Dive Brief:

• The leaders of more than 200 higher education institutions in 33 states on Tuesday announced the creation of the Higher Ed for Higher Standards coalition to defend the embattled Common Core State Standards.
• According to the coalition, the standards are needed for high school students to succeed at the college level, because currently large numbers of them are not prepared.
• For high school students entering four-year colleges, 20% need remedial programs, and that figure jumps to 50% for students entering two-year colleges.

Dive Insight:

This appears to be the first major show of support for Common Core from administrators at the college and university level, but it may be too late for states that are already moving to abandon the standards. The new coalition represents public college presidents and postsecondary systems with more than 3 million students, and about a quarter of the coalition are the leaders of State University of New York schools.