While we ponder...

From the LA Times: California high school students are increasingly taking the SAT, as more universities are again requiring standardized tests for admission and as the University of California is debating whether to reinstate its test requirement amid concerns over academic preparedness. In all, 138,763 California class of 2026 students took the SAT, up 12.6% from the prior year — and the largest gain in three years — according to data released Tuesday from the College Board, the nonprofit organization that develops and proctors the SAT.

Though the UC and California State University systems do not use the SAT or other standardized tests in admissions decisions, an increasing number of universities have reinstated testing requirements after many suspended them during the height of the pandemic, including the University of Texas, all Ivy League schools, Stanford and Caltech...

Full story at https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-09-29/sat-test-free-college-admissions-uc-csu. 

Straws in the Wind - Part 479

From Forbes: Add Vanderbilt University to the ever-lengthening list of premier institutions that are expanding their offers of free tuition to undergraduate students. The university announced last week that it was revising its Opportunity Vanderbilt financial aid program and will provide tuition-free scholarships to students from families with incomes up to $200,000 and typical financial assets. The previous threshold for free tuition was $150,000, which Vanderbilt established just two years ago, in 2024. The new eligibility criteria will take effect in fall 2027, and it will apply to both current undergraduate students as well as those who enter Vanderbilt next fall.

...Between 2024 and 2025, MIT, Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Texas, Brandeis University, the University of Utah, Smith College, Bryn Mawr College, the Stevens Institute of Technology, Wake Forest University, Emory University and The Ohio State University all rolled out their versions of free college tuition. The current year has seen a quickened pace of new offers. First, Yale University announced it was expanding its financial aid program and would offer free tuition to entering undergraduates from families with annual incomes below $200,000 and cover all the costs of attendance for those from families with incomes below $100,000. Two months later, the University of Notre Dame enhanced its undergraduate financial aid program so that students from families with annual income below $150,000 would have all their tuition costs covered starting in the 2026-27 academic year.

In May, the University of Chicago unveiled one of the most generous aid packages, guaranteeing free tuition starting in the fall of 2027 for undergraduate students from families with annual income less than $250,000. As part of its plan, Chicago promised it would cover tuition plus the costs of housing, meals and other fees for students from families with income less than $125,000. Rice University followed suit in August, announcing that it was expanding its major financial aid program and would, starting with students who enter in fall 2027, offer free tuition to those from families earning up to $200,000 annually...

Full story at https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeltnietzel/2026/09/21/vanderbilt-to-pay-tuition-for-families-with-income--of-200000-or-less/.

Straws in the Wind - Part 442

From the Chronicle of Higher Education: The University of Texas at Austin unveiled plans... for a sweeping makeover of its undergraduate core curriculum, replacing a sprawling system of hundreds of course options with a more prescriptive menu organized around foundational texts, broad fields of study, and what the university calls the “fundamental questions and themes” of human life. The proposal, detailed by President Jim Davis during a meeting of the university system’s Board of Regents, would reduce the number of credit hours in the core curriculum, from 42 to 36. Some core credit designations are slated to be replaced with categories such as “Western Civilization,” “Masterworks of Literature,” “Great Questions of Human Life,” “Principles of American Politics,” and “Computer Science & AI.”

That plan is laid out in a much-anticipated report... from a 22-member faculty task force whose members Davis selected in the fall to “identify gaps in quality, rigor, or intellectual cohesion” in UT-Austin’s core and propose solutions. Administrators hope to implement the new curriculum by the fall of 2028. The goal, Davis told regents, is to “wipe the slate clean and rewrite the core from the ground up,” noting that the existing system “has devolved over time into a haphazard grab bag of classes.”

The proposed changes at the state’s flagship come as Texas universities adjust to Senate Bill 37, which gives governing boards greater control over academic offerings. The University of Houston, Texas A&M University, and Texas Tech University have announced similar reviews of their core curricula; the latter two systems have faced federal lawsuits challenging restrictions on course content...

Full story at https://www.chronicle.com/article/republicans-want-colleges-to-emphasize-western-civ-ut-austin-plans-to-do-just-that.