in their job hunts — combined with current events like tax reform could also threaten international student enrollment.

 

History Grad Student Writes Nation’s Top Humanities Dissertation

UVA Today,  12/08/2017

Leif Fredrickson has turned lead into gold. Fredrickson, who earned his Ph.D. at the University of Virginia in May, has been awarded the 2017 Council of Graduate Schools/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award in the Humanities and Fine Arts for his dissertation, “The Age of Lead: Metropolitan Change, Environmental Health, and Inner City Underdevelopment.”

 

‘I Would Have to Drop Out’: 200 Texas Grad Students Walk Out to Protest GOP Tax Bill

Texas Observer, 12/06/2017

As part of a series of protests nationwide, around 200 graduate students walked out of classrooms, labs and office hours at the University of Texas at Austin Wednesday to protest the Republican tax plan. The students took aim at a provision that would count their tuition waivers as taxable income — a move that many said would push them off an already precarious financial cliff and force them to drop out. As cold drizzle fell and Congress moved toward a final tax proposal, the lively crowd huddled under umbrellas near the campus’ iconic clock tower.

 

Graduate students to protest proposal to tax tuition waivers

AP, 12/04/2017

Graduate students around the U.S. are staging campus walk-outs and lobbying Congress in an effort to keep their tuition waivers tax-free. They have the support of their schools in arguing that a provision in the House Republican tax bill could, as graduate student Shawn Rhoads says, “upend the American Ph.D. system.”

 

Grad students rally against House tax bill

UBNow, 11/30/2017

The rally in Founders Plaza, and another planned at the same time on the South Campus, were organized to spread awareness of, and voice opposition to the proposed tax bill, which would eliminate the current federal tax waiver on college and university tuition waivers — UB uses the term “scholarship” instead of “waiver” because UB still must fund the tuition to SUNY — and include the value of that scholarship as taxable income in addition to students’ stipends.

 

Why the House tax plan could crush graduate students

CNN Money, 11/29/2017

Many Ph.D. students studying science, technology, engineering and math receive tuition waivers. That means their tuition is covered, and that money isn't taxed as long as the student does research or teaches for the university.

 

UW-Madison teaching assistants worry that GOP tax plan will price them out of college

The Cap Times, 11/26/2017

Talk among graduate students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has been buzzing with speculation about a proposed federal tax bill that could hike their income taxes so high some wonder whether they could complete their degrees.

 

Grad school official's tax bill email was wrong, UND says

Grand Forks Herald, 11/16/2017

Last week, a leader of the UND School of Graduate Studies encouraged students to contact their congressional representatives to share concerns about the GOP tax reform bill. On Thursday, the same day House Republicans approved the wide-reaching bill, UND spokesman Peter Johnson said that official outreach from Graduate Studies Associate Dean Chris Nelson never should have happened.

 

IU grad students worry about effect of tax bill passed by US House

Herald Times Online, 11/16/2017

Tuition could become taxable income if a proposal that passed the U.S. House on Thursday becomes law.

 

The Disappearing American Grad Student

The New York Times, 11/03/2017

There are two very different pictures of the students roaming the hallways and labs at New York University’s Tandon School of Engineering. At the undergraduate level, 80 percent are United States residents. At the graduate level, the number is reversed: About 80 percent hail from India, China, Korea, Turkey and other foreign countries. For graduate students far from home, the swirl of cultures is both reassuring and invigorating. “You’re comfortable everyone is going through the same struggles and journeys as you are,” said Vibhati Joshi of Mumbai, India, who’s in her final semester for a master’s degree in financial engineering. “It’s pretty exciting.”

 

Data on Community College Grads Who Earn Graduate Degrees

Inside Higher Ed, 11/02/2017

The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center this week released new data on the numbers of graduate and professional degree earners who first began their postsecondary studies at a community college. Roughly one in five master's degree earners, 11 percent who earned doctoral degrees and 13 percent of professional degree earners originally began at a two-year college, found the center, which tracks the progress of almost all U.S. college students.

 

BankThink What women's growing wealth means for banks

American Banker, 10/31/2017

While I’ve witnessed myriad innovations in the financial services industry throughout my career, there is one area where banking has been slower to evolve: investing in women. Up until the last few decades, the financial world imposed nearly impenetrable barriers that prevented women from reaching the highest levels of an organization. This was the case both in terms of hiring women and offering products. But these days, equality has become a widely touted priority for businesses and positive gains have been occurring within the industry and the regulatory community. In 2014, Janet Yellen became the first woman to chair the Federal Reserve, for instance. While not banking specific, the number of women on the boards of Fortune 500 companies has grown to 20%, up from 15.7% in 2010.

 

Documenting What Ph.D.s Do for a Living

The Chronicle of Higher Education, 10/15/2017

The idea that a Ph.D. can prepare you for diverse careers — not just for the professoriate — is now firmly with us. Most doctoral students in the arts and sciences start out with the desire to become professors. But that’s not where most of them end up. By now, most graduate advisers understand that their doctoral students will follow multiple career paths. And increasing numbers of professors and administrators are trying to help students do that. The number of Ph.D.s who pursue nonfaculty careers varies by field, of course. But the reality in many disciplines is: If you’re teaching a graduate seminar with eight students in it, only two of them, on average, will become full-time faculty members. What happens to the rest? And as important, how do they feel about where they end up?

 

Enrollment and Market Forces

Inside Higher Ed, 9/28/2017

Enrollment in graduate school is up, continuing a trend in first-time graduate student researchers have seen for five years. But growth rates are starting to dip, according to numbers from a new report the Council of Graduate Schools co-published with the Graduate Record Examinations Board.

 

Amid Professors’ ‘Doom-and-Gloom Talk,’ Humanities Ph.D. Applications Drop

The Chronicle of Higher Education, 9/28/2017

Graduate programs in the humanities have faced withering criticism for churning out a surplus of doctorates despite a tight academic job market. Data released on Thursday by the Council of Graduate Schools suggest that the criticism could be starting to sink in. While overall applications to doctoral programs were up nearly 1 percent from 2015 to 2016, applications to arts and humanities programs declined by 7.1 percent.

 

Scholar: Graduate Research Internships a Resource to Fill STEM Workforce Gap

Diverse Issues in Higher Education, 8/30/2017

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects that the U.S. workforce will continue to experience a need for workers trained in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in the future. Continuously advancing technology requires that employees learn new skills. While some jobs will require training that can be achieved in secondary, vocational and undergraduate schools, others will require expertise in research and innovation beyond the bachelor’s degree. Fortunately, this trend in employment opportunities overlaps with another trend: recent statistics show that many students who receive graduate degrees in STEM have an interest in careers outside of the academy.

 

Brain drain reversal? USU international students speak of uncertainty studying in U.S.

Herald Journal, 7/22/2017

Some data suggest that the number of international students applying or being admitted to American higher education institutions is down significantly from a year ago.

 

International students may have to renew visas yearly

University World News, 7/13/2017

A change to foreign student visa policies being discussed at the United States Department of Homeland Security would require international students to reapply annually for permission to stay in the United States, according to the Washington Post.

 

Trump and Brexit: a catastrophic North Atlantic alliance

Times Higher Education, 7/11/2017

The US and UK are widely regarded as the leading providers of higher education in the world, proving to be the top destinations for international students at undergraduate, postgraduate and research levels. However, policy decisions in both countries are fostering a perception that students and academic staff from foreign countries are no longer welcome. This has the potential for a major impact on university world rankings.

 

US: 2017 international student yield outlook rosier than predicted

The Pie News, 7/10/2017

Higher education institutions in Texas are seeing a marked decline in the number of international students accepting offers to study in the state. However, an inter-association survey shows the drastic country-wide drop in international students coming to the US feared by many in the Trump era will likely not materialise.

 

Shaky International Yields

Inside Higher Ed, 7/07/2017

Survey results released Thursday offer a first look at yield rates of prospective international students -- that is, the percentage who accept an offer of admission for the fall -- and suggest that universities may see different patterns depending on where in the U.S. they’re located.

 

Surveys split on outlook for international enrolment

University World News, 7/06/2017

The results of two surveys give conflicting messages about the willingness of international students to enrol in courses in United States universities that had awarded them places – also known as the yield rate. Contrary to fears of a potential large drop in the number of admitted new international students actually enrolling in US higher education institutions in autumn 2017, the yield rate for international undergraduates remains steady overall, according to a survey based on responses from 112 colleges and universities, published by the Institute of International Education or IIE on 6 July. But in a separate survey for the Council of Graduate Schools, also published on 6 July, nearly half of deans of graduate schools reported declines in yield rates, and just under one in three reported declines at doctoral level.

 

Assessing the Travel Ban: What New Data on Overseas Recruitment Does — and Doesn’t — Tell Us

The Chronicle of Higher Education, 7/06/2017

One report on international-student trends concludes that American colleges have been "hard hit" by declining interest from the Middle East, while another expresses "cautious optimism" that the number of overseas students accepting offers of admission to American institutions could be above projections. A third shares the concerns of graduate-school deans, half of whom say they are seeing "substantial" falloffs in foreign enrollments.

 

Despite worries, international students are still planning to enroll in U.S. colleges, study finds

The Washington Post, 7/06/2017

After President Trump announced a temporary travel ban in January, academic leaders were swift to condemn it, and to warn that it would shut out some of the world’s most talented scholars. But a national study of admissions officers found that, at least as of May, international students remain interested in studying in the United States, with overall demand holding steady compared to previous years.

 

PhD students: time to make them university employees?

Times Higher Education, 5/18/2017

The benefits of treating PhD students as university employees, an issue under consideration by some institutions in the UK and US, have been spotlighted by the recent completion of reforms in Sweden. In the US, some universities are now making it possible for PhD candidates to join unions that can fight for better terms and conditions. A spokeswoman for the US Council of Graduate Schools said that most universities have viewed graduate students as students first and foremost as US doctoral programmes involve coursework, not just research.

 

Decline in the attractiveness of U.S. education to the world is troubling

The Marietta Times, 4/22/2017

‘Our deans describe it as a chilling effect,’ said Suzanne Ortega, president of the Council of Graduate Schools. The numbers are provoking anxiety in some programs that rely on international students, who bring more than $32 billion a year into the U.S. economy˘ Slumping graduate school applications can now be seen at universities ranging from giant Big Ten public universities like Ohio State and Indiana University to regional programs such as Portland State.”

 

Managing finances might be graduate students’ toughest test

Washington Post, 4/11/2017

According to a three-year studyconducted by the Council of Graduate Schools in conjunction with TIAA that concluded in 2016, 60 percent of master’s students and 55 percent of doctoral students feel stressed about their finances.

 

The sad state of professional development programs for scientists

Science, 4/05/2017

A new report from the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) observes, “the majority of PhDs gain employment outside the academy.” What will really matter for these doctorate holders is how well they understand and navigate the quite different processes that lead to nonacademic employment.

 

Colleges drop standardized tests to boost applications, diversity

Worcester Business Journal, 4/03/2017

A 2016 report by the Washington, D.C.-based Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) underscores the importance of a holistic review of applicants to master's and doctoral programs in fostering diversity in higher education, as well as improved student outcomes.

 

New Survey Helps Schools Address International Student Recruitment

Association Now, 3/31/2017

The Council of Graduate Schools publishes the annual International Graduate Application and Enrollment Report. However, that data will not be available for many months.

 

International student applications are down nationwide; UCD’s are up

The Davis Enterprise (UC Davis), 3/23/2017

‘Our deans describe it as a chilling effect,’ said Suzanne Ortega, president of the Council of Graduate Schools.

 

UVenus Responds: The Current Political Climate

Inside Higher Ed, 3/22/2017

At that moment the only information I had to work with was from the Canadian Association of Graduate Studies (CAGS) - a group that had already been in significant discussions with the US Council of Graduate Schools (CGS).

 

Survey shows biggest decline in Middle East applications, likely due to immigration laws

Today Online, 3/18/2017

"Our deans describe it as a chilling effect," Council of Graduate Schools president Suzanne Ortega told the Times.

 

Foreign Applications Dip at Some Colleges Amid Fear of ‘Trump Effect’

The News-Review, 3/18/2017

"Our deans describe it as a chilling effect," Council of Graduate Schools president Suzanne Ortega told the Times.

 

Amid new anxiety, fewer than half as many foreign students apply to UMKC

The Kansas City Star, 3/18/2017

“There’s a chilling effect,” said Hironao Okahana, an assistant vice president of research and policy analysis at the Council of Graduate Schools. “You’re seeing … prospective international students in a wait-and-see mode.”

 

40% of US Colleges see a dip in foreign applications amid 'Trump fears'

Business Standard, 3/17/2017

"Our deans describe it as a chilling effect," Council of Graduate Schools president Suzanne Ortega told the Times.

 

Dramatic drop in F-1 visa student applications from India to the US, says survey

News India Times, 3/16/2017

“Our deans describe it as a chilling effect,” said Suzanne Ortega, president of the Council of Graduate Schools.

 

Study: Foreign Applications to US Colleges Plunge

Newsmax, 3/16/2017

"Our deans describe it as a chilling effect," Council of Graduate Schools president Suzanne Ortega told the Times.

 

Amid ‘Trump Effect’ Fear, 40% of Colleges See Dip in Foreign Applicants

The New York Times, 3/16/2017

Graduate schools appear to be feeling the worst pinch, with nearly half reporting drops. “Our deans describe it as a chilling effect,” said Suzanne Ortega, president of the Council of Graduate Schools.

 

Five Things You Didn't Realize Were Funding by the National Endowment for the Humanities

Smithsonian.com, 3/15/2017

In 1963, a group of university presidents, professors, art experts, businesspeople and even the chairman of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission came together to form a national commission...their charge: report findings and recommendations on how to proceed to three sponsoring bodies: the American Council of Learned Societies, the Council of Graduate Schools in the United States and the United Chapters of Phi Beta Kappa.

 

Preparation for nonacademic careers can improve, report says

Chemical & Engineering News, 3/06/2017

Universities have a long way to go in preparing students for nonacademic jobs, according to a two-year study of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics graduate education from the Council of Graduate Schools.

 

President Kaplan Expresses His Support for UNH’s International Community

The Charger Bulletin (UNH), 3/01/2017

A recent report from the Council of Graduate Schools showed that the number of students from overseas enrolling in American graduate programs has stalled.

 

A Snapshot of International Graduate Enrollments in the US

Masterstudies.com, 2/28/2017

The U.S.’s Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) has released its latest analysis of the current state of international applications and enrollments.

 

US universities alarm at declining Chinese graduate enrollments

China.org.cn, 2/19/2017

Huge numbers flocked to the other side of the Pacific to pursue their dreams. They still do, but the year-on-year double-digit growth of Chinese graduates of the past that American schools have come to expect may be over, says a report by the Council of Graduate Schools released on February 9.

 

University officials, students keeping close eye on immigration ban developments

MiBiz, 2/19/2017

More international students continue to apply to and enroll in U.S. graduate institutions, but it’s not at the rapid pace seen in recent years, according to a recent report by the Council of Graduate Schools.

 

Drop in foreign applicants worries U.S. engineering schools

Science, 2/14/2017

Schools of engineering and computer science programs are especially reliant on international students, in some cases drawing up to 90% of their applicants from abroad. And though students on temporary visas make up only 19% of all U.S. graduate students, they compose 55% of those studying engineering and computer science, according to 2015 enrollment data from the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) in Washington, D.C.

 

US: int’l graduate enrolment growth stabilising

The Pie News, 2/13/2017

First-time international enrolment growth at US universities held steady in 2016, up 5% for the second year in a row. However, the growth rate of international graduate applications is slowing as interest from key source markets drops, spurring the Council of Graduate Schools to warn universities to not take continuing growth for granted in the current policy environment.

 

Asian students flock to the US for graduate degrees

Asia Times, 2/13/2017

Nearly half of all the applications to American graduate institutions came from international students, according to a recent research report by the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS). A total of 395 institutions responded to the survey conducted in September-October 2016.

 

International graduate enrolments to U.S. universities go up by 5%

Study International Staff, 2/10/2017

The number of first-time international graduates enrolling to American universities in autumn 2016 went up five percent, reported U.S. non-profit Council of Graduate Schools (CGS).

 

Grad Schools Remain a Global Draw

Inside Higher Ed, 2/09/2017

More international students continue to apply to and enroll in U.S. graduate institutions, though not at the rapid pace seen in recent years, according to a report released Thursday by the Council of Graduate Schools.

 

Even Before the Travel Ban, Signs of Weakening Interest From Students Abroad

The Chronicle of Higher Education, 2/09/2017

A new report from the Council of Graduate Schools shows that the number of students from overseas enrolling in American graduate programs in the fall of 2016 grew by 5 percent, the same rate as in the previous year.

 

European graduate enrolment in US rises 8 per cent

Times Higher Education, 2/09/2017

The number of European graduate students enrolling at US universities rose by 8 per cent in the year to autumn 2016, the largest increase in at least the past five years, according to new data from the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS).

 

First-time international graduate enrolments rise 5%

University World News, 2/09/2017

Enrolments in United States universities of first-time international graduate students increased by 5% in autumn 2016, the same rate of growth as the previous year, says a report by the US-based Council of Graduate Schools, a Washington-based non-profit.

 

How the immigration controversy could drive up the cost of college

The Hechinger Report, 2/09/2017

Even before the travel ban, graduate schools were seeing significant declines in enrollment from the Middle East. Saudi Arabian applications declined 20 percent last year, said the Council of Graduate Schools.

 

Dustin Mix, a master’s degree recipient in civil engineering and entrepreneurship, and Maria Gibbs, a PhD candidate in civil engineering, partnered at the University of Notre Dame to implement the Venture Founders Program. The program is a partnership between Notre Dame’s ESTEEM master’s program and the city of South Bend’s enFocus fellowship program, which assists aspiring entrepreneurs in developing impactful local ventures.

 

Mix and Gibbs built the program around a simple principle: talented people will focus their entrepreneurial spirit on positively impacting their local communities, if they are encouraged and supported, understand great ideas often stem from trying to solve a problem, and have access to resources in the earliest stages of a venture. Although this program is still in its infancy, current ESTEEM graduate students are already tackling critical issues: the skills gap, barriers to chronic health treatment, antibiotic resistance, and bridging the gap between limited internet access and digital literacy.

 

The Notre Dame ESTEEM program is an interdisciplinary program between the College of Engineering, the College of Science, and the Mendoza College of Business; its core values are collaboration and the business of innovation. To learn more about Dustin, Maria, and the Venture Founders Program, visit the University of Notre Dame website.

 

**Photo Credit: ESTEEM

 

Tim Brown, a philosophy graduate student at the University of Washington, was awarded one of the inaugural National Humanities Without Walls PreDoctoral Fellowship. The Humanities Without Walls consortium includes humanities centers at 15 research universities focused on collaborative research, teaching, and scholarship that require cross-institutional cooperation.

 

Brown’s transdisciplinary research in neural engineering and the ethics of neuroscience focuses on how deep-brain stimulator systems help people with Parkinson’s Disease and Essential Tremor manage symptoms. According to the UW website, “Devices like these may have the potential to profoundly change the user’s sense of self, feelings of self-control, or even their interpersonal relationships with family and friends.” Through interviews, Brown collects data on users’ experiences, “to challenge philosophical theories about autonomy, self-control, and personal identity.”

 

Brown’s research is conducted as part of the Neuroethics Thrust within the Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering (CSNE) at the University of Washington. To learn more about Tim and his work, visit the University of Washington website.

 

**Photo Credit: University of Washington

Jorge Cueto, a recent doctoral recipient in engineering from the State University of New York at Buffalo (UB), was awarded UB’s Engineering & Applied Sciences Outstanding Young Alumnus Award. This award recognizes Cueto’s outstanding contributions to his field: an invention called Smart Walls. Cueto’s patent-pending design is a “system of telescoping rectangular fiber-reinforced concrete boxes,” which can be raised when necessary to protect against flood threats and water surges. This research was also the basis for his thesis and dissertation work.

 

The inspiration behind Cueto’s invention began with a class assignment in emerging technologies. According to him, “I am usually very efficient with space, to optimize its use. I started thinking of the hollow space inside massive columns. You’re not using that space, and I was playing with an umbrella.”

 

Cueto received a $225,000 Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Science Foundation for his Smart Walls invention, which gave him the opportunity to build a prototype that can be tested and demonstrated. He hopes to garner further interest from potential clients and investors. Cueto has presented his work at conferences and several waterfront towns have expressed interest. The walls could prove particularly beneficial to protect hospitals and other buildings that cannot have access permanently blocked. To learn more about Jorge and his work, visit the University at Buffalo website.

 

**Photo Credit: UB’s Office of University Communications

Mya Le Thai, a recent doctoral recipient in chemistry from the University of California, Irvine, led a research study at UCI that could revolutionize commercial batteries by greatly lengthening their lifespans. Her work resulted in the “development of a nanowire-based technology that allows lithium-ion batteries to be recharged hundreds of thousands of times.” This breakthrough could affect a wide-range of electronics, including computers, smartphones, appliances, cars, and spacecraft, and moves us closer to batteries that will never need to be replaced.

 

Nanowires, thousands of times thinner than a human hair, are highly conductive. The challenge: fragile filaments eventually crack after cycles of charging and discharging. The UCI researchers, led by Thai, discovered the remedy: coat the filaments with a manganese dioxide shell and encase that in a Plexiglas-like gel. The difference? Batteries that would generally die after 5-7,000 cycles were now surviving hundreds of thousands of cycles without losing capacity. Thai is running follow-up studies to gain a better understanding of why this solution works.

 

"The coated electrode holds its shape much better, making it a more reliable option," Thai says. "This research proves that a nanowire-based battery electrode can have a long lifetime and that we can make these kinds of batteries a reality." To learn more about Mya and her work, visit the University of California, Irvine website.

 

**Photo Credit: UC Irvine

Lanre Akinsiku started writing stories four years ago, because “there’s such a dearth of stories about kids of color getting to be human and alive in their own world. I know growing up I didn’t see a lot of those stories,” said Akinsiku. In the past four years, he has finished his MFA at Cornell University, published three books (almost four), and was honored by the New York Public Library’s selection of two of his books for inclusion on its annual list of best books for children and young adults. Akinsiku, who writes under the name LJ Alonge, is the first student in the history of Cornell’s MFA writing program to have three books published before completing the program.

 

After receiving his B.A. in international political economy from the University of California, Berkeley, Akinsiku spent several years working in political consulting. He gave that up to become a freelance travel writer before entering the MFA program at Cornell. Penguin editors approached him after his first year of graduate school to write a series for young adults. What resulted is Akinsiku’s Blacktop series, a collection of four books that explore topics including racism, relationships between police and teens of color, and gentrification, through the voices of teenagers with a shared love for basketball. To learn more about Lanre and his work, visit the Cornell University website.

 

**Photo credit: Lindsay France/University Photography

As a child, Joseph Taylor loved dinosaurs and wanted to be a paleontologist; but during his undergraduate work at Washington and Lee University, Taylor discovered his love for insects and spent three years researching the praying mantis.

 

After receiving his B.S. in biology with a minor in Russian language and culture, Taylor chose to continue his work as a doctoral student in entomology at Washington State University. Now he’s researching predator insects and their role in feeding on other insects that can potentially destroy crops. He hopes his research will lead to reduceduse of harmful broad spectrum pesticides in crops and build a healthier food supply for the world.

 

Taylor was recently awarded an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and an Achievement Rewards for College Scientists to continue his work on predator insects. Once Taylor finishes his doctoral study, he hopes to work for the USDA on pest management. To learn more about Joseph and his research, visit the Washington State University website.

Rick Flores, a doctoral student in environmental studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz, is helping indigenous tribes recuperate and relearn traditional ecological knowledge and resource management after a period of colonial dispossession.

 

After receiving his undergraduate degree, Flores became interested in the ethnobotany of the California Indians while working at the UC Santa Cruz Arboretum. The Arboretum started the Amah Mutsun Relearning Program in 2009 with Flores leading the efforts. Through the program, Flores developed a cultural understanding and respect for the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band (AMTB). The longer Flores learned about and worked with the AMTB, the more he realized an advanced degree would enable him to have a greater impact on the tribe; pursuing his degree at UC Santa Cruz seemed an obvious choice.

 

Once Flores finishes his doctoral study, he plans to continue working with indigenous peoples. “I want to continue to help the AMTB in their efforts to relearn traditional knowledge and become active land stewards within their traditional territories again,” he said. “I would also like to work with public and private land managers to incorporate traditional knowledge into contemporary land management practices." To learn more about Rick and his research, visit the UC Santa Cruz website.

Jessica Finlay, a doctoral candidate in geography and gerontology at the University of Minnesota, is researching how community factors such as transportation services, built infrastructure, and neighborhood social environment impact the wellbeing of senior citizens. She focuses on diverse communities, including lower income seniors, racial and ethnic minorities, and the disabled.

 

Finlay’s dissertation research involves interviews with elderly residents in the Minneapolis metropolitan area to assess how their needs are (or aren’t) being met by existing services and infrastructure. There was so much interest in the elderly community to participate that Finlay increased the number of interviews from 60 seniors to 125. The next step in her research will involve interviews with decision makers, including community service providers and urban planners to assess accessibility issues.

 

Finlay hopes to develop strategies for community planning that span the life course: urban and suburban environments that support residents of all ages. Local and national organizations’ movements to provide better spaces for Americans to grow old are gaining momentum. “A primary goal is to make multi-generational living communities where you don’t isolate older people into segregated areas; instead, aging residents can live safely and securely throughout the city or suburbs enmeshed within the local urban fabric,” says Finlay. To learn more about Jessica and her research, visit the University of Minnesota website.