Admissions

For some institutions that would typically have their classes set by now, application numbers were disappointing and deposits have lagged. "June 1 may be the new May 1."

Some praise plan offered by more than 100 elite private schools to kill high school transcripts and reform college admissions. Others are dubious.

Twenty-one scholars publish call to reject popular measures and ordinal rankings -- and to replace them with more meaningful tools for comparisons.

University of Maine sleds uphill by trying to draw students from faraway California and Illinois with program matching in-state flagship rates of other states, but sees yet more gains from New England.

More than 100 elite private high schools aim to replace traditional transcripts with competency-based, nonstandardized documents -- with no grades. They plan to expand to public high schools, with goal of completely changing how students are evaluated.

Unusual foundation grant will pay for community colleges and four-year institutions to improve their transfer pathways, with goal of 30 percent bump in four-year degrees earned by community college graduates.