higher education

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Bargain-Hunting Students Swarm State Universities

Officials walk line between shoring up budgets, maintaining reputations

(Newser) - The unraveling economy is spurring a boom in applications to public universities as students pursue higher education at lower prices, the New York Times reports. But while increased enrollment may help offset the budget cuts that many public institutions expect as states trim budgets, it can also diminish the student...

Nonprofits Look to Change Rules on Endowments

Meltdown forces tough choice: present survival or future value?

(Newser) - Nonprofits reeling from the market meltdown's impact on their investments are pushing to be allowed to tap endowment funds, many of which are off-limits because they've lost value, reports the Wall Street Journal. At issue is the balance between surviving the current crisis and spending funds that can never be...

India to Unveil $10 Laptop
 India to Unveil $10 Laptop 
Feb 2, 2009 2:06 PM CST

India to Unveil $10 Laptop

Low-cost computer is part of plan to update nation's colleges

(Newser) - India’s government will launch an ultra-cheap laptop computer tomorrow as part of a new initiative to update the nation’s educational system, the Guardian reports. The Sakshat will sell for $10 (500 rupees), a price India hopes will be accessible for most students. The laptop is the centerpiece of...

Last-Minute Flood Jams College Application Site

Students received timeout errors as server overloaded

(Newser) - Some high school seniors submitting college applications hours before the Dec. 31 deadline encountered timeout errors and slowdowns that gave them quite a scare, the New York Times reports. The Common Application site—used by a million students to apply for 350 colleges—buckled twice under the volume of last-minute...

US Students Flock North for Cheap Tuition

Canadian universities appeal to Americans in tough economy

(Newser) - Cash-strapped Americans with their sights set on college see Canada as an affordable alternative to domestic institutions, the Boston Globe reports. Low tuition fees and a stronger US dollar—it’s worth $1.21 in Canada right now—are luring more high school students in the northeast across the border,...

Harvard Endowment Drops $8B in Steepest Loss Ever

Endowment's record plunge threatens school operations

(Newser) - Harvard, the world's richest university, saw its endowment plunge 22% between June and October of this year, the worst loss in its history, the Boston Globe reports. Revenue generated by the endowment, which fell by $8 billion, pays for 35% of the school's operation, and Harvard president Drew Faust expects...

College May Be Out of Reach for Most US Kids

Middle-class families loans grow to cover rising tuition costs

(Newser) - Rising tuition costs are putting college out of reach for most Americans, a new report shows. Since 1982, college costs have gone up 439%, but median family income only 147%. That has forced the middle class to increasingly fund higher education through loans. For lower-income families—for whom public universities...

'Jocks Only' Tutoring Centers Irk Others on Campus

Critics say investing in flashy, athletes-only centers is unfair to other students

(Newser) - Resentment is building as college athletic tutoring centers nationwide get bigger and flashier, the Chicago Tribune reports. Critics say that the multi-million-dollar, athletes-only centers should be open to all. Some suggest that, since the centers are generally funded and run by the athletic department, they create a conflict of interest;...

At More and More Colleges, SAT Is Now MIA

Standardized test seen as poorly calibrated measure of students' abilities

(Newser) - Colleges are fleeing the SAT, saying the standardized test is not a reliable predictor of academic success, the Boston Globe reports. But though a coalition is forming against the requirement, even doubtful admission officials see the need for a field-leveler for disparate applicants. “The SAT only measures how good...

Colleges Face Dire Cutbacks, Tuition Hikes

Needy students may lose out as college funding models collapse

(Newser) - Colleges and universities around the country are facing budget shortfalls so steep they could change the way they do business forever, the New York Times reports. With endowments shriveling, state financing being slashed, the cost of debt rising, and donors scaling back, both public and private institutions are cutting staff,...

Credit Crisis Squeezes Student Loans

Families struggle to pay college tuition as loan market dries up

(Newser) - The economic downturn is hitting college students hard, the New York Times reports. Job losses and the disappearing loan market are strangling formerly robust family plans to foot college tuition fees. Private lenders, used by many students to fill the gap between federal aid and the total cost of college,...

Colleges, Universities Hit by Credit Crisis

Higher ed is heavily invested, needs to reassess plans

(Newser) - Watching their endowments go south, their fundraising slow, and access to credit dry up, many colleges and universities are in crisis-planning mode, the Boston Globe reports. Some schools may have to freeze hiring and halt new construction, as Boston University did Tuesday, or raise tuition. Pricier schools are predicting fewer...

Harvard Bumps Princeton in Top Colleges List

Smaller class size helps Harvard back to top of influential US News ranking

(Newser) - Harvard has reclaimed sole possession of the top spot in the ever-controversial US News and World Report rankings for the first time in 12 years. Princeton slipped to second, with Yale in third and Stanford and MIT tied for fourth spot. The magazine rates the halls of learning based on...

Harvard's Endowment Shines in Tough Financial Year

$35B fund sees modest 7%-9% growth

(Newser) - Harvard’s endowment did better than most in the down market, reports the Wall Street Journal. The $35 billion fund, which ended its fiscal year in June, earned 7% to 9%. “That would be easily the best performer among the foundations and endowments that we track," says a...

Ivy Leaguers Start Ahead, Stay Ahead

Take that English degree to Wall Street and you'll still cash in

(Newser) - How much you make correlates with where you went to school, a new study finds. Bachelor’s degree holders’ salaries grow at the same rate over the first decade of their careers regardless of the school, the Wall Street Journal reports, but Ivy League graduates’ median starting salary is 32%...

Campuses Shift to Middle as 'Radical Profs' Retire

Liberal legacy waning with new generation

(Newser) - University campuses all over the country are becoming less passionate and more businesslike as liberal '60s professors retire, the New York Times reports. The process is expected to accelerate over the next decade as Baby Boomers hired in the great '70s expansion of  higher education move on, to be replaced...

Inside Academia, Subtler Sexism

Women cite 'deeply entrenched inequities' on tough path at research universities

(Newser) - Gender discrimination at research universities is surely much better than it was in decades past, but a study based on interviews of female faculty finds that sexism remains on campus, Inside Higher Ed reports. While overt shows of bias are rare, a host of subtler, “deeply entrenched inequities” have...

Colbert to Princeton Grads: 'Don't Change the World'

TV personality bestows singular words of wisdom on Ivy Leaguers

(Newser) - As every college speaker does, Stephen Colbert reminded Princeton’s seniors at today's Class Day ceremony that they have the power to “change the world,” the Daily Princetonian reports. But unlike other speakers, Colbert added: please don’t do that. “Some of us like it the way...

'Sisters' Colleges Recruit in Middle East

Single-sex education remains strong in region

(Newser) - Facing fewer applicants than comparable co-ed institutions around the US, representatives of top women’s colleges toured the Middle East this spring on a recruiting mission, the New York Times reports. While women’s colleges have become a niche market for US applicants, single-sex education remains widespread in the Middle...

Carpe Diem, Yes, But Avoid Stitches, Eh?

British university aims to curb dangerous mortarboard toss

(Newser) - It’s fun, it’s tradition—and it’s off-limits at one British institution. Cambridge's Anglia Ruskin University has asked graduates to refrain from the customary mortarboard-toss, arguing that it damages the hats and is dangerous beside, the Guardian reports, after a student needed stitches recently. Grads-to-be, perhaps predictably, derided...

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