Here’s a selection of articles we read this week.
Earthquakes! – An earthquake early warning system under development for the West Coast gets a major boost in the new federal budget that President Donald Trump signed into law Friday. Read more from Northwest Public Broadcasting.
Golden Tennis Shoes – Senator Patty Murray’s successes have been not just impressive, but near folkloric. President Obama declared the Every Student Succeeds Act, one of her first collaborations with Sen. Alexander “a Christmas miracle.” And what’s more, she makes the process look seamless. Even in wearied Washington, Murray commands a quiet grace. Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) tells ELLE that her friend scores her hardest-won concessions behind closed doors; the divisions may be deep, but she almost never discusses them. Read the feature story on Senator Patty Murray on ELLE.
On Tuition Revenue – State colleges and universities are relying more on tuition dollars to fund their operations even as state funding rises and colleges come under pressure to keep tuition low. Last fiscal year, for the first time, tuition revenue outpaced government appropriations for higher education in the majority of states, according to the annual higher education finance report from the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association. Read more from Governing.
Out-of-state at Flagship Universities – The in-state/out-of-state question is a huge issue for universities. For hundreds of thousands of college-bound students nationwide, their home-state flagship is either their top choice or one of them. A Washington Post analysis of the latest available federal data found that at 11 flagships in 2016, more than half of the incoming freshman classes were from out of state. For several small states, that was no surprise. But some state schools have made a conscious decision to go national. Read more from WaPo.