-
(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
States Look to Increase Governance of Struggling Colleges
For 185 years, Green Mountain College has been educating students in the small town of Poultney, Vermont.
The college announced last month it is closing at the end of the current school year. The announcement has left hundreds of students trying to decide where to go next.
Green Mountain is a small, private liberal arts college that has seen a 43 percent drop in the number of students studying there over the past 10 years.
The Associated Press, or AP, notes that Green Mountain is going the way of some other small colleges and universities in the United States. These schools have struggled to continue operating during a general move toward career-centered training. They are also dealing1 with decreasing numbers of high school students, especially in the country’s northeast – the area known as New England.
Lauren Coye is an environmental studies major at Green Mountain. She told the AP she is very sad about the college’s decision to close.
“I mean this community is so great and I fell in love with the campus as soon as I came here, and the farm and the goats and everyone in town, too,” she said.
Coye added that she and her friends thought they had another year and a half together before they completed their studies and left the school. “Now it’s only four months,” she said.
To help protect students, Vermont state officials have been looking into increasing their oversight2 of private, independent colleges. The plans have met resistance from college leaders, who worry schools’ financial problems could be made public before they are at serious risk of closing.
New rules being created
In Massachusetts, at least 17 colleges have closed or joined with other schools over the past six years. Massachusetts education officials are moving forward with a plan to inspect the financial health of colleges every year and estimate their risk of closing. If the state decides a college might not finish the next academic year, it would be required to tell students and prepare a plan to help them gain admission to another school.
The state moved to intervene after the sudden closure of Mount Ida College in Newton, Massachusetts. Mount Ida announced last April it would be closing just a few weeks later. The news shocked students.
In Vermont, officials took notice when Burlington College closed in 2016 under the weight of debt from a land deal. The closing left no one in charge of Burlington’s student records.
Lawrence Cupoli serves on Vermont’s House Committee on Education. He said the state’s Agency of Education had to take control of the records, which was costly3. The next year, the state legislature had the Association of Vermont Independent Colleges set up an agreement with its member schools to house student records if a school closed.
Last year, Vermont lawmakers considered creating rules for any school being examined by its accrediting4 agency for financial reasons. Such schools would have been required to inform the state of the investigation5 and offer a plan for student records, setting money aside if necessary. That bill did not pass but lawmakers say they hope to consider similar proposals this legislative6 term.
Kathryn Webb heads Vermont’s House Education Committee. She noted7, “with the recent news about Green Mountain College and concern about what’s happening around New England, it does seem appropriate for us to continue to look at a response.”
The Massachusetts plan has led to criticism from some college administrators8.
Helen Drinan is president of Simmons University in Boston. She said the plan seems like an unnecessarily large reaction to the Mount Ida closure, which she described as “one really bad incident.”
“It feels like a heavy step,” argued Drinan. “Anybody caught in that net is going to get a lot of attention that may or may not be deserved, and that may or may not seal their fate. That just doesn’t seem right.”
Carlos Santiago is head of the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education. He said he understands the concern from some schools and plans to work with them to finalize9 the state’s inspection10 process.
A look at the country as a whole
At least 64 four-year private, nonprofit colleges and universities around the country have closed or announced closures since 1995, while 12 others have opened. These numbers come from the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.
Moody’s Investor11 Service said in December that its position on the U.S. higher education industry is negative. The reason: limits on the growth of money schools earn from tuition payments.
The U.S. Department of Education and college accreditors have their own processes to measure the finances of schools and place struggling schools under close watch. But officials in Massachusetts say the process has failed to raise warnings soon enough in the past.
As of last December, more than 500 colleges and universities were being closely watched by the education department. The schools included Green Mountain College, but not Newbury College in Brookline, Massachusetts. Newbury announced on December 14 it would close after this academic year.
Green Mountain had just 428 undergraduate students signing up for its classes six months ago. The college explored possible partnerships12 and ways to increase money coming in before announcing its closure. A group of former students and parents is raising money to try to keep the school from closing, but many students are already making other plans. Green Mountain said it has agreements with some other colleges that will take in its students. One such school is Prescott College in Arizona.
Students knew that Green Mountain was in trouble, said Kyle Patterson, of New Jersey13. So he made plans to attend Paul Smith’s College in New York.
“I just felt bad for everyone else who didn’t have a plan,” he said.
I’m Pete Musto.
And I’m Dorothy Gundy.
Words in This Story
liberal arts – n. areas of study, such as history, language, and literature, that are intended to give you general knowledge rather than to develop specific skills needed for a profession
major – n. a student who has a specified14 main subject of study
campus – n. the area and buildings around a university, college or school
oversight – n. the area and buildings around a university, college, school
academic – adj. of or relating schools and education
accrediting – n. the process of saying that something is good enough to be given official approval
appropriate – adj. right or suited for some purpose or situation
response – n. something that is done as a reaction to something else
net – n. a device that is used for catching15 or holding things or for keeping things out of a space
seal (their) fate – idm. to ensure that something unpleasant will happen to someone
negative – adj. harmful or bad
tuition – n. money that is paid to a school for the right to study there
undergraduate – n. a student at a college or university who has not yet earned a degree
收听单词发音 |
1
dealing
|
|
| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
oversight
|
|
| n.勘漏，失察，疏忽 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
costly
|
|
| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
accrediting
|
|
| v.相信( accredit的现在分词 )；委托；委任；把…归结于 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
investigation
|
|
| n.调查，调查研究 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
legislative
|
|
| n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
noted
|
|
| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
administrators
|
|
| n.管理者( administrator的名词复数 )；有管理（或行政）才能的人；（由遗嘱检验法庭指定的）遗产管理人；奉派暂管主教教区的牧师 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
finalize
|
|
| v.落实，定下来 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
inspection
|
|
| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
investor
|
|
| n.投资者，投资人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
partnerships
|
|
| n.伙伴关系( partnership的名词复数 )；合伙人身份；合作关系 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
jersey
|
|
| n.运动衫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
specified
|
|
| adj.特定的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
catching
|
|
| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
购买
在百度中搜索