Education category, Page 30
FAFSA data finally starts flowing to colleges to develop financial aid offers to students
Some colleges and universities are beginning to receive long-delayed information they need from the U.S. Department of Education to develop financial aid offers to college-bound students. Word that data is flowing from the troubled rollout of the revised Free Application for Federal Student Aid form (FAFSA) is welcome news. But...
Penn State targets under-enrolled programs, duplication as it eyes cuts at branch campuses
Efforts in the coming months to pare spending on Penn State University branch campuses will include reviewing duplicative or underenrolled academic programs and potentially sharing administrative services between campuses. The university has offered an update on a closely watched process to cut $54 million, or 14.1%, from commonwealth campus operations...
Quaker Valley School District getting federal funds for infrastructure upgrades for proposed high school
Federal funding has been earmarked for a crucial part of the proposed Quaker Valley High School. The proposed 167,000-square-foot school is on 150 acres off of Camp Meeting Road. The district property straddles Leet Township, Edgeworth and Leetsdale. However, the school itself will be in Leet. The district secured $850,000...
Robert Morris University to host prom for seniors who missed out during pandemic
Like so many of her peers, Addy Hildebrand saw the most cherished parts of her senior year slip away when covid-19 shuttered her high school and others exactly four years ago. Hildebrand, 22, of Derry, now a Robert Morris University senior, made her very first trip to a prom store...
Hempfield Area mulls funding options for stalled high school project
State funding might be available to help defray some of the cost of the work on the stalled Hempfield High School renovation project, its construction manager told the school board Monday. The board put the brakes on the project in August after bids for some of the work revealed its...
Rep. Frankel seeks details about imminent closure of UPMC Montefiore dental center
A UPMC decision to close its Montefiore dental center has state Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Squirrel Hill, worried about how many patients will be displaced and the potential impact on their care. Frankel sought an explanation for the closure in a letter sent Friday to UPMC, a copy of which was...
What to know about the SAVE plan, the income-driven plan to repay student loans
NEW YORK — More than 75 million student loan borrowers have enrolled in the U.S. government’s newest repayment plan since it launched in August. President Joe Biden recently announced that he was canceling federal student loans for nearly 153,000 borrowers enrolled in the plan, known as the SAVE plan. Forgiveness...
A simulated hotel front desk at Indiana University of Pennsylvania now includes a donor’s name
Donor names end up on all sorts of college and university real estate, from imposing classroom buildings, to lecture halls, to flower gardens and even benches. Indiana University of Pennsylvania has its share of those sorts of spots. It also has this: A hotel front desk simulation lab that —...
Ditch the pencil, SAT exams go digital
If there’s an SAT exam in your future or that of your child, don’t worry about scrounging up a perfectly sharpened No. 2 pencil. You have outlived the paper era of the college entrance exam. Starting Saturday, an almost-century-old rite of academic passage for high schoolers will have bowed to...
Greensburg Salem to move forward with contractor on part of outdoor classroom project
The Greensburg Salem school board will vote next week on whether to move forward with a new contractor for the pavilion portion of its delayed outdoor classroom project, after having rejected previous bids for being too expensive. The district plans to go with contractor RJT Contracting for the labor and...
Mike Pence to speak at Grove City College conference on antisemitism
Former Vice President Mike Pence will travel to Grove City College next month to deliver the keynote address at The Institute for Faith & Freedom (IFF) 2024 Conference “Confronting Antisemitism,” campus officials announced Wednesday. He will speak at 11 a.m. Thursday, April 11 in Crawford Hall Auditorium. In announcing his...
Pitt taps Joseph J. McCarthy as provost and senior vice chancellor
A nationwide search by the University of Pittsburgh to find its next provost and chief academic officer ultimately led to the person already doing the job since last summer on a temporary basis. Pitt officials announced Wednesday that Joseph J. McCarthy, interim provost and William Kepler Whiteford Professor in the...
Ambitious Pitt BioForge project could help cut medical treatment costs
Seated at a table of nonscientists, Kaigham “Ken” Gabriel explained how an ordinary-looking construction site in Hazelwood just might propel Pittsburgh to the forefront of reducing medical costs through gene therapy manufacturing. To make his point, the newly hired CEO of the University of Pittsburgh’s BioForge initiative pulled from his...
Pitt boosts police patrols after reported rape near Oakland campus
The University of Pittsburgh has stepped up police patrols following a reported rape Sunday near the Oakland campus. Pittsburgh police said the victim reported being sexually assaulted by a man wearing a black ski mask who displayed a knife, hit her in the face and took her cellphone. The incident...
Cursive handwriting makes a comeback in elementary schools
Second grader Evi Thompson’s favorite letter is “S.” “I like how my pencil feels on the paper when I write it,” Evi said from her classroom at Mary Queen of Apostles in New Kensington. “It’s very loopy.” Evi and her classmates are learning the art of cursive writing, the old-school...
Greater Latrobe alumna honoree cites benefits of sports, outdoors, support of Flight 93 Memorial
Dawna Joyce Richards Bates is most at home when she can apply her skills to help others. When she wasn’t working at her alma mater — Greater Latrobe School District — teaching elementary students the importance of physical fitness or junior high girls the value of sportsmanship on the basketball...
Penn State New Kensington rallies against proposed cuts to branch campuses
Anthony Palyszeski can speak firsthand about the impact his time as a student at Penn State New Kensington has had on his life. “My years at Penn State New Kensington turned me into a professional, to enter the workforce with pride,” said Palyszeski, 27, of Harrison, a network coordinator at...
Washington & Jefferson names new president
Washington & Jefferson College has named as its 14th president Elizabeth MacLeod Walls, now serving as president of William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri. She will succeed John Knapp, who earlier disclosed plans to retire on June 30, officials said Tuesday. MacLeod Walls has led William Jewell College since 2016....
Gov. Shapiro releases specifics of higher education restructuring plan in Pittsburgh visit
A combined system of 15 community colleges and 10 state universities would treat both tiers as equals, and they would equitably split a 15% funding increase in his proposed state budget, Gov. Josh Shapiro said Tuesday. In an appearance at the Community College of Allegheny County in Pittsburgh, the governor...
100 Black Men of Western PA, Pittsburgh Public Schools host African American History Challenge
A question about Pittsburgh’s first Black college stumped participants in the 30th African American History Challenge Bowl: A Legacy of Academic Excellence. The longtime collaboration between Pittsburgh Public Schools and 100 Black Men of Western PA, Inc., took place on Friday at Pittsburgh Greenway. Pittsburgh Public Schools Superintendent Wayne N....
Kids are using phones in class, even when it’s against the rules. Should schools ban them all day?
SAN FRANCISCO — In California, a high school teacher complains that students watch Netflix on their phones during class. In Maryland, a chemistry teacher says students use gambling apps to place bets during the school day. Around the country, educators say students routinely send Snapchat messages in class, listen to...
BridgeUP program gives districts a chance to ‘grow your own’ teacher
LeAnn Dupree “always wanted to be a teacher,” but paying for a four-year college degree wasn’t in the cards for her. So she settled for an associate degree and entered the workforce, working three jobs including as a paraprofessional educator to make ends meet. She switched from special to early...
Former Franklin Regional superintendent tapped as consultant to find new leader at Hempfield Area
Hempfield Area School District’s superintendent search is officially on. The district board tapped education consultant Peter Emery D’Arcangelo to begin its search for a new district leader to replace Tammy Wolicki. Wolicki announced her retirement Jan. 22, following an extended leave of absence. Assistant Superintendent for Elementary Education Kimberlie Rieffannacht...
Robert Morris seeks to build $28M hockey arena
Robert Morris University wants to build a $28 million arena on campus for its Division I men’s and women’s hockey programs and is seeking $10 million from the state for the project. If it comes to fruition, the state-of- the-art venue would hold 2,500 people through general spectator seats “with...
Tired of diesel fumes, these moms are pushing for electric school buses
Areli Sanchez’s daughter, Aida, used to be one of 20 million American kids who ride a diesel bus to school each day. Aida has asthma. When she was little, she complained about the smell and cloud of fumes on her twice-daily trip. “When she would come home from school or...
