An expanding investigation into conflicts of interest in the student-loan industry continued to sweep up more lenders and college financial-aid administrators last week. The nation's largest student-loan provider, Sallie Mae, accepted a $2-million settlement with New York State's attorney general, Andrew M. Cuomo, and three more college officials…

In this article, the author describes a new cybersecurity course at the University of Abertay Dundee in Scotland. Geoffrey R. Lund, leader of the software-applications program at Abertay, says the course prepares students for a rapidly growing job market by teaching that the best defense is a good offense. Professors set up a network of 20 or so…

National security demands that "illegals" must be kept out of the country. Terrorists may be entering alongside Mexicans jumping immigration queues. So explain members of the self-appointed Minuteman Civil Defense Corps as they and 25 Vassar College students trudge a migrant trail across a parched, cactus-punctuated desert near Douglas, Arizona.…

Student lobbyists have sent Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings a letter scolding her for what they see as a minimizing of student representation at the higher-education summit held last week. The Department of Education responded by saying that students had indeed been invited to participate. The letter, which was signed by Jennifer S. Pae,…

Since 2003, the Teachers College of Columbia University has maintained a policy of evaluating students based on their "commitment to social justice." Before last summer, Columbia could blame the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, the main accrediting body for schools of education, for those evaluation criteria. The council…

In this article, the author discusses two approaches to teaching: "a guide on the side" and "a sage on the stage." He juxtaposes Alison King's heavy-handed characterization of the traditional college lecturer, and offers his own characterization of self-styled stage-hog professors to offset King's caricature. He also presents a composite picture…

In this article, the author discusses the tensions between science and religion. According to recent books--many of them by prominent biologists--the era of deference to religious belief--belief without evidence--is ending as faith is subjected to gimlet-eyed scrutiny. Like Mark Twain's celebrated comment about stopping smoking, scholars have…

The memory of the academy is long, and its scope is national. Disagreements of no real consequence are remembered for entire careers, mutating and multiplying among allies and advisees into a kind of poisonous gas that can sour the air of an entire sector of the profession for generations. The author maintains that there is no other profession,…

Across the U.S., graduate students' debts have grown significantly in recent years. They have been among the first victims as state support for universities fell off in the early 2000s, as some federal grants have flatlined, as operating costs have burgeoned, and as campuswide enrollments tick upward. Among doctoral programs, money often flows…

John M. McCardell Jr., president emeritus of Middlebury College, is a respected Civil War scholar. His lectures on the Gettysburg Address command large audiences at alumni meetings, and his seminars on the war always attract eager undergraduates. Recently the genteel academic threw himself into another conflict. Call it the Battle of the Binge.…

A marketing campaign intended to persuade Chinese students to study in the United States will soon branch out to other parts of the globe. The U.S.-led program, which includes slick television commercials and a one-stop-shopping Web portal, was introduced in China last fall. The commercials, which run about 30 minutes and were filmed on American…

In this article, the authors discuss obesity and the differences in the eating behaviors between Americans and French people. In the last decade or so, a number of psychologists, nutritionists, and physiologists have come to the conclusion that, in the developed world, increasing obesity can be attributed primarily to the environment in which…

As the United States and other member countries of the World Trade Organization continue negotiations on a new global-trade agreement in Geneva, about two dozen groups representing American colleges are beseeching U.S. officials to avoid making concessions that would threaten the autonomy of higher-education institutions. During the latest round…

The recent events at Virginia Tech reinforce the idea that nothing is more fundamental for college leaders to address than campus security and safety. After the tears, the makeshift memorials, and the intensely painful series of funerals, higher education must come to grips with the fact that it has just had its own September 11. Assessing and…

In December 2005, purchasing agents at Florida International University issued a request for proposals seeking banks and student-loan companies for a list of "preferred lenders" that the university planned to give to prospective borrowers. The request alone was not unusual. Many colleges use competitive bidding to secure attractive terms and…