Data from a national survey of state spending on higher education in 1998 to 1999, organized by state, include dollar appropriations per state institution and for specific program types (community colleges, student aid, vocational/technical education, private colleges, and state commissions, when appropriate), and percentage changes since the…

The upwardly mobile economy has propelled earnings on college endowments into double digits for the sixth consecutive year, with average returns on investments of 18.2%. The range was 5.6 to 38%, with the highest performer having 85.1% of investments in stocks and 13.6% in domestic bonds. On average, large endowments performed better than small…

A number of small, private, liberal arts colleges have abolished Greek systems on campus and vowed to quash student attempts to establish off-campus fraternities and sororities. Some argue that a ban on fraternities denies students their constitutional right to freedom of association. A nonbinding resolution recently passed in Congress may support…

After five years, the AmeriCorps program, a federal program designed to encourage youth to perform public service by providing substantial scholarships after completion, has been both praised as effective in getting things done and criticized as cost-ineffective. Some feel the money could have been better spent for federal grants or work-study…

Turnover among college fundraisers and related administrators (alumni relations, publications) has been high, with some remaining in positions for less time than a major campaign takes to complete. Some feel fundraisers, particularly those in low- or mid-level positions, are competing for higher salaries, better titles, and career development…

Liberty University (Virginia) will send 3,000 students on a religious studies tour in Israel to visit sites important to Christianity. The program, the result of an alliance between Jerry Falwell and Binyamin Netanyahu, is designed both to show support for Netanyahu's policies and to raise the international profile of the university. (MSE)

Many colleges and universities are experiencing sharp declines in enrollment of students from Asian countries suffering from currency devaluations and economic turmoil. However, enhanced recruiting in other parts of the world and relatively high retention rates for already enrolled students from those countries have helped many institutions offset…

The University of Wisconsin Madison has a speech code that punishes faculty who make offensive remarks in the classroom. The code, declared unconstitutional in 1991 by a federal judge, has now been revised by a panel of professors, administrators, and students to allow faculty to teach controversial subjects, even if some students are offended in…

At least 50 colleges offer courses on hypertext fiction, a genre in which readers click on key words to follow various narrative threads according to individual interests and instincts, rather than following a single, predetermined sequence of passages. Supporters are surprised at how slowly the genre has caught on; critics see signs of trendy…

The new president of American InterContinental University bought the for-profit institution and plans to distinguish it from others by offering students fast-paced programs providing "good return" on tuition investment. The growth strategy is built on the concept of "power campuses": new branches specializing in business degrees and an intensive,…

Despite campus tensions and varying student attitudes, gay students are coming out increasingly within the fraternity system. An anthology of personal accounts of gay students in fraternities around the country indicates the diversity of experiences and reasons for joining fraternities. (MSE)

A new accreditation agency, the Teacher Education Accreditation Council (TEAC), gives college presidents a greater role in program assessment and evaluates institutions on how well they meet their own standards. Competing with the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education and founded in 1954, TEAC is seen by some as hampering efforts…

Increasingly, World Wide Web sites are offering college-bound students searchable catalogs and online admissions applications, and software company sites are selling high-tech recruiting tools to college admissions offices. College admissions offices are overwhelmed with the new options, and worried about how the trend may change the admissions…

Wealthier colleges and universities, whose endowments have prospered as a result of rising market values, are spending more money on new programs, student aid, and faculty salaries. Some feel that colleges are still spending too little and hoarding endowment funds; others fear market domination by a small group of wealthy schools. (MSE)

Protesters at the University of California at Berkeley are calling for the expulsion of a sophomore who failed to report a murder. However, the student's behavior does not violate the university's code of conduct, which is restricted to campus behavior. Some institutions are expanding the geographic reach of their codes to discipline students for…