Prof Grapples With Fate: Teaching Dolts

Oversubscribed schools aim to accommodate unusual schedules

(NEWSER) - College students are famous for burning the midnight oil; now, professors are joining them. A "handful of colleges" throughout the US are offering late-night classes for their students—particularly those with kids or late shifts at work, USA Today reports. Leading the way are community colleges where enrollment is outpacing capacity. The odd hours allow classes to use campus space that’s filled throughout the day. More»

Downturn has colleges looking for ways to save students time, money

(NEWSER) - A growing number of colleges are looking at ways to cram 4-year degree courses into 3 to help students combat tough times, the Washington Post reports. More than half of teens have changed their college plans because of the economy, according to a recent survey, and many in the world of higher education believe the time has come to rejig the centuries-old 4-year model to help students save time and money. More»

Families earning less than $100K get break

(NEWSER) - Tapping into its $17 billion endowment to boost financial aid, Stanford University said yesterday it will now offer free tuition—that's a $36,000 a year value—to students from families making less than $100,000 per year. Students from families that earn less than $60,000 won't have to shell out for room and board, either, the San Jose Mercury News reports. More»

Introduces plan to control tuition costs

(AP) - President Barack Obama today called for an overhaul of the higher education financial aid system, warning that colleges and universities that fail to control spiraling tuition costs could lose federal funds. Speaking to students at the University of Michigan, Obama said he was "putting colleges on notice" that the era of unabated tuition hikes is over. "You can't assume that you'll just jack up tuition every single year. If you can't stop tuition from going up, then the funding you get from taxpayers each year will go down," Obama said on the final stop of a three-day post-State of the Union trip to promote components of his economic agenda. More»

College presidents predict big increase in education via the web

(NEWSER) - Online education will be booming over the next decade, according to a new Pew survey of college presidents. Some highlights, as noted by Today's Digital Life :

• Half of the presidents surveyed say most undergrads will take at least some classes online in 10 years, up from the current estimate of 15%.
• 62% say more than half of textbooks will be digital in 10 years.