By Mike Bush. A move by some congressional Democrats to strengthen oversight of private, for-profit colleges and universities got a boost this month when it was endorsed by 14 state attorneys general, including New Mexico’s Gary King.
However, none of the state’s five-member congressional delegation, including the two Democratic senators, has signed on. More...

By Lynn Arditi. At Roger Williams University, dormitories are bursting with “temporary” triples and “supersized” rooms. Undergraduate enrollment during the last two years has climbed 7 percent, to 4,011 students this fall — the largest in the university’s history. And freshman enrollment during the same period is up 15 percent.
Forecasters had predicted just the opposite. The shrinking population of high school graduates and the tuition hikes that have made college increasingly unaffordable were expected to decrease enrollments. More...

Local community colleges block students who haven't paid tuition, and track them down for old payments. In turn, some students are blocked from a better education to get a better job.
Westchester Community College has resorted to taking students to court to collect tuition in arrears; the two-year public institution had about 631 active lawsuits against former students in state Supreme Court so far this year. Rockland Community College carries almost $3.4 million in past-due tuition from its students. More...

By Caroline Levander. When scholars and other experts meet at Rice University Monday and Tuesday for the international De Lange Conference on "Teaching in the University of Tomorrow," the presentations and discussions are likely to take us out of the classrooms we remember and bring us into the brave new world of higher education in the 21st century. More...

By Roger Ochoa. Which is better: Harvard or Yale?
To answer this question, one might be tempted to refer to the U.S. News & World Report "Best Colleges" ranking. The perennial list arguably is the most popular among the sundry publications ranking America's colleges and universities. It does make for seductive reading. A single publication can help students and parents can make key decisions about their futures in higher education. To be sure, the pitfalls are many. More...

By Sarah Otto. Knowledge is critical for a properly functioning society, scientist Sarah Otto argues.
I am a scientist. Today, I am compelled to write on behalf of my fellow Canadian scientists who cannot speak. The word science comes from the Latin word “scientia” for knowledge. Knowledge is critical for a properly functioning society. With knowledge comes the ability to make informed decisions. With knowledge, businesses are better positioned to take opportunities and avoid risks. With knowledge, society can better plan for the future. Purposefully withholding knowledge from others when that knowledge is relevant to their decision-making is, in my mind, unjust.
A report released this week from Evidence for Democracy graded the communication policies for scientists working at 16 federal government departments and agencies. More...