It’s only natural for students to feel anxiety over the stagnant job market they’ll soon find themselves in. But based on the 2010 Census data, some occupations are better bets than others.

Here are the top 10 careers with the lowest levels of unemployment:

1. Actuarial science (0%)
2. Pharmacology (0%)
3. Educational administration & supervision (0%)
4. School student counseling (0%)
5. Geological and geophysical engineering (0%)
6. Astronomy & astrophysics (0%)
7. Teacher education – Multiple levels (1.1%)
8. Agricultural economics (1.3%)
9. Medical technologies technicians (1.4%)
10. Naval architecture & marine engineering (1.7%)

You can search through the data here by unemployment rate, earnings potential and popularity.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

The Foundation of Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) sent a letter to Auburn University, claiming its newly adopted Auburn Housing and Residence Life policy violates students’ free speech rights.

FIRE’s letter refers to a rule that prohibits students from “hanging or displaying items such as flags, banners, decals or signs out of or obstructing residence hall windows.”

According to FIRE, student Eric Philips had a Ron Paul for President banner hanging on the inside of his dorm room window.

Citing the new rule, the residence hall director told Philips to take the banner down. So Philips did. And he also took photos of various dorm windows on campus, which have banners and other items displayed. He forwarded the pictures to FIRE.

FIRE President Greg Lukianoff claimed the organization has “evidence of the unconstitutional double standard apparently in place at Auburn” and insisted the university is “bound by the First Amendment [and] must evenly enforce its policies on student expression.”

Do you think Auburn’s new rule unfairly limits students’ speech rights? Chime in below — and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

The University of Rochester, New York has launched a three-dimensional campus model to give a leg up to its admissions department. The model, called RocRes, is designed to provide an insider’s view of what it’s like to live on the school’s River campus.

Included in the 3D model:

• Dormitory room tours
• 360-degree panoramic views, and
• Interactive campus views.

When students click on a particular building they’d like to investigate, they’re provided with information and images of the structure. This virtual campus is especially useful for international students who wouldn’t otherwise be able to visit during the application process.

Is this the future of campus tours – or just a novelty? Share your opinions in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

John Stickle, a sophomore at Front Range Community College in Colorado, was struggling to pay for his education. Financial aid wasn’t helping and he couldn’t get a bank loan.

So he did the only rational thing: started a business developing web apps.

But to get this venture off the ground – and pay for a computer to actually create the apps – he needed capital. So he sold his coin collection, his desk and his furniture to buy a Mac and an iPad.

Then, of course, he had to teach himself how to develop iPhone and iPad apps, with some help from a lot of library books.

The first fruit of this endeavor has just debuted. The app, called Girlfriend 411, sends users a notification of when their significant other’s birthday, anniversary and other important dates are coming up.

Stickle will make 70% profit off of every $.99 app sold – all of which he intends to pool back into his education.

How else can students make ends meet? Tell us in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

Student attendance at Duke University men’s basketball games has been falling consistently over the last five years. This season, it’s dropped so low that Duke Athletics has begun selling more and more general admission tickets in the student section.

Because of this lack of student interest – only 650 undergrads attended each game this season – the athletics department has sold about 300 tickets per game to the general public at $65 each. Each game, first pick goes to Iron Dukes supporters, then to football and women’s basketball season ticket holders.

What’s causing the lack of enthusiasm? Three possibilities:

• Unfounded rumors that it’s too hard to get into the game or students will be turned away if they show up only half an hour before tipoff
• Increasing popularity of online streaming options, including WatchESPN.com, or
• The underwhelming home schedule – with marquee conference matchups moving to Madison Square Garden and other larger venues.

To fight diminishing student attendance, Duke has hoped to engage the crowds more, using highlight videos, player instructions and pop music in its pregame festivities.

What can schools do to increase student attendance at games? Share your thoughts in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

Arizona Senator Ronald Gould plans to reintroduce a gun bill that would ensure students with concealed carry permits could carry guns on public college and university campuses.

This isn’t the first time he’s tried to get the bill passed. He introduced a similar bill last legislative session, which was vetoed by Governor Jan Brewer.

“To disallow guns on campus, what that really does is create a self-defense-free zone. So people with evil intents, they know there’s no weapons there,” Gould told reporters. He believes by allowing students to carry weapons – thus making potential criminals too afraid of getting shot themselves to actually act – crime on campus would decline.

The Arizona Board of Regents, however, sees it differently. Among their arguments against having guns on campus:

• Students and faculty should feel free to express strong opinions without fear of reprisal
• It would make it difficult for police to investigate any on-campus gun crime if one did occur, and
• Young people, drugs, alcohol and firearms is a potentially volatile combination.

But Gould still believes the bill could pass, since it made the changes that concerned the governor by allowing schools to restrict guns in buildings if they provide gun lockers. On that subject, the Board of Regents points out law enforcement concerns that it would actually give access to non-permit owners.

Where do you stand on the issue? Tell us in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

John Doe A has filed the first civil suit against Pennsylvania State University in the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal.

John Doe A claims he was sexually abused by Sandusky more than 100 times – most frequently in the football locker room. The suit claims Penn State:

• knew or should have known about the abuse
• assumed a duty to protect John Doe A by inviting him on campus
• breached its duty to protect John Doe A, and
• failed to properly supervise Jerry Sandusky in his role as a Penn State employee.

Penn State faces a laundry list of charges, including:

• vicarious liability of childhood sexual abuse
• negligence
• negligent supervision, and
• premises liability.

As many as one in three freshmen don’t make it back for a sophomore year, according to data from the U.S News and World Report. There are plenty of reasons students might drop out – money, family or academic problems among them – but it’s never good for a college’s reputation, or its morale.

These are the 10 schools with the lowest retention rates:

1. South Carolina State University – 64%
2. University of Arkansas – Little Rock – 64%
3. Cleveland State University – 63%
4. Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi – 61%
5. Lynn University – 60%
6. Our Lady of the Lake University – 60%
7. Texas A&M University – Kingsville – 60%
8. Texas Southern University – 59%
9. Idaho State University – 58%
10. University of Texas – San Antonio – 58%

How can colleges boost their retention rates? Share your ideas in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

College admissions departments looking to learn more about prospective students may have a secret weapon: the admissions essay.

While plenty of schools are sticking with traditional “Why this school?” essays, some are learning more about applicants by offering more quirky, unusual prompts, such as:

• “Imagine you have to wear a costume for a year of your life. What would you pick and why?” – Brandeis University
• “What is your favorite ride at the amusement park? How does this reflect your approach to life?” – Emory University
• “What does Play-Doh have to do with Plato?” – University of Chicago
• And rather ominously, “Why did you do it?” – Wake Forest University

Other schools are sticking with more standard questions, but with a twist – a word length that shows how concise a student’s response can be:

• “You have 150 words. Take a risk.” – University of Notre Dame
• “If I could do something with no risk of failing, I would … (25 words or fewer)” – Brown University
• “Gadget that needs inventing (in 20 words)” – University of North Carolina

How does your school get to know prospective students? Let us know in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

It often takes decades of notoriety to get your work hung in a major metropolitan museum. Andrzej Sobiepan, a student at Wroclaw Fine Arts Academy in Poland, decided to take a quicker route, inspired by the graffiti artist Banksy: hang one of his paintings while the guards aren’t looking.

And – at least for a while – it worked!

Sobiepan’s small piece hung in the contemporary Polish art room for three days before National Museum officials spotted it. The director admitted the student’s act was a “witty artistic happening,” though he was less enthused with the apparent breach in museum security.

In fact, the museum has kept the painting on display – though t was downgraded to a position in its cafe. It’s expected to be sold at a large charity auction.

Any more legal ways arts students can get their works out there? Share your ideas in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

Students from York College took part in the 4^th Annual Great Kills Beach Polar Plunge, raising awareness and funds for the Special Olympics in the process. The cold-weather stunt provides year-round sports training and athletic competitions for children and adults living with intellectual disabilities.

The student-athletes – including Aileen Abad of the York College softball team, and Devon Lynch and Du’Quan Lawson of the men’s basketball team –raised $300 for Special Olympics New York, the largest SO program in the country.

Fortunately, on the 53-degree day of the event, the water was cold – but could’ve been much, much colder.

Share your school’s crazy fundraising events in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

The state of Colorado seems to be a popular one for tokers. A new Princeton Review survey ranks Colorado College No. 1 and the University of Colorado at Boulder No. 4 for marijuana use on campus.

The Review’s “Refer Madness” list, part of the 2012 edition of “The Best 376 Colleges,” is based on email surveys filled out by 122,000 students at more than 370 U.S. schools. Administrators are quick to point out that the rankings are unscientific and glorify dangerous behavior.

To Colorado College’s credit, it also ranked 20^th for “most politically active students.”

The top 5:

1. Colorado College in Colorado Springs
2. University of California in Santa Cruz
3. University of California in Santa Barbara
4. University of Colorado in Boulder
5. Bard College in New York

Should Colorado College worry about its image, or is any publicity good publicity? Share your views in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

Most of the time, Facebook use has practically no effect on student GPAs, according to a study from Lockhaven University of Pennsylvania. Out of the 1,800+ students surveyed, 92% admitted to using Facebook and spending an average 106 minutes on the network daily – about six times per day for 24 minutes at a time.

The study found “no strong link” between Facebook use and a drop in GPA. However, for every additional hour and a half spent on the site (over the 106-minute average), GPAs dropped an average of 0.12 points. That doesn’t prove one causes the other, though.

“Students with lower grades could simply use Facebook more, or there could be a third factor that affects both but isn’t studied here,” the study’s authors note.

The way students use Facebook may also affect how they do in the classroom. Students who shared links or checked the site to see what their friends were doing often did better in class. But students posting vague, “Eating ramen again, LOL”-style updates did worse.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

St. Mary’s College of Maryland can count St. Mary’s River as part of its campus, as 240 students are living aboard a cruise ship about the length of a football field. The Sea Voyager is docked at the school’s southern Maryland campus.

After heavy rains exacerbated a mold problem in two rooms and made some students sick, they were moved out and put up in hotels. But because the college is so remote, and the hotels so far away, the college came up with the cruise ship idea as an alternative.

An alumnus suggested the idea after learning the boat was nearby and available. After a cost analysis showed the $20,000 a day to keep the ship operating was about what the school had been paying for the hotels, the initially far-fetched idea became a reality.

Students enjoy plenty of amenities – a TV and DVD player in every room, toilet paper in the cabin bathroom that gets folded into a little point and laundry service (since there aren’t any laundry facilities in the boat) – but there are some downsides as well. The ships location means a longer walk to class, and the 150-square-foot cabins are a bit cramped compared to the 178-square-foot dorms.

Fortunately, the boat-dwellers won’t have to weigh the pros and cons for too long. The school plans to have the dorms renovated and mold-free by the end of the semester.

How does your school handle emergency housing issues? Let us know in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

Arizona Western College has provided a novel way of helping its students deal with the stressful days leading up to finals: therapy dogs. The school is following in the footsteps (paw prints?) of San Diego State University, which also had success with animal therapy.

The canines are part of the nonprofit Love on a Leash program, which usually offers services to rehab centers, nursing facilities and those confined to their homes due to health reasons. Love on a Leash’s Yuma chapter brought in dogs and their owners for two hours a day for three days.

The students were able to relax with the dogs, offering a bit of simple comfort, especially for students who couldn’t go home for the holidays.

Particularly popular? Ollie, a tiny Teacup Yorkie who’s new to the program. His owner got Ollie when his wife had been diagnosed with cancer, and the little dog proved to be a great comfort to her.

How does your school help stressed students? Tell us in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

Santa Clara University has partnered with Zimride to encourage ride sharing and carpools among students, faculty and staff. The SCU population can use their ecampus ID to gain access and then link via Facebook profiles.

According to the school’s Office of Sustainability, about 63% of faculty and 72% of staff drive alone to campus. And while 51% of students walk, bike or skateboard to class, 38% are driving by themselves to campus.

By providing additional ridesharing solutions, the school has reduced the number of cars on campus, eliminating 107 parking spaces. Six of those spaces are being converted to charging stations for electrical cars.

What kind of driving and parking strategies does your school offer? Let us know in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

At Southeast Missouri State University, a would-be pledge dumped 16 dead ducks in the house of a rival fraternity. But he didn’t count on the CCTV cameras catching him carrying fistfuls of the birds through the frat’s front door.

Now he faces a citation for “wanton waste” and other possible penalties from the school and the Missouri Department of Conservation. The student said he and his frat-bros-to-be shot the ducks while hunting near the university in Cape Girardeau.

After police released the surveillance camera footage, they received multiple calls identifying the student, who turned himself in and admitted to dumping the ducks.

“A prank can oftentimes turn into a crime. And that’s exactly what happened here,” campus police Chief Doug Richards told the local TV news.

The rival fraternity, meanwhile, wasn’t all that worked up. Said one of the members, “We were kind of like, ‘whatever.’”

Do you agree with the chief, or are you like, “whatever”? Tell us in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

Some schools are going to extraordinary efforts to protect their students – and their reputations. That means coming up with some common-sense social media policies (and some that might be a little on the strict side).

You be the judge:

1. Villanova University – enacted a Twitter blackout for all student basketball players during the 2010 season

2. Ontario College of Teachers – advised faculty to avoid using social media for student communication, and use only “established education platforms” such as course websites

3. Kansas State University – suspended a student athlete after he tweeted he’d be “getting twisted tonight,” and required a social media training session for other players

4. University of North Carolina – handbook says each team must have “at least one coach or administrator … to regularly monitor the content of team members’ social networking”

5. New Jersey Institute of Technology – uses UDiligence to monitor Facebook, MySpace and Twitter pages of student athletes for posts that might negatively reflect upon the school

6. Sam Houston State University – insists that any student group using the college’s name (or SHSU) either join its official “social media universe” or change its name

7. University of Colorado – bans football players from posting or tweeting anything about the team

8. Colorado State University – specifies in its social media police that players not “post anything to embarrass the team” (unfortunately, this vague request didn’t stop a 2,000-attendee CSU party from being advertised on Facebook)

9. Ohio State University Medical Center – states employees should engage with patients and the community, but only use social media during non-working time

10. London School of Economics – objected to a post by a faculty member that was critical of the school, allegedly leading to his resignation

11. North Carolina State University – backed a resident advisor who wrote underage drinking citations for 14 students based on pictures she saw on Facebook

12. Montana State University – restricts student-athletes from linking to external sites promoting a product or service that’s unaffiliated with Bobcat Athletics without talking to the school’s marketing director (which means they have to be pretty cautious before clicking “Like” on anything!)

13. Eastern University – asks all academics-related Facebook group pages and Twitter feeds to have a minimum of one update per week or face deletion

14. Syracuse University – placed students on probation for creating a Facebook page bashing an instructor, and

15. Columbia University Department of Surgery – reserves the right to “delete or block any post or user account at any time without notice for any reason.” Yikes!

(Via The Matador Sports)

Agree with these policies? Scared by some of them? Let us know in the comments, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

The Division I Board of Directors has approved a package that will force athletic programs to maintain a higher level of academic performance to remain eligible for post-season competition.

The new standards will require Division I programs to achieve a 930 Academic Progress Rate (APR), which predicts a 50% Graduation Success Rate. The standards will take effect over a two-year period, starting in the 2012-13 academic year.

To put this into perspective, the University of Connecticut men’s basketball team, which won the NCAA tournament in March, had an APR of 826 for 2009-2010.

Along with a tougher academic push, the standards will also give student-athletes a shot at more financial aid. Students on full athletic scholarships or receiving financial aid will be eligible for $2,000 in additional assistance to cover miscellaneous school costs.

How does your school meet student-athletes’ needs? Let us know in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

StateUniversity.com has released its annual Safest Schools List.

Here are the safest college campuses:

1. Arkansas State University-Beebe
2. Louisiana State University-Eunice
3. The University of Virginia’s College at Wise
4. Lake Land College (IL)
5. Central Texas College
6. Delgado Community College (LA)
7. Erskine College and Seminary (SC)
8. Southern University of New Orleans
9. Virginia Western Community College
10. Edison State College (FL)

The full list is available here.

Rankings were based on campus crime reports filed by safety officials. They took into account the number of incidents of:

• assault
• theft
• robbery
• rape, and
• murder.

Any other schools that deserve to be on this list? Chime in below — and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

56% of college students and recent college graduates would refuse to work for a company that banned social media like Facebook and Twitter, according to a recent study by Cisco. It’s no wonder why: About 33% consider the Internet a fundamental resource, as important as air, water, food and shelter.

It’s possible that those same students who said they wouldn’t work in an office with an Internet restriction might not consider working in an office at all. 70% of those polled said an office is unnecessary for being a productive worker, and 25% think their productivity would increase if they worked from home.

Other findings:

• 40% say the Internet is more important than dating, hanging out with friends, partying or listening to music
• 66% say a mobile device (whether it’s a laptop, tablet or smartphone) is “the most important technology in their lives,” and
• 81% say they check Facebook at least once a day (and 33% of those say they check it at least 5 times a day!).

What do students at your school demand from their future employers? Tell us in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

Since colds and viruses spread from person to person, college campuses – where dorms and classrooms keep everyone in close quarters – are perfect Petri dishes for germs during flu season.

But students, faculty and staff can follow these simple precautions to drastically reduce their risk for developing the flu this season. Pass along these tips:

Wash your hands – use soap and warm water and wash for at least 15 to 20 seconds (about as long as it takes to recite the alphabet). Carrying an alcohol-based hand sanitizer is another good idea.

Get a flu shot – The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends getting the vaccination before December so antibodies are in place before flu activity is at its peak

Use tissues, then loss ‘em – if you have a tendency of stuffing a tissue into your pocket or bag, now’s the time to break that habit

Practice cough etiquette – that means covering the nose and mouth with your upper sleeve (not your hands!) when coughing and sneezing

Eat right – plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables provide necessary vitamins (and taking a multivitamin won’t hurt either)

Rest well – seven to nine hours is ideal, but even 15-minute cat naps can keep the body from getting fatigued and more susceptible to developing a cold

Reduce stress – since stress can lower the immune system, try exercising regularly to keep tension from building

Be prepared – have an over-the-counter fever/pain reducer on hand in case you start developing cold or flu symptoms, and have cleaning products in dorms and classrooms at the ready to reduce germ spread, and

Advertise on-campus health services – make sure students and faculty know what resources are available to them.

(Via CDC, St. John’s University and Bryn Mawr Hospital)

What else can your campus do to prevent the spread of sickness? Tell us in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

Suicide is the cause of more student deaths than alcohol, according to a new study conducted by researchers at the University of Virginia. It’s the first study since 1939 to research student mortality rates in comparison to the general population.

According to the research:

• Suicides accounted for 6.18 deaths per 100,000 students
• Alcohol was a factor in 4.86 deaths per 100,000, and
• Vehicle accidents caused the most deaths at 6.88 per 100,000 – though it should be noted that half of them were alcohol-related.

Those suicide rates have not changed from prior reports since the late 1980’s, suggesting schools should focus more attention on student services for depression and other mental illnesses, as well as alcohol education programs.

However, the findings also suggest that campuses are a comparatively safe and protective environment – when compared to the mortality rates of 18-to-24-year-olds in the general population, student death rates are significantly lower for suicide, homicide and alcohol-related deaths.

“Leading Causes of Mortality Among American College Students at Four-Year Institutions” is based on 2009-10 academic year data from 157 schools, and represents 1.36 million students ages 18-24.

In hopes of creating a more formalized tracking and reporting method, researcher and former American College Health Association head James Turner, MD has secured a grant from the Centers for Disease Control to electronically link clinical statistics from health services nationally.

What do you think of the findings? Tell us in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

With an average $31,048 in debt, New Hampshire college students graduate with more loans to pay off than anywhere else in the country, according to a new report from the Project on Student Loan Debt.

In fact, based on data from 1,000 public and private four-year colleges, “Student Debt and the Class of 2010” found that the states with the highest average debt are all located in the northeast and Midwest.

On the other side of the equation, Utah and Hawaii had the lowest average debt with $15,509 and $15,550, respectively.

Two-thirds of college seniors graduated with an average of $25,250 in debt in 2010, and the unemployment rate for graduates rose from 8.7% to 9.1%, the highest annual rate on record.

The top 10 highest debt states:

1. New Hampshire – $31,048
2. Maine – $29,983
3. Iowa – $29,598
4. Minnesota – $29,058
5. Pennsylvania – $28,599
6. Vermont – $28,391
7. Ohio – $27,713
8. Indiana – $27,001
9. Rhode Island – $26,340
10. New York – $26,271

You can read the full report here and view an interactive map here.

Let us know what you think in the comments, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

Enrollment rates have been steadily climbing for decades, but the percentage of students actually graduating remains stagnant, according to a report by the nonprofit Complete College America.

The report illustrates how many students completed their degrees. The results are broken down into categories including whether enrollment is full- or part-time, or at a two- or four-year school.

The numbers aren’t encouraging. For example, in Texas, out of every 100 students who enrolled in a public college:

• 79 started at a community college
• 2 of them earned a two-year degree on time
• Only 7 graduated after four years
• Of the 21 who enrolled at a four-year college, 5 graduated on time, and
• After 8 years, only 13 completed a degree.

The report shines a light on part-time students who Complete College America says are under-represented in federal statistics, even though 4 out of every 10 public college students attend part-time. Out of those, no more than a quarter ever graduate.

One possible reason: time. Factors may include the increasing practice of amassing more credits than are required for a degree, and the large numbers of students required to take noncredit remedial courses.

The study’s primary recommendation is for states to adopt financing incentives in an effort to get schools to focus more on completion rates.

There are some bright spots, however. At Tennessee’s 27 Technology Centers, the completion rate is 75%. The report cites the required Foundations class where students learn skills needed for a program, rather than noncredit remedial classes, and the 3 p.m. end time for all classes, allowing students to hold down an evening job or care for their children after school.

Also praised: CUNY’s Accelerated Study in Associate Programs, which use block scheduling and other support to help students complete degrees more quickly.

How does your school help part-time students? Share your strategies below, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

Case in point: the University of Missouri-Columbia, where students arrived to campus and immediately wrought havoc with their various gadgets. They found spotty reception, clear in larger halls but weak or nonexistent once they left for smaller classrooms.

The school was able to trace the problem back to a fixable software glitch, but there’s also the massive leap in the number of wireless devices on campus to consider. Last year the largest number of devices connected to the system at any one time was 900. This year: 8,000.

But the rise in wireless device use isn’t the biggest issue schools have to consider – it’s what students are using those devices to look at. Video content is the biggest problem.

For example: At Boston College, 70% of bandwidth is eaten up by video streaming and downloading, much of it purely for entertainment purposes.

Here are some strategies your school can use to cope with students’ wireless needs:

• Control traffic at peak hours. For instance, St. Louis University separates its Internet space into three pipelines to ensure students, researchers and clinicians don’t interfere with each other.
• Use network management tools to prevent heavy users from dominating a network, such as slowing a movie download to save space for students doing less-intensive work.
• Boost security. While some students may balk at dealing with virus searches and other new device scans, it’s a small price to pay for access to campus servers.

What else can schools do to maximize wireless coverage? Share your strategies in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

New-student enrollment of international students rose about 1.3% in the 2010 academic year – compared to a nearly 16% jump the year before, according to Kiplinger. In fact, more than half of the top 25 countries sending students to U.S. institutions had fewer in the U.S. than in 2009.

Why? The economy has something to do with it. Fewer families can afford a U.S. education, and many colleges are reigning in their scholarship spending. And grim post-graduation job prospects aren’t helping either.

But there’s also growing competition from other international schools. Universities in Britain, Australia and Canada are all boosting their effort to enroll students in Southeast Asia, while South Korea is setting up more domestic programs.

How can U.S. schools bring back their international appeal? Share your thoughts in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

The University System of Ohio has set up a program allowing 1,000 students to receive digital textbooks for free. The school is working with online publisher Flat World Knowledge on the pilot program to drive down textbook costs and make college more affordable.

To participate, a faculty member has to select Flat World textbooks for their courses and agree to participate in a research project on student learning. Students will then have the option of accessing the online edition for free in one of these formats:

• e-reader (e.g., iPad, Kindle)
• MP3 audiobook
• PDF chapter download, or
• Interactive study aids.

Softback printed editions are also available for purchase.

All formats are copy-protection free, meaning students can transfer texts from on device to another.

To encourage faculty to join the program, the school plans to hold workshops, and Flat World’s Creative Commons licenses allow instructors to customize textbooks to meet their specific requirements (such as adding and deleting portions and rearranging chapters).

Other Ohio institutions are using digital textbooks, including Miami University in Oxford and Columbus State Community College. An estimated 49,936 students have saved money through digital textbook options.

Is your campus preparing for digital texts? Share your experiences in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

Harvard University is the most discussed university on the Web, according to a survey by the Global Language Monitor. The rankings are based on usage of words and phrases on blogs, social media and the top 75,000 print and electronic media sites.

The rankings measure brand equity, rather than the U.S. News & World Report rankings that are based on data from the schools themselves. Higher ed institutions can use these rankings to track their reputation among students and other educators.

Harvard previously took the number one spot in 2008, but dropped in the rankings following an endowment crisis that may have hurt its Internet buzz. Its return to the top spot, meanwhile, was spurred in part by its presence in 2010’s Oscar-winner (and frequent Web chat topic) The Social Network.

Looking at the full list, there’s a clear trend: Public institutions are being featured more heavily. Almost half of the top 30 schools are in the public domain, indicating that the very definition of what makes an elite school may be quickly changing to branch out beyond Ivy League universities like Harvard.

Here’s the top 10 schools with Internet media buzz:

1. Harvard University
2. Northwestern University
3. University of California, Berkeley
4. Columbia University
5. California Institute of Technology
6. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
7. Stanford University
8. University of Chicago
9. University of Texas, Austin
10. Cornell University

You can check out the complete list here.

What do you make of these rankings? Share your thoughts in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

West Virginia University has begun offering a series of online courses to teach students how social media can be used in by businesses. Though a non-credit program, students who complete it will receive a certificate of completion.

The three-part “Social Media for Business” series first teaches students about the foundations of social networks, including how to develop goals, measure and apply them. Subsequent lessons tackle marketing with social media and integrating it within a business’s organization.

While the ins and outs of Facebook are part of the lessons, the program is primarily to teach students about how to successfully engage customers with relevant content, at a time when web use has dramatically changed business and marketing.

Does your school offer a similar course? Tell us more in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

Students who can be considered “heavy multitaskers” tend to pare down their tech use to only one or two devices when exam time rolls around, says a new study from the University of Washington.

Based on 560 interviews at 11 college libraries, the findings suggest students are capable of dialing down technology use when the situation calls for it. Students interviewed in the libraries said it was the best place they could concentrate and feel more studious.

Others said they left their laptops at home to avoid temptation, relying only on library equipment to write papers or study. And of those who were working online, 61% had only one or two websites open at a time.

Others used the web as an incentive, treating Facebook as a reward after 15, 30 or 60 minutes of study, or at the end of a chapter reading.

This is one more study showing that today’s students aren’t the tech-junkies they’re sometimes painted as, and that tech use can have academic benefits, as well.

What devices are your students most dependent on? Let us know in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

Increased psychological problems were noted at 91% of student bodies, says a survey of 320 U.S. college counseling centers representing 2.75 million students. Almost 11% of students sought counseling services in 2010, up by 2% since 2005.

Among the trends counselors are reporting:

• Broader issues, such as troubling news reports from multiple media, could be connected to a rise in stress and depression
• More complex issues, stemming from family members losing jobs and significant personal loss, are bringing students into counseling centers
• The campus culture at certain high-achieving schools can create a correlation between perfectionism and anxiety and depression.

But the rise in students seeking counseling may be viewed as a positive. While it could indicate that students are more stressed than in previous generations, it could also mean they’re more willing to seek help.

How does your school make students aware of its mental health services? Let us know in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

Columbia University tops the 2011 Sexual Health Report Card, an annual survey of 140 schools’ on-campus sexual health services by Trojan Condoms and Sperling’s BestPlaces.

The rankings are based on factors such as STD and HIV testing, sexual awareness programs, availability of contraceptives and outreach programs, among others. Columbia University has topped the list two years in a row. The school earned perfect scores in multiple categories including the newly implemented “Extra Credit,” which incorporated student testimonials to gauge sentiment on campus.

The top 10 highest ranking schools are:

1. Columbia University in the City of New York
2. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
3. Princeton University
4. Brown University
5. Oregon State University
6. University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
7. Colorado State University
8. University of Florida
9. University of Iowa
10. University of South Carolina-Columbia

Of the worst-ranking schools, several – Seton Hall University, Chicago State University, Brigham Young University and DePaul University – are repeat offenders, having been at the bottom of the rankings last year. New to the worst-list is the U.S. Air Force Academy, finishing at No. 138 after ranking 96^th in 2010.

The bottom 10:

131. Baylor University
132. St. John’s University-New York
133. New Mexico State University-Main Campus
134. Providence College
135. Troy State University-Main Campus
136. Seton Hall University
137. Chicago State University
138. U.S. Air Force Academy
139. Brigham Young University
140. DePaul University

Check out the complete list here. What sexual health services make your school stand out? Let us know in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

Cheba Hut, a sub shop in Eugene, OR, got some attention from local college kids when it offered $300 and free sandwiches for a year to the student who could drink 32 ounces of ranch dressing the fastest.

The “winner”: University of Oregon student Cole Herbst, who managed the feat in just over 20 seconds. Though something tells us he’s not going to get the taste out of his mouth for quite some time.

Check out video of the action here – if you think you can stomach it.

How do local shops attract your students’ attention? Tell us in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

There’s a positive correlation between college grade point average and Facebook use – when students use it for information gathering and sharing. That’s according to a study of 1,839 students conducted by Lock Haven University’s Dr. Reynol Junco.

Data examined the frequency of Facebook use, student GPAs, participation in site activities and class prep time.

Site use that mimicked educational behaviors, such as sharing links or gathering information, related positively with GPA. There was a weaker correlation to the time the student spent preparing for class.

Naturally, excessive online chatting and status updating had the same negative impact on students’ grades that offline socializing has. Students who invested an extra 279 minutes on Facebook per day over the average also earned .37 GPA points below average.

The researcher hopes educators use the data to get some positive use out of Facebook themselves. His suggestion: communicating with students via course-related Facebook groups.

How does your faculty utilize social networks? Tell us in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.