Reports on a $1 billion dollar grant from Bill and Melinda Gates to send 20,000 low-income minority students to college. The Gates Millenium Scholars Program will require students to demonstrate financial need and maintain a 3.0 grade point average in college. A list of the largest private gifts to higher education since 1967 is also provided. (DB)

On a federal tax form, only 75 of 475 colleges and universities surveyed reported that they had spent money on lobbying, defined as direct contacts with legislators or executive-branch officials about specific bills. Guidelines concerning reporting are unclear and confusing, and some institutions reveal as little as possible. Data on 78…

Federal budget-balancing legislation includes tax credits and deductions, worth $40-billion over five years, to help people pay for college. Provisions include tax credits, deduction of student loan interest and some employer-paid tuition assistance, penalty-free individual retirement account withdrawals, student loan forgiveness, institutional…

The federal Hope Scholarship program, designed as a middle-class tax break, required substantial negotiation and diverse, often conflicting tactics to become policy. The story of the idea's creation and its journey to policy, based on interviews with over three dozen college officials, Clinton administration aides, lawmakers, and others is…

California's legislature voted overwhelmingly to extend the charter of the Council for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education, which regulates most of the state's for-profit institutions and is credited with reducing fraudulent schools. The Republican governor, however, has vetoed the measure amid heavy lobbying by trade-school officials,…

At least two dozen political action committees in six states (Alabama, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Texas, Washington) accept donations and contribute to legislators on behalf of diverse colleges and universities. Defenders say the political committees help keep the institutions' allies in office and protect access to them. Critics feel public…

A Supreme Court ruling last March, "Seminole Tribe of Florida vs. State of Florida," sharply restricted Congress' ability to override a state's immunity to federal lawsuits under the 11th Amendment. State institutions have already used the decision to fend off litigation on a variety of issues, including age discrimination, patents and copyrights,…

The National Collegiate Athletic Association barred Southern Methodist University from playing football next season and restricted its schedule for the season after that. The penalties are intended to eliminate a program that was built on a legacy of wrongdoing, deceit, and rules violations. (MLW)

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the sports-governing body for over 500 small colleges and universities, will weigh a series of major alterations in rules and procedures concerning standards for freshman athletes, separate competition divisions in all sports, an accreditation system for monitoring academic standards,…

Liability suits against college sports programs can be devastating. Interest in liability insurance, which protects the institution and its personnel if an athlete sues, is on the rise, and half of all college-sports programs now own insurance policies that provide lifetime benefits to athletes who suffer catastrophic injuries. (MLW)

While the National Collegiate Athletic Association made no policy changes in its recent meeting, many presidents, athletics directors, and other sports officials attending may have made substantial progress toward reform through extensive exchange of ideas on the notion of federation within divisions, the legislative process, and financial aid…

Rising program deficits and lack of state aid for college sports programs in Oregon have caused the suspension of sports teams as a cost-cutting measure. Some trace the financial problems to equalization of women's sports and the 1982 downturn in the lumber industry. Financing options appear limited. (MSE)

At least 600 athletes failing to meet minimum academic standards to compete in college sports as freshmen are enrolled in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I institutions. The second annual NCAA survey shows that this year, as last, a high percentage are Black. (MSE)

Administrators at Southeast Missouri State University may gamble on a controversial public relations strategy that would depend on a big-time sports program to increase enrollment. Utica College, however, will return to the NCAA's Division III after spiraling sports costs and inability to gain entrance to a suitable conference. (MLW)

Cost overruns of thousands of dollars on the president's official residence, the existence of a $70-million reserve fund, an administrator accused of embezzlement, and another official allegedly plagiarizing a speech were some of the controversies that have eroded the confidence in the University of Minnesota among legislators, alumni and the…