By Richard Kahlenberg. A once-taboo topic emerges from the shadows. Over the past decade and a half, I've given talks on dozens of college campuses about the need to increase socioeconomic diversity, but never before had I witnessed what I observed during a recent speech at Middlebury College.
Before introducing me, students from the sponsoring organization, Money at Midd, began the forum by publicly announcing their names and how much they and their families paid each year in tuition and fees. The first student, Samuel Koplinka-Loehr, said that his family paid about $18,000, and that he added $3,000 from his job. He passed the microphone to the next student, who said his family paid the full $56,000 comprehensive fee. A young woman said that her family could not afford to pay anything, but that she worked to pay $1,200 toward college costs. Read more...

By Robert J. Sternberg. 15 ways in which faculty members harm their own futures, often without knowing it. Pogo recognized long ago that we often are our own worst enemies. Sure, he was a cartoon character, but he had a point—­especially in higher education, where self-sabotage seems to be a standard characteristic of academic careers. In my 30 years as a professor, five years as a dean, and three years as a provost, I have observed many academics harm their own careers, often without realizing it. Here are 15 ways in which you can be most self-destructive.
1. You don't seek out multiple mentors. Too many faculty members sit back and wait for guidance and advice from their department heads or promotion committees. Successful academics, early in their careers, look for several mentors, including from departments other than their own. No one person or committee can be relied on to give you definitive career advice. In the end, you need to seek out multiple sources of advice, sort the good from the bad, and take responsibility for your own career development. Read more...

By Dan Berrett. Students show substantial gains in learning during college, as measured by a standardized test of critical thinking, according to two studies conducted by the creator of the test. While perhaps not a direct rebuke to Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses, the blockbuster 2011 book that documented what its authors argued was meager learning on campuses, the studies, by the Council for Aid to Education, do offer a sunnier counternarrative.
"It's probably a more nuanced story," said Roger Benjamin, the council's president, in an interview on Friday. The results described in reports on the studies, "Does College Matter? Measuring Critical-Thinking Outcomes Using the CLA" and "Three Principle Questions About Critical-Thinking Tests," were presented in an off-the-record session here at the American Enterprise Institute. Read more...

Die Studienplatzvergabe über hochschulstart.de kommt weiterhin sehr langsam in Gang: Für nur 170 NC-Fächer können sich Studienanfänger auf der zentralen Website bewerben, für fast 5000 müssen sie sich direkt an die Hochschulen wenden. Ein Ende des Vergabe-Durcheinanders ist nicht absehbar. Nein, so richtig in Gang kommt der Nachfolger der einstigen Zentralen Vergabestelle für Studienplätze (ZVS) nicht. Im kommenden Wintersemester, also 2013/2014, können sich Studienanfänger zwar für immerhin 170 Studiengänge mit Numerus Clausus (N.C.) zentral über die Plattform hochschulstart.de bewerben - beim Start im Jahr 2012 waren es nur 22. Doch ist nach wie vor ein Großteil der fast 5000 zulassungsbeschränkten Studiengänge nicht dabei. Wie bisher müssen sich Studienberechtigte hier bei der jeweiligen Hochschule bewerben. Mehr...

Berlin, Berlin, wir ziehen nach Berlin: Das denken sich zu jedem Semesterstart Tausende Studenten. Doch bezahlbare Zimmer in halbwegs attraktiven Gegenden sind knapp. Ein Investor will jetzt ein Containerdorf errichten - und einen Waschservice für schmutzige Socken anbieten. Praktisch, diese Überseecontainer, mit denen Bananen, Klamotten oder Autoteile über die Weltmeere transportiert werden. Die Dinger sind groß, stabil und einigermaßen billig. Genau richtig für Studenten, dachte sich der Investor Jörg Duske. Schließlich muss Wohnraum her, weil immer mehr Abiturienten an die Hochschulen drängen und der Wohnraum knapp und teuer wird. Duske kaufte ein 11000-Quadratmeter-Grundstück in Berlin-Plänterwald, eine S-Bahn-Station von Neukölln entfernt. Hier, umgeben von Billig-Supermärkten, Bahnlinien und dem Treptower Park, entsteht nun ein riesiges Containerdorf für Hunderte Studenten. 13 Millionen Euro kostet das erste Bauprojekt dieser Art in Deutschland. Miete: 200 bis 300 Euro im Monat. Bewerbungen für ein Leben im Container sind ab Mai 2013 auf www.eba51.de möglich. Mehr...
See also Mondialisation des containers devenant des résidences étudiantes.

By Hilmar Schmundt. Education experts in Germany are pushing to modernize the country's basic curriculum by making instruction in computer science mandatory. But opponents say it doesn't deserve the same status as subjects like math, Latin and biology. Hannah is creating a red convertible for herself. The bright teenager painstakingly specifies every detail of the vehicle, line by line, using commands like "car.move(50,0)." Hannah is not writing an essay. She is working on the code for a vector graphic with the aid of the programming language called EOS. The final product pops up on screen: A block and two dots that together very vaguely resemble a car.
It's a Wednesday afternoon in the computer lab of Kreuzgymnasium secondary school in the eastern German city of Dresden. A dozen eighth-graders are sitting in front of computer monitors, typing, whispering and programming. The IT class at this school serves as an example for the entire country. These students have been learning how to work with computers since fifth grade. To them, it's just another subject alongside math and biology, supplemented by the usual school standards: Latin, choir, music and drama. Read more...

By Masaaki Kameda. Universities in Japan are doing everything they can to attract students amid the aging society and decline in young people. One approach to lure applicants is to provide dormitories with state-of-the-art facilities. Takushoku University opened a dormitory in April last year at its Hachioji campus in western Tokyo. The orange and brown College House Fuso complex includes four four-story buildings and a three-floor one. They only admit residents who have cleared its strict security system.
There are 405 individual rooms in the dorm, each just over 17.5 sq. meters and featuring a bath, toilet, kitchen, bed, desk and a chair. The rent is ¥58,000 a month, which also includes two meals a day. The dorm also boasts a cafeteria, a convenience store and a bicycle shop for students. What makes Takushoku’s Hachioji dorm unique is its upmarket facilities — a large bathing area featuring a sauna and whirlpool spa, and a training gym — for use by dorm residents only. Read more...

Police and education authorities are investigating allegations of mass cheating by international students at tertiary institutes throughout the country.
ONE News spoke to the man who alerted the New Zealand qualification Authority to the potential problem.
He alleges he was contracted to write assignments for students at various universities who could not meet language standards. Read more...