college news stories on Newser

Today's College Is More Like Kindergarten

Evann Gastaldo — Tue, 22 May 2012 09:09:16 CDT

In 1961, college students spent 16 hours in class each week and another 24 hours studying, making college the equivalent of a full-time job. Today, just 27 hours are spent in class and studying—or the same amount of time, the Washington Post points out, as the typical five-year-old spends...

Houston Family's College Bill: $1.5M

Matt Cantor — Thu, 17 May 2012 16:41:13 CDT

Good thing he wrote a bestseller. Houston dad Marc Ostrofsky has tallied up his family's college costs, and "we’re looking at roughly $60,000 to $70,000 per child per year," he tells KHOU . "A total of about $1.5 million after tax dollars." Ostrofsky has five daughters and stepdaughters;...

Get College Degree, Live 9 Years Longer

Evann Gastaldo — Wed, 16 May 2012 08:52:45 CDT

Sure, college costs a lot of money and you won’t necessarily get a job after you graduate, but good news! At least you'll live longer in your loan-induced poverty, because higher education is linked to longer life. An annual report from the CDC shows that those who obtain a bachelor’s...

Student Loans Cripple Entire Generation

Neal Colgrass — Sun, 13 May 2012 14:57:32 CDT

Wannabe college students have a lot to prepare for: all-night study binges, grueling exams, and the three jobs they'll need to pay off their crippling student debt. What's worse, that financial burden is only growing, the New York Times reports. Today, just 38% of the nation's $1 trillion student loan...

Online Courses About to Change College Forever

Matt Cantor — Fri, 04 May 2012 11:53:27 CDT

Online education isn't just an "experiment" anymore. Harvard and MIT have just set aside $60 million for free online courses, and schools from Stanford to Yale are pursuing online learning. In short, "what happened to the newspaper and magazine business is about to happen to higher education: a rescrambling around...

Your Major Is Hard? Pay More Tuition

Dustin Lushing — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 18:04:05 CDT

The tougher your major in college is, the more tuition you could have to fork over. More and more public universities are billing a higher tuition to students who major in math, business, and science programs. The schools' rationale is that it's more expensive to teach these specialties, and that...

The 13 Most Worthless Majors

Matt Cantor — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 12:57:22 CDT

Hey, college students: If your life plans include getting an actual job, you may want to avoid the stars of the Daily Beast 's "most useless" majors list. Majors are ranked in terms of employment, taking into account unemployment rates among recent and experienced grads, earnings, and likely job growth...

MSU Student Killed in Dorm

Mary Papenfuss — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 01:33:00 CDT

A Mississippi State University student was fatally shot in a dorm on Saturday, and a second student attending a Mississippi college was killed at an off-campus party yesterday. John Sanderson, 21, died shortly after three suspects fled his Starkville residence hall. "The perpetrators fled our campus, but we're still attempting...

False Alarm: Student's 'Rifle' Actually Umbrella

Matt Cantor — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 09:53:05 CDT

Looks like the campus lockdown wasn't necessary after all. After a bus driver reported a gun-toting student at Rochester Institute of Technology, police rapidly directed students and staff to stay inside and bolt doors. But within an hour, officials had spoken to the student—a freshman photographer—to learn that...