Higher Education

More slightly awkward news from the ivies. The Ithaca Journal reports that: Eldred Harris, a former reunion campaign officer in the [Cornell University] Alumni Affairs and Development Office, is suing the university for $30,000 in overtime fees. Cornell officials allege in court documents that Harris said he had information about a supposed university admissions practice […]

Maybe eight isn’t such a lucky number in China after all. In an update to the story of Zhang Lei, the Chinese businessman who last week gave Yale University, his alma mater, $8,888,888.00, apparently some in the People’s Republic of China object to his gift. According to an AFP article: A Chinese businessman’s huge donation […]

From the Chronicle of Higher Education comes news that many are urging law schools to work on helping law students “cope” with not getting a job: Law schools have a responsibility to teach students how to be emotionally resilient and fiscally sensible at a time when high-paying jobs are hard to come by and student-loan […]

From USA Today comes news that the Princeton Review has published its annual list of best value colleges. Topping the list are the University of Virginia (for public schools) and Swarthmore College (for private schools). Wait, what? Out-of-state tuition at UVA is $31,680. Tuition at Swarthmore is $37,860. While these aren’t the most expensive school […]

Is this is one of those spine-chilling depression stories or just a sign that the bottom has finally dropped out of the gigantic, parasitic textbook market? It’s hard to tell. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Barns & Noble has expanded its college textbook rental program: The new program, available though campus bookstores or the […]

A study published in the latest issue of the Journal of Labor Economics predicts that a ban on affirmative action would decrease minority representation at American colleges very moderately. According to the study: Black and Hispanic representation at all four-year colleges is predicted to decline modestly—by two percent—if race-neutral college admissions policies are mandated nationwide. […]

What would happen if people could go to college knowing that they wouldn’t be financially responsible if they failed to complete school? Would that cause more people to go to college and succeed there? This idea, colloquially called “failure insurance,” comes from a paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Economic Association, that […]

In one of those unintuitive stories that come out of the recession, NPR points out that cheaper tuition at state universities may actually be detrimental to in-state students. This comes about because the universities can get a lot more money from out-of-state students. According to the story, Barmak Nassirian of the American Association of Collegiate […]

Last week College Guide reported that the Department of Education’s changes to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) were mostly cosmetic, because FAFSA still counts still counts parents’ assets against financial aid. And apparently fixing that would require actual legislation. A word on that legislation. In September, 2009 the House passed the Student […]

The new Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is easier to fill out. FAFSA is easier not only because the application itself is shorter, but also because students can take advantage of volunteers available to help with FAFSA. According to U.S. News & World Report: Volunteer financial aid experts will be stationed at more […]