Education

(PROVIDENCE, RI) The number of high school graduates is declining at a higher rate in Rhode Island than in the nation as a whole.  That’s the conclusion of a report released by the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education.  Rhode Island joins 4 other states and the District of Columbia in having projected losses of 15-percent or more in the number of high school graduates in the school years of 2008/2009 through 2019/2020.  

(PROVIDENCE, RI) The President of the Rhode Island School of Design is scheduled to speak at the annual TEDMED conference in April.  TEDMED will be exploring the future of medicine.  

RISD president John Maeda  will present on the topic “How can design principles lead to more discovery and better treatment?”

The event will take place in Washington D.C. and organizers say TEDMED will explore the potential of technology in the fields of health and medicine.

• Sawyer probe continues

State and federal law enforcement agencies are checking the books at the Sawyer School for criminal activity following its abrupt closure just after Christmas. State education officials have recovered student records from the school and are planning to hold an event at CCRI next week to provide transcripts and counseling for students wondering how to proceed with their degrees.

(PROVIDENCE, RI) Help is on the way for the more than 300 students displaced by the recent closure of the Sawyer vocational school in Providence. 

The state Office of Higher Education will hold a day-long meeting next week for students displaced by the closure of the Sawyer School in Providence. More than 300 students in Rhode Island and another 1,200 in Connecticut were shocked to see the school close abruptly just after Christmas.

The Sawyer School was apparently bleeding federal aid prior to its abrupt closure on New Year's Day. The Federal Department of Education says the for-profit school had gone from nearly $7.5 million in federal tuition dollars for the 2011-2012 academic year down to $2 million this year.

What happened? Well, one answer is declining enrollment. Sawyer reported 796 students in Rhode Island in the fall of 2011, but only 302 students when it shut down earlier this month.