New Chief for Pa. Universities
Philadelphia Inquirer | May 13, 2008
The president of the University of West Florida in Pensacola has been tapped as the new chancellor of the system that oversees Pennsylvania's 14 state-owned universities, officials announced yesterday.

Former University Official Pleads Guilty to Sex Charge
Philadelphia Inquirer | May 13, 2008
A former Lehigh University official pleaded guilty yesterday to criminal attempt to commit involuntary deviant sexual intercourse, a first-degree felony charge that stemmed from an Internet sting last summer. Steven J. Devlin, 50, who was a vice provost at the university, was arrested in July for allegedly soliciting sex from what he believed to be a mother and two daughters under age 10. Devlin was, in fact, chatting online with a Delaware County detective.

Blunt Federal Letters Tell Students They’re Security Threats
New York Times | May 13, 2008
A German graduate student in oceanography at M.I.T. applied to the Transportation Security Administration for a new ID card allowing him to work around ships and docks.

Harvard Hints at Museum Plans in Artful Manner
Boston Globe | May 13, 2008
Back in 1999, when Harvard proposed building a pair of new art museums on the Charles River, the Cambridge neighbors were less than enthusiastic. One resident reacted by putting a sign on his home reading "Stop Harvard Museums."

U. of Delaware Approves New Diversity Discussions for Students
Chronicle of Higher Education | May 13, 2008
Six months after suspending its controversial dormitory-based diversity sessions, the University of Delaware has approved a plan to replace them with a new residence-life program.

Lawsuits, Disputes Reflect Continuing Tension Over Title IX
USA Today | May 13, 2008
When Lindy Vivas and Stacy Johnson-Klein were coaching women's athletic teams at Fresno State, they questioned school administrators about what they viewed as inequities in staffing, facilities and job demands between the men's and women's athletics programs.

Planning a Web Site, Publisher Buys a Harvard Alumni Magazine
New York Times | May 12, 2008
A small New York publisher on Friday bought 02138, a magazine for Harvard alumni, with visions of expanding it into social networking and event sponsorship, and then duplicating the operation for each Ivy League school.

Colleges Putting Their Own Spin on YouTube
Washington Post | May 12, 2008
One of the first things that pops up if you check YouTube to find out about a public school in Western Maryland is a video that starts: FROSTBURG STATE UNIVERSITY. ITS GREAT!!! An edgy new-wavy punkish Electric Six song cranks in, and the camera lurches as people down shots, chug beer and do keg stands. One guy climbs unsteadily out a window, grins at the camera, then drops through the dark to the ground far below.

Mugabe's UMass Honor Criticized
Boston Globe | May 12, 2008
A leading state lawmaker is urging the University of Massachusetts at Amherst to rescind a 1986 honorary degree awarded to Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, whose authoritarian regime is accused of stifling political opposition and of systemic human rights abuses.

Swarthmore College President Alfred Bloom to Resign Next Year
Bloomberg News | May 12, 2008
Alfred Bloom, president of Swarthmore College for 17 years, said he will resign next year ``to embark on the next stage of my career.''

More Seats for High SAT Scorers
Chronicle of Higher Education | May 11, 2008
A soon-to-be published analysis of data from highly ranked colleges concludes that the share of students with high SAT scores has risen much more than can be explained by any changes in how test scores are calculated. The figures below show how the entering freshman classes of 22 such institutions have changed since 1989.

Matching Newcomer to College, While Both Pay
New York Times | May 11, 2008
When Xiaoxi Li, a 20-year-old from Beijing, decided she should go to college in the United States, she applied only to Ohio University — not that she knew much about it. “I heard of Ohio, of course,” Ms. Li said. “I knew it was in the middle, and has agriculture.” What brought her here was the recommendation of a Chinese recruiting agent, JJL Overseas Education Consulting and Service Company. For about $3,000, JJL helped Ms. Li choose a college, complete the application and prepare for the all-important visa interview.

Huge Databases Offer a Research Gold Mine — and Privacy Worries
Chronicle of Higher Education | May 09, 2008
Last month several news organizations reported on the emergence of "fusion centers" — vast data clearinghouses, operated by state law-enforcement agencies, that can instantly call up key personal information on anyone: telephone numbers, insurance records, family ties, and much more.

A New College Challenges Canada's Public Model
Chronicle of Higher Education | May 09, 2008
David J. Helfand, chairman of the astronomy department at Columbia University, dashes around the classroom as students fire questions at him from all sides.

U. of North Carolina Hires One of Its Own as Chancellor of Its Flagship Campus
Chronicle of Higher Education | May 09, 2008
An award-winning chemistry professor with a strong background in fund raising and long ties to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has been named that flagship institution's next chancellor.

Bowling Green President Named to Top Position
Washington Post | May 08, 2008
Bowling Green State University President Sidney A. Ribeau, who during a 13-year tenure at the Ohio campus raised low morale, exceeded fundraising goals and created model learning opportunities for students, was named president of Howard University yesterday with the hope that he would do the same for one of the nation's premier historically black universities, officials said.

Update on Billion-Dollar Campaigns at 28 Universities
Chronicle of Higher Education | May 08, 2008
The 28 American universities that are seeking to raise at least $1-billion collected a total of $525.6-million in gifts and pledges during the last month for which they had data available.

Brandeis Students at Odds Over Israel
Boston Globe | May 08, 2008
A student-sponsored effort to recognize the 60th anniversary of the founding of Israel has raised questions of identity and association at Brandeis University in Waltham, and appears to be at the heart of a dispute over recent student elections.

From Brain Drain to Bright Future
The Times Higher Education (U.K.) | May 08, 2008
Anyone visiting the Nobel Museum in Stockholm is confronted by a rather surprising object: an oar from the University of Cambridge. It is there to celebrate not its slight lead over the University of Oxford in the annual Boat Race but a far more significant achievement. Cambridge is the place that has snapped up most Nobel prizes in the sciences. From J. J. Thomson (physics, 1906) to Sydney Brenner, Robert Horvitz and John Sulston (physiology or medicine, 2002), the university has been at the top table ever since the prizes were first awarded in 1901. Judged by either numbers or longevity, it has clearly got what it takes.

6 Fraternities Suspended in Drug Probe at San Diego State U.
Associated Press | May 07, 2008
San Diego State University has suspended six fraternities after a sweeping drug investigation that landed members of three fraternities in jail on suspicion of openly dealing drugs on campus.

Cornell Graduates Its Inaugural Class at Its Medical College in Qatar
Chronicle of Higher Education | May 07, 2008
Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar will graduate its inaugural class on Thursday, marking the first time an American medical school has awarded degrees outside the United States.

Harvard Law School to Distribute Research for Free
Bloomberg News | May 07, 2008
Harvard Law School will become the first U.S. law school to distribute professors' scholarly articles over the Internet for free, following a similar move by the university's arts and science faculty three months ago.

West Virginia U.'s Faculty Senate Calls for President's Ouster
Chronicle of Higher Education | May 06, 2008
West Virginia University's Faculty Senate issued a stinging rebuke to Michael S. Garrison, the university's president, on Monday by overwhelmingly passing a no-confidence measure that calls on him to resign "for the good of the institution."

Chronicle of Higher Education
Inside Higher Ed | May 05, 2008
Most of the graduating seniors at Washington University in St. Louis weren’t even born when Phyllis Schlafly led the successful campaign in the 1970s to defeat the Equal Rights Amendment. But they will get to learn about her at commencement ceremonies next week when the university awards her a doctorate of humane letters.

When Equity Official Takes Anti-Gay Stance
Inside Higher Ed | May 05, 2008
At many colleges, human resources officials are leaders in promoting equity and diversity among those who study and work together. And while colleges periodically debate views of various officials that are seen as biased against various groups, it is highly unusual for the head HR official at a university to be the source of such a controversy.

Wesleyan Students Start Investment Fund
Boston Globe | May 04, 2008
A growing number of college students are pushing for a voice in how colleges invest - and spend - their endowments. Now, Wesleyan University students have taken matters into their own hands, creating what appears to be the country's first investment fund run by a college student government.

What Admissions Officials Think
Chronicle of Higher Education | May 02, 2008
Over the past two decades, college admissions has become a prime-time preoccupation. Most people know at least something about the process, especially if they have a teenager in high school and a college guide on their coffee table. Nonetheless, widespread public misconceptions persist about admissions requirements, the selection process, and the costs of attending a four-year institution, according to an extensive survey of college admissions officials conducted by The Chronicle.

Researchers Accuse Selective Colleges of Giving Admissions Tests Too Much Weight
Chronicle of Higher Education | May 02, 2008
One after another at this time of year, elite colleges trumpet the outstanding SAT scores of the applicants they have admitted. The question often raised by such announcements is just how much those scores matter.

Northwestern Rescinds Honorary Degree for Rev. Wright
USA Today | May 02, 2008
Northwestern University has withdrawn its offer to award the Rev. Jeremiah Wright an honorary Doctorate of Sacred Theology “in light of the controversy surrounding statements" that Sen. Barak Obama's former pastor has made.

Law Professor Accuses Students of Defamation
New York Times | May 01, 2008
For some law students, brass-knuckled litigation starts before they even finish school. At the University of Arkansas in Little Rock, an award-winning law professor has sued two of his students, alleging that they defamed him by unfairly describing him on campus as a racist. The tenured professor, Richard J. Peltz, an authority on freedom of speech, denies he is racist.

WVU Can't Produce Phone Records for President
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | May 01, 2008
Amid more demands yesterday for the resignation of West Virginia University President Michael Garrison, the search for documents in the case of Heather Bresch's defunct M.B.A. degree took an unusual twist.

Tuition Makes Up a Growing Share of College Budgets While Spending on Instruction Has Slowed
Chronicle of Higher Education | May 01, 2008
Students are paying an increasing share of higher-education costs, but spending on instruction has slowed since 1998, as tuition continues to grow at nearly twice the rate of inflation, and colleges are putting greater amounts of money into research, public service, and financial aid.

Divorce Costs Professor His Job
USA Today | May 01, 2008
Kent Gramm lost his job because his marriage ended. The veteran English professor was forced to resign from Wheaton College after he refused to tell administrators why he and his wife were splitting up after 30 years of marriage.

Value of College Tuition is Called Into Question
USA Today | May 01, 2008
As college tuitions continue to climb, a study released today fuels concerns about whether the investment in higher education by families and taxpayers translates into better results.

5 Students Injured in Dorm Fire at Ohio's Central State U.
Associated Press | May 01, 2008
Fire sent thick smoke through a Central State University dormitory Thursday, injuring five students including one who jumped from a third-story window, officials said.

Drexel's Law School Gets a Big Gift and a Name
Philadelphia Inquirer | April 30, 2008
Drexel University's law school, which opened in August 2006, is finally getting a name, courtesy of a $15 million donation from philanthropist and former U.S. ambassador Earle Mack.

College Finance Chiefs Say Tuition Increases Will Keep Rising Faster Than Inflation
Chronicle of Higher Education | April 30, 2008
Most college financial officers expect tuition increases to continue outpacing inflation, and many cite competing with other institutions to offer good amenities as an important contributing factor.

College’s High Cost, Before You Even Apply
New York Times | April 29, 2008
As the frenzied admissions season winds to a close, many students finally know where they will be attending college in the fall. But there remains a troubling question: how much damage was done along the way? This year’s crop of applicants faced an unusually grueling admissions process. A demographic bubble has produced the largest group of graduating seniors in history, and they now are facing rejection by colleges at record rates — more than 90 percent at Harvard and Yale, for example.

2 Top Administrators Quit at West Virginia U., but President Retains Support of Board
Chronicle of Higher Education | April 29, 2008
Fallout from a politically charged scandal at West Virginia University now includes resignations, with the announcement on Monday that both the provost and dean of the university's business school are stepping down. But it appears unlikely that the president, Michael S. Garrison, will resign or be removed by the university's governing board, despite an increasing number of calls for his ouster by faculty members.

Columbia University Sets Up Center on Sustainable Investing
Bloomberg News | April 29, 2008
Columbia University in New York said it established the Vale-Columbia Center on Sustainable International Investment to promote research ``and practical work'' involving foreign direct investments.

WVU Officials Resigning in Degree Scandal Will Teach There
Associated Press | April 29, 2008
Two academic officers who resigned in a scandal over a master's degree that West Virginia University wrongly awarded to the governor's daughter are moving down, but not out.

Provost Quits Over Degree to Governor’s Child
Associated Press | April 28, 2008
The provost of West Virginia University said Sunday that he would resign after being criticized for his handling of a master’s degree that was improperly awarded to the governor’s daughter.

Elite Korean Schools, Forging Ivy League Skills
New York Times | April 27, 2008
It is 10:30 p.m. and students at the elite Daewon prep school here are cramming in a study hall that ends a 15-hour school day. A window is propped open so the evening chill can keep them awake. One teenager studies standing upright at his desk to keep from dozing.

Rockefeller Gives Harvard $100 Million
New York Times | April 25, 2008
David M. Rockefeller is giving $100 million to Harvard University, his alma mater. It is the largest gift by an alumnus in the university’s history. Eli and Edythe Broad made a $100 million gift to the university in 2005, but they are not alumni.

Colleges Create Facebook-Style Social Networks to Reach Alumni
Chronicle of Higher Education | April 25, 2008
Trying to emulate the popularity of Web sites like Facebook and MySpace, hundreds of college alumni associations have begun to offer their own online social networks, seeking to stake a claim on the computer screens of current and former students, especially young alumni.

Killer's Gun Supplier Speaks at Va. Tech
Associated Press | April 25, 2008
The online gun dealer who sold one of the guns used in the Virginia Tech shootings visited the campus yesterday, a decision the school's spokesman called "terribly offensive." Dealer Eric Thompson spoke at the school last night as part of a weeklong demonstration in favor of allowing people to carry concealed weapons at colleges.

New Temple Law Dean Has Big Ideas, Challenges
Philadelphia Inquirer | April 24, 2008
JoAnne A. Epps, incoming dean at Temple Law School, is a seasoned trial lawyer and teacher who will take over at a time of healthy growth in the school's endowment and a powerful upswing in credentials of new classes.

The Call of Wall Street
Boston Globe | April 24, 2008
Despite the credit crisis that has devastated banks, crippled hedge funds, and thrown thousands of highly paid financial employees out of work, the lure of Wall Street is proving stronger than ever for graduate business students entering the workplace this spring.

Yale Safeguards Its Top Spot
Wall Street Journal | April 24, 2008
America's big research universities are the best in the world today. But General Motors once was the world's mightiest auto maker. China's Beijing, Tsinghua, Fudan and Zhejiang universities aren't world class -- yet. Nor are the National University of Singapore, University of Hong Kong or Seoul National University. But they mean to get there. The Chinese, in particular, are investing heavily to that end. Yet many U.S. universities are complacent, preoccupied with internal intrigue and rivalry with one another.

Government Seeks to Buy Student Loans
New York Times | April 23, 2008
The Bush administration is proposing that Congress authorize it to buy billions of dollars in federal student loans to make sure the nation’s credit crunch does not block borrowing for higher education.

Yale May Not Put Student's Art on Display
Associated Press | April 22, 2008
Yale University said yesterday it will not install an art project by a student who says she filmed herself inducing repeated abortions unless she includes a disclaimer saying it is a work of fiction.

Universities’ Intellectual Property Stance Criticized
Inside Higher Ed | April 22, 2008
Getting medicines to people who need them in developing countries is a top goal of public health experts worldwide, many of whom note that people are dying all the time of diseases for which treatments exist. Universities, whose scientists’ research is crucial to many of those drugs and which enjoy a share of royalties on some of those drugs, are finding themselves drawn into a debate that has as much to do with the economics of the pharmaceutical industry as anything that takes place in a laboratory.

Now It's Colleges' Turn to Say 'Pick Me!'
Washington Post | April 21, 2008
The University of Maryland at College Park is making sure that nearly every single student admitted this fall -- more than 10,000 of them -- gets a personal telephone call from a current student extolling the virtues of becoming a Terrapin.

Pressure to Perform Keeps B-School Dean Turnover High
Wall Street Journal | April 21, 2008
The hunt is on for business-school deans. Dozens of schools are facing turnover in the dean's office this year, as some deans retire, some head back to the classroom, and others are pushed out. "Just as with CEOs, there seems to be more rapid change among the leaders of business schools," says Linda Livingstone, dean of the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University.

The (Yes) Low Cost of Higher Ed
New York Times | April 20, 2008
ON Oct. 2, 2003, board members at the University of Virginia filed into the Upper East Oval Room of the Rotunda, the centerpiece of Thomas Jefferson’s campus design, for one of their regular meetings. As usual, they were joined by the university’s top administrators. Just before the meeting began, a member of U.Va.’s public affairs staff walked over to John T. Casteen III, the university president, to hand him a clipping from that morning’s newspaper.

Big Spender
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/education/edlife/princeton.html?_r=1&scp=7&sq=tuition&st=nyt&oref= | April 20, 2008
IT is hard to walk through Princeton University and not come across the fruits of its endowment. Many of the books lining the 50 miles of shelves in Firestone Library were bought through gifts. Its museum is rich with works from ancient Rome, China and Africa, courtesy of endowment dollars. The elaborate gardens surrounding the faculty club are replanted regularly.

The Expanding Safety Net
New York Times | April 20, 2008
IT was just before dawn, and the Salt Lake City campus of the University of Utah was deserted except for a silent squad of workers, four dozen strong. They carried 6,000 handwritten notes that had taken three weeks to prepare. By sunrise, the notes were scattered on tables, under chairs, in hallways — like seeds they hoped would take root.

Harvard Goes on a Costly Hiring Spree
Boston Globe | April 20, 2008
In January, it was Michael J. Klarman, a plum catch from the University of Virginia. The next month, Harvard Law School landed an even bigger prize, snagging renown legal scholar Cass Sunstein from the University of Chicago.

Thank Goodness for Photoshop
New York Times | April 20, 2008
THE University of Pennsylvania thinks it would be nice if you sent a photograph along with your application: "it is always gratifying for us to be able to match an application with the face of someone who we may have met during the year." It's an unusual suggestion, and admissions officers decline to discuss it.

Bear Stearns’s New Hires Become Job Seekers
New York Times | April 19, 2008
Thousands of people are losing their jobs on Wall Street — some before their first day of work. They polished résumés; they sweated interviews; they landed dream jobs. But now a small group of college and business school students are discovering that their careers at Bear Stearns ended before they began. JPMorgan Chase, which bought the beleaguered investment bank last month, rescinded many of their job offers.

VIRGINIA TECH: ONE YEAR LATER: 'We Weren't Going to Let the Events Define Us'
Chronicle of Higher Education | April 18, 2008
The day after a Virginia Tech student gunned down 32 people last April, a young alumnus named Johnson Wagner donned a baseball cap with the VT logo. Then a rookie golfer on the PGA Tour, Mr. Wagner wore the hat while competing in a tournament in South Carolina. There, he voiced a concern shared by many people in Blacksburg, Va.: "I simply hate the fact that Virginia Tech will be remembered like Columbine High."

Protesters Fail to Slow Animal Research
Chronicle of Higher Education | April 18, 2008
The e-mail reply was polite but firm. "No. I will not be available for an interview," wrote a researcher from the University of California at Los Angeles, when asked about the effects of recent animal-rights protests there.

Colleges Grapple With the 'Behavioral Broken Arm'
Chronicle of Higher Education | April 18, 2008
One year ago, Richard F. Celeste, president of Colorado College, did not keep a red card in his wallet that explained how to send messages to the entire campus during emergencies.

Yale Senior's 'Abortion Art' Whips Up Debate, Protests
Washington Post | April 18, 2008
A Yale University student's senior art project, which she said documented her bleeding during repeated self-induced abortions, sparked a protest on campus, an outcry on the Internet, and debates over morality, medicine, art and academia.

Heroin Death Rattles a Campus
Inside Higher Ed | April 17, 2008
Two cases of student heroin use at Reed College this academic year have sparked a discussion about campus culture and what, if anything, the institution should do differently to set the tone. At a college that prides itself on its counterculture reputation and independent streak, hitting the right notes in a formal response can be a challenge.

Admissions by Software
Inside Higher Ed | April 17, 2008
Suppose colleges could buy software that would enable them to speed up the admissions process and admit classes that are more diverse — without fear of being sued by foes of affirmative action. Would institutions purchase? Can (and should) colleges outsource admissions decisions to software?

Chinese Student in U.S. Is Caught in Confrontation
New York Times | April 17, 2008
On the day the Olympic torch was carried through San Francisco last week, Grace Wang, a Chinese freshman at Duke University, came out of her dining hall to find a handful of students gathered for a pro-Tibet vigil facing off with a much larger pro-China counterdemonstration.

Topics in University Security: Lockdown 101
New York Times | April 16, 2008
IN February, a man carrying a fake assault weapon burst into an American foreign policy class at Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina. The seven unsuspecting students, along with a stunned professor who later remarked that he was “prepared to die at that moment,” were held hostage for 10 minutes. During that time, the gunman said he would kill at least one of them.

Scientists May Be Putting Their Own Names on Papers Written by Companies
Chronicle of Higher Education | April 16, 2008
Papers that bear academic scientists' names as authors, but are ghostwritten by for-profit companies, may be disturbingly common in medical journals, a new study indicates. Some of the scientists accused of being involved in that practice deny any wrongdoing, but journal editors are already outlining measures to prevent future breaches of academic integrity.

A Pentagon Olive Branch to Academe
Inside Higher Ed | April 16, 2008
In a speech in which he called for the Pentagon to embrace intellectuals, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has proposed a significant expansion of the type of research supported by the Pentagon — moving beyond weapons and technology, to social science and humanities work that could better inform public policy.

2nd College Closes Because of Threats
Associated Press | April 14, 2008
Threatening graffiti found in three men's restrooms led Oakland University to cancel campus classes, sports and cultural activities for two days.

Faculty Salaries and Priorities
Inside Higher Ed | April 14, 2008
The American Association of University Professors is today reporting an increase in average faculty salaries of 3.8 percent — the same as last year. But because inflation is up this year to 4.1 percent from 2.5 percent, the association says that this year’s increases point to a real decline in faculty standards of living.

Growth in International Applicants Slows
Inside Higher Ed | April 14, 2008
The growth in international graduate student applications at American colleges and universities has slowed considerably, according to new survey results released today by the Council of Graduate Schools. The council found that the number of international applicants grew only 3 percent in 2008, after gains of 9 and 12 percent in the preceding two years.

Torture and Tenure
Inside Higher Ed | April 14, 2008
A civil liberties group that is working to curb what it sees as abuses by the Bush administration has mounted an e-mail campaign to push for the firing of John Yoo, a tenured professor of law at the University of California at Berkeley.

Virginia Tech Massacre Has Altered Campus Mental Health Systems
Associated Press | April 14, 2008
The rampage carried out nearly a year ago by a Virginia Tech student who slipped through the mental health system has changed how American colleges reach out to troubled students.

College Police Compare Notes at Summit
Associated Press | April 14, 2008
Police on campuses across the country have spent the year since the Virginia Tech shootings trying to figure out how to keep such attacks from happening and how to respond when they do.

Cost and Red Tape Hamper Colleges' Efforts to Go Green
Chronicle of Higher Education | April 11, 2008
The private, nonprofit Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program has become synonymous with green construction, and has kick-started a national conversation about energy efficiency, recycled building materials, and healthy work environments. Even people who know very little about green building know about LEED, as it is commonly known, as a kind of shorthand for environmental achievement.

Top Colleges Mum on Legacy Admissions
ABC News | April 11, 2008
Across the country, the nation's top students are feeling a pain that comes in the form of a dreaded thin envelope. The most selective universities in the country this year posted record-low admission rates that dipped into the single digits — a result, many officials say, of sky-high application totals. As colleges such as Harvard and Princeton released their rates, they also touted the diverse backgrounds of successful applicants, who include students of color and international candidates.

Das Ende for German at USC
Inside Higher Ed | April 11, 2008
When the Modern Language Association released its study last year on trends in language enrollments, the figures that jumped out were the huge percentage increases for Arabic (+127 percent over four years) and Chinese (+51 percent). German’s percentage increase was just 3.5 percent. But because the bases for Arabic and Chinese were so small, the MLA found more students studying German (94,264) than Arabic and Chinese combined.

Families of Virginia Tech Victims Reach $11-Million Settlement With State
Chronicle of Higher Education | April 11, 2008
Survivors of the shooting at Virginia Tech and families of those who were killed there have reached an $11-million settlement with the Commonwealth of Virginia that precludes lawsuits against the university and the state.

Yale Student Is Accused of Lying on Application
New York Times | April 10, 2008
To Yale admissions officials, Akash Maharaj was an appealing prospect: He had earned straight A’s at Columbia University. Now he wanted to transfer. Yale not only admitted him; it gave him a $32,000 scholarship as well.

Virginia's Governor Signs Laws Responding to Shootings at Virginia Tech
Chronicle of Higher Education | April 10, 2008
Virginia's governor, Timothy M. Kaine, signed more than two dozen bills on Wednesday that seek to improve communication among mental-health professionals who work at colleges and state agencies, and strengthen security on public-university campuses in the hope of avoiding another tragedy like the shootings at Virginia Tech that claimed 33 lives almost one year ago.

New Bill in Congress Would Mandate Campus Alerts Within 30 Minutes of an Emergency
Chronicle of Higher Education | April 10, 2008
A proposed requirement that colleges warn their campuses of emergencies within 30 minutes—a provision that is already in one bill pending in Congress—is the focus of another measure that was proposed on Wednesday in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Tufts and Lesley Universities to Split $272-Million Gift
Chronicle of Higher Education | April 09, 2008
Tufts and Lesley Universities are sharing a $272-million gift from trusts established by the late Frank C. Doble, a businessman and Tufts alumnus, the universities plan to announce today. Each institution's $136-million share of two dissolved trusts will be the largest gift in its history. The overall donation represents the 12th-largest private gift to higher education in the last 40 years.

University Computer Breach Risks Data of Students Who Never Went There
Chronicle of Higher Education | April 09, 2008
A computer server at Antioch University containing more than a decade of sensitive information on 60,000 people, some entirely unconnected with the university, was breached three times last year.

Dwindling Funds Force Colleges to Cut the Size and Number of Awards
Chronicle of Higher Education | April 09, 2008
Last year, Iowa State University gave its neediest students more than $6-million in low-interest federal Perkins Loans. Next year it expects to award only half of that, just over $3-million.

‘U.S. News’ Adds Surveys That Could Alter Methodology
Inside Higher Ed | April 09, 2008
U.S. News & World Report may be on the verge of significant changes in its methodology. The magazine has sent out surveys to 1,600 high school counseling offices asking them to evaluate colleges, and the results may be used in next year’s rankings. Or not. U.S. News isn’t deciding how to use the high school data until after the results come in.

Lawsuit Accuses U. of Texas of Illegally Reintroducing Race-Based Admissions
Chronicle of Higher Education | April 08, 2008
A federal lawsuit filed here on Monday accuses the University of Texas at Austin of improperly considering an applicant's race when more-effective, race-neutral, ways of achieving diversity were available.

Despite a Settlement, Sallie Mae Still Plays Host to Some Financial-Aid Sites
Chronicle of Higher Education | April 08, 2008
Last April, as part of a $2-million settlement with Andrew M. Cuomo, New York's attorney general, the nation's largest student-loan company, Sallie Mae, agreed to stop providing staff members for colleges' financial-aid offices and call centers at no cost to the institutions.

West Chester University to Add Six New Dorms
Philadelphia Inquirer | April 08, 2008
The bathroom down the hall at West Chester University is going the way of letters home to mom and dad - a relic of the past. Six new dormitories will replace the school's aging complex of residence halls. The $300 million project will add 160 beds and be completed by August 2012.

Scholars See Need to Redefine and Protect Academic Freedom
Chronicle of Higher Education | April 07, 2008
Existing threats to academic freedom have been exacerbated by the political and economic climate following the terrorist attacks of September, 11, 2001, argued scholars at a conference held at New York University's new Frederic Ewen Academic Freedom Center at Tamiment Library on Thursday and Friday.

Updates on Billion-Dollar Campaigns at 28 Universities
Chronicle of Higher Education | April 07, 2008
The 28 American universities that are seeking to raise at least $1-billion collected a total of $571.3-million in gifts and pledges during the last month for which they had data available. The campaign with the largest gain in the last month was Columbia University, with $77-million.

In a New Generation of College Students, Many Opt for the Life Examined
New York Times | April 06, 2008
When a fellow student at Rutgers University urged Didi Onejeme to try Philosophy 101 two years ago, Ms. Onejeme, who was a pre-med sophomore, dismissed it as “frou-frou.”

Now, It's Colleges That Wait For Acceptances
Associated Press | April 05, 2008
Another year of record-breaking competition for spots at elite colleges is over. Now it's time for the colleges to sweat. Continuing a long-term trend, the acceptance rate at many of the country's most selective colleges inched down this year to ever-more agonizing levels for parents and students.

The Changing Face of Student Aid
Chronicle of Higher Education | April 04, 2008
A recent flurry of announcements from some of the wealthiest and most competitive private colleges brought welcome news to lower- and middle-income families. Many Ivy League institutions, along with dozens of smaller colleges that also attract high-achieving students, unveiled student-aid plans that will drastically lower the cost of attendance for those families.

2 Lenders Stop Making Student Loans
Bloomberg News | April 04, 2008
CIT Group Inc. and NorthStar Education Finance Inc. will stop making loans to US students after lending costs soared, reflecting the global slump in credit markets.

A Plan to Send Engineering Students Abroad
Inside Higher Ed | April 04, 2008
Study abroad is often viewed as a “liberal arts” program, an opportunity for students to soak in the culture, language and customs of another country and, it’s hoped, to add perspective to their own studies when they return. Not too many colleges have sought to challenge that conception, with the highest rates of study-abroad experience — 40 percent to more than half of the student body — still seen at liberal arts colleges.

Colleges Are Targets of E-Mail Scam
Chronicle of Higher Education | April 04, 2008
An e-mail scam has hit thousands of users at dozens of colleges over the past few weeks, leaving network administrators scrambling to respond before campus computer accounts are taken over by spammers.

Sex Education
Wall Street Journal | April 04, 2008
In the next three weeks or so, most college-bound high-school seniors and their families will be deciding which institution of higher education should receive their tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars. Parents might want to ask themselves these questions: Do you know whether your daughter will be encouraged by her future peers to role-play a whore at parties at the college of her choice? Or if your son will regularly play a pimp? Did you miss that part of the campus tour?

Bad News U: Colleges Reject Record Numbers
Wall Street Journal | April 03, 2008
The college-admissions season set records this year -- both in the number of students who applied, as well as the number of students who were rejected. Harvard University has a record applicant pool of 27,462 and an admissions rate of 7.1%, meaning that 1,948 students were accepted -- the lowest number in the school's history and a drop from last year's 8.9%. Yale University received 22,813 applications and accepted only 8.2%, down from 9.6% last year. And at Princeton University, of the 21,369 applications, 9.3% were accepted, down from 9.5% last year.

GMU to Construct $30 Million Hotel and Conference Center
Washington Post | April 03, 2008
George Mason University will build a 150-room hotel and conference center in central Fairfax County, furthering the college's metamorphosis from regional campus to national institution but also igniting tension with surrounding residential communities.

Skilling, O'Neal, Gerstner Form Puzzle of Harvard
Bloomberg News | April 03, 2008
What do convicted felon Jeffrey Skilling, deposed chief executive officer Stan O'Neal and struggling CEO Jeffrey Peek have in common? They all went to Harvard Business School.

Drexel Public Health School Gets $14 Million Grant to Lead Autism Research
Philadelphia Inquirer | April 02, 2008
Drexel University's School of Public Health won a $14.3 million federal grant to lead a broad research study of environmental risk factors for autism in pregnant mothers and their babies.

Just Roommates
Boston Globe | April 02, 2008
In the Woodstock era, the advent of coed dorms caused a stir, with Life magazine proclaiming the development "an intimate revolution on campus." Coed floors came along over the next two decades, giving college students immediate proximity to each other. The next step, coed suites and bathrooms, brought the sexes even closer together.

College Officials Face Tough Choices in Achieving Carbon Neutrality
Chronicle of Higher Education | April 02, 2008
At the Smart and Sustainable Campus conference, which drew sustainability directors, business officers, and architects to the University of Maryland here, Wendell C. Brase took on one of the Big Questions: What will it take for colleges to become "climate neutral"?

Elite Colleges Reporting Record Lows in Admission
New York Times | April 01, 2008
The already crazed competition for admission to the nation’s most prestigious universities and colleges became even more intense this year, with many logging record low acceptance rates.

UMass, China Agree on Online Classes
Boston Globe | April 01, 2008
In a milestone accord, the University of Massachusetts has struck an agreement with Chinese officials to become the first foreign university to offer government-sanctioned online classes in the communist country.

Graduate-School Leaders Want Ph.D. Candidates to Finish Sooner and With Better Job Prospects
Chronicle of Higher Education | April 01, 2008
Doctoral programs in the humanities and sciences should take basic steps to improve their students' completion rates and career prospects, several speakers said on Monday during a workshop here sponsored by the Council of Graduate Schools and the National Science Foundation.

Federal Judge Rules College Alcohol-Ad Ban Violates Free Speech
Associated Press | April 01, 2008
A federal judge has overturned Virginia's decades-old ban on alcohol-related advertising in college newspapers, saying that the law violates the student publications' constitutional right to free speech.

Tenure as a Tarnished Brass Ring
Inside Higher Ed | March 31, 2008
Claire B. Potter has a level of academic success many young Ph.D.’s these days can only dream about. A professor of history and chair of American studies at Wesleyan University, she has tenure at an elite college. Tenure provides her not only with job security, but with part of her identity as the blogger Tenured Radical, where she shares views on a range of topics, writing with the freedom that tenure is supposed to protect.

University Students Plagiarized Parts of Honor Code
Associated Press | March 30, 2008
Their goal was an honor code that discouraged cheating and plagiarizing. However, the wording in a draft by students at the University of Texas at San Antonio appears to match another school's code — without proper attribution. The student currently in charge of the honor code project said it was an oversight, but cheating experts say it illustrates a sloppiness among Internet-era students who don't know how to cite sources properly and think of their computers as cut-and-paste machines.

Credit Cards Go After College Students
Associated Press | March 30, 2008
Banks are getting more aggressive — and creative — in their efforts to pitch credit cards to college students by hawking cards near college campuses and striking exclusive partnerships with college alumni associations, according to a growing body of research.

Students of Virginity
New York Times | March 30, 2008
There was a time when not having sex consumed a very small part of Janie Fredell’s life, but that, of course, was back in Colorado Springs. It seemed to Fredell that almost no one had sex in Colorado Springs. Her hometown was extremely conservative, and as a good Catholic girl, she was annoyed by all the fundamentalist Christians who would get in her face and demand, as she put it to me recently, “You have to think all of these things that we think.”... And then Fredell arrived at Harvard.

Colleges Keep Closer Watch Over Troubled Students
Associated Press | March 29, 2008
On the agenda: A student who got into a shouting match with a faculty member. Another who harassed a female classmate. Someone found sleeping in a car. And a student who posted a threat against a professor on Facebook.

Endowment Chief Named at Harvard
Boston Globe | March 28, 2008
After six years running the Wellesley College endowment, Jane Mendillo is returning to Harvard University - this time as the chief executive of the school's $34.9 billion endowment, the world's largest academic fund.

Head of University of Texas is Hired as UC President
Los Angeles Times | March 28, 2008
Mark G. Yudof, the head of the University of Texas system, was formally hired Thursday to be the next president of the University of California and given a $828,084 annual compensation package that triggered protests from some students and employees.

Concern Over Colleges' Plan for 2 U. City High Schools
Philadelphia Inquirer | March 27, 2008
Teachers, parents and community members expressed apprehension last night about a proposal for the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University to run two small high schools in University City in partnership with the Philadelphia School District.

M.D. Group Protests Hopkins' Use of Pigs
Baltimore Sun | March 27, 2008
Taking aim at one of the last bastions of live-animal training for medical students, a physicians' group that champions animal rights has called upon the Johns Hopkins University to stop using live pigs to teach operating room techniques.

To Woo Academic Recruits, College Makes Them Stars
Philadelphia Inquirer | March 27, 2008
Justin Chung knew Wilkes University wanted him when he got one of its first acceptance letters in February. But he didn't know how badly until he saw the mall kiosk with his name on it.

Harvard Study: Deadlines May Affect FDA Decisions
Associated Press | March 27, 2008
Vioxx, Bextra, Rezulin, Baycol. Looking at drugs yanked off the market, Harvard researchers found a disturbing pattern: Medicines approved right on deadline by the Food and Drug Administration are more likely to cause safety problems than those cleared with more time to spare.

Students Not Affected by Profs' Politics
Associated Press | March 27, 2008
Conservatives complain that college professors lean left when it comes to politics -- and the data mostly show that's true. But new research suggests the personal politics of academics have little effect on what their students think.

Building Dorm Rooms Cheaper, Quicker and Quieter
New York Times | March 26, 2008
Modular construction may have an image associated with prisons and barracks, but it is also increasingly being used in a more refined setting, to create quick and convenient dormitories and classrooms for colleges and universities.

Cigarette Company Paid for Lung Cancer Study
New York Times | March 26, 2008
In October 2006, Dr. Claudia Henschke of Weill Cornell Medical College jolted the cancer world with a study saying that 80 percent of lung cancer deaths could be prevented through widespread use of CT scans.

Doomed to Disappoint Justice O’Connor
Inside Higher Ed | March 26, 2008
Five years ago, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor saved affirmative action in public college admissions when she crafted the majority decision affirming the consideration of race in admissions by the University of Michigan’s law school. While O’Connor found justifications for the (limited) consideration of race and ethnicity, she also spoke of the need for such consideration to stop at some point. “We expect that 25 years from now, the use of racial preferences will no longer be necessary to further the interest approved today,” she wrote.

Va. Tech Victims' Families Offered $100k Each
Associated Press | March 25, 2008
Families of those killed in the Virginia Tech massacre would receive $100,000 each under a settlement the state is proposing to prevent lawsuits, according to a victim's relative who received a copy of the proposal.

A Separate and Unequal Exercise
Boston Globe | March 25, 2008
PERHAPS it is simple politeness for Harvard University to close its secondary gym to men for six hours a week so conservative Muslim women can exercise without men seeing their skin. Religious accommodations are usually uncontroversial, but this is different. Everyone can enjoy Harvard's kosher food; half the students are excluded from the gym, however briefly.

Recipients of College Aid 'Give Back' Later, New Study Suggests
Chronicle of Higher Education | March 25, 2008
Giving students generous financial-aid packages appears to increase their level of civic engagement after college, according to research findings being presented here this week at the annual conference of the American Educational Research Association.

The ‘Double Hit’ on Women’s Salaries
Inside Higher Ed | March 25, 2008
Surveys abound showing that women in academe (and the rest of society) earn less than men. Likewise theories abound for why this is the case, so many years after it ceased to be acceptable for deans (or other bosses) to automatically assume a woman could make do with less.

Study Finds Record Education Earmarks
New York Times | March 24, 2008
Congress set aside a record $2.3 billion in pet projects for colleges and universities last year for research on subjects like berries and reducing odors from swine and poultry, according to an analysis by The Chronicle of Higher Education to be published on Monday.

Harvard U., Its Houses Full, Won't Accept Transfer Students for 2 Years
Chronicle of Higher Education | March 24, 2008
Some problems you can’t just throw money at, it seems—not in the short term, at least. Harvard University, the nation’s richest, has run out of room to house undergraduates.

U.S. Proposes New Rules on Student Privacy
Inside Higher Ed | March 24, 2008
The federal law designed to protect the privacy of students’ educational records has been under scrutiny and stress from a variety of angles in recent years, most recently from those concerned (in the wake of last year’s shootings at Virginia Tech) about whether the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act gives college officials sufficient latitude to report their fears about mentally ill students.

At Penn, Clinton Proposes Housing Package
Philadelphia Business Journal | March 24, 2008
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton called Monday for a new housing stimulus package that would provide at least $30 billion to states and localities to deal with concentrated foreclosures. The package was one of four proposals to deal with the housing and mortgage crisis that U.S. Sen. Clinton, D-N.Y., unveiled in a speech on the University of Pennsylvania's campus in Philadelphia's University City section. Afterwards she spoke with a Philadelphia Business Journal reporter.

Facebook Suffers Security Lapse
Associated Press | March 24, 2008
A security lapse made it possible for unwelcome strangers to peruse personal photos posted on Facebook's popular online hangout, circumventing a recent upgrade to the website's privacy controls.

Meeting Will Air Plan for Penn- and Drexel-run High Schools
Philadelphia Inquirer | March 23, 2008
The proposal for the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University to run two small high schools in partnership with the Philadelphia School District will be aired at a public meeting at 6 p.m. on Wednesday at University City High School in West Philadelphia. Penn's school would focus on international studies and Drexel's on engineering and technology. Each would serve 500 students.

Clark U. Helps Make Mass. High School a Success
Philadelphia Inquirer | March 23, 2008
As the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University pursue plans to run two small high schools in the Philadelphia School District, the Clark University model serves as a prime example of how such a partnership can succeed.

Some at BC Seek to Uninvite Mukasey From Commencement
Boston Globe | March 23, 2008
More than 20 faculty members at Boston College Law School have asked US Attorney General Michael Mukasey to rescind his decision to deliver the commencement address in May because of his refusal to publicly declare that a controversial interrogation technique constitutes torture.

South Korea Seeks a New Role as a Higher-Education Hub
Chronicle of Higher Education | March 21, 2008
New arrivals in South Korea receive a crash course on the country's startling transformation at Incheon International Airport. The gleaming terminal, opened in 2001, squats in a foggy flatland of rice paddies and scrawny forests about an hour west of the capital, Seoul.

At Harvard, Students’ Muslim Traditions Are a Topic of Debate
New York Times | March 21, 2008
Two issues of Muslim practice — whether the call to prayer should ring out across Harvard Yard and whether the university should grant women separate gym hours — have unleashed small waves of controversy over how Harvard practices tolerance.

Storming the Campuses
New York Times | March 21, 2008
This winter, the armies of Yale invaded Massachusetts and conquered Harvard. Cornell’s troops turned Dartmouth’s militia into a vassal force. Columbia allied itself with Yale and occupied Long Island, before getting routed by the Princeton-Cornell alliance.

U. of California Is Expected to Name Mark Yudof as Its President
Chronicle of Higher Education | March 21, 2008
For the first time in more than 20 years, the University of California is poised to pick a president from an institution outside its system and the state. The university's search committee recommended on Thursday that Mark G. Yudof, chancellor of the University of Texas system, be named its new president.

Colleges Face Aid Reductions as Banks Retreat From School-as-Lender Program
Chronicle of Higher Education | March 21, 2008
Several financial companies that have formed partnerships with colleges in the "school as lender" program are cutting or terminating the scholarship payments they make to colleges, dealing another severe blow to a program already facing the possibility of elimination by Congress.

Harvard, UMass Unveil Tuition Hikes
Boston Globe | March 20, 2008
Harvard University and the University of Massachusetts system announced relatively modest tuition increases yesterday, welcome news to students and parents who have grown accustomed to hikes that outpaced inflation.

U. of Texas Chancellor May Get Top Post at UC
Los Angeles Times | March 20, 2008
The chancellor of the University of Texas system is the leading candidate to become the next president of the University of California and may be named to that post as soon as today, according to several knowledgeable sources.

Data Security Top Tech Issue for Colleges
USA Today | March 20, 2008
A computer break-in at Harvard University highlights the growing challenges the nation's colleges and universities face in trying to safeguard students' private information.

For Top Medical Students, an Attractive Field
New York Times | March 19, 2008
March Madness has a different meaning for Thomas Hocker and Meena Singh, a married couple in their final year at the Harvard Medical School, who are waiting to learn Thursday if they have been accepted into their residency programs of choice. Already saddled with about $330,000 in education loans, they borrowed $20,000 more so they could fly around the country this winter for about two dozen residency interviews each. All told, each applied to 90 such training programs.

New Jersey Investigates Juicy Campus Gossip Site for Possible Consumer-Fraud Violations
Chronicle of Higher Education | March 19, 2008
New Jersey consumer-affairs officials announced on Tuesday that they are investigating whether Juicy Campus, a campus-gossip Web site, violates state laws that protect against consumer fraud.

Private Colleges Proliferating, Worldwide
Inside Higher Ed | March 19, 2008
With the demand for higher education ever-growing and unmet internationally, the private sector continues to grow. A paper to be presented this week at the Comparative and International Education Society conference in New York explores global patterns in the growth of private higher education – how it increases access and who for, how private institutions expand, and what the worries are.

When Med Students Become Admissions Counselors
Inside Higher Ed | March 19, 2008
Many medical schools involve their students in the admissions process for future classes. But the University of Chicago has discovered that doing so creates the possibility for an unusual revolving door situation.

Harvard Law, Hoping Students Will Consider Public Service, Offers Tuition Break
New York Times | March 18, 2008
Concerned by the low numbers of law students choosing careers in public service, Harvard Law School plans to waive tuition for third-year students who pledge to spend five years working either for nonprofit organizations or the government.

The Lords of Higher Learning
New York Times | March 18, 2008
It will come as no surprise to any parent who has been on a college tour of late that the gap has never been greater between the elite schools with their Olympian sports facilities, star professors and Michelin-class cuisine and the universities struggling to pay the heating bill.

The Future of Oxford
Inside Higher Ed | March 18, 2008
Legion is the number of outside challenges to have been faced by the University of Oxford. The oldest English-speaking university in the world has adjusted its bearings in the wake of peasant uprisings, the Reformation, and, somewhat more recently, a fast-changing international climate in which the dreaming spires of the old global elite find themselves playing catch-up against their relatively youthful American counterparts.

Michigan Athletes Steered to Easy Classes, Report Says
New York Times | March 17, 2008
The independent study courses administered to University of Michigan athletes by a professor there have drawn scrutiny in a published report. The Ann Arbor News reported on Sunday that the psychology professor John Hagen taught at least 294 independent studies from the fall of 2004 to the fall of 2007, 251 of them taken by athletes. Such courses are generally one-on-one classes between the student and the professor for a subject not offered by the university.

President of Georgia Tech Is Named to Lead Smithsonian Institution
Chronicle of Higher Education | March 17, 2008
G. Wayne Clough, who has led the Georgia Institute of Technology to national prominence over the past decade and a half, was named on Saturday as the new head of the embattled Smithsonian Institution. His appointment makes him the second academic administrator to hold the top job.

Should Colleges Be Required to Spend More From Their Endowments?
Chronicle of Higher Education | March 14, 2008
As tuitions continue to rise, Congress is looking for ways to mitigate the costs of college attendance for students and their families. Legislators are giving particular scrutiny to how colleges spend money from their endowments, which have grown significantly over the past decade. Some lawmakers have proposed, for example, that institutions with endowments of $500-million or more spend at least 5 percent of that money each year, the same percentage that nonprofit foundations are required to spend.

Historically Black Colleges Tell Congress of Problems With Budgets, Civil Rights
Chronicle of Higher Education | March 14, 2008
Representatives of historically black colleges and universities complained to Congress on Wednesday about their treatment by federal and state policy makers, citing failures both in budgeting and in civil-rights enforcement.

Private Counselors Who Won’t Double Dip
Inside Higher Ed | March 14, 2008
Should a private admissions counselor also be able to work for a school or college? To many who work in college admissions, the obvious answer is No, while others say that the practice is more commonplace and less (or more) dangerous than others assume. The practice came to light because of a controversy over a University of Pennsylvania admissions officer’s various private counseling roles — and the realization that the main organizations of college admissions officers and private counselors didn’t have a specific ban on the practice. Partly as a result, the National Association for College Admission Counseling now has a special working group considering whether tougher standards on conflicts of interest are needed for the field.

Berkeley Raises $1.1 Billion to Keep Professors From Ivy League
Bloomberg News | March 14, 2008
The University of California, Berkeley, the highest-ranked state college in the U.S., has raised $1.1 billion toward a war chest to fight raids on its faculty by wealthier Harvard and Yale.

Bomb Scare Shuts Delco Colleges
Philadelphia Inquirer | March 13, 2008
About 10,000 students at Delaware County Community College were sent home yesterday after a bomb threat was received at the school's main campus. The call was received at the Sproul Road campus in Marple Township about 11 a.m., and all five of the school's campuses were evacuated as a precaution.

Students Careful After String of Campus Killings
Associated Press | March 13, 2008
Three murders in less than a week have sent three Southern college campuses into grief, and brought renewed attention to campus safety — a topic already on the minds of parents and students after recent mass killings at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois.

Harvard Student, Applicant Files Breached
Boston Globe | March 13, 2008
Harvard University notified students at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences yesterday that their personal information may have been compromised when a hacker hijacked the school's server last month. University officials also announced that they will send notices today to approximately 10,000 of last year's applicants, who were exposed during the breach.

Harvard: Hacker Got Info on Students, Applicants
Associated Press | March 13, 2008
Harvard University is notifying thousands of graduate students and applicants that their personal information may have been exposed by a data breach. The Ivy League school says a computer hacker gained entry to its server last month.

Overflow Crowd at Testy Hearing on Student Housing
Boston Globe | March 12, 2008
The Boston Zoning Commission unanimously approved a controversial measure this afternoon that limits the number of undergraduate college students who can share an apartment to a maximum of four.

Student, 30, Bound & Held 12 Hours in His U. City Apartment
Philadelphia Daily News | March 11, 2008
A 30-year-old University of Pennsylvania dental student was held captive for 12 long hours beginning late Sunday night by three thieves who ransacked his apartment, stole his credit cards and kicked back to watch TV.

Columbia University to Offer Financial Aid to More Students
New York Times | March 11, 2008
Columbia University will join a number of other selective universities in significantly expanding the financial aid it offers to lower- and middle-income students, university officials announced on Monday.

California Regents Sue Animal Activists
New York Times | March 11, 2008
It was late into the night when 25 people in ski masks descended on professor Dario Ringach's family home. Pounding on the door, frightening his small children, they screamed into megaphones, "Animal killer! We know where you live! We will never give up!"

Cabrini College Names New President
Philadelphia Inquirer | March 11, 2008
Marie Angelella George, an academic administrator with a specialty in strategic planning, was appointed president of Cabrini College yesterday, succeeding Antoinette Iadarola, who will retire in July. George, 58, who is originally from Wilkes-Barre, has served as executive vice president at St. Anselm College in Manchester, N.H., since 2003. She is second-in-command to the president, overseeing six vice presidents and the directors of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics and Campus Ministry.

Half of Students in Campus Clubs Hazed
Associated Press | March 11, 2008
Virtually every college bans hazing, but more than half of college students belonging to campus organizations say they have experienced it in places from the glee club to the fraternity house, according to a new study.

Moore College President Gets No-confidence Vote from Faculty
Philadelphia Inquirer | March 11, 2008
Moore College of Art president Happy Fernandez has received a no confidence vote from her full-time faculty following the firing of the school's union president.

Admissions Group to Tackle Conflict of Interest Issues
Inside Higher Ed | March 10, 2008
Many admissions officials were aghast in February to find out that some private admissions consultants — people paid by parents to navigate the college admissions process for their children — were also holding paid jobs with colleges or high schools. The situation — which other admissions officials said was an open secret — came to light when Inside Higher Ed reported on a University of Pennsylvania admissions official who had ties to a Japanese company that helped business school applicants and who ran her own admissions business. (The Penn official has since eliminated both of those non-Penn ties.)

Top Law Schools Make Curriculum More Practical
Associated Press | March 10, 2008
Medical students learn the ropes on real patients during hospital rounds. Student journalists practice by writing stories. But if learning-by-doing seems an obvious way to master a profession, one corner of higher education has largely avoided it: law schools.

Math Suggests College Frenzy Will Soon Ease
New York Times | March 09, 2008
High school seniors nationwide are anxiously awaiting the verdicts from the colleges of their choice later this month. But though it may not be of much solace to them, in just a few years the admissions frenzy is likely to ease. It’s simply a matter of demographics.

Lawsuit Takes Aim at College’s Billing Practices for Study Abroad
New York Times | March 09, 2008
A month after graduating from Wheaton College, Jennifer Bombasaro-Brady was back on campus urging the student government to ask the state attorney general to investigate the college’s billing practices for students studying abroad.

A Cure for the College-Bound Blues
New York Times | March 09, 2008
BY the time she graduated from high school, Sabrina Skau needed a break. She was 18. She was exhausted. While high school passes with the plodding pace of a marathon for some students, Ms. Skau, who graduated from David Douglas High School in Portland, Ore., last June, approached it more like a 26-mile sprint. Setting her sights on admission to college, she took three college-level Latin courses at Portland State University the summer after eighth grade. Through her senior year, she barely stopped for breath, as hours of oboe practice and band competitions crowded into hours of after-school volunteer work.

Colleges Petition Congress for Security Aid
USA Today | March 08, 2008
Almost a year after the deadliest shooting on a college campus, Congress is still haggling over legislation that would provide federal dollars to colleges and universities to help pay for improved campus security.

Penn: Object is No Money
Philadelphia Inquirer | March 07, 2008
People across the U.S. have been receiving unsolicited checks in amounts of $2,000 and $8,000 that look like they're from the University of Pennsylvania. But university officials say they are fraudulent.

Many Join in Grief for UNC Student Leader
Raleigh News-Observer | March 07, 2008
Candlelight glowed on faces in evening darkness. Friends sat hugging, laughing, sobbing, remembering her as photos flashed across a projection screen. In many, she smiled back.

Snapshots of Endowment Spending
Inside Higher Ed | March 07, 2008
In asking (okay — essentially requiring) 136 colleges and universities to submit a wealth of information and data about their endowment and financial aid practices, leaders of a U.S. Senate committee were presumably hoping to collect fodder to prove their thesis that elite institutions are sitting on huge pots of money that they could be spending to make higher education more affordable.

Admissions Angst Doesn't Afflict as Many as It May Seem
Chronicle of Higher Education | March 07, 2008
While applying to colleges last fall, Jack Anderson slept soundly, ran 50 miles a week, and practiced the saxophone. He also found the time to hang out with friends. Sometimes, his mother says, he even smiled. Mr. Anderson is no slacker. In fact, he earns A's and B's at Madison High School, in New Jersey, where he is president of the student government. But he was not the stereotypical college applicant, racked with worry.

MIT Expands Financial Aid
Boston Globe | March 07, 2008
Nearly 30 percent of undergraduates at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology will not pay tuition next academic year under a far-reaching financial aid initiative announced today, the latest in a host of expanded need-based programs at elite colleges and universities.

U.K.'s Blair Will Teach at Yale in Next Academic Year
Bloomberg News | March 07, 2008
Yale University said former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair will teach at the school in the next academic year, leading a seminar on faith and globalization. Blair was named a Howland Distinguished Fellow, according to a statement today by the school, in New Haven, Connecticut. Blair was prime minister from 1997 until last year. His work at Yale will relate to a foundation he plans to start later in 2008 to promote understanding between faiths.

U.S. Universities Join Saudis in Partnerships
New York Times | March 06, 2008
Three prominent American universities — the University of Texas at Austin, the University of California, Berkeley, and Stanford University — are starting five-year partnerships, worth $25 million or more, with King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, a graduate-level research university being built in Saudi Arabia.

With the Collapse of Variable-Rate Markets, Some Colleges Face Staggering Debt Costs
Chronicle of Higher Education | March 06, 2008
Dozens of colleges and universities, including some of the country's wealthiest institutions, are facing a sharp rise in interest payments on a whopping mound of debt. About a third of the nearly 300 private institutions rated by Moody's Investors Service are financing more than half their debt with variable-rate bonds, some of whose rates have skyrocketed in recent weeks.

Updates on Billion-Dollar Campaigns at 28 Universities
Chronicle of Higher Education | March 06, 2008
The 28 American universities that are seeking to raise at least $1-billion collected a total of $623.5-million in gifts and pledges during the last month for which they had data available. The campaign with the largest gain in the last month was Stanford University, with $127-million.

Delaware County Campuses Launch Emergency Notification System
Philadelphia Inquirer | March 06, 2008
Seven months before college massacres took a grim center stage in the American debate, Delaware County law-enforcement and college officials began considering safety issues that affected the county's 11 institutes of higher education. In periodic meetings District Attorney Michael Green, school administrators, campus security personnel and municipal and state police addressed issues ranging from stalking to electronic identity theft.

A College President Whose Credentials Stress Taking Care of Business
New York Times | March 05, 2008
John Fry’s path to the presidency of Franklin & Marshall College fits none of the conventions of academic life. He did not earn a doctorate, did not teach or publish research and was never a department chairman or dean or provost.

From Bay Area to Red Sea
Inside Higher Ed | March 05, 2008
Two prominent California universities announced lucrative five-year contracts Tuesday to recruit faculty for and undertake collaborative research with an as-yet unopened Saudi Arabian university.

Chelsea Clinton Stumps for Mom at University of Pennsylvania
Associated Press | March 05, 2008
Chelsea Clinton hit the campaign trail Wednesday at the University of Pennsylvania, speaking to hundreds of students about her mother's presidential candidacy. She spent about an hour fielding more than a dozen questions on Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's positions on health care, Iraq, abortion, human rights, job outsourcing and other issues. Perhaps surprisingly, no one asked about making college more affordable.

Despite the Tragedies, Campus Crime Is Down
U.S. News and World Report | March 05, 2008
The shooting that left five students plus the gunman dead at Northern Illinois University in February once again put a grim spotlight on the issue of security at colleges. But a new report released by the Bureau of Justice Statistics finds that over a 10-year period (from 1995 to 2005), campus crimes actually declined. Violent crime dropped 9 percent at colleges and universities, the study found, while property crimes decreased 30 percent. (There were about 650 respondents to the survey.)

Duke Lacrosse: After the Rape Scandal
Philadelphia Inquirer | March 04, 2008
Tony McDevitt already has a Wall Street job waiting for him. But the 23-year-old graduate of both Duke University and Philadelphia's William Penn Charter School has some unfinished business to tend to first. He wants to win an NCAA men's lacrosse championship. A preseason all-American defenseman, McDevitt was granted a fifth year of eligibility by the NCAA in May in compensation for losing the 2006 season after false charges that three teammates had raped an exotic dancer.

Ban On Gifts to Doctors Sought
Boston Globe | March 04, 2008
Senate President Therese Murray proposed a total ban on all gifts and freebies to doctors from pharmaceutical companies, a move that would make Massachusetts the first state in the country to ban such gifts outright.

Harvard Tries Women-Only Gym Hours
Philadelphia Inquirer | March 04, 2008
In a test of Harvard's famed open-mindedness, the university has banned men from one of its gyms for a few hours a week to accommodate Muslim women who say it offends their sense of modesty to exercise in front of the opposite sex.

Harvard Appoints Evelynn Hammonds Dean of College
Bloomberg News | March 04, 2008
Harvard University has named Evelynn Hammonds dean of Harvard College, an appointment that will make her the first black woman to hold the post.

South Korean University Investigates Allegation of Faked Study
Bloomberg News | March 04, 2008
A South Korean university is checking the veracity of research published by one of its scientists in the journals Science and Nature Chemical Biology that purported to have helped find ways to kill cancer and extend life.

Lawyer Relishes Health Post - and 'Strategic, Visionary' Role
Philadelphia Inquirer | March 03, 2008
In 2001, Joseph W. "Chip" Marshall III traded a career in health law for one of medicine's toughest management jobs: running Temple University Health System. Marshall, 54, is chief executive and president of an organization with 7,500 employees and annual revenue of about $1 billion in financially stressed North Philadelphia. According to the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council, 38.6 percent of Temple University Hospital's patients are covered by Medicaid, a notoriously poor payer. Farther up Route 611 in Montgomery County, only 7 percent of Abington Memorial Hospital's patients have Medicaid.

Credit Crisis May Make College Loans More Costly
Washington Post | March 03, 2008
Many college students across the nation will begin to see higher costs for loans this spring, while others will be turned away by banks altogether as the credit crisis roiling the U.S. economy spreads into yet another sector, student lenders and Wall Street firms say.

Friends Call Fatal Fall at MIT an Accident
Boston Globe | March 03, 2008
Fraternity brothers of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology student who plummeted to his death Saturday morning said he had fallen from his bedroom window at the fraternity house in what appeared to be a "terrible accident."

Code of Ethics for Study Abroad Is Offered to Colleges and Providers
Chronicle of Higher Education | March 03, 2008
A new code of ethics, to be released today by the Forum on Education Abroad, seeks to offer colleges, overseas-study providers, and foreign host institutions a "compass" to guide their management of study abroad.

In a New Era at Harvard, New Questions of Standards
New York Times | March 02, 2008
Harvard has never won an Ivy League title in men’s basketball and has not reached the N.C.A.A. tournament since 1946. This season, the team won only 8 of its first 28 games. Like all the universities in the Ivy League, Harvard does not award athletic scholarships.

Student Group Pushes for Right to Carry Concealed Weapons on Campus
Philadelphia Inquirer | March 01, 2008
Along with books, laptop and cell phone, there is something else that Jeremy Clark thinks is essential to bring to class: his gun. The Villanova University law student said the sickening spate of campus shootings, from Virginia Tech to Northern Illinois University, left him feeling vulnerable without his Glock 9mm semiautomatic handgun.

Administrators' Pay Rises 4%, Beating Inflation for 11th Consecutive Year
Chronicle of Higher Education | February 29, 2008
The median salary of college administrators increased by 4 percent during the 2007-8 fiscal year, outpacing inflation for the 11th consecutive year, according to a report released last week by the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources.

We Need to Sever the Iron Bond Between Price and the Perceived Quality of Colleges
Chronicle of Higher Education | February 29, 2008
This month the U.S. House of Representatives voted to commit billions of new dollars to student financial aid and impose a spate of new regulations on colleges and universities, all in the name of holding down the ever-growing cost of higher education. Unfortunately, the House also deep-sixed the only new program coming out of Washington that might actually restrain costs on a long-term basis: the secretary of education's recent push to focus institutional accreditation on student learning.

Cuomo's Latest Targets Include Universities' Deals With Credit-Card Providers
Chronicle of Higher Education | February 29, 2008
During the past few months, New York State's attorney general, Andrew M. Cuomo, has been drawing headlines for investigations involving insurance companies, home-appraisal services, and Internet-service providers.

Forget E-Mail: New Messaging Service Has Students and Professors Atwitter
Chronicle of Higher Education | February 29, 2008
Anyone who feels overloaded with information from e-mail, blogs, and Web sites probably won't want to read this. But some professors, librarians, and administrators have begun using Twitter, a service that can blast very short notes (up to 140 characters) to select users' cellphones or computer screens.

Colleges, Cities, and Symbiosis
Chronicle of Higher Education | February 29, 2008
A story in The Wall Street Journal discusses various universities that are pumping money into redevelopment near their campuses to stay competitive. (Of course, The Chronicle has been there and done that story many times.) In a nutshell, universities and their cities have symbiotic relationships, and if prospective students or faculty members find the city unattractive, this could hurt enrollment or recruitment. The story focuses on Case Western Reserve University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Maryland, whose nearby automobile-oriented commercial strip on Route 1 is truly awful.

Three Temple Students Surrender in Hate Attack
Philadelphia Inquirer | February 29, 2008
Three Temple University students involved in what police described as an anti-Semitic attack on campus Feb. 15 have surrendered to authorities, police said yesterday.

Colleges Guard Soaring Endowments
Boston Globe | February 28, 2008
Under growing pressure from Congress, the country's wealthiest colleges and universities are sharply resisting calls to spend more of their soaring endowments to expand financial aid and curb tuition hikes that critics say are putting college beyond the reach of ordinary families.

Students Slow to Embrace Text Alerts
Washington Post | February 28, 2008
The massacre at Virginia Tech last year sent colleges nationwide scrambling to improve how they get alerts to students during crises on campus. One solution: Text messages sent to cell phones.

Struggling to Squelch an Internet Rumor
New York Times | February 27, 2008
Prof. Jeremy D. Popkin returned to his office at the University of Kentucky on Feb. 19 after teaching a lesson about Vichy France in his course on the Holocaust. During its 30 years on the curriculum, the class has grown perpetually popular, with 60 applicants vying for half as many seats. The university has even created a Judaic Studies program.

Berkeley Accused of Racism Over Failure to Return Tribal Bones
Los Angeles Times | February 27, 2008
State Senate leaders chastised UC Berkeley administrators Tuesday for trampling on the civil rights of Native Americans by not returning the remains of thousands of their ancestors held in storage at a campus museum.

Cal Poly SLO's Saudi Proposal Generates Anger
Los Angeles Times | February 27, 2008
If Cal Poly San Luis Obispo had wanted to start an engineering program for a university in someplace like Norway, the proposal probably would have sailed through without much comment either on campus or off. But the school's plan to start an engineering department in Saudi Arabia is a different story.

Latest Attack on a California Scientist Who Uses Animals in Research Signals Shift in Tactics
Chronicle of Higher Education | February 27, 2008
Wearing bandanas around their faces, several assailants believed to be students from the University of California at Santa Cruz on Sunday attacked the home of a researcher who uses mice to study breast cancer.

Free College Courses Feed Global Hunger for Learning
USA Today | February 27, 2008
In 2002, when the Massachusetts Institute of Technology started making course content available free online, project organizers had no idea their site would become a favorite destination for science junkies across the globe.

Colleges Have Better-Prepared Police and Less Crime Than They Used To, Report Says
Chronicle of Higher Education | February 26, 2008
Not only are college campuses safer than they used to be but they also have less crime than the country at large does, according to a report released last week by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Joining the Law School Rankings Game
Inside Higher Ed | February 26, 2008
In the highly competitive worlds of law school admissions and faculty recruitment, it often seems as if the Lake Wobegone effect is in full force. On their Web sites and in the other marketing materials that law schools distribute to raise their profiles — sometimes derided as “law porn” — virtually every law school boasts of having a faculty made up of stellar scholars, brilliant teachers and selfless public servants.

Brown Ends Tuition for Lower-Income Students
Bloomberg News | February 25, 2008
Brown University is eliminating tuition for students whose parents earn less than $60,000, after decisions by fellow Ivy League universities to bolster financial aid as their endowments grow.

S.M.U. Makes It Official: Bush Library Is Coming
New York Times | February 23, 2008
A center devoted to the life, works, papers and policies of President George W. Bush will be built at Southern Methodist University, officials announced Friday, despite faculty members’ lingering concerns and opposition from some Methodists.

Medill Dean Is Taken to Task Over Quotes
Washington Post | February 23, 2008
When David Spett, a Northwestern University journalism student, read an item by his dean, John Lavine, in an alumni magazine last spring, something didn't sit right with him. Some quotes in the article, praising a marketing and branding class, seemed oddly wooden.

Health Coverage Often Stops at the Campus Gate
New York Times | February 23, 2008
PARENTS often do not think twice about health coverage when their children head to college, but it might be to their advantage to take a second look before doing a double-take when they see their bills.

More Than 3 Dozen Lacrosse Players Sue Duke, Alleging Privacy Violations and Neglect of Duty
Chronicle of Higher Education | February 22, 2008
Thirty-eight current and former men's lacrosse players at Duke University have sued the institution, the City of Durham, N.C., and multiple officials of each in connection with a prolonged investigation of controversial rape charges against three members of the team.

Columbia U. Professor Denies Plagiarism, Saying Accusers Instead Stole Her Work
Chronicle of Higher Education | February 22, 2008
A Columbia University professor who was found to have committed numerous acts of plagiarism struck back at her accusers on Thursday, saying it was they who stole her work and accusing administrators of blackmail and intimidation.

At Virginia Tech, Researchers Study the Effects of Shootings on Their Own Campus
Chronicle of Higher Education | February 22, 2008
When the last television news trucks pull away from Northern Illinois University, some professors there may find themselves compelled to process the recent mass shooting in the best way they know how: by studying it.

Gallaudet, Happy With Results, Holds Onto Its 'Interim' President
Chronicle of Higher Education | February 22, 2008
Gallaudet University, the nation's only liberal-arts institution for the deaf, may have figured out a way to avoid the raging protests that have marked its last two presidential transitions: Keep the current guy.

City Tells BC to Revise Its Plan
Boston Globe | February 22, 2008
City officials are urging Boston College to find alternatives to its controversial plan to build dormitories on the property formerly owned by the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, putting the city squarely in opposition to a pivotal piece of the school's long-term vision.

Columbia Cites Plagiarism by a Professor
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