university 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...

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...

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...

Faith Experts to Santorum: Stop Ripping Colleges

Matt Cantor — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 10:30:55 CST

Rick Santorum has a bone to pick with college. This weekend, he called President Obama "a snob" for wanting "everybody in America to go to college"—perhaps a bit strange coming from a man with more degrees than the president, the Washington Post notes. Added Santorum: “There are good decent...

University Demands Workers Sign 'Not Gay' Pledge

Rob Quinn — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 04:30:00 CDT

Georgia's Shorter University wants to know what's happening in its workers' bedrooms. The conservative Christian university is demanding that its 200 employees sign a "Personal Lifestyle Statement" rejecting homosexuality, adultery, and premarital sex, the New York Daily News reports. Those who don't sign the pledge face losing their jobs. "I...

New College Rankings: An Ivy Deadheat

Matt Cantor — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 14:34:27 CDT

US News and World Report has released its latest college rankings, and it’s full of the usual suspects, with Harvard, Princeton, and Yale topping the list; not much has changed since last year . Among liberal arts colleges , Williams, Amherst, and Swarthmore lead the pack. The magazine also presents its best...

A Eulogy for the Random Freshman Year Roommate

Mark Russell — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 07:41:17 CDT

Random room assignments were once a rite of passage for university freshmen, pairing Democrats and Republicans, party animals and studious nerds. But they're becoming a relic of the past, eliminated by a host of social networking websites that allow today's 18-year-olds to track down like-minded potential roomies as soon as...