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.

In its multibillion-dollar fraud suit against the Education Management Corporation (operating as Art Institute, Argosy University, South University and Brown Mackie College), the Department of Justice is charging that the company was ineligible for the $11 billion in financial aid it has received since July 2003.

This is the first case against a for-profit college in which the government has intervened to back whistleblowers’ claims that the company violated federal law by paying recruiters based on enrollment quotas (a practice that had been banned by the government in 2002).

The complaint says the company instructed recruiters to use high-pressure sales techniques and inflated claims about career placement to boost enrollment, even if applicants were unable to write coherently, appeared under the influence of drugs or wanted to enroll in an online program but had no computer.

According to the suit, Education Management falsely certified that it was complying with the law, which made it eligible to receive student financial aid. The company reportedly got $2.2 billion in financial aid in fiscal 2010, making up 89.4% of its net revenues.

The basis for the lawsuit is the False Claims Act, under which whistleblowers can file suits charging that the government has been defrauded. It allows for triple damages – which could be as much as $33 billion – of which the whistleblowers would receive a share.

In 2009, the Apollo Group (owners of the University of Phoenix) settled a similar whistleblower case for $78 million. Todd Nelson, chief executive of Education Management, had previously headed the University of Phoenix.

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

U.S. military veterans attending college are far more likely to entertain thoughts of suicide than their non-military classmates, according to a new survey from the National Center for Veterans Studies.

Data from the 525 vets currently enrolled found that the reported rate of suicide attempts among student veterans was six times that of the general student population.

Additionally, those reporting “serious” suicidal thoughts (thinking about suicide with a plan) was more than three times that of the general student population.

The survey authors’ primary concern: whether campuses are adequately prepared to treat combat veterans dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder. College counselors and clinics are urged to increase screening for trauma and boost programs to cope with suicidal tendencies among student veterans.

More information on veterans and suicide risk can be found at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Seattle University student Catherine Webert was walking on a campus pathway when she tripped and fell, sustaining injuries to her hand, wrist, knee, chin and mouth.

The area of the walkway where Webert fell had been damaged by plant roots, but the school had made repairs. Even after the repair, the walkway was not completely even. Webert said that when she fell there was foliage that created a shade canopy and prevented her from seeing the uneven area until she was “mid-step.”

Webert sued the school for negligence, claiming the walkway created an unreasonable risk of harm.

She lost. Weber’s only evidence that the walkway was unreasonably dangerous was the fact that she fell, and it was not enough to establish legal liability. Even if she had shown an unreasonably dangerous condition existed at the time, there was no evidence the university should have known she would fail to appreciate the danger and protect herself from getting hurt.

Cite: Webert v. Seattle University.

Should the college have been held liable? Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

While anxiety and stress are normal feelings, the amount of “perceived stress” felt by college students has increased over time, says the Anxiety Disorder Association of America.

Students are impacted by a variety of stressors – including academics, finances, time management and even social networking – that, if not managed, can lead to emotional health issues and an inability to adequately function in school.

Incoming freshmen can be especially hard hit, as they adjust to a new learning environment, social situations and their abilities to succeed at a college level.

Meanwhile, a study by British researchers found that participants who worked 11 hours or more a day were 66% more likely to have a heart attack than those who worked seven to eight hours a day.

While the study’s most significant to older adults, researchers also asked college students to take note. Working long hours raises levels of stress hormones. Stress – and lack of sleep – leads to fatigue, worse academic performance, depression and anxiety.

In other words: Pulling an all-night study session can be bad for a student’s health.

How does your school combat student anxiety? Share your ideas, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

Florida State University recently reached a settlement with a Georgia county board of education that will require the board to make sure a middle school and high school stop using images of FSU’s trademarked spear design and Seminole head.

At first, the university asked the board to stop using the Seminoles name as well. But it backed off a bit, saying the Georgia schools could keep using the name as long as it was preceded by the name of the high school or middle school.

That concession didn’t eliminate a big headache for the board: finding a way to come up with the $200,000 or so it’s going to cost to remove the trademarked logos from football helmets, gyms and fields.

One school board member said she thought the university’s cease-and-desist letter was a joke. “Why are they going after the little guys?” she asked the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Should universities stop high school sports teams from using their logos? Tell us what you think in the comments section below – and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) recently reintroduced federal legislation that would obligate all schools receiving federal student aid to develop and distribute policies addressing harassment and cyberbullying.

Named for Tyler Clementi, the Rutgers freshman who committed suicide last year after another student posted a video of him engaged in a sexual encounter, the act also provides funding for schools to set up or expand anti-harassment programs.

Schools would need to have policies banning harassment based on actual or perceived race, color, national origin, sex, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or religion. They would also be required to recognize cyberbullying as a form of harassment under the measure.

Does your school do enough to prevent student-on-student harassment and cyberbullying? Tell us below — and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

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Heather R. Huhman, president of the Come Recommended career and workplace education and consulting firm, recommends the following techniques for maximizing your career fair’s success:

Let the students run it – Contact campus organizations like the Public Relations Student Society of America to help plan and run the fair.

Set goals – Figure out ahead of time how many students and employers you hope to attend, and whether you should charge attendees (this may exclude potential participants).

Recruit volunteers – Depending on the size, you’ll probably need at least five student helpers to register students as they enter, set up and take down the room and walk the floor during the fair to answer questions.

Pick the ideal time – 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. is the block of time most likely to attract foot traffic. Consider scheduling in off-season months like November or April to avoid competing against other events.

Consider the employers –Use LinkedIn and other professional networks to create a database of nearby employers, and send invites through e-mail and snail mail. Provide free parking and food. And make it easy for employers to schedule on-campus interviews. Employers coming from hours away will appreciate the courtesy and may be more likely to return for future fairs.

Evaluate your success – How did the event measure up to the goals you set? What was the response from employers? Survey attendees and employers with polling software like Survey Monkey. The info will be useful when planning next season’s fair.

What other tips can create a successful job fair? Share your experiences below, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

After Harvard and Stanford Universities enrolled Adam Wheeler on the basis of fake academic credentials, both schools have begun more carefully reviewing applications for undergraduate admissions, keeping an eye out for potential fakery.

To avoid a similar loss of financial aid and grant prizes in the future, Harvard plans to implement technological measures this year to help guard against such fraud.

Stanford will soon implement random auditing of the Common Application form and the school’s own supplement, looking at addresses, phone numbers, extracurriculars and discipline records, among other data. Application fees are also increasing to $90 – the highest in the country – to cover verification costs.

Early Action candidates, whose materials are due in November, will be first to be audited. Students will be notified if chosen.

How does your school check for admissions fraud? Share your techniques in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

Undergrads have a complicated relationship with their social media technology, found a joint poll conducted by the Associated Press and mtvU.

According to 2,207 students at 40 colleges:

• 40% say they have at least 500 friends on Facebook – but hardly interact with most of them
• 25% said they’d feel relief if they shut off their cellphones and computers,
• 60% said they’d be confused if someone failed to respond immediately to a text, and
• 57% said a social-media blackout would increase their stress levels.

College counselors see these numbers as a sign that mental health services need to catch up to student needs. The recommendation: Counseling centers should do more to promote personal interaction among students.

That doesn’t necessarily mean turning off the computer. One suggestion included notifying students of a flash-mob event via the counseling center’s Facebook page.

How do you think students can learn to cope with social network overload? Let us know in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter!

A multi-state panel of education officials – including the Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education – believes it’s responsible for the educational quality of online colleges. However they’re skeptical that the schools can deliver, considering recent investigations into some schools’ questionable practices.

But online school officials think the deck is stacked against them, since “quality” is a subjective measure from state to state. These regulatory roadblocks are keeping the schools from expanding nationally – which, they say, limits access to higher education for those states’ students.

Both education officials and online colleges agree: More uniform accreditation standards across state lines are needed. But getting state agencies and legislature to agree on a framework may be easier said than done.

In the meantime, colleges are convening to develop their own quality standards, in an attempt to avoid strict federal regulation.

How should the quality of online colleges should be judged? Share your thoughts in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter!

Employment of pharmacy technicians is expected to increase by 25 percent from 2008 to 2018. This is a much faster increase than the average for all occupations, says the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In addition to job possibilities, prospective students may be attracted to the flexible training. Certification programs take less than a year to complete and usually offer flexible class schedules and work experience opportunities.

The end result: New pharmacy techs can expect to make anywhere from $26,660 to $43,930 upon graduating for medical work that doesn’t involve blood, needle sticks or direct contact with sick patients. It can also act as a precursor to more formal pharmacist training.

While the career training is short, students still need a strong educational background to succeed. A pharmacy tech needs good communication and critical thinking skills, along with math comprehension to handle calculations and balance chemical equations.

Below we’ve listed some of the more recent HigherEd stories to hit the newswire.

Five Reasons Why the iPad Won’t Change Higher Education

Ways to Make Higher Education More Affordable

New Study Confirms Crisis in Catholic Higher Education

Rising College Costs: A Federal Role?

Virginia Tech notifying parents on alcohol violations

Below we’ve listed some of the more recent HigherEd stories to hit the newswire.

Those darned kids! How to REALLY work with Millennials in HigherEd

In this study, EduCause focuses on the best ways to keep our newest generations engaged (i.e. off their cell phones) in the classroom.

Cornell University: The most bizarre Ivy of them all

And you thought your alma mater was weird! Some of Cornell’s best-kept secrets finally come to light in this article.

Five college blind spots

The Washington Post brings you the five biggest blind spots facing higher education today.

College ‘gender gap’ favoring women stops growing

Since 1978 the gender cap in U.S. colleges has been growing, but today it finally seems to be leveling off.

University debt jumped 54% as endowments tumbled in fiscal 2009

Eroding endowments can cause any school financial pain. How did your university do in 2009?

Below we’ve listed some of the more recent HigherEd stories to hit the newswire.

University approves ‘green fee’

The Universtiy of Georgia recently imposed a “green fee” to its students to fund a new Office of Sustainability on campus. How are the students taking it? They’re the ones who reccommended it!

States Post Historic Declines in Higher Ed Funding

Is higher education funding getting tight in your state? If so, you have plenty of company.

Open University Adopts Google Apps For Education

Does Google have a future in universities? See how one school is taking advantage of the Web giant.

Higher ed lobbyist recommends stricter budgets

One of the nation’s top Higher Education lobbyists says now is the time for universities to practice a little more “prudency” when drafting their yearly budgets.

School employee fingerprinting reveals thousands of felonies

Since a new rule kicked in requiring school employees to be fingerprinted, thousands of employees – including certified educators – have been found to have felony records.

The U.S. Supreme Court will answer the question this term, as justices have agreed to review Christian Legal Society v. Martinez (No. 08-1371).

The saga started in 2004 when the Christian Legal Society brought action against the University of California’s Hastings College because the university refused to recognize and fund the student group.

University officials said the school failed to recognize and fund the club because it excludes non-Christians, gays and lesbians, noting the group requires members to sign a “statement of faith” which says members agree to:

• commit to share a “devotion to Jesus Christ” and
• abstain from a “sexually immoral lifestyle” that is inconsistent with the groups’ beliefs.

Requiring all members to sign the statement of faith violates the school’s non-discrimination policy, school officials say.

But members of the student club argue they have the right to require members to share common core religious beliefs.

The district court ruled in the university’s favor in 2006. That decision was upheld by the appellate court earlier this year. The high court is expected to hear the case in March — and a decision is expected by June.

The student was attacked in a parking garage on the campus of the University of the District of Columbia. Two armed assailants demanded money, and one of them stabbed her through the cheek with a knife.

To support her claims against the school, the student pointed out that the garage had no audio or video surveillance equipment and no attendant. There had also been prior crimes on campus – two involving unlawful entry, and three cases of theft with assault. But none of those crimes happened in the parking garage.

A jury awarded the student $400,000, but the verdict was wiped out on appeal.

Why? Because the school didn’t have a duty to protect the student from the attack. It couldn’t have “precisely foreseen” that a violent, armed attack would take place in its parking garage, the court said.

Cite: Board of Trustees of the University of the District of Columbia v. DiSalvo

Should the verdict have stood? Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

The guard had been working at Suffolk County Community College for more than 20 years when a car ran over his foot.

Four years later, he asked to use a cane at work to take some pressure off his injured foot. When the request was denied, he sued under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The court denied the college’s motion to throw out the case. There was enough evidence for a jury to find a cane would help the guard do his job, and the request to use a cane was “a plausible accommodation” whose costs were negligible, it said.

Campus security guards were only the “eyes and ears” of police and weren’t required to conduct foot chases, the court pointed out.

Cite: Schroeder v. Suffolk County Community College.

Did the court make the right call? Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

Tired of spending those summer days on the beach with nothing to do but read a book? Probably not…but who doesn’t want a free iPod Touch?

Click here to take the survey.  Results from your peers will be sent within two weeks.

More about drawing rules here

Click here to take the Survey

It’s true.

University of Chicago students Emmett Rensin and Alex Aciman say they’re combining the two most important forms of expression for their generation: literature and Twitter.

“After all, as great as the classics are, who has time to read those big, long books anymore?” the 19-year-olds ask on their Web site.

So you’d better come prepared with a sense of humor. “To be or not to be” may be chopped down to “To be,” since each work is limited to 20 140-character Tweets.

Penguin plans to have the book on the shelves before the year is out. Target audience: 18 to 35-year-olds.

“Twitter has refined to its purest form the instant-publishing, short-attention-span, all-digital-all-the-time, self-important age of info-deluge that is the essence of our contemporary world,” the authors say on their site.

Hmmm… that statement’s more than 140 characters.

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

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This Week’s Top Stories

1. Paying girls not to get pregnant
2. ‘War and Peace’ … in a handful of sentences
3. Facebook and free speech: One student’s battle
4. ‘No frills’ colleges seek to fill void
5. Revising FAFSA: Is it enough?
6. Take three: Club supporting abortion gets the OK
7. Job description: Must be able to ride tricycle
8. Black? Hispanic? White? Students foot the bill based on race

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