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Topic: In Race for Tuition-Free College, New Mexico Stakes a Claim

As universities across the United States face steep enrollment declines, New Mexico’s government is embarking on a pioneering experiment to fight that trend: tuition-free higher education for all state residents.

隨著美國各地大學入學人數急劇下滑，新墨西哥州政府正著手進行一項開創性實驗來應對這一趨勢：為全州居民提供免學費高等教育。

After President Joe Biden’s plan for universal free community college failed to gain traction in Congress, New Mexico, one of the nation’s poorest states, has emerged with perhaps the most ambitious plans as states scramble to come up with their own initiatives.

在美國總統拜登的全民免費社區大學計畫未能獲得國會支持後，美國最窮的州之一新墨西哥州提出的計畫，可能是各州爭相提出行動倡議中最具雄心的一個。

A new state law approved in a rare show of bipartisanship allocates almost 1% of the state’s budget toward covering tuition and fees at public colleges and universities, community colleges and tribal colleges. All state residents from new high school graduates to adults enrolling part-time will be eligible regardless of family income. The program is also open to immigrants regardless of their immigration status.

一項新的州法在兩黨罕見合作下通過，將州預算的1%用於支付公立大學、社區大學與部落學院的學費。所有州民，從剛畢業的高中生到參加兼職教育的成人都有資格參加，無論家庭收入。該計畫也向移民開放，無論他們的移民身分如何。

Some legislators and other critics question whether there should have been income caps and whether the state, newly flush with oil and gas revenue, can secure long-term funding to support the program beyond its first year. The legislation, which seeks to treat college as a public resource similar to primary and secondary education, takes effect in July.

一些議員和其他批評人士質疑是否應設所得限制，以及剛獲大量石油與天然氣收入的該州是否能在計畫實施第一年後，獲得長期資金支持。這項立法將於7月生效，旨在將大學視為與中小學教育類似的公共資源。

Although nearly half the states have embraced similar initiatives that seek to cover at least some tuition expenses for some students, New Mexico’s law goes further by covering tuition and fees before other scholarships and sources of financial aid are applied, enabling students to use those other funds for expenses such as lodging, food or child care.

儘管近半的州已採取類似舉措，想幫一些學生支付至少部分學費和雜費，新墨西哥州法律更進一步，在申請其他獎學金和學費補助前，先支付學雜費，讓學生能使用其他資金，支付如住宿、食物或兒童照顧等費用。

“The New Mexico program is very close to ideal,” said Michael Dannenberg, vice president of strategic initiatives and higher education policy at the nonprofit advocacy group Education Reform Now. Considering the state’s income levels and available resources, he added that New Mexico’s program is among the most generous in the country.

非營利倡議組織Education Reform Now策略倡議暨高教政策副總裁丹能貝格說：「新墨西哥的計畫非常貼近理想。」他表示，考量收入水準與可用資源，新墨西哥州的計畫是全美最慷慨的。

Dannenberg emphasized that New Mexico is going beyond what larger, more prosperous states like Washington and Tennessee have already done. Programs in other states often limit tuition assistance to community colleges, exclude some residents because of family income or impose conditions requiring students to work part time.

丹能貝格強調，新墨西哥州正超越華盛頓和田納西這些更大、更繁榮的州所做的事。其他州通常限制對社區大學的學費補助，因家庭收入排除一些州民，或要求學生兼職。Source article: https://udn.com/news/story/6904/6329103

Next Article

Topic: Colleges Slash Budgets in the Pandemic,With ‘Nothing Off-Limits’

Ohio Wesleyan University is eliminating 18 majors. The University of Florida’s trustees last month took the first steps toward letting the school furlough faculty. The University of California, Berkeley, has paused admissions to its doctoral programs in anthropology, sociology and art history.

美國俄亥俄衛斯理大學取消了18個科系。佛州大學董事會9月採取初步措施，目標是讓校方有權放教師無薪假。柏克萊加州大學則暫停招收人類學、社會學和藝術史的博士班學生。

As it resurges across the country, the coronavirus is forcing universities large and small to make deep and possibly lasting cuts to close widening budget shortfalls. By one estimate, the pandemic has cost colleges at least $120 billion, with even Harvard University, despite its $41.9 billion endowment, reporting a $10 million deficit that has prompted belt tightening.

由於全美各地新冠肺炎疫情再度惡化，美國各大學不論規模大小，都被迫大砍支出，以彌補逐漸擴大的預算缺口，刪減的支出可能長期都不會恢復。有人估計，疫情至少使美國各大學合計損失1200億美元，就連坐擁419億美元辦學基金的哈佛大學也出現1000萬美元預算赤字，被迫勒緊褲帶。

The persistence of the economic downturn is taking a devastating financial toll, pushing many to lay off or furlough employees, delay graduate admissions and even cut or consolidate core programs like liberal arts departments.

經濟持續疲軟造成極其嚴重的財務災情，迫使許多大學裁員或放無薪假，推遲研究所學生入學，甚至取消或合併文科等核心學程。

The University of South Florida announced last month that its College of Education would become a graduate school only, phasing out undergraduate education degrees to help close a $6.8 million budget gap. In Ohio, the University of Akron, citing the coronavirus, successfully invoked a clause in its collective-bargaining agreement in September to supersede tenure rules and lay off 97 unionized faculty members.

南佛州大學上個月宣布，其教育學院將只留下研究所，分階段取消大學部，以彌補680萬美元的預算缺口。在俄亥俄州，艾克朗大學以疫情為由，在9月成功援用團體協約一項條款取代任期規則，裁掉97名加入工會的教師。

“We haven’t seen a budget crisis like this in a generation,” said Robert Kelchen, a Seton Hall University associate professor of higher education who has been tracking the administrative response to the pandemic. “There’s nothing off-limits at this point.”

西東大學高等教育副教授柯爾欽一直在關注校方對疫情的反應，他說：「這是一個世代以來從未見過的預算危機，在這種關頭，沒有什麼不能碰。」

Even before the pandemic, colleges and universities were grappling with a growing financial crisis, brought on by years of shrinking state support, declining enrollment, and student concerns with skyrocketing tuition and burdensome debt. Now the coronavirus has amplified the financial trouble systemwide, though elite, well-endowed colleges seem sure to weather it with far less pain.

早在疫情爆發前，美國大專院校就為日益嚴重的財務危機而掙扎，原因是州政府補助日漸減少，學生註冊數下滑而且介意學費高漲和學貸負擔沉重，如今，疫情擴大了整個高教體系財務問題，不過，辦學基金厚實的菁英大學似乎可度過難關，且承受的痛苦會少得多。

“We have been in aggressive recession management for 12 years — probably more than 12 years,” Daniel Greenstein, chancellor of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, told his board of governors as they voted to forge ahead with a proposal to merge a half-dozen small schools into two academic entities.

賓州高等教育體系董事會表決通過，大力推動將6個小規模學院併為兩個學術單位，當時總校長葛林斯坦對董事會說：「我們積極從事於衰退問題管理已有12年，應該還不止12年。」

Source article: https://paper.udn.com/udnpaper/POH0067/359091/web/

Next Article

Topic: Remember the MOOCs? After Near-Death, They’re Booming

Sandeep Gupta, a technology manager in California, sees the economic storm caused by the coronavirus as a time “to try to future-proof your working life.” So he is taking an online course in artificial intelligence.

美國加州科技業經理古普塔認為，新冠肺炎引發的經濟風暴是「防止職業生涯被未來淘汰」的時機，所以修讀了一門關於人工智慧的線上課程。

Dr. Robert Davidson, an emergency-room physician in Michigan, says the pandemic has cast “a glaring light on the shortcomings of our public health infrastructure.” So he is pursuing an online master’s degree in public health.

密西根州急診室醫師戴維森說，疫情「使我們公衛基礎設施的弱點顯而易見」，所以他在修讀線上公衛碩士學位。

Children and college students aren’t the only ones turning to online education during the coronavirus pandemic. Millions of adults have signed up for online classes in the past two months, too — a jolt that could signal a renaissance for big online learning networks that had struggled for years.

在新冠肺炎大流行期間轉而接受線上教育者，不限於兒童和大學生。過去兩個月，數以百萬計的成人也註冊參加線上課程，這令人驚訝的事實可能意味苦撐多年的大型線上學習網路即將再起。

Coursera, in which Gupta and Davidson enrolled, added 10 million new users from mid-March to mid-May, seven times the pace of new sign-ups in the previous year. Enrollments at edX and Udacity, two smaller education sites, have jumped by similar multiples.

古普塔與戴維森註冊的Coursera，從3月中旬到5月中旬增加1000萬新用戶，是去年同期新增註冊人數的七倍。edX與Udacity這兩個規模較小的教育網站，新註冊人數也以類似倍數暴增。

“Crises lead to accelerations, and this is best chance ever for online learning,” said Sebastian Thrun, a co-founder and chairman of Udacity.
Udacity共同創辦人兼董事長史朗說：「危機導致改變加速發生，這是線上學習業未曾遇過的最佳良機。」
Coursera, Udacity and edX sprang up nearly a decade ago as high-profile university experiments known as MOOCs, for massive open online courses. They were portrayed as tech-fueled insurgents destined to disrupt the antiquated ways of traditional higher education. But few people completed courses, grappling with the same challenges now facing students forced into distance learning because of the pandemic. Screen fatigue sets in, and attention strays.

Coursera、Udacity和edX近十年前出現，嘗試與大學合作推出線上課程而備受矚目，這類課程名為
「大規模開放線上課程」，簡稱「磨課師」。這種課程被描述為獲得科技支持的反叛者，意在顛覆傳統高等教育過時的授課方式。不過，很少有人能修完課程，這些人窮於應付的挑戰，與目前因為疫情被迫遠距學習的學生一樣。長時間盯著螢幕造成疲勞，而且注意力難以集中。

But the online ventures adapted through trial and error, gathering lessons that could provide a road map for school districts and universities pushed online. The instructional ingredients of success, the sites found, include short videos of six minutes or less, interspersed with interactive drills and tests; online forums where students share problems and suggestions; and online mentoring and tutoring.

不過這些線上企業透過反覆試驗來調整，並且積聚了可供被迫線上授課的學區和大學參考的知識和經驗。這些網站發現，線上授課成功的要素包括：短片時間不超過6分鐘，穿插互動練習和測驗；設立線上論壇，讓學生提出問題和建議；並提供線上指導和輔導。

A few top-tier universities, such as the University of Michigan and the Georgia Institute of Technology, offer some full degree programs through the online platforms.

有幾所頂尖大學，如密西根大學和喬治亞理工學院，透過這些線上平台提供一些正式學位學程。

While those academic programs are available, the online schools have tilted toward skills-focused courses that match student demand and hiring trends.
這些線上學校雖提供學術性學程，卻更傾向開設符合學生需要和雇用趨勢的技能課程。

The COVID-19 effect on online learning could broaden the range of popular subjects, education experts say. But so far, training for the tech economy is where the digital-learning money lies. With more of work and everyday life moving online — some of it permanently — that will probably not change.

教育專家指出，新冠肺炎可能會使線上課程熱門科目範圍變得更廣。不過到目前為止，針對科技經濟提供的訓練課程，才是數位教學業的金雞母。隨著更多的工作和日常生活轉移到線上進行，有些是永遠轉到線上，這種情況大概不會改變。
Source articles: https://paper.udn.com/udnpaper/POH0067/354879/web/

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