Aid to college students has increased by 82 percent over the past decade but still falls short of covering the average price of a college education, as the cost of attending the nation's public universities has continued to outpace inflation, family income, and sources of grant aid, according to two new surveys from the College Board. More than…

The American College Health Association estimates that three out of every 10 college students are overweight or obese. Both terms denote ranges of weight that are greater than what is considered healthy for a given height and have been shown to increase the likelihood of diseases. Over the past two decades, the number of American children who are…

It is the best of times and worst of times to start a science career in the United States. Researchers today have access to powerful new tools and techniques--such as rapid gene sequencers and giant telescopes--that have accelerated the pace of discovery beyond the imagination of previous generations. But for many of today's graduate students, the…

The University of Delaware spent years refining its residence-life education program. One week of public criticism unraveled it. Late last month, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, a free-speech group, accused the university of promoting specific views on race, sexuality, and morality in a series of discussions held in dormitories.…

This fall the Academic Progress Rate, a formula that the National Collegiate Athletic Association developed to measure the academic performance of its member teams, will go into full effect. Known as the APR, the formula consists of two variables: academic performance (which requires satisfactory grades and timely progress to a degree) and student…

Citing a pattern of outside interest groups aggressively seeking to impose their influence on recent collegiate hiring and tenure decisions, five prominent professors have formed the Ad Hoc Committee to Defend the University. They are circulating an online petition that takes explicit aim at "groups portraying themselves as defenders of Israel,"…

This article reports on the findings from the 2007 Community College Survey of Student Engagement. The survey determined the services that students need but are not receiving in their first four weeks of college. It finds that many new community-college students receive little or no attention from advisers in their first four weeks of class. The…

In September 2007, Congress voted to cut subsidies to lenders in the federal guaranteed-student-loan program and use much of the savings to increase student aid. Congress also passed other significant provisions, including modified repayment periods and loan forgiveness for certain students. Such legislation came on the heels of New York Attorney…

Virginia Tech has decided to count gifts to a memorial fund for victims of the April 16 shootings toward its goal of raising $1-billion in a capital campaign. Higher-education fund-raising experts agree that counting the memorial-fund contributions toward the total does not break common donation-reporting guidelines. Many big college fund-raising…

For the majority of community-college professors, teaching is the most important part of their jobs, and it is not easy. Community-college students are a diverse bunch, but often face a particular set of challenges. Many entering students are not prepared for college-level work. While some students plan to transfer to competitive four-year…

Government investigations into alleged conflicts of interest in student-aid programs continue and now have widened to include study-abroad programs. It seems as if almost every day the news contains reports concerning possible questionable practices by colleges and universities. In this article, the authors discuss current scandals and possible…

Fifty years ago this month, the Soviet Union launched the world's first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, an event that transformed American higher education. Americans felt threatened by the "red moon" overhead and communist know-how, and Congress supported a flurry of federal spending that helped to greatly expand the number of American research…

For most people on campuses, September means revising syllabi, enjoying football, or avoiding the person you broke up with last spring. For college librarians, it marks the beginning of "renewal season." It is time for the tedious work of placing orders and negotiating licenses for next year's journals. However, relief may be on the horizon.…

Community colleges in all areas of the country offer students opportunities for postsecondary education that they might not otherwise have. The nearly 600 community colleges that serve rural communities play a special role in providing access, one that the author believes deserves greater understanding and recognition. He shares some of what he…

In this article, the author examines the "citizenship role" of community colleges, which causes them to devote time and resources to activities that have little to do with higher education: Is it a legitimate one for community colleges, or does it siphon off resources and energy that should be devoted to the primary educational mission? He draws…