Education

The new budget proposal from Governor Lincoln Chafee is a complex document, so here are a few highlights for schools and colleges.

There's a slight increase in this budget proposal for public colleges and universities. Oddly, officials disagree about the exact amount of the increase. The governor’s office first reported $8 million, but higher education officials say it’s closer to $6 million. The Office of Higher Education says it is grateful for any increase, after years of decreases under former Governor Don Carcieri.

(PROVIDENCE, RI) The Fleet Library at the Rhode Island School of Design is listed on "The 50 Most Amazing University Libraries in the World."    The list was compiled based on unique, beautiful or intriguing architecture as judged by BestMastersPrograms.org.

(PROVIDENCE, RI) Students of the defunct Sawyer School were reunited with their academic transcripts Thursday at a fair run by the state Office of Higher Education. The for-profit trade school closed abruptly just after Christmas, leaving 300 students in Rhode Island and another 1,200 in Connecticut with nowhere to go. 

The good news this week is that American students stack up better against their international counterparts, if socio-economic background is taken into account. Edweek has a good roundup of the new study by the Stanford Graduate School of Education and the Economic Policy Institute.

(PROVIDENCE, RI) Ten Rhode Island colleges and universities are teaming up to help the state out of its economic doldrums.

Gov. Lincoln Chafee has announced the formation of the “Rhode Island Higher Education Research Collaborative.”  Its mission: to provide nonpartisan data that will help state leaders develop sustainable economic policies.