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Virginia Foxx Reflects on Her Time in the Hot Seat

Inside Higher Ed

Liam Knox
December 18, 2024
The departing chair of the House Education and the Workforce Committee discusses the year that shook higher ed, abolishing the Education Department and ushering in a new era for federal oversight of colleges.
It’s Virginia Foxx’s last week as chair of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, and she’s feeling reflective.
When the North Carolina Republican assumed the chair in early 2023, she told Inside Higher Ed her main goal was to finally reauthorize the Higher Education Act, which had been languishing since 2008. But Foxx will fall short of that goal when she steps down as chair at the end of this year. The College Cost Reduction Act, a sweeping bill to overhaul higher ed, came four votes short of reaching the House floor last week, despite a final push from Foxx and other lawmakers.
It’s a disappointing outcome for the 81-year-old, who has spent her entire two decades in the House sitting on the committee.

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California nixes degree requirements for 30K state jobs

Higher Ed Dive

Laura Spitalniak
December 17, 2024
The move is part of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s broader push to create better career pathways for residents, including those who don’t have college diplomas.
Dive Brief:
California removed college degrees and other educational requirements from almost 30,000 state jobs, the governor’s office announced Monday.
Gov. Gavin Newsom also proposed rolling back such requirements for another 32,000 state jobs as early as next year. California officials are negotiating the proposal with the state’s labor unions.
Removing the degree requirements is part of a statewide initiative to establish high-paying career paths for workers, including those without college degrees. Newsom announced that the final version of his “Master Plan for Career Education” will be released early next year.

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California wants to give degrees based on skills — not grades. It’s dividing this college

Cal Matters

Adam Echelman
December 18, 2024
In summary
California’s community colleges are experimenting with a new model, known as competency-based education, but at one school, it’s created a divide between faculty and college administrators.
California’s community colleges are experimenting with a radical new model of education, but some professors are pushing back. Faculty at Madera Community College have become the most vocal opposition, though issues with the new education model have popped up across the state.
In the new model, known as competency-based education, students don’t receive grades and they don’t have to attend class. They learn at their own pace and can finish the course whenever they can prove that they’ve mastered the requisite skill or “competency.” Advocates, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, have called for more competency-based learning, saying that it’s an opportunity to help employers and get older adults who lack a college degree back to school. Similar models already exist in other states, at Calbright College, the state’s all-online community college, and at many private and for-profit institutions.

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Here’s how California plans to get millions of adults without college degrees into better jobs

Cal Matters

Adam Echelman
December 16, 2024
In summary
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s “Master Plan for Career Education” seeks to help the more than 7 million adults in California who lack college degrees by giving them college credit for their work experience and by changing the requirements on some state jobs.
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More than 7 million adults in California lack a college degree — and they typically make less money as a result. Today, standing in a welding classroom at Shasta College, a community college in Redding, Gov. Gavin Newsom presented an outline of the state’s Master Plan for Career Education. He said the plan will overhaul the state’s convoluted job training programs and help get adults “the benefit of a life well-lived without some fancy degree.”

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