Over five years, nearly a dozen graduate students and twice as many undergraduates have pursued jobs in labor after leaving Yale University (Connecticut). Most participated in activities of the Graduate Employees and Students Organization on campus during a period of unrest among teaching assistants. More aggressive labor leadership has been…

A number of universities now require all students to have computers, charging additional tuition to cover costs of hardware, networking, and technical support. Despite frustrations of extensive computer systems and technological change, most feel the programs are worthwhile and address the limitations of campus computer labs. Laptops have become…

The 457,984 foreign students enrolled in the United States in 1996-97 represented a record high but only a modest increase in growth rate. Educators concerned about increased competition from Britain, Australia, and other countries fear limits on U.S. enrollments. Data on foreign student characteristics and enrollments by state, institutions with…

Educators are pleased with the rising number of Americans studying abroad and the diverse countries attracting American students, reflecting the increasing internationalization of college curricula and availability of programs overseas. Students are asking more sophisticated questions about their destinations. Data on program types, student…

As nurse practitioners increasingly move into practice areas once reserved for primary-care physicians, and as medical schools move more toward general practice and primary care, medical and nursing students are competing for a limited number of slots in which they can receive on-the-job clinical instruction. With professional boundaries…

As the concept of earning a higher education degree at home becomes more accepted, diploma mills operating on the Internet proliferate. Students confuse unscrupulous institutions with legitimate distance education. Many use the World Wide Web as their primary marketing tool, with sites similar to those of accredited colleges, and do not appear to…

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching will move from the East Coast to the West and have a new president, Lee S. Shulman, whose professional focus has been teaching and teacher education. Some observers feel the foundation has not been active enough in public policy formation recently. However, the new focus will be more on…

In California, home of many computer companies, community colleges are having difficulty acquiring computers and training faculty to use them. Observers are concerned that high-technology jobs, vital to the state's economy, may have to be filled from out of state. However, level of technology varies widely by institution, and a few offer…

Multimedia computer programs that can be produced in a few hours by faculty or language laboratory staff could change the way colleges teach foreign languages. New tools allow exercises to be custom tailored to suit student interests and skill levels and to use authentic texts in new ways. Initial response by faculty users has been enthusiastic.…

To improve availability of sound recordings for music students, Indiana University has digitized over 1,300 selections and made them available on two computer network servers. High-quality audio technology provides compact-disc-quality sound. Some technical difficulties remain, but users have adapted well to the new system. (MSE)

Reports and analyzes a decision of the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that Mississippi's five predominantly white public universities continue to close themselves off to black students by their financial aid policies. Notes that the Court did not order changes in the state's public institutions' admissions policies as desired by the…

Sheldon Hackney will step down as chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities for personal reasons, and resume teaching college-level history. During his tenure at the federal agency, he contended with significant budget reductions by a Republican Congress and was sometimes criticized for his leadership style. The agency is still…

The Massachusetts college tuition prepayment program has been praised by many as helping families pay for college, but a few elite institutions have not joined, saying the program does not fit their financial aid policies and philosophies. Supporters feel the program could be even stronger if they joined. The plan differs from most state plans by…

Settlement of tobacco company lawsuits, currently in litigation in 22 states, would benefit college and universities holding tobacco company stock in their endowments. A number of institutions are considering divesting such stock for ethical reasons, but at most institutions the political immediacy of the issue is not great. (MSE)

Smith College (Massachusetts) has established formal articulation agreements with Santa Monica College (California) and Miami-Dade Community College (Florida) to grant credit to community college students transferring to the private college. Vassar College (New York) is another private liberal arts college seeking more community college transfer…