State policy

Most states have created councils to oversee education from preschool through college. Are they making a difference?

Gathering of state and university leaders crafts vision calling for funding general education over research, discouraging ‘mission creep,’ and strengthening state coordination.

Structural barriers contribute to low success rates for students in basic skills courses in California community colleges, new report says.

Economic downturns are part of a painful and predictable reality for universities, but -- perhaps purposely -- few have long-term strategic plans to deal with budget cuts.

As many states slash budgets, college coffers are growing in a handful of oil- and gas-producing states.

Temporary law providing some measure of supervision of California's for-profit colleges expires. The search for a new regulatory system is still stalled.

In a state known for competition among its public colleges and universities, Nevada higher education officials hope a health care crisis will be the cause for cooperation.

Amid signs that economic downturn will dampen support for colleges and students, report finds that per-student spending outpaced inflation and enrollment growth by 3.9 percent over 2006.

Alan Contreras is an increasing rarity these days: a knowledgeable public official who says what he thinks without worrying too much about whom he offends. That trait has him in a scrape over free speech with his superiors in Oregon's state government. And while they backed away Thursday from the action that had most troubled him, Contreras isn't backing down from the fight.

Even after its rationale for barring illegal immigrants evaporates, North Carolina community college board keeps ban, while ordering study.