Higher Education

It's the new joke on campus: No wonder they call it "higher" education -- tuition is sharply higher this year at state colleges and universities across the United States. "When state appropriations for higher education are cut, tuition tends to go up," said Joni Finney, vice president of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. "We try to replace that revenue by charging students and families more money. " A survey by the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges reports tuition hikes at state colleges and universities in at least 37 states -- almost all as a result of state budget cuts.

by Vicky Phillips ; IDG Every Monday morning, 3,600 professors, standing at 3,600 lecterns, teach 3,600 versions of introductory microeconomics. Repeat the task 3,600 times and not automate it Its nothing youd bank on.; Or is it ;;MORE COMPUTING INTELLIGENCEnIDG.net home pagenIndustry Standard home page nIndustry Standard email newsletters nIndustry Standard daily Media Grok nIndustry Standard financial newsnReviews indepth info at IDG.net nIDG.nets personal news page nYear 2000 WorldnQuestions about computers Let IDG.nets editors help you nSubscribe to IDG.nets free daily newsletter for computer industry cognoscentinSearch IDG.net in 12 languagesnNews RadionFusion audio primersnComputerworld Minute nnn;; Adult education is big business 330 billion a year.

IDG Forces largely driven by new technologies and the Internet have the power to unmake the American university system, a top administrator at Columbia University said Monday. ; New technologies, including hardware that could replace books as well as software that organizes and displays course material online, make it possible for universities to reach larger numbers of people spread out across the country and even the globe. Combined with other factors, such as changing demographics, such technologies are bringing radical changes to higher education, said Arthur Levine, president of Columbia University Teachers College.

Public higher education is the prime participant in the virtual classroom movement and its interest continues to grow, according to a survey. In 1997-98, 91 percent of public two- and four-year institutions either offered or planned to offer distance learning courses in the next three years, according to a National Center for Education Statistics study released in December 1999. The study defines distance learning courses as courses delivered through the Internet or other audio/video media.

There is an industry in this country that is making billions in profit while average Americans are struggling to fill up their gas tanks. It's an industry that made an average profit of nearly 17 percent in 2007 while most Americans could barely keep up with inflation. It's an industry whose members paid a grand total of zero dollars in tax on their endowments last year. Are you outraged? Are you ready to call on Congress to investigate or demand that a "windfall" tax be placed on these egregious profits?

You know the kind of dad who registers his son for soccer almost as soon as he takes his first step? That was me. You know that dad who yells so much on the sideline that he leaves the game a little hoarse? Yeah, that was me too. You know the dad who cheers when his kid brings home an A? No? Well me neither ... until I became that dad a few years ago. I used to beam with pride watching my son rack up the trophies as he bounced from soccer to hockey to tae kwon do. Over the past couple of years, track has been his focus, as he crushed several school records during citywide meets.

There is a bipartisan tide of lawmakers who are trying to fix our nation's out-of-control corrections system, and make funding for education the priority. California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill to transfer thousands of nonviolent offenders from state prisons to county jails, an admirable effort to reduce prison overcrowding and make treatment programs more effective. In Virginia, Gov. Robert McDonnell is working to close eight prison facilities and use that money to support higher education.

How's this for the job not of your dreams: It typically requires an advanced degree, and a workweek somewhere in the 60-hour range, with work on weekends likely. The pay is low, there are no benefits, no job security. To get by, in the course of any given week, you'll likely have to commute to several, often widely-scattered job sites. At none of those places will you have an office -- or sometimes even a mailbox -- to call your own. Welcome to the lowlands of higher education -- the growing realm of the so-called adjunct professor.

President Barack Obama told U.S. governors attending a luncheon Monday that they are cutting too much funding for education and need to make reforms while continuing to invest in the future of America's students. While acknowledging the tough economic climate for state governments, Obama cited the need to prioritize the long-range significance of a strong education system. "We've all faced some stark choices over the past several years, but that is no excuse to lose sight of what matters most, and the fact is that too many states are making cuts to education that I believe are simply too big," Obama told a White House gathering with the National Governors Association that included some of his harshest Republican critics.

Investor Peter Thiel has generated attention by making some provocative claims about America's colleges and universities. Thiel has labeled U.S. higher education "a bubble in the classic sense," and believes that college degrees are "overvalued. " Recently, he awarded 24 talented undergraduates $100,000 each to drop out of college and pursue their entrepreneurial ideas. His rationale is that colleges and universities don't do a good job promoting innovation -- and that college holds some people back from accomplishing what they're ready to do. Dale Stephens, who won a Thiel Fellowship, recently wrote a column for CNN.com that expresses this point of view.

Santa Monica College officials in California have launched an investigation into a raucous student protest at a board of trustees meeting in which campus police used pepper spray on demonstrators, sending three of them to a hospital, the college president said Wednesday. The students weren't allowed into the overflowing meeting room Tuesday evening and were demonstrating in a hallway against a summer pilot program creating two tiers of tuition when the pepper spraying incident occurred, said Paul Alvarez Jr., the multimedia editor for the campus newspaper who videotaped the incident.

A 54-year-old educator found dead in a midtown New York hotel room with blood coming out of his mouth was a dynamic and, at times, controversial figure in French academia. There was "no evidence of a struggle" and no obvious trauma to Richard Descoings' body, New York police Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne said Wednesday. "We are awaiting the medical examiner's determination as to cause of death," Browne said. Security personnel at the Michelangelo Hotel found Descoings dead in his bed Tuesday afternoon after he didn't check out of the hotel.

Rick Santorum backtracked Sunday on his criticism of President Barack Obama's call for higher education, saying he agreed with providing options for high school graduates to continue in some form of additional schooling or training. Santorum recently accused Obama of snobbery for advocating that all students attend college, saying not everyone would benefit from four years at what he called liberal-leaning university campuses. However, when confronted by "Fox News Sunday" with Obama's past statements calling for different kinds of higher education options -- including community college or technical training programs -- Santorum said that made sense.

President Barack Obama told U.S. governors attending a luncheon Monday that they are cutting too much funding for education and need to make reforms while continuing to invest in the future of America's students. While acknowledging the tough economic climate for state governments, Obama cited the need to prioritize the long-range significance of a strong education system. "We've all faced some stark choices over the past several years, but that is no excuse to lose sight of what matters most, and the fact is that too many states are making cuts to education that I believe are simply too big," Obama told a White House gathering with the National Governors Association that included some of his harshest Republican critics.

August 24, 2011 Media Literacy Question of the Day How do you think that a news organization can verify conflicting reports received from a war zone? Why do you think that it is important to verify information before reporting it? * * Daily Discussion Questions In your opinion, what criteria should the international community use to determine who is in control of Libya? * * What resources do you think that the residents seen in the program might need in the wake of Hurricane Irene?

You know the kind of dad who registers his son for soccer almost as soon as he takes his first step? That was me. You know that dad who yells so much on the sideline that he leaves the game a little hoarse? Yeah, that was me too. You know the dad who cheers when his kid brings home an A? No? Well me neither ... until I became that dad a few years ago. I used to beam with pride watching my son rack up the trophies as he bounced from soccer to hockey to tae kwon do. Over the past couple of years, track has been his focus, as he crushed several school records during citywide meets.

Is college an invaluable waste of time? You bet. But it's about to get even more valuable. It's great to see capable people debating the value of higher education. Earlier this month, Dale Stephens, a 19-year-old entrepreneur who has won a $100,000 Thiel Fellowship, wrote that "College is a waste of time. " One can argue that Dale is too young -- and too extraordinarily intelligent -- to be a good judge of the value of college to the average person. But if students like Dale, the kind that the best schools want to attract, are dissatisfied, that can't be good.

Investor Peter Thiel has generated attention by making some provocative claims about America's colleges and universities. Thiel has labeled U.S. higher education "a bubble in the classic sense," and believes that college degrees are "overvalued. " Recently, he awarded 24 talented undergraduates $100,000 each to drop out of college and pursue their entrepreneurial ideas. His rationale is that colleges and universities don't do a good job promoting innovation -- and that college holds some people back from accomplishing what they're ready to do. Dale Stephens, who won a Thiel Fellowship, recently wrote a column for CNN.com that expresses this point of view.

The three Iranian security officers rang the doorbell, politely informed the man of his arrest, thoroughly searched the house, confiscated high-tech gear and books, and whisked him away to the nation's notorious Evin Prison. The early Sunday morning raid took three hours. Now, every second seems like an eternity for the man's anguished family members, praying for his physical safety, hoping for his release, and getting their heads around the prospect of a long stint in prison, his relatives told CNN. His family says the reason for his arrest is his religion.

There is a bipartisan tide of lawmakers who are trying to fix our nation's out-of-control corrections system, and make funding for education the priority. California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill to transfer thousands of nonviolent offenders from state prisons to county jails, an admirable effort to reduce prison overcrowding and make treatment programs more effective. In Virginia, Gov. Robert McDonnell is working to close eight prison facilities and use that money to support higher education.