The Chinese news media have a name for the craze that has gripped students here in the past few years: "overseas-study fever." And despite the worsening global financial crisis and a slowing domestic economy, it shows little sign of letting up. Recruiters say a high household savings rate, a difficult job market, and a steady currency,…

There is a sense of urgency in America today, reminiscent of the "space race" rhetoric of the cold-war era, that Americans must get their act together in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education because the Asians are coming. Many people believe that higher-education institutions in countries like China and…

In the ongoing national conversation about science education in America, there is a new consensus that people have entered a time of crisis in their relationship to the international scientific and engineering community. When the science committee of the House of Representatives asked the National Academies, the nation's leading scientific…

A college acceptance letter has long been seen as the ticket to the middle class for students from low-income families. Simply getting into college these days is not enough. Where financially needy students enroll makes a difference--sometimes a big difference--in whether they will ever earn a bachelor's degree. This article discusses graduation…