College students’ views have taken a decided shift on some major social issues, such as same-sex marriage and affirmative action. Things are looking “left” in a recent survey conducted by UCLA’s Cooperative Institutional Research Program of more than 200,000 full-time freshmen from 270 colleges.

Here’s what the survey found:

• 71.3% said same-sex couples have the right to be legally married, compared to 64.9% in 2009.
• 43% said undocumented students shouldn’t be allowed to have access to public education, compared to 47.2% in 2009.
• 42.1% support affirmative action, compared to 37.4% in 2009.

When asked to describe their political views:

• 27.6% called themselves liberal, a drop of 1.4% since 2009.
• 20.7% called themselves conservative, a drop of 1.1%.
• 47.4% said they were middle-of-the-road, a jump of 3%.

Hard to say how today’s freshmen will affect the 2012 presidential election.

Obama won 66% of the 18-29 vote in 2008, but politicos expect a lower turnout in the upcoming election.

Do you think college students will have a major impact on determining who becomes our next president? Let us know in the comments section.

In spite of a call to action on so many college campuses, fewer students are engaging in this activity than in years past. We’re talking about volunteerism.

In 2004, 31.2% of college students volunteered in some capacity, according to the Corporation for National and Community Service.

But in 2010 — the most recent year with available stats — the percentage dropped to 26.1.

The average national college student volunteer rate between 2008 and 2010 was 26.7%, according to Volunteering America.

Here are the top 10 states, with volunteer rates ranging from 44.9% to 34.1% (Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana and West Virginia have not been included because of small sample size:

• Utah
• Wisconsin
• Wyoming
• Iowa
• Nebraska
• Maine
• South Dakota
• Idaho
• North Dakota
• Kansas

So who’s coming in at the bottom of the pack?  Check out the states with the lowest rankings, ranging from 24.7% to 15%:

• California
• Texas
• New Jersey
• Oklahoma
• Rhode Island
• Nevada
• Hawaii
• Florida
• New York
• Delaware

At a time when jobs are tough to find, students are told to pitch in and help out their communities (and sure, it helps fill out their resumes as well), and nonprofits are desperate for volunteer help, it seems odd the numbers are dropping.

What’s your explanation? Let us know in the comments section below.

In the war between e-books and printed texts, who’s winning? To figure out the answer, you could look at the $267.3 million in e-textbook sales in the higher ed market, according to Simba Information.

That represents a growth rate of 44.3%.

But you also might note that only 11% of college students have purchased e-texts.

In a world that seems to grow increasingly tech-obsessed by the day, why aren’t we seeing a meteoric rise in sales of e-texts?

Here are the complaints:

• PDF or a similar format is generally used — and it isn’t easy on the eyes.
• Students like to highlight and underline passages in books, which isn’t always possible with an e-book.
• They’re not always cheaper than printed texts. In fact, some students save more money buying or renting used books online.
•  Students can’t re-sell an e-text after their class has finished.

Right now, students, professors and publishers are waiting to see what will happen.

As Brad Wheeler, CIO for Indiana University told USA Today, “This is an industry that’s failing everyone — parents, authors, professors and students.”

Meanwhile, all we can do is sit and wait for the quality of e-books to improve.

Do you use e-books? Let us know in the comment section below.

Take a look at how one school is watching its early decision numbers skyrocket. Ranking 90th, according to U.S. News & World Report, Miami University in Ohio just saw its early decision applications increase by 96% compared to last year.

Yes, you read that correctly: 96%.

And the school spent relatively the same amount of money marketing itself.

So how’d it do it?

The key factor was telling prospective students (and more importantly, their parents) what kind of an ROI they can expect from a Miami University education.

“Parents want to know, what is my child going to get in terms of return on investment,” Michael Kabbaz, associate VP for enrollment management, told The Washington Post.

“All we started to do was to be much more explicit about the outcomes,” he said.

The school has a total cost of $40,000 for non-residents and ranks third in “best undergraduate teaching,” according to U.S. News & World Report.

Promoting the school’s reputation and its 80% graduation rate, resulted in Miami receiving 912 early decision applications and accepted 684.

Specifically, Miami put ads on TV, billboards, Facebook, Pandora and on movie screens, as well as hiring regional recruiters in Connecticut, Sam Francisco and Chicago.

Does it sound like a plan that could work at your school? Let us know in the comments section below.

While there’s nothing Earth-shattering about students racking up debt, you won’t believe which segment of the population is piling up debt more quickly than anyone else.  According to new research from Reuters, student debt has increased by nearly 50% for middle-aged borrowers.

That’s right: It’s not the 20-somethings who are being hit hardest, but those between 35 and 49.

Here are the numbers:

• Of middle-aged borrowers, the greatest amount of debt was for those between 38 and 41.
• The above group saw its average loan debt jump from close to $9,000 in 2009 to nearly $12,000.
• Students between 26 and 29 carry an average of $14,000 in educational debt.

So what’s the explanation for this sudden surge in middle-aged borrowing?

As usual, odds are you can blame it on the economy. When times get tough, the tough look for mid-career training.

While it works out for many, there is a flip side to going into debt all for the sake of furthering your education:

“Some of my clients have come out of their programs with over $100,000 worth of debt and are unable to find a job making six figures,” Cristina Briboneria, VP of oXYGen Financial, told Reuters.

“Because of the economy, many employers have an abundance of candidates … who will work for less money to pay the bills.”

So what’s a middle-ager-who-finds-himself-out-of-a-job to do? Is it worth going into debt in order to launch yourself on a new career?

Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Colleges with anti-tobacco policies are finding they’re definitely having an impact on students’ smoking habits – and it may surprise you.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill conducted a study in which 19 community colleges throughout their state were compared. They were divided into three groups:

Some of the schools had a 100% ban on tobacco.

Others restricted smoking to specific areas – or required smokers to be at least 15 feet away from buildings.

Still others hadn’t put any policies regarding outdoor tobacco use into place. (Indoor smoking is banned throughout the state of North Carolina.)

Researchers found 77% fewer cigarette butts littered the campuses of schools with a total ban on tobacco.

Maybe collecting smokers’ trash seems a less-than-scientific way to conduct a study.

But apparently this is one of the first studies to use some kind of objective measure for determining whether tobacco bans are making a difference on college campuses.

And low-tech as the study may be, the early results are encouraging.

Does your school ban smoking outdoors on campus? Let us know in the comments section below.

It’s been quite a year. Here are the stories that our readers viewed most in 2011 (insert drum roll here):

Cheating and which colleges enjoy edges over their competitors were hot topics in 2011. Why do students cheat? Which schools are considered most influential? What community colleges are best? These are some of the questions we looked at over the past year. Here the the year’s top 10 stories, in order:

1.  Top 4  reasons college students cheat
2.  Students’ new drug of choice
3.  Does this SAT question go too far?
4.  Top 8 ways students are cheating today
5.  Why are more college students becoming atheists?
6.  The most influential colleges in the U.S.
7.  Survey: Incoming students hit new low
8.  Which major isn’t preparing grads for the real world?
9.  The top 10 community colleges
10. The top 5 ways students use technology to cheat

What do Indiana University, Illinois State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have in common? They all are getting into the world of adult entertainment — and here’s why: It’s not what you think. There won’t be any “Debbie Does Chapel Hill” films in the making, at least none sanctioned by the university.

In fact, that’s exactly why some colleges are purchasing domain names with .xxx in addition to the familiar .edu — to protect themselves.

Earlier this month, a domain name ending in .xxx was made available to anyone and everyone. The intention was to allow Internet users to identify adult content and then decide if they wanted to visit that site or not.

According to npr.org, more than 100,000 new .xxx domains have been registered so far.

“We’ve had requests for like 62-character-long names, and I have to admit, [for] some of them I’ve had to go look them up in the Urban Dictionary to find out what they mean,” Stuart Lawley, who heads ICM Registry (which owns .xxx) told NPR.

Indiana University, Illinois State University and the UNC-Chapel Hill are among those who’ve signed on, in an effort to keep sites like UNC.xxx off the Internet.

A good preemptive move — or a pointless effort? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Times are tough — but not so much for the presidents at these private colleges. Check out the rise in their salaries. In a recent study, the salaries of presidents at 36 colleges were 33% higher in 2009 compared to the year before.

Here are the highest-paid college presidents in 2009, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education:

• Drexel: Constantine Papadakis, $4,912,127 (although the bulk of this came from his life insurance and previously accrued compensation that was paid to his wife after his death in the spring of that year.)
• Johns Hopkins: William R. Brody, $3,821,886
• University of the Pacific: Donald V. DeRosa, $2,357,540
• Northwestern: Henry S. Bienen, $2,240,775

Here’s another interesting fact the study turned up:

Compared with the average pay and benefits a full professor received, the typical college president at the same institution earned 3.7 times as much.

In one instance — Maryland’s Stevenson University — president Kevin J. Manning earned more than 16 times as much as the average full professor at his school, with earnings of $1,491,655.

And at five other schools, the president earned at least 10 times as much as a professor: Rensselaer, Vanderbilt, Millsaps College, Brandeis and Hendrix College.

Are college presidents deserving of these high earnings? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

A new study finds the grads from this type of college are considerably happier with their higher ed experience than their peers.  Residential liberal arts college students rated their schools more highly than students attending private or public universities, according to a recent national study.

The scores were high across the board when it came to finding a job after graduating, getting accepted at grad school or just basically “preparing to meet life’s challenges,” according to the study.

Here are the responses from liberal arts college grads:

• 76% rated their school highly with regard to preparing them for their first job — compared to 66% of public university grads.
• 89% found a mentor in college — only 66% did at public universities.
• 60% said they were “better prepared” for post-college life — compared to 34% of public university grads.
• 77% gave their college experience a rating of “excellent” — only 53% of public university grads rated their experience this highly.
• 88% felt a sense of community among students — compared to 79% of students at private universities and 63% at public.

Could liberal arts college grads be more satisfied with their schools because of the generally smaller size? Or maybe because there’s a more homogenous mix of students than you might find on a university campus?

What do you think? Let us know in the comments section below.

Students seeking a less costly education have been clamoring to attend community colleges. But they’re facing an unexpected obstacle. According to a recent Pearson Foundation Community College Student Survey, nearly 40% of community college students couldn’t register for a class this semester because it was full.

Here are some other findings regarding community college students:

• 47% have taken at least one course online in fall 2011
• 74% were satisfied with their online course(s)
• 39% would like to take all their classes online

The survey also looked at how community college students are using technology. It found:

• Nearly 10% own a tablet device
• 64% use their tablets for academic-related activities
• 42% use smartphones in the same way

One more interesting area of questions: Did students feel their high schools prepared them for college:

• 52% said no
• 48% would have liked basic skills to be emphasized in high school
• 52% would’ve liked more courses offered
• 49% would’ve preferred more challenging courses to be offered.

What’s your take on the survey results? Let us know in the comments section below.

Some are calling it the biggest sports scandal in U.S. history. So the question that needs to be asked is: How should Penn State be punished? Back in 1987, the NCAA imposed its so-called “death penalty” against the football team of Southern Methodist University (SMU).

The reason? Players were being paid from a slush fund.

Let’s fast-forward to 2011: A child is allegedly raped in a Penn State locker room by the football team’s former assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky.

Since that bombshell, we’ve seen victims emerging almost daily and what appears to be a conspiracy by key college figures to keep all this quiet.

Should the NCAA take action and impose the death penalty against Penn State? Here’s our editors’ take — we’d like to hear yours in the comments section below.

Geneva’s take: I’ve heard several people make the argument that an entire school shouldn’t be punished for the actions of one man.  This goes way beyond one man’s actions.

With no disrespect meant to the victims, Sandusky — who seems to think it’s OK to shower with young boys — is a sick, twisted individual. That’s how I explain his behavior. What I can’t explain, is the behavior of men who should know better. (Interesting that no women are involved in this.) And yet, these men, these leaders of a huge institution, did nothing and so allowed Sandusky’s list of alleged victims to continue growing.

This isn’t about Sandusky; this isn’t about Joe Paterno and Graham Spanier; this isn’t about football. This is about Penn State, a university that thought it was larger-than-life and above the law.

I’m going to go out on a limb here about the entire scandal: You ain’t heard nothing yet. I think we’re going to find out some pretty horrible goings on at “We Are Penn State.” Clearly something needs to be done, and a message needs to be sent to all schools and for that matter, all institutions.

The NCAA should absolutely impose the football “death penalty” on Penn State. If SMU had to endure a football-less year for paying players, how can anyone expect Penn State to receive a lesser punishment?

Taylor’s take: Here’s a pretty basic guiding principle when it comes to crime and punishment: Do your damnedest to punish only the guilty.

Those calling for the NCAA to impose the “death penalty” on Penn State — to strip it of a year of football eligibility — have lost sight of this simple proposition.

The Penn State scandal is a criminal matter that is only tangentially connected to the football program. There are no allegations that Penn State players or students were involved in any way with sexually abusing young children. It was a charitable foundation — not the Penn State football program – that the alleged abuser used to gain access to his alleged victims.

At its heart, the scandal has nothing to do with Penn State football players. In fact, it really has nothing to do with football at all. And that’s why the NCAA should stay out of it.

There’s also something else: NCAA rules don’t permit imposition of the death penalty in this case. That draconian sanction is reserved only for “repeat violators”: i.e., schools that commit a new, separate infraction within five years of the starting date of a major penalty. Even if there has been a major violation as a result of the scandal, it is not a repeat violation.

Let the justice system take its course. Prosecute the criminal offenders to the fullest extent of the law. But leave the innocent – including Penn State players and students — out of it.

Did Penn State use Joe Paterno as a whipping boy — or did he get what he deserved?  Penn State has a long road ahead, picking up the pieces after last week’s sex abuse scandal broke.

A lot of questions will be sorted out about how things were handled — most notably, whether football coach Joe Paterno should have been fired.

Here’s our editors’ take. Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Geneva’s take: Shortly after Joe Paterno got word he was fired last week, about 2,000 Penn State students began swarming the streets of State College, PA, protesting in that good ol’ All-American way: Turning over a TV news van, kicking in its windows and hurling rocks.

Police in riot gear had to use pepper spray to control the mob, which was chanting, “We want Joe!”

Is there something I’m not getting here?

A man (forgive me for reducing “JoPa” to mere mortality) in a powerful, authoritative position is informed that his [former] defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky has sexually assaulted a young boy in the showers of Penn State’s football complex … and what does he do? He tells his athletic director and university VP about it.

Obviously, Joe thought it was enough of a “thing” to mention it to those guys. But somehow, it never occurred to him to call the police — or even ask Sandusky, a man who’d been his assistant for 30 years, why the hell he was showering with a 10-year-old boy.

So the list of Sandusky’s victims is allowed to keep growing and –Whew! That was close! — Penn State football is able to carry on in all its unsullied Nittany Lion glory.

Yet across the campus, students are in near-riot mode, protesting the firing of a … oh, come on, let’s just say it …  a demi-god who had the chance to do the right thing when it mattered even more than another win. And wow, did he drop the ball. Apparently, some students have as well.

Firing Joe Paterno (and University President Graham Spanier) was the first thing Penn State’s gotten right in this sex abuse scandal. As the events of the past week have unfolded, we’ve all come to realize squeaky clean Penn State was shoveling piles of filth under the carpet.

What does this mean for the school down the road? Well, it can’t be anything good. But at least by cleaning house, they can start what’s going to be a painful and slow process to get themselves back on track.

Taylor’s take: Ronald Schreffler. Ralph Ralston. Jerry Lauro. Ronald Petrosky.

How many of these names do you connect to the horrific scandal that has descended on Penn State?

Unfortunately, there’s another name that has become synonymous with the case: Joe Paterno. It’s his name, more than anyone else’s, that will forever be most connected to this tragedy.

And that’s a shame.

Those other names above? According to the grand jury report, they all directly witnessed Jerry Sandusky’s alleged horrific actions or heard his incriminating admissions. And they all broke a chain that would have put an end to the alleged abuse, years before the incident involving Paterno ever happened.

By all accounts, Paterno was never in the position of a direct witness. He got a secondhand report, and the specifics of just what he was told are at issue. But he went right to his athletic director and a vice president and told them what he knew. They, like so many others in this case, dropped the ball. They — not Paterno — broke the chain.

The rap against Paterno is that he didn’t do more. A man of his stature could have snapped his fingers and had a team of elite crime-stoppers lock onto the case, some want to believe. But even if he could, why would he think he needed to? Why would he have reason to think others weren’t doing their job?

The reality is that if the grand jury report is factually accurate, law enforcement had what they needed to stop a monster long before the incident that pulled Paterno into the maelstrom ever happened.

Read the grand jury report. Assume for the sake of argument that its allegations are all true. Then make a list of the people responsible for the pain of those children. Is Paterno’s name near the top? Is it even on the list?

If Joe Paterno’s version of what he was told by Mike McQueary is true, the only thing he is guilty of is that he expected other people would do their jobs. And that is not a very good reason for his ouster.

This small group faces special dangers when they hit campus. Take a look at how some schools are reaching out to them. 

Imagine entering college as a recovering addict.

How do you cope with the easy availability of alcohol and drugs? And even if you can stay away from it, how do develop a social life when most of the campus is taking part in something that’s taboo to you?

Nearly 25 schools across the country offer support programs for students who are addicts.

At the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, for instance, the Collegiate Recovery Program has 21 registered students, who’ve been able to take advantage of sober tailgating as well as mixers that don’t have booze.

The goal of the program is not just to support students who are recovering addicts, but to make sure their needs are accommodated, such as in dorm options, and to educate the rest of the campus about this particular minority.

Staying sober on a college campus would be really hard, especially since most people are pretty new in sobriety,” Mary Jo Desprez, who helped launch the program, told The Michigan Daily.

“So if you think about it, it would be really different than somebody that has 10 years (of sobriety) and going to a new job,” she said. “Most people in college are pretty new in recovery and coming into a culture surrounded by parties.”

Those thoughts are echoed by Kitty Harris, of Texas Tech’s Center for the Study of Addiction and Recovery: “Probably the worst place to send someone in recovery is a campus,” she told the Chicago Tribune.

At Augsburg College in Minneapolis, 83 students are recovering addicts and enjoy the support of like-minded peers.

Other schools offering similar programs include Rutgers, Penn State and Kennesaw State.

Recovering addicts are really facing a tough test: For the past eight years, full-time college students have hit the 42% mark when it comes to binge drinking during the past month, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Does your school offer any programs to help students who are recovering addicts? Let us know in the comments section below.

Is this school favoring some of its students while denying benefits to Muslims?  Check out these charges.

John Banzhaf, the George Washington University law professor who recently made a splash by challenging the legality of same-sex dormitories, is at it again.

This time, Banzhaf says the same school targeted in the dorm policy complaint — Catholic University — has crossed the legal line by denying Muslim students benefits it makes available to other student groups.

What benefits, you ask? Well, Banzhaf claims the university fails to provide Muslim students with a dedicated space where they can make their daily prayers. Empty classrooms aren’t good enough, the professor says. After all, they include “Catholic symbols which are incongruous to their religion.”

The local human rights act under which the complaint was filed generally bans schools from denying students equal access to university facilities based on religion. In Banzhaf’s view, that’s what the school is doing.

Banzhaf is not affiliated with Catholic University, which pointed out that none of its students — Muslim or otherwise — are involved with the filing.

Should a Catholic school have to offer Muslims a dedicated, religiously neutral place to pray on campus?

Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

Everybody’s doing it — but who’s doing it best? Here are the schools that are putting social media to the best use: The following is a list of colleges that are considered the Jedi Masters  of social media, according to BestCollegesOnline. We’ve also included one fact, courtesy of USA Today,  about what makes them so good:

1. Notre Dame: Their use of social media is all-encompassing. They even have Irish Alert text messaging for sports fans.
2. Syracuse: Students in the School of Information Studies help give Syracuse its #2 ranking.
3. University of Texas: The university offers Facebook bootcamps.
4. Baylor: They take advantage of Facebook, Twitter, iTunesU and blogs to reach out to students present and past.
5. Butler: Their bulldog mascot has a Twitter account — can’t beat that!
6. Johns Hopkins: Their social media arm extends to admissions, schools, libraries, athletics and beyond.
7. Harvard: Sure, Facebook was originated here. But the school isn’t resting on its social media laurels. There are social media business school professors and a social media group.
8. Ithaca: New students can meet each other through the college’s social networking community.
9. Columbia: They include a search function so alumni are able to find social networks.
10. Emerson: The college incorporates social media in the classroom and lists updates on a social media directory.

To see the next 10 schools that made the list, click here.

Do you think your school is making the most of social media? Let us know in the comment section below.

When you add it all up — tuition, room, board, books, etc. — which schools are the most expensive? See if yours made the top 10 list. Here are the results compiled by Forbes and the Center for College Affordability & Productivity. Total cost is given first, followed by tuition in parentheses:

1. Sarah Lawrence College: $58, 334 ($45,212)
2. University of Chicago:  $57,590 ($42,041)
3. The New School: $57,199 ($37,610)
4. Washington University in St. Louis $56,930 ($41,992)
5. Columbia University: $56,681 ($45,290)
6. Vanderbilt University: $56,634 ($38,952)
7. Georgetown University: $56,485 ($40,203)
8. Fordham University: $56,454 ($39,067)
9. Northwestern University: $56,406 ($40,223)
10. Wesleyan University: $56,341 ($42,084)

And as any parent of a college student knows, don’t forget the cost of room decorations, bath/shower necessities (don’t want to step on those tiles in bare feet!), traveling to and from the college and all the food needed to supplement the usually inadequate dining hall fare.

How does your school stack up with the ones on this list?

Let us know in the comments section below.

When there’s music, dancers and an audience, what have you got? These days, it may well be the latest college fad. College flash mobs are popping up on campuses all over the country.

Here are the top five spots for best college flash mobs, according to Student Advisor Blog: (You can see the action for yourself by clicking here.)

• Ohio State
• Furman
• MIT
• Emerson
• Colgate (our personal favorite)

OK, so you may be wondering, “What’s the point?”

Good, clean fun is never anything to sneeze at, but some educators see a higher purpose behind the current rage of flash mobs.

“It can help colleges brand and market themselves,” Kevin Kruger, associate executive director of student affairs group Naspa, told the New York Times. “It’s a way to hook students, and build community and pride in place. It gets new students superconnected.”

If you’ve never seen a flash mob (and we’re not talking the violent kind like they’ve had in Philly), they are spontaneous performances that begin with a loud burst of music as participants seemingly come out of the crowd to dance choreographed routines.

Colleges are using them not only to enhance the orientation experience of new students, but to celebrate events, such as:

• University of Minnesota’s 75th anniversary
• A wedding proposal at UCLA
• Portland State University’s opening of a street that allows electric vehicles (cars and bikes) to park and charge up.

Are college flash mobs a good way to drum up school spirits — or are they just another way students have found to waste time?

Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Is it “When in Rome” … or “When on Facebook”? That’s what some educators are wondering about their study abroad programs — and now they’re taking action. What do you think of when you picture U.S. college students studying abroad for one or two semesters?

Do you think of them trying to muddle their way through a foreign language as they sit in a cafe absorbing local culture?

Or do you envision them glued to their smartphones, posting pictures on Facebook and emailing friends back home?

If you guessed the latter scenario, pat yourself on the back.

A recent study found American students studying abroad spend more than four hours each night using social media, according to USAToday.com

And in a University of California-Santa Cruz study, a group of overseas students averaged 4.5 hours each day online — with nearly 85% of their contacts being other Americans.

But isn’t the point of these programs to help American students gain some perspective, and to consider the possibility (gasp!) that the U.S. really isn’t the center of the universe?

Well, some educators certainly think so. Here’s what they’re doing:

• A group of Nebraska students had to find their way home from a far corner of a Chinese city with only $5 in their pockets — and this was on their very first day.
• Wisconsin students had the task of becoming “regulars” at a restaurant, store or park in China. The goal: Get to know the people and the community.
• Another group of Nebraska students had to complete certain assignments, such as walking around China with a Chinese word written on a card and asking residents help them find out what it means.
• In Australia, students have been told “no electronic devices” when going on field trips — they distract from the experience.

Are these measures drastic or necessary to ensure students are not only getting the most, but getting something out of their time abroad?

Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

With every advancement in technology, students are finding more ways to cheat. But there are strategies — that actually work — to combat it. The stats for cheating in college paint a pretty clear — and depressing — picture.

While only 20% of college students said they cheated in 1940, the range is now between 75% and 98%, according to NoCheating.org.

Some noteworthy facts:

• Students most likely to cheat are those majoring in engineering and business.
• Each year, up to 98% of college students say they’ve cheated at some point in their academic careers.
• Cheating usually starts in middle school, with more than 60% saying they’ve cheated on exams and 90% admitting to copying someone else’s homework.

And even though cheating seems to have spawned a business empire of its own, don’t despair.

Here are some strategies from FacultyFocus.com that have been shown to make a difference:

• Create an honor code: These codes create a campus culture of integrity and believe it or not, they seem to make a difference. According to the Huffington Post, research for the past 40 years points to the existence of an honor code as a key factor in how pervasive cheating is at a given college.
• Make it a required discussion: Since 2006, Notre Dame undergrads have had to pass an online honor code orientation before they’re allowed to complete class registration.  The point: Don’t assume students know the importance of academic integrity – and the consequences of not adhering to certain standards of behavior at your school.

• Give it to them loud and clear: If you haven’t worked directly with students, the concept that “they might not know what constitutes cheating” sounds crazy. However, this cut-and-paste generation definitely has blurred the lines about what’s cheating and what isn’t. So spell it out. Whether it’s a class, a tutorial or an orientation, use real examples of what constitutes cheating.

How does your college deal with the issue of cheating? Let us know in the comments section below.

Which colleges made the top 10 list of best national universities? Take a look … Here are the rankings from U.S. News & World Report, along with their tuition and fees for 2011-12:

1. Harvard (tie): $39,849

1. Princeton (tie) $37,000

3. Yale: $40,500

4. Columbia: $45,290

5. California Institute of Technology (tie): $37,704

5. MIT (tie): $40,732

5. Stanford (tie): $40,569

5. University of Chicago (tie): $42,783

5. University of Pennsylvania (tie): $42,098

10. Duke University: $41,958

While Harvard stood alone as numero uno in last year’s list, University of Chicago jumped from last year’s tie for ninth place to this year’s tie for fifth.

And one thing that remains consistent is that the price tag for attending college keeps going up.

But according to the U.S. News & World Report data, it’s still worth it: College grads tend to earn 75% more throughout their lives than those with only a high school diploma.

What do you think of the top 10 list? Let us know in the comments section below.

How much debt are college grads shouldering these days? Here’s a quick look at the latest stats: According to the Huffington Post, student loan debt is:

• Now close to $1 trillion — compared to $200 billion in 2000.
• Growing at a faster pace than credit card debt.
• Has increased more than 500% in the past 10 years.

And wait, there’s more:

• About two-thirds of college students graduating with a B.A. are carrying some amount of debt. Back in the 1990s, that number was less than half of grads.
• The average grad this year is carrying about $27,200 of debt.
• About 2 million students graduated in 2011 — and approximately 85% of them will move back home with their parents for at least a period of time.

This is pretty depressing stuff.

According to Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of FinAid.org and Fastweb.org, in years to come, “People will still be paying off their student loans when it’s time for their kids to go to college.”

Instead of hashing out the tired question, “Is a college education still worth it?’ let’s look at this from another perspective:

Are the realities of financing a college education influencing the courses — and therefore, the careers — students are choosing today?

Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

When students across the country were asked to rank everything from their study habits to partying behavior, the result was this list of “happiest” schools: The following list is based on the Princeton Review’s survey of more than 122,000 students:

1. Rice University
2. Clemson University
3. Brown University
4. Stanford University
5. Bowdoin College
6. Loyola Marymount University
7. Pennsylvania State University — University Park
8. Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering
9. Pomona College
10. University of Mississippi

Should your school be on the list? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Can Americans get where they want to go today with “just” a bachelor’s degree? Or has a master’s degree become an unspoken requirement? Well, take a look at the numbers:

Today, nearly 28% of Americans 25 and older have undergraduate degrees, according to the Census Bureau.

Seventy years ago, that number was less than 5%.

When it comes to master’s degrees, about 8% of Americans in the same age range currently have one.

And if you’re not convinced by the numbers, just take a look at the want ads. The phrase “bachelor’s required, master’s preferred” will start looking very familiar, very quickly.

So the question is: Is a master’s degree becoming the new bachelor’s degree?

This point was raised in an excellent New York Times article, where Econ Professor Richard K. Vedder said all these advanced degrees are proof of “credentialing gone amok. In 20 years, you’ll need a Ph.D. to be a janitor.”

We’d like to hear your take on “degree mania” in our comments section — but first, we’re going to give you our opinions:

Geneva’s take: It’s a fact that many employers simply won’t look at an applicant who doesn’t have an advanced degree. But I definitely think we’re becoming “over-degreed,” which is turning M.A.s into meaningless pieces of paper. I’d like to see us find a way to ensure that each degree actually represents specific skill sets and is an honest representation of what a person can do — from both a knowledge and hands-on point of view.”

Taylor’s take: People who think we’re becoming “over-degreed” have it all wrong. What’s happening is that more and more people are becoming more and more qualified – and that’s a good thing for employers. The move toward more advanced degrees is an evolutionary result of today’s educational and economic climates, and it’s one that we all should welcome.

OK, that’s where we stand — now it’s your turn.

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Finding out you’re on the waiting list has always had that “in limbo” feel. Are you in? Out? Here are steps to take some control of the situation: “Proactive” is the word of the day when it comes to getting off the wait list and into the school of choice, according to usnews.com.

These are some of the steps it recommends:

* Let ‘em know: Send a letter to the school informing them that they’re you’re first choice. Better yet — pay them another visit.

* Refresh your grades: A new transcript can highlight new achievements, so send them along.

* Connect with the local recruiter: It’s important the recruiter knows how strong your interest in attending the school is — and that you’ll accept right away.

* Tell them what you can afford: Financial aid decisions play a big part of determining who’s in and who’s out. Make sure the school knows.

To see other suggestions, click here.

Any tips you’d like to add? Let us know in the comments section below.

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The Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) just had a face lift — their biggest in 60 years. Here’s what today’s grad school applicants are facing: In a nutshell, the test is now longer and being scored differently, according to the Associated Press.

New kinds of questions have been included in both the verbal and math sections, while the writing section remains pretty much unchanged.

Specifically, the revamp includes:

• Doing away with the section on antonyms and analogies in the verbal section.
• Extending the test from three hours to four.
• Greater flexibility in skipping questions and being able to come back to them at a later time.
• Elimination of some multiple choice math questions. New questions require students to provide numerical answers.
• Availability of an on-screen calculator.
• A scoring system that is based on a scale of 130-170, instead of 200-800.

The reason for the change in the scoring system is accuracy. Exam officials say in the past, a difference of 10 or 20 points seemed very large. But under the new scoring system, it converts into a [more accurate] one or two points.

As far as the changes to the test questions, an Education Testing Services spokesperson said: “We really wanted the tests to better reflect the kinds of thinking that students do in business and graduate schools.”

Do you think the GRE was in need of a face lift? Let us know in the comments section below.

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When students at Chicago State University recently came up with GPAs of 0.0, how did the school handle it? By letting them continue signing up for classes, of course. “It is totally inappropriate,” university president Wayne Watson told the Chicago Tribune. “It shouldn’t have happened.”

But it did — and the question is why, and now what’s the school going to do about it?

The explanation is easy enough:

When you’re at risk of losing your accreditation because of poor enrollment and retention numbers, kicking out hundreds of students isn’t exactly going to help your cause.

So, according to Watson, the administration before him allowed failing students to stay on and continue enrolling — even though the school has a policy of dismissing anyone with a GPA below 1.8.

“We believe it is wrong, we stopped it, we put in measures to assure that it never happens again going forward,” said Watson, who took over the presidency in 2009.

It was the Tribune that asked to see the GPAs of students who first enrolled in 2009, and here’s what was discovered:

Of those 589 students, 140 completed their freshman year with GPAs below the required 1.8 — and more than 20 had GPAs of zero.

Just this past May, 298 students were dismissed.

Does your school enforce its academic policies? Let us know in the comments section below.

Most college residences are nothing to brag about — but the schools in this latest survey top the list for having the best dorms. Based on thousands of reviews, here are the results of the “Dormy Awards” from DormSpash.

The 14 schools with the best overall dorms are:

1. Georgia State University
2. University of Missouri-Columbia
3. Winona State University
4. Loyola University in Maryland
5. California State University-Fullerton
6. Kansas State University
7. Rice University
8. University of Alabama
9. University of Maryland-Baltimore County
10. Washington University in St. Louis
11. Lehigh University
12. Trinity University
13. University of Dayton
14. Truman State University

And the five individual dorms that received the highest rankings were:

1. La Salle University, St. Basil Court
2. Winona State University, Lucas, Prentiss-Lucas Hall
3. Villanova University, Farley Hall
4. Georgia State University, University Commons
5. Mississippi State University, Hurst Hall

Any school or dorm you’d like to add to the list? Let us know in the comments section below — and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter!

How can state schools keep the best and the brightest students from looking elsewhere for college? Here’s what one school’s doing. Purdue University recently decided to offer an honors college, which is expected to enroll more than 2,000 starting in fall 2013, according to ChicagoTribune.com

The school currently has an honors program with 450 students. But this latest move is aimed at keeping top Indiana students from looking out-of-state for college.

The honors college will be “a low-cost option to what other (private schools) cost with tuition and fees,” Dennis Savaiano, associate provost, told the Chicago Tribune.

• The honors college will offer students:
• A freshman seminar
• Courses in specific fields of study that other students cannot attend
• A “special experience,” such as working on a research project with a professor
• Lower student-to-faculty ratios
• [Hopefully] More scholarships

Do you think top students will be drawn to an honors college at a state school? Let us know in the comments section below.

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In the good ol’ days, students would judge colleges based on academics, sports, extracurriculars and maybe the quality of the dining hall food. Now, it’s all about money — and here are the 10 most affordable schools: The Department of Education uses a tool called the College Affordability and Transparency Center to show the net price — not just tuition costs — of attending a given college.

Based on that data, the following colleges were the least expensive for the 2008-09 school year (with 5,000 students or more).

The price tag following each school takes into account tuition, room and board, books and financial aid:

• South Texas College: $1,317
• University of Texas-Pan American: $1,646
• Indian River State College, FL: $2,138
• California State University-Dominguez Hills: $2,451
• California State University-Los Angeles: $3,263
• Palm Beach State College, FL: $3,490
• CUNY Lehman College, NY: $4,335
• CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice, NY: $4,590
• Texas A&M International University: $4,594
• Bellevue College, WA: $4,749

How do these numbers sound to you? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Single-sex housing is alive and well at this university — but the school might get sued as a result.

The Catholic University of America recently announced its intent to move to single-sex only housing beginning next year. College President John Garvey thinks the move will curb binge drinking and casual sex.

Sounds simple enough — until you hear the viewpoint of John Banzhaf, a professor at George Washington University Law School.

According to Banzhaf, the change would violate the District of Columbia Human Rights Act by unlawfully discriminating against students on the basis of gender. The idea that separating students by sex will reduce perceived ills is based on stereotypes, he says.

In an initial salvo, Banzhaf served the school with an intent-to-sue notice. Whether that will get the school to reconsider the move remains to be seen.

Should schools be allowed to have single-sex dorms? Tell us what you think in the comments section below — and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

The U.S. draws more international students to its colleges than any other country — but in recent years, the numbers are dipping. So the question is: What are we doing about it? Let’s start with the numbers.

According to USA Today News:

• Between 2000 and 2008, the number of students attending college outside their own country rose by 85%, totaling 3.3 million.
• During this eight year period, the percentage of international students studying in the U.S. dropped from 24% to 19%.
• The number of Indonesian students — who used to put the U.S. at the top of their list when selecting colleges — fell from a high of 13, 282 in 1997-8 to 6,943 in 2009-10.

What’s going on?

Well, high tuition fees and living costs for one thing. Not to mention, other countries — such as Australia — are now giving the U.S. a good run for our money.

Another problem is that since 9/11, prospective international students have been legitimately concerned they’ll be denied visas.

One way of getting back in the game is for U.S. schools to pay local recruiters to bring in students. The more students they bring to a campus, the more money they make.

Referred to as commercial agents, these recruiters are commonplace in the UK, Canada and Asian countries.

Not everyone uses the agent system, however. Many fear these agents aren’t entirely honest, often pointing students in the direction of a particular college.

Plus, some charge the students for their services — while also being paid by the college.

“We need to get back in the game in a big way,” says Scot Marciel, U.S. ambassador to Indonesia, “aggressively marketing the quality of U.S. education.”

Are commercial agents the answer? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

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What skills do students need to be “ready” for college – and why are so many students lacking them?

Recent news stories report many students from even the top high schools in New York City require remediation classes after enrolling in the City University of New York (CUNY).

According to The New York Times, the remediation rate at CUNY colleges jumped from 45% in 2007 to last year’s 49%. (Students have to take remediation classes if they fail a CUNY entrance exam.)

Shift your focus southward, and it’s a similar story in Georgia.

At least three school districts also have percentages in the 40 to 50 range for students needing remedial help at Georgia’s public colleges. The state average is close to 25%.

So while it’s not surprising news so many students are struggling when entering college, the basic question remains: What does it take for students to succeed?

Here are a few ideas recommended by StudyMagazine.com.

Students should:

• Develop the ability to write and speak well
• Become acquainted with student services provided by the college, such as library resources, tutoring programs, etc.
• Understand time management
• Have a positive attitude

What else should be on the list? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Does a college degree guarantee success? One former student is betting his own career that it doesn’t. Ever heard of the UnCollege movement?

Well, you soon will if Dale Stephens has anything to say about it.

The 19-year-old is devoting his time to gaining support for the idea that college just isn’t worth it. According to his website, here’s why Stephens thinks others should join the UnCollege movement:

• College lacks academic rigor
• 22% of college grads under 25 have jobs that don’t require a degree
• A college degree doesn’t equal success
• Self-directed learners tend to outperform traditional students

Stephens is also forming a business called RadMatter, which will help people looking for jobs market themselves.

You might be wondering how Stephens is able to finance these ambitious efforts.

He recently received a $100,000 fellowship  from the Thiel Foundation. The fellowship is for students under the age of 20, who agree to leave college and follow an entrepreneurial path instead.

If the name Thiel rings a bell, you might remember Peter Thiel. He’s the guy who invested in Facebook in its early days — and he also went on to found PayPal.

Not so coincidentally, Facebook’s founder is Mark Zuckerberg, who chose to drop out of college and launch the social networking site that’s made him a billionaire.

Stephens was at one time a student at Hendrix College in Arkansas. He became disenchanted and decided the School of Experience was the way to go.

The question Stephens poses isn’t a new one: Is it necessary to have a college degree in order to have a successful career?

But what Stephens is adding to that question is: Is it necessary for most people?

College Board stats from last year showed college grads earn 65% more than those holding only a high school degree.

Still, when Mark Zuckerberg talks, people listen. Maybe the same will be true of Stephens as well.

Do you think college is still the best bet for most young people? Let us know in the comments section below.

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To avoid the high cost of college tuition and the huge loans that go with it, some students are trying a unique — if not drastic — approach to save money.  It’s called marriage.

Here’s the deal, according to The New York Times. At the University of California – Berkeley, in-state tuition is $22,000 a year less than out-0f-state.

For students to prove they’re California residents, they must:

• Physically live in state
• Show they intend to stay, and
• Be financially independent.

Married students are able to claim themselves as financially independent.

The Times mentions one out-of-state student who married after her sophomore year at the University of California. When she divorced her husband after graduating two years later, she estimated her savings around $50,000.

Here’s something else to consider: If a student marries before entering college, the couple’s combined income would be the number used by the school’s financial aid office.

Obviously, two teenagers are bound to bring in considerably less than their parents. So, they’d be up for a much bigger piece of the financial aid pie.

So far, schools haven’t been running up the red flag about an increased number of married students.

But it’s worth noting whypaytuition.com offers to arrange a “marriage of convenience,” claiming on their website: “The easiest way to obtain free tuition is to get out from under your parents financial umbrella and fall into the college’s low-income aid category.”

Marrying to save on tuition isn’t breaking the law — but is it wrong?

Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

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