College and University Blog
Resources, help, and insight for your college experience
Low Graduation Rates at For-Profit Colleges: Cause for Concern?
An average of just 22 percent of students at for-profit colleges graduated in 2008 and a new report from the Washington, DC—based non-profit research and advocacy group known as the Education Trust is claiming that such colleges offer students little more than immense debt.
In comparison to for-profit colleges’ 22 percent graduation rates, Bachelor’s degree graduation rates at public colleges and universities averaged 55 percent while graduation rates at private non-profit colleges and universities averages 65 percent during the same year.
Job Market Looks Brighter for College Graduates
The Class of 2011 will be pleased to learn that overall hiring across all degrees is expected to increase by three percent while hiring at the Bachelor’s level is expected to surge by ten percent this year, according to the Collegiate Employment Research Institute (CERI) at Michigan State University.
How to Deal with Living Off-Campus: 10 Tips for Commuter Students
Even though millions of high school seniors are already anticipating the day they can move into their first dorm room, a lot of college students live off-campus. Some are part-time non-traditional students with careers and their own families, but others are traditional-aged college students that simply choose to live at home with their parents to cut costs.
Clickers in the Classroom: Game Show Atmosphere Helps Students Stay Awake
Interactive learning devices known as clickers are still relatively new, but they’re already being used by over half a million students at several thousand colleges across the country.
The trendy, high-tech tools encourage student participation, and they are transforming teaching and learning in such ways that one Rutgers professor has called them “the greatest educational innovation since chalk.”
Thanksgiving Break Survival Guide
TSA’s invasive new security pat-downs are causing plenty of people to think twice about flying during the holidays, but thousands of college students across the country are preparing to head home for Thanksgiving break. Others are sticking it out at school and waiting until winter break to go home.
College Study Abroad Experiences its First Decline in 25 Years
The number of American college students studying abroad has declined for the first time in the 25 years that the data has been tracked, according to the November 15, 2010 report Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange.
Top 20 Most Expensive College Dorms, 2010-11
On top of pricy college tuition and necessary incidentals like textbooks, students—and parents—are forking out a pretty penny for room and board. The Chronicle of Higher Education recently reported that over 50 colleges in the U.S. are now charging over $50,000 per year, and room and board plays a significant role in those charges.
Not Sure What to Study in College? Create Your Own Major
Even though plenty of large schools offer hundreds of different majors, some students just can’t make up their minds. There’s always the option of selecting a major and a minor, or even pursuing a double major, but some colleges offer students yet another alternative: the ability to create their own custom program of study.
More Million Dollar College Presidents than Ever Before
Thirty presidents and chief executives at private colleges and universities across the country earned over one million dollars in total pay and benefits during 2008, according to an annual survey released by the Chronicle of Higher Education on November 15, 2010.
Considering College for the Arts? Advice for Music and Performance Majors
The Fox hit Glee is so popular with television audiences that music from the show has been a commercial success—songs are released on iTunes each week and the cast had 25 singles chart on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2009 alone.
Glee, which centers around a high school glee club that performs on the show choir competition circuit, has stirred up an appreciation for the performing arts among people that never gave it much thought in the past. If you’re thinking about majoring in musical theater, drama, dance or some other performance-based field, be sure to read on!
Student Veterans taking College Classes in Record Numbers
This Veterans Day, college students across the country honored members of the U.S. military through a variety of ceremonies, services and other planned events. Some current college students are veterans themselves: thanks to the educational benefits provided by the Post-9/11 GI Bill and the Montgomery Bill, U.S. veterans are enrolling in college classes in record numbers as tuition becomes more affordable for them than ever before.
12 Cool College Mascots
College football just wouldn’t be the same without those costumed creatures we all know and love. That’s right; we’re talking about college mascots! Students, alumni, family, friends and fans instantly feel a sense of camaraderie and support for their team whenever its mascot takes the field.
StateUniversity.com has created a collection of our favorite 12 Cool College Mascots. Continue reading for more info and plenty of pictures!
Top 2,000 Colleges and Universities in the U.S., 2010
StateUniversity.com has released updated rankings for the Top 2,000 Colleges and Universities in the United States for 2010.
Although critics have pointed out that peer review rankings may be subjective and quite possibly biased, the majority of other popular college ranking lists utilize peer review feedback systems wherein colleges rate other colleges.
First released in 2009, the StateUniversity.com college and university rankings are calculated without peer influence or subjective adjustment to the rankings. Instead, a mathematical computation and comparison of key statistics including student/faculty ratio, student retention rates and student test scores are used to create the StateUniversity.com Top 2,000 Colleges and Universities List.
Blended Learning Combines Online and Face-to-Face Courses
Online classes are often associated with non-traditional college students that have full-time jobs, families or both but “distance learning” is creeping onto physical college campuses as well.
Saving Money with Textbook Rentals: Easy as it Sounds?
Spending several hundred dollars each semester on textbooks has become the norm. Some college students try to cut costs by purchasing used copies of their required textbooks; online textbook rental companies are also gaining popularity.
According to the National Association of College Stores (NACS), approximately half of all major college and university bookstores across the country also started their own textbook rental programs this fall.
Applications on the Rise at Selective Colleges
An increase in the number of college applications is to be expected as the country’s college-aged population grows, but some schools have begun recruiting more assertively than ever before to increase their selection of applicants.
Selective colleges are drastically surpassing the number of applications they received in the past and bragging about the statistics.
Colleges vs. the Edupunks: Who Will Come Out on Top?
Edupunk. The term was coined by technology specialist and educator Jim Groom on his blog on May 25, 2008, and it appeared in a Chronicle of Higher Education piece less than a week later.
Edupunk is a rather broad term that’s used as a both a verb and a noun. It’s a do-it-yourself approach to education: taking advantage of free online courses, using the online mega-encyclopedia Wikipedia as a tutoring tool, and nearly any other means that “teach” outside of a formal classroom setting.
25 Most Expensive Colleges in America
Just two years ago, five U.S. colleges made headlines by charging students an astonishing $50,000 per year in tuition, fees, room and board. Last year, 58 schools broke that $50,000 price barrier and according to a Chronicle of Higher Education analysis of data released by the College Board, over 100 colleges and universities are now charging in excess of $50,000 per year.
Cheating in College with Study Drugs
It’s unfortunate, but academic cheating is nothing new—even at the college level. Technological advances have made cheating easier than ever before, and plenty of students find nothing wrong with texting during exams, sharing homework or finding term papers online.