One of the issues high schoolers must consider as they conduct their search for the right college is how school policies will affect their personal freedom.  Schools that have strong religious affiliations usually have relatively strong to highly restrictive policies that prohibit certain kinds of activities and behaviors.

A good case in point is Bringham Young University, which recently lifted its school-wide ban on the wildly popular video sharing Web site YouTube.  The college news and opinion site College News reports on why BYU did their 180: More »

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I recall having paid on student loans for what seems like forever.  Both of my children had student loans, too, and they paid diligently for years and years.  The good news: It’s a great way to build a strong credit rating (assuming that you pay).  The bad news: Those loans can mount up and you can graduate from college owing tens of thousands of dollars.

Well, there appears to be some relief in sight: More »

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Just when you think you’ve seen it all, a news story like this comes along:

Mom charged with changing kids’ grades

HUNTINGDON [Pennsylvania] - A Huntingdon County mom was charged with illegally changing her daughter’s grades and test scores while working as a secretary at Huntingdon Area High School.

The Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation charged Caroline Maria McNeal, 39, of 6237 Tuscarora Drive with 29 counts of unlawful use of a computer and 29 counts of tampering with public records, which are third-degree felonies punishable by up to seven years in prison and $15,000 in fines. More »

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Parents who are sending their precious progeny away to college this fall get nervous when they read about criminal behavior in the halls of Ivy.  Recently there has been good reason to be concerned.

You may have read about the recent murder at Harvard University. Even the alleged seat of elite higher education is not immune: More »

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It seems as though every day there’s a new headline on the Web, in the newspaper, or on TV about the California state budget crisis. Since this is a blog about higher education, let’s take a look at what that crisis means for some of California’s colleges.

There will be myriad news stories about the effect of the budget shortfall across the board, but two have caught my eye. The first concerns the public school (non-college) system: More »

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Let’s all turn on a camera into our private lives! Thinking back to my youth (when dinosaurs roamed the earth), I cringe to think of someone taking candid shots of my fun activities and then posting them at the grocery store or post office. What would that have done to my reputation and public image?

Why then do today’s high schoolers think it cool to reveal their escapades to the world at large, not just the Safeway or Pathmark crowd, or those lining up to buy stamps? Are today’s youth exhibitionists? Do they have an ongoing desire to out-outrageous their peers?

Of course, I’m not talking about all of today’s high schoolers. However, there are enough bold and shameless Facebookers and MySpacers out there to have raised a significant issue when it comes to college admissions. A series of recent news items point this out. Here’s one sample: More »

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Remember the scene in Animal House where the Delta fraternity crew just returned from a road trip where they had smashed up Flounder’s brother Fred’s Lincoln Continental? Flounder looks at the ruined car and starts blubbering. Otter tries to console him:

OTTER: Come on, Flounder. You can’t worry forever about your mistakes. You [bleeped] up. You trusted us! Make the best of it. Maybe we can help you.

FLOUNDER: That’s easy for you to say. What am l going to l tell Fred?

OTTER: I’ll tell you what. I’ll swear you were doing a great job taking care of his car, but … you parked it out back last night, and this morning, it was gone! We tell the police. Your brother’s insurance buys him a new car!

FLOUNDER: Will that work?

OTTER: It’s gotta work better than the truth.

BLUTO: My advice to you [shoves a six-pack into Flounder's belly] … start drinking heavily!

Well, that’s the problem. Too much heavy drinking.  It seems as though we have data on that in the form of a new information from U.S. health officials. Here’s a news item parents won’t want to see: More »

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One of the more intriguing issues facing prospective college students is the campus visit. Technology has advanced so fast that it is now possible to visit most schools directly over the Internet. In these hard economic times, there is a very strong temptation to save a lot of time and money by merely doing all your college visiting via cyberspace (to use a term I don’t like).

Dave Bender writing in cbs13.com, tells how to save money with virtual college tours.  Some of his points: More »

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Earlier this week, I wrote about Maryland’s Loyola College going test optional.  That is, they will no longer require applicants to submit SAT or other standardized test scores. Apparently, that decision does not sit well with “Concerned Alumni, Students, Parents and Faculty of Loyola Maryland”.

One of (if not the) chief spokesperson for this group is Class of 2009 Loyola graduate, Richard M. Fogal. The final statement of his entreaty is the one that had the most impact for me: More »

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Question: Is it a problem to go to college without knowing what I want to major in?

Answer: You’re not alone.  Many first-year college students don’t know what major to pick. Even if they have a particular major in mind, statistics show that today’s first-year student will change academic direction once or twice in a four-year program.  In most college programs, students don’t have to declare a major until the end of the sophomore year.  Some programs can even wait until the beginning of the junior year.

Students who want to follow specialized technical programs, however, should decide earlier than the sophomore year.  The reason for this is curriculum requirements. More »

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