The Kept-Up Academic Librarian

Technology Will Help Drive Down The Cost Of Higher Education

For years colleges have insisted that rapidly rising prices are unavoidable because higher education is a labor-intensive business that cannot become more efficient. In fact, this premise is false. Colleges are perfectly capable of becoming more efficient and productive, in the same way that countless other industries have: through technology. And increasingly, they are. Higher education prices cannot grow faster than inflation and family income forever. If colleges use productivity gains from technology to restrain prices, they’ll continue to thrive in a world that values their product more than ever. Read more at:
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2008/0811.carey.html

Students Share Tips For What Works For Getting In

Many seniors in the Class of '09 -- that's more than 3.3 million students -- are now applying to college. For many, it's a time fraught with paperwork, essays, interviews and road trips. And after all that work, it comes down to a letter or an email: In or out?  Admissions are expected to be as competitive as ever, and many schools say even the economic downturn has not slowed the onslaught of early applications. Counselors, admissions staff and parents can all provide useful advice for getting in, but some of the best tips can come from the most recent veterans of the application frenzy: college freshmen. We've asked a range of students to share what they've learned. Read more at:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122765578387658069.html?mod=djemWMP

The Hot New Major Is Nuclear Engineering

After years of chugging quietly in the background while other engineering disciplines such as civil and mechanical got most of the attention — and the lion's share of students — nuclear engineering has re-emerged as the place to be for students looking for great career opportunities. Enrollment levels certainly support this observation. For example, UOIT, which launched its nuclear engineering program six years ago, reports "steadily growing" enrolment in its undergraduate and graduate programs. Canada's nuclear industry — points to a "nuclear renaissance." Read more at:
http://www.globecampus.ca/in-the-news/globecampusreport/why-nuclear-engineering-is-white-hot/

Endowment Losses Force IHEs To Sell Off Private Assets For Cash

Some of the nation’s universities are trying to sell chunks of their portfolios privately as their endowments swoon with the markets. Cash may now be in short supply at schools facing budget pressures and investment losses. The University of Virginia, which has a $4.2 billion endowment, posted a letter on its Web site saying that it might explore the sale of some of its private equity holdings and would sell hundreds of millions of dollars in other assets. “It is a little like having to go to a pawn shop,” said one university endowment manager who said its policy is not to discuss performance publicly. “People don’t want to admit they have to sell this stuff." Read more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/26/business/26endowment.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

Economic Meltdown Is A Teachable Moment For Business Faculty

Stocks are down, down, down. But student interest in economics appears to be trending upward. The financial crisis has made the subject more relevant and immediate to many high school and college students, and they are suddenly paying closer attention in class. Instructors are delighted by the opportunity to use the dramatic events on Wall Street to explain concepts students might otherwise find dry, such as liquidity and Federal Reserve monetary policy. "It's a teachable moment. It's a chance to explain these topics in a very direct way." Read more at:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2008-11-24-economics-classes_N.htm

Student Loan Bubble May Be The Next To Collapse

As Americans curb their spending and battle to keep up with credit cards and mortgages, another type of debt is starting to overtake people: student loans. Although the U.S. has experienced economic downturns before, never has one converged with such high levels of student debt. Total borrowing for school has more than doubled to $85 billion in the 2007-2008 school year from $41 billion 10 years earlier. The fear is that default rates on student loans will increase, as seen in the mortgage and credit-card worlds. Read more at:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122756709839854439.html

Students Find Themselves In A Stagnant Place With Higher Tuition And Fewer Jobs

The national and regional recession is putting many college students in a stagnant position: They may not be able to afford college because their family households are losing income, but then they may struggle to find jobs once they do graduate. There are still recruiters coming to campus, but students are finding that they don't have as much negotiating power as they had hoped for in terms of salaries and job location. College affordability is a priority on the minds of current students — and of legislators. Read more at:
http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008811250307&theme=ECONOMY2008

Second-Tier IHEs See Big Future Market For Students In China

Some elite American universities come to China to scout the smartest students possible. Other lesser known schools, particularly small private colleges around New England, arrive here with a far different motive: profit. Officials from second-tier New England schools, seeking to counter a projected decline in the number of college-aged American students, are swooping into China with the mindset of Fortune 500 CEOs looking to tap into the vast Chinese market. When they look here, what they see are 10 million graduating high school students, only about half of whom will be accepted into a national university system that has been unable to keep up with growing demand. The other 5 million are fair game. Read more at: http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2008/11/25/ne_colleges_see_profit_in_chinas_multitudes/?rss_id=Boston.com+--+Education+news

Internet May Actually Cause A Narrowing Effect On Scholarship

For scholars the Internet has been a godsend. It allows instant communication with colleagues around the globe, and makes tracking down published research a matter of seconds. But perhaps the greatest boon is the sheer quantity of readily accessible knowledge. Millions of journal articles are available online, enabling scholars to find material they never would have encountered at their university libraries. A recent study, however, suggests that despite this cornucopia, the boom in online research may actually have a "narrowing" effect on scholarship. The Internet's influence is to tighten consensus, posing the risk that good ideas may be ignored and lost - the opposite of the Internet's promise. Read more at:
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/11/23/group_think/

More IHEs Question The Value Of The SAT

The SAT (formerly known as the Scholastic Aptitude Test and Scholastic Assessment Test), that longtime teenage bugaboo and pillar of the college admissions process, is under heavy assault on several fronts.Earlier this year, Smith College and Wake Forest University decided to drop the standardized test as a requirement for admission. The colleges, two of the most highly touted among nearly 800 schools to take the step, cited studies that the test favors wealthier students, and voiced growing concern that SAT results are not valid predictors of college success. Coming after a year of study, the National Association for College Admission Counseling's report marked the most far-reaching critique of the role of the controversial test thus far and has rekindled the long-running clash over the proper use of the test in admissions. Read more at:
http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2008/11/24/once_mighty_sat_losing_its_clout?mode=PF