Education news in Rhode Island was decidedly mixed in 2016. There were many highs, mostly related to the quality of post-secondary education. But continuing poor performance by the state’s public schools tempered enthusiasm, and more revelations about predatory sexual behavior by private school staff promised to keep the issue in the public eye for years to come.
It was a banner year for Brown University. It placed eighth on Forbes Top Colleges list, retained its position as 14th-best college on U.S. News and World Report’s 2017 Best Colleges list and was named the 20th-best school in the nation by the Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education ranking.
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In October, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded Brown professor J. Michael Kosterlitz the Nobel Prize in physics “for theoretical discoveries of topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter.”
In three separate College Choice surveys Brown programs were named among the top 50 in the nation: the computer science master’s degree program took 12th place, women’s studies ranked No. 23, and the Ivy League school’s master’s degree in public health came in at No. 36.
In addition to its creation of a one-year master’s degree through its Data Science Initiative, Brown was joined by other schools that see the value in teaching how to use data. A new certificate of graduate studies in mobile forensics is now offered by Salve Regina University. And teaching facilities focused on data interpretation were put in use at Providence College, Bryant University and the University of Rhode Island.
Three institutions in the region made it to College Choice’s top 75 Catholic schools list: PC (No. 13), Salve Regina (No. 67) and Stonehill College (No. 73).
On the flip side of higher education, its high cost in the Ocean State garnered some negative attention. The Institute for College Access and Success announced Rhode Island had the fifth-highest student debt in the nation with an average of $32,920 per person.
However, the state sought to mitigate this crippling problem by issuing the first round of Wavemaker Fellowships. Two hundred and fifteen students were extended $1.75 million in tax credits in exchange for staying in the Ocean State after graduation.
While the quality of higher education in Rhode Island is well-regarded, the results at the elementary and secondary levels are mixed at best. The Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council reported that Rhode Island’s per-pupil spending, at $14,889, far exceeded the national average of $10,763. Yet Ocean State eighth-graders had reading and mathematics test scores that were slightly above average (reading) and matched the average (math) for students across the United States.
The most explosive news, however, came regarding continuing revelations and repercussions over the allegations of sexual assaults at St. George’s School in Middletown in the 1970s and ’80s. Eric Peterson, St. George’s head of school, announced he would not renew his contract when it expires on June 30, 2017.
In July, Warwick’s Rocky Hill School announced it would be reviewing the school’s policies and procedures regarding sexual assaults and other on-campus incidents. School leaders also asked school graduates with information regarding historic sexual assaults to come forward.
As a result, three alumnae emerged with allegations of rape against a former faculty member, who was employed by the school in the 1970s. •
