Notes in the Margins: Jobs, women in STEM and the graduation rate craze

Public Universities Seek More Autonomy as Financing From States Shrinks The colleges say they cannot afford the complicated web of state regulations governing areas like procurement and building, and need more flexibility to compete with private institutions. (The New York Times)

Job Outlook: Better! Following a salary survey that gave accounting students something to cheer about, the National Association of Colleges and Employers has some good news for the rest of the class of 2011 -- February data shows that entry-level hiring is on the rise. (The Huffington Post)

The Graduation Rate Craze Without a critical analysis of the graduation numbers and especially the means used to increase them, we could wind up in 2020 having reached the graduation goals but with fewer well-educated people than we need -- and with more uneven distribution of higher education attainment than we should accept. (The Huffington Post)

Inoculation Against Stereotype New research provides evidence that female instructors may be key to encouraging talented female STEM students to stay in those disciplines. (Inside Higher Ed)

Senators Mull Changes in 90/10 Rule to Rein In For-Profits Key senators appear to be coalescing around a plan to limit the amount of federal money flowing to the for-profit college sector. Their solution, for-profits and their critics say, would be to count military aid in the federal share of the 90/10 rule, which requires for-profit colleges to receive 10 percent of their revenue from nonfederal sources to be eligible to receive federal student aid. Many of the colleges would fail that test if they had to count military aid as federal money. (Chronicle of Higher Education)

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