Higher Education

From Inside Higher Ed comes news that Miami University of Ohio will not be accepting a $5 million gift that it earlier received from Thomas Petters, the former CEO and chairman of Petters Group Worldwide. Last week the U.S. District Court in St. Paul, Minnesota found Petters guilty of 20 counts of wire and mail […]

From Florida comes news that business leaders in the state are telling the state’s public colleges to “Stop Asking for Money!” Because it’s a recession and, you know, they don’t have any. Mark Wilson, president and CEO of the Florida Chamber of Commerce, said that business leaders in his state (like many of their counterparts […]

In November Pennsylvania’s Lincoln University considered denying diplomas to overweight seniors who had not made serious attempts to lose weight. Amid protests and ridicule, Lincoln dropped the plan and will now merely suggest that overweight students consider taking a “Fitness for Life” class. But in an arguably related issue, many universities are now cracking down […]

Apparently some students attending college in New York still have large student debt, even though the school they attend is public. From the New York Post came an article yesterday demonstrating that students in public and private schools often end up owing equivalent amounts: “Big sticker prices at schools are sometimes deceiving,” said Edie Irons, […]

The new GI Bill provides more money for college education for veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. The goal is to boost college attendance for veterans in much the way World War II veterans went to college in record numbers on the original GI Bill. But it is not working out so well. According […]

According to an article in the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal Texas Tech University’s Health Sciences Center will no longer use stray cats from local animal shelters to train emergency medical technicians. Texas Tech declined to explain why it made the decision to cease cat usage. This comes after several months of criticism from People for the Ethical […]

A New York State appeals court yesterday said Columbia University cannot use eminent domain to take over land to build a new campus. According to an article about the decision in the New York Times: In a 3-to-2 decision, a panel of the Appellate Division of State Supreme Court in Manhattan annulled the state’s 2008 […]

Earlier this week Long Island’s Hofstra University, announced that it would no longer maintain a football program next fall. As Hofstra explained: Football could not attain significant national recognition, and it has had low student, community and media interest, attendance and financial support. In addition, the football program, the largest of the athletic programs, is […]

As far as international students are concerned, Americans have always understood that these students come to America because American universities are so great. Or at least the schools are vastly superior to education opportunities in these students’ home countries. Well, sort of. According to an article in Inside Higher Ed: While the prospect still causes […]

The College Guide had a piece earlier today about Kentucky’s higher education plan and the need for remediation. High standards are great, but not without systems in place to support those high standards. Kentucky’s standards will likely result in more remedial courses, and remedial courses are more a predictor of failure than a tool for […]