Afternoon Update: Your pay is terrible? You’re not alone. (opinion)

The coddling of undergraduates; DEI officers strategize to fight back; $5.8 billion more in student-debt relief; two Ohio colleges to merge; and more. ADVERTISEMENT [Afternoon Update Logo]( You can also [read this newsletter on the web](. Or, if you no longer want to receive this newsletter, [unsubscribe](. THE REVIEW | ESSAY [Your Pay Is Terrible? You’re Not Alone.]( By Kevin R. McClure [STORY IMAGE]( Higher education has a compensation problem. ADVERTISEMENT THE REVIEW | ESSAY [The Coddling of the American Undergraduate]( By Rita Koganzon [STORY IMAGE]( Colleges want to exercise total social control over students’ lives. That’s bad for everyone. 'RUNNING TO CATCH UP' [Under Siege, DEI Officers Strategize to Fight Back]( By Katherine Mangan [STORY IMAGE]( During a recent convening, diversity officers shared ideas for surviving an increasingly vicious political campaign to eliminate their jobs. TEACHING [What Students Think About Active Learning]( By Beckie Supiano [STORY IMAGE]( Students who’ve taken a flipped math course ask for more. Plus, new evidence on how the pandemic shifted students’ knowledge of active learning. DEBTS FORGIVEN [$5.8 Billion More in Student-Debt Relief Is Approved for 78,000 Public-Service Workers]( The Education Department said the debt cancellation had been made possible by fixes in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. (Department statement) CONSOLIDATION [Merger Process Begins for Bluffton U. and U. of Findlay, in Ohio]( Under a merger agreement announced on Wednesday, the two nearby institutions will each remain open, retain their religious affiliations, and keep separate athletics teams. No decision has yet been made on the name of Bluffton, the smaller of the two. (Lima News) SAFETY NET FOR THE RICH [Student-Aid Program Designed to Exclude Mississippi’s Poorest Helps Millionaires’ Kids]( The program, intended to help middle-class children afford a college education, bars the neediest students, on the assumption that they will get full Pell Grants. Nearly half of the program’s 17,600 beneficiaries are in families with annual incomes above $100,000; 30 are in families making $1 million. Legislators are now trying to reform the program. (Mississippi Today/Open Campus) INCARCERATED STUDENTS [Georgia State U. Pulls the Plug on Prison Education]( The university cited a budget deficit as well as [federal]( rules [covering]( the [return]( of [Pell Grants for inmates]( as reasons for its decision. The eight-year-old program will help current students complete their degrees. (Open Campus, The Chronicle) NEWSLETTER [Sign Up for the Teaching Newsletter]( Find insights to improve teaching and learning across your campus. Delivered on Thursdays. 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