Higher Learning

After almost 200 creative writing teachers and program directors criticized Poets & Writers for its ranking of MFA and PHD programs, Poets & Writers has responded to the criticism.

Do you think MFA programs should be rated? In the original letter, professors from some of the higher ranked universities complained: “Instead of asking such students and alumni about quality of instruction, or anything else about actual program content, P&W’s rankings are heavily skewed toward viewing a program’s financial aid offer as the final arbiter of that program’s overall quality.”

Poets & Letters defended its choices. Here is more from the publication’s rebuttal: “Why didn’t we survey MFA faculty and students about the quality of MFA programs? To continue the analogy Leslie Epstein used to describe our approach in the press release, that would be like asking diners who only frequent their favorite restaurant to assess the quality of all restaurants.”

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Students preparing to go back to school this year will have new textbook options, as more companies are renting textbooks.  Barnes & Noble started renting them last year, Amazon just joined the game, and a handful of other companies have been in the space for year, renting digital and print textbooks to co-eds.

According to Alan Martin, CEO of CampusBookRentals.com, about 20 percent of students are now renting physical textbooks for at least a portion of their classes. Martin also said that only a small percentage rent digital textbooks, but Amazon’s entry into the space could change this.

In an interview with eBookNewser, Martin  said that professors influenced the move: “At the end of the day, students follow the professor’s suggested materials, and the median age of professors in higher ed doesn’t align perfectly to the digital movement which adds another layer of complexity to mainstream adoption.”