As the air conditioners hum and drip, the summer months in New York can be hot enough to send anyone running indoors. Jamie Bilella, president of the North American Association of Summer Sessions — and dean at Montclair State University — says that while beating the heat, students of all types can benefit from summer classes that will round out their schedule and help them achieve their educational goals.

Take on a challenge. It can seem counter-intuitive, but Bilella says summer is an ideal time to tackle that tough course students may have been avoiding. “There may be one course that students are intimidated by, and the summer is an ideal time to take it,” Bilella says. Because students often take fewer courses at a time in the summer months, he says “they can focus all of their energy on that challenge.”

Explore. For students who want to think outside their major, summer can be a great time to do it. Bilella suggests that students who didn’t get into the class they were coveting, or who want to try a new elective outside of their focus of study should think about the summer. Also, if students have a course required for their major that they didn’t get to take during the year, summer sessions can fill that gap so that they can start the fall semester with their degree requirements on track

Get on it. Bilella says the No. 1 mistake people make regarding summer sessions is to miss out on them until later in their academic career. “Unfortunately, freshmen don’t pay attention to the summer offerings until they’re juniors,” he says. “They should recognize the opportunities of summer and winter early on.”

Stay on track. Graduating on time is good for the bottom line — and taking a summer course can help make that happen. “Maybe you’re looking to catch up because you didn’t take a heavy course load for a few semesters, or you want to get ahead to take advantage of a study abroad opportunity or focus on an internship,” he says. “Summer makes it possible to stay on track to graduation.”

The post Making summer matter appeared first on Metro.us.

The NCAA men’s basketball tournament field of 68 was announced Sunday and, for once, much of the snub controversy seemed subdued.

The four No. 1 seeds are Louisville (29-5), Kansas (29-5), Gonzaga (31-2) and Indiana (27-6). The Cardinals are the top overall seed and landed in the Midwest region (Indianapolis), meaning they get to play the first few rounds in their own backyard. No. 4 Saint Louis (27-6, champions of Atlantic-10), and No. 3 Michigan State (25-8), appear to pose the biggest challenge to Louisville making a return trip to the Final Four.

The top opening game during the tourney’s first two days could very well be No. 8 Colorado State vs. No. 9 Missouri, two teams that dominate on the glass. Higher seeds on upset alert should be No. 5 Oklahoma State, which faces No. 12 Oregon (who won the Pac-12 tournament) and No. 7 Creighton, which opposes No. 10 Cincinnati. Creighton junior forward Doug McDermott (23.1 ppg, 7.5 rebs) might be the best player in the country and could have landed the Wooden Award if his team didn’t have a tailspin late in the regular season.

Gonzaga has a nice path to the Sweet 16 in the West region (Los Angeles), starting in Salt Lake City, although a matchup with No. 5 Wisconsin looms and the Badgers are always a tough out. No. 2 Ohio State and No. 3 New Mexico also appear on a collision course.

Once again, an 8-9 game provides a great matchup with Pittsburgh taking on Wichita State – two under-the-radar but very solid teams. No. 10 Iowa State has a great chance to beat No. 7 Notre Dame and maybe this is the year that No. 11 Belmont finally gets a win (they’ll meet No. 6 Arizona).

The Jayhawks were rewarded with arguably the toughest region (South), in terms of the other high seeds. Kansas begins in Kansas City and No. 2 Georgetown, No. 3 Florida, No. 4 Michigan and even No. 5 VCU all have the capability to reach the Final Four.
Michigan vs. South Dakota State should be highly entertaining as Big Blue sophomore guard Trey Burke (19.2 ppg, 6.7 asts), the likely Wooden Award winner, takes on senior guard Nate Wolters (22.7 ppg, 5.8 asts, 5.6 rebs).

The Hoosiers looked like the top team for much of the season but they kept losing whenever they were ranked No. 1. They are in the East region (Washington D.C.) and will start things off in Dayton. Other than No. 2 Miami, which had a legitimate case for a No. 1 seed, the rest of the East looks pretty weak. It is definitely Indiana’s to lose but there could be plenty of juicy upsets. No. 11 Bucknell meets No. 6 Butler, No. 14 Davidson could scare No. 3 Marquette and No. 10 Colorado is basically a pick ’em against No. 7 Illinois.

The post Metro’s NCAA tourney bracket breakdown appeared first on Metro.us.

Bonnie Kerrigan Snyder graduated from Harvard in 1987 and was thrown into a sinking economy — and a job market not terribly interested in English majors. Today she’s a family college consultant, and she sees her clients struggling with the same obstacles she ran into post-graduation — only much worse.

Her latest book, “The Unemployed College Graduate’s Survival Guide: How to Get Your Life Together, Deal with Debt, and Find a Job After College,” mines some of the wisdom she picked up in the ’80s and appropriates it for an even bleaker job market.

“I wanted to create a survival guide that took this job crisis seriously. This isn’t advice you’d give to just any generation. This generation is unique in history, and the same rules just don’t apply,” says Snyder, from her home in Lancaster, Pa. “They’re really caught in a double whammy. There’s obviously a recession, but there’s also a demographic crunch going on: There’s just more older people now, and they’re holding onto their jobs much longer.”
Kerrigan’s guide begins with a strong dose of emotional reassurance for post-grads feeling let down by their job status and judged by their parents.

“In my experience, the kids are more aware of the realities than the parents are. Parents are having a hard time adjusting their expectations,” says Snyder. “There is a way Americans have approached college for generations: Choose a school first, discover what you’re interested in while you’re in school and start thinking about a job in your senior year. The stakes are so much higher for these kids, and we need to start thinking about the payoff of this investment a lot sooner.”

The new realities
In her book, family college consultant Bonnie Kerrigan Snyder dissects the outdated wisdom of American higher education. Here is just one example:
Outdated thinking: A college degree ensures financial security.
The new reality: College can be a risky financial investment, and that risk needs to be hedged. A family only has so much money to help launch a child into the workforce. Diverting some of those resources toward a home or starting a business is a better strategy.

The post Surviving a post-grad unemployment slump appeared first on Metro.us.

2. Brawl for it all — Pick a team with some grit and a team that could very well show up in New Orleans ready to throw down with the opposition … literally. Yup, we’re looking at you Cincinnati.

3. Road trips — Get out of mom and dad’s basement. This is college. Have some fun on the road. Afterall, the drinks have that much more of a kick away from home. Sorry, BYU.

4. Sleaze it up — What fun is March without snake-oil salesmen like John Calipari? While Cal has yet to win the big one, his team of “one-and-doners” once again has some of the best talent in the field. So take the grease, in this case. Rick Pitino’s Louisville-squad might work as well. As we all know by now, sleaze wins in the NCAA. Sorry, Brad Stevens.

5. Geographically challenged — Is the middle of your bracket loaded with the usual suspects (Kansas, Duke, UNC, UConn, Syracuse etc.)? Try picking a couple of teams to advance to the Sweet Sixteen that you’ve never heard of or are uncertain as to where, exactly, they are from. The Belmont Bruins assuredly  await your selection.

6. History is on your side— The last time the Final Four was located in New Orleans, Syracuse brought home the trophy for Jim Boeheim. Kansas, Marquette and Texas were the three other teams to make it to “The Big Easy” back in 2003. ’Cuse has had nearly a week of prep work for their first rounder.

7. High stakes coaches — The heavyweight coaches in this field truly care about history. Coach K is chasing his fifth national championship, Jim Calhoun his fourth, Roy Williams his third, Jim Boeheim his second and Rick Pitino his second. Many members of this group are on their last legs in the coaching world and adding one more title to their résumé would work wonders for their legacies. Go with the legends.

8. East coast bias — Only one of the last 10 NCAA champions was located west of the Mississippi. The last true teams from the West to win were Arizona in 1997 and UCLA in 1995.

9. Screw GPAs — In the words of the immortal Dark Helmet from Spaceballs, “good is dumb.” In this case, dumb is good. So don’t pick a  Harvard to go farther than say, a UConn. The defending national champion Huskies’ academic progress rate scores were so low last season that the NCAA docked Jim Calhoun and Co. two scholarships.

10. Conference Jenga  — The Big East sent a record 11 teams to the dance last year but only two of the 11 teams made the Sweet Sixteen. UConn was the lone Final Four representative. The Big East once again lapped the field in getting teams into the dance but there’s certainly no guarantee that two or three will be around come Elite Eight time.

The post 10 ways to fill out your March Madness bracket appeared first on Metro.us.

“There was a time a few years ago where I was having students add me as a friend, but when I saw pictures of them binge drinking, passed out next to kegs, I decided maybe that wasn’t such a wise decision,” says Charles Wankel, who teaches management at St. John’s College and is the author of “Cutting-edge Social Media Approaches to Business Education.” “But I imagine an instructor could adjust the privacy setting, so they could share classroom items and not inadvertently see the other stuff.”

Wankel still assigns a number of Facebook-based assignments, but now uses LinkedIn to connect students to each other and networking opportunities.
 
“I don’t think it’s a good thing to require students to be on Facebook. But it can be helpful if the population of students is already there,” says Steven L. Johnson, professor of management systems at Temple University. “I find master’s students just aren’t interested in communicating on Facebook. But so many undergrads live in a post-e-mail world, so Facebook definitely helps reinforce things.”

Meeting today’s students in their world

Both Wankel and Johnson use a number of other online connectors with their students, and they say blogging sites like WordPress and Blogspot are more effective for posting core class information, like syllabuses and assigned reading.
   
“As educators, we can take the stance that students are going to do what we tell them. Or we can take a stance that says we want every student to do as well as possible, and we’ll meet them where they are,” says Johnson. “If we take the second approach, part of that is recognizing that students — just like any person — have different preferences about what communication channels they want to use.”

The post Facebook finding its place in the classroom appeared first on Metro.us.

1. Michigan Technological University’s ‘Khana Khazana’

What started as a fundraiser for Haitian relief is now a thriving weekly tradition at MTU. Each Friday, a different international student plays guest chef at the university cafeteria, sharing a favorite dish with fellow students. With scarce ethnic cuisine available on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, “Khana Khazana” (Hindi for “food treasure”) attempts to open the minds of MTU students while filling their bellies along the way.

2. University of California, Riverside’s ‘Culinary Chameleon’

While food trucks are deeply ingrained in the culture of urban Northeast campuses, they’re still largely an experiment at West Coast schools. Rather than contracting vendors, this month UC Riverside is attempting to launch a truck owned and operated by the university. The Chameleon promises to adjust its location and menu at the whims of the student body. Will this lone lizard catch on in a Cali campus? Check back next year.

3. Boston University’s ‘Fancy Fridays’

With plenty of ironic flair, every Friday BU students flaunt their very finest attire at Shelton Hall. The cuisine is still 100 percent BU dining services — grilled cheese (fromage grille, perhaps?) and pizza — but the speeches are high-brow, as founding student Thomas Unger often leads sparkling cider toasts extolling the virtues of cufflinks and other accoutrement.

Local leader

In 2011, the University of Pennsylvania was recognized by PETA for offering a variety of vegan options, including Vegan Daiya cheese pizzas, cranberry scones, Indian dishes and carob-chip banana squares. Last semester, the school’s dining program teamed up with the Penn Vegan Society for a baked goods potluck to educate students on plant-based goodies.

The post Dressing up the dining hall appeared first on Metro.us.

Lisa Jacobson is the founder of Inspirica, a company that has been teaching study habits for 25 years. Her advice as the semester kicks off: Don’t try to drastically change yourself with one quick turn of the calendar page.

When it comes to studying, why do New Year’s resolutions fail?
They’re too big. They say, “I’m going to read for three hours a night, every night.” I really believe that, when it comes to college students, incremental changes are far more effective. It’s trying to go just a step above where you were.

What’s a good first step?
It’s an easy one. Just take 15 minutes, sit down on your bed and quietly look at your dorm. Be honest with yourself. Is this a place where I can focus? Set yourself up. Go to the container store and make sure everything has a place. Ask yourself, “When is the most quiet, peaceful time in this space?” Carve out just a half hour during that time of day.

So, are New Year’s resolutions about studying a bad idea?
I think they can work if the goal is to get to a place where you’re working smarter, not necessarily harder. Resolutions can be helpful because you’re teaching yourself life skills. Sometimes parents request tutoring for their kids in college — and I advise that they hold off on taking control like that, because college is the time to learn how to advocate for yourself.

Do some students respond better to background noise as opposed to a quiet room?
Yes! Take notice of when you can concentrate, when you get distracted. Some people need lots of activity around them, so they need to find a busy time at a cafe and make sure they plop themselves down there for 30 minutes a day.

The post Study smarter, not longer, this year appeared first on Metro.us.

Georgann Mire is the founder of Mire Consulting, a Louisiana-based company that specializes in counseling and advocacy for dyslexic students. She is also on the board of directors for the Louisiana Branch of the International Dyslexia Association (www.interdys.org).

If you suspect that you may be dyslexic, is it important to get a diagnosis — even if you’re already in college?

Yes. There are so many ways dyslexic students can get derailed along the way, from final exams to certifications. Any assistance these students can get is going to help them.

Where can students receive a diagnosis?

A diagnosis can be expensive, somewhere around $1,200. This is a big problem, because often this testing stands in the way of a student receiving [his or her] civil rights. Some schools offer testing at their disability center. Some people are able to get tested through their state vocational rehabilitation agencies. If you have the money, a diagnosis is definitely worth it. On the International Dyslexia Association website, there is a screening tool to see if you are a candidate for testing.

Often, we think of dyslexia strictly as a deficit. Are there strengths that tend to be associated with it as well?

Absolutely. Kids with dyslexia are typically very creative and intuitive. Often, they are very mentally tough, as well, because they’ve had to navigate a lot of obstacles at school. Once they get into their own field, they often excel, because they naturally think outside of the box. They process language in a different way, so they give us a whole new perspective on the world.

The post When it comes to dyslexia, diagnosis is never too late appeared first on Metro.us.

The group noticed a theme emerging in their sessions: Almost every presenter felt Americans were loosing sight of the core values of higher education in pursuit of its economic benefits.

This month Lagemann, along with co-editor Harry Lewis, are releasing a book based on this quandary, featuring essays by a number of presenters from the Weinberg panel: “What Is College For? The Public Purpose of Higher Education.”

“I feel we’re suffering from a national myopia over a very limited kind of success when it comes to higher education. We seem to be obsessed with the economic impact,” says Lewis, a professor at Harvard and the author of numerous other books, including “Excellence Without a Soul: Does Liberal Arts Education Have a Future?” “I think the education world has to take some responsibility for allowing this myopia to develop without fostering a discussion about how we’re going to preserve education for the long haul.” 

But “What Is College For?” is a hopeful critique. In each of its six chapters, the authors seek to inspire readers to ask more of institutions and students alike.

“Right now there’s a lot being written about the failures of higher education. This volume is not designed to say that higher education is a failure or success,” says Lewis. “We’re trying to stimulate a discussion about what its purposes are, so you can have a reasonable conversation. There isn’t much value in that argument if you can’t agree on the basic purpose of education.” 

The post Tough questions for higher education appeared first on Metro.us.

Penn State’s Smeal College of Business, for instance, has responded by admitting a smaller number of students. “We admitted 79 students this fall, compared to 107 last year,” reports Stacey Dorang Peeler, director of admissions. “The quality of our students is more important than the number — we want to make sure we have a good mix.”

Temple’s Fox School of Business actually saw an increase in enrollment this fall. Vice dean Rajan Chandran attributes this to marketing. “Instead of just getting students from this region, we’re seeing more from elsewhere on the East coast, the rest of the country and the rest of the world,” he says. Temple’s longstanding commitment to international study has helped attract students from China, India and elsewhere.

Both Peeler and Chandran agree that there is a slight tendency toward younger students, as recent graduates try to upgrade their credentials in a still-tough job market. “You can’t benefit from an MBA program without a few years of real-world experience, though,” Chandran says, so only the very best candidates will be admitted directly from undergraduate school.

Military salute

Former members of the military often do well in MBA programs, according to Peeler. “Their leadership experience makes them a natural in business,” she says. And of course, GI Bill benefits can cover most education expenses at a state school like Penn State or Temple.

With the the war in Iraq ending at the end of this year, more veterans are expected  to begin — or continue — their education when they return.

The post Competition still tough for MBA programs appeared first on Metro.us.

– The majority of new graduates are struggling to secure careers, as the unemployment rate among them is the highest ever recorded at 9.1 percent. It’s a fact that could not come at a more unfortunate time, considering they are also facing more student loan debt than any class before them/ According to a new study by the Project on Student Debt, two-thirds of students who graduated in 2010 are facing steep student loan debt. Read more here.

– The Occupy Colleges movement, comprised of students who express solidarity with Occupy Wall Street, called for young people across the country to join a national event this week. Find out here why students and professors participate in the National Student Solidarity Teach-In.

– Wake up — it might improve your G.P.A.! A recent study shows that students who drag themselves out of bed to get to an early class actually have better grades. Believe it or not, students with 8 a.m. classes tend to have more regular sleep patterns and stricter daily routines — which could account for their better grades. Learn why alcohol also plays a role here.

– President Barack Obama said Wednesday that help is on the way for college graduates who are drowning in student loans. The President said he will speed up a plan to cap student loan payments at 10 percent of income. It was slated to start in 2014, but it will now start in 2012. Student debt will also now be forgiven after 20 years, instead of 25 years under current law. Paying off more than one loan? Find out how you could bundle here.

The post This week on EducationOption appeared first on Metro.us.

“Not only is there not a ‘Freshman 15,’ there doesn’t appear to be even a ‘college 15′ for most students,” said Jay Zagorsky, research scientist at Ohio State University’s Center for Human Resource Research and co-author of a study on college weight gain.

No more than 10 percent of all college freshmen actually gained 15 pounds or more — and a quarter of freshmen reported actually losing weight during their first year.

The results, published in the journal Social Science Quarterly, show that college students gain weight steadily during their college years, with women gaining on average seven to nine pounds, and men between 12 and 13 pounds.

Zagorsky said that most of us do gain weight as we get older, and “it is not college that leads to weight gain – it is becoming a young adult.”

Zagorsky said that women who do not go to college gained about two pounds and non-college males gained about three pounds during the year they could have been freshmen. That means that college freshmen are only gaining about a 1/2 pound more than similar people who did not go to school, says Zagorsky.

The study, conducted with Patricia Smith of the University of Michigan-Dearborn, used information from a study of more than 7,000 people nationwide. The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 interviewed people between the ages of 13 and 17 in 1997 and continues to interview the same people each year since then.

A variety of factors thought to be associated with freshman weight gain were considered, including living in a dormitory, going to school full or part-time, pursuing a two-year or four-year degree and heavy alcohol drinking (the consumption of six or more drinks on at least four days per month.)

The only factor found to make a significant difference in weight gain was heavy drinking. Even then, heavy drinkers gained less than a pound more than students who did not drink.

The researchers also examined what happened to the students’ weight after graduation and found they typically gained another 1.5 pounds a year in the first four years after college.

Zagorsky said he came up with the idea for the study after seeing a flyer for a fitness center aimed at combating the “Freshman 15.”

“I wondered if there really was a Freshman 15,” Zagorsky told Reuters. He had the data from the Longitudinal study, and decided to use it to test the “15″ theory.

The post Is the ‘Freshman 15′ just a myth? appeared first on Metro.us.

Over the last 80 years, the Rush Rhees Library has inspired many a campus ghost story, with its dark, imposing stacks of literature hidden in endless passageways.  Each year UR librarians transform the Rhees into a haunt for only the tweediest of book lovers. This year’s theme: “The Haunted Forest.”

Zombie walk at Bucknell University

This Halloween, residents of Lewisburg, Pa., will be confronted with hordes of zombies stumbling down Market Street, with police protection! Courtesy of Bucknell’s Interfraternity Council, the zombies will gather on campus, then moan their way through town to a screening of the 1968 classic, “Night of the Living Dead.”

Zombie drills at Ohio Wesleyan University

Partnering with their local Office of Homeland Security, OWU is making a hazardous materials spill demo  a little more interesting by simulating a zombie apocalypse. Today, authorities are hoping up to 350 locals will dress and act like zombies in order to practice emergency procedures. “If people are prepared for a zombie apocalypse, they will be prepared for more likely disasters such as floods or blizzards,” reasoned the Delaware County Emergency Management Agency in a statement.

Case Western Reserve University’s pumpkin toss

In what has become an annual tradition, CWRU’s physics department honors Galileo by dropping pumpkins of varying weights from the top of the physics building and howling with glee as they splat below. Onlookers are served cider and pumpkin pie.

The post The best college campuses for Halloween appeared first on Metro.us.

Allen Grove, an admissions adviser (and English professor at Alfred University in New York), has identified 15 factors to consider when evaluating colleges. He developed the list for students currently in high school, but thinks that most of the items apply to all potential college students, regardless of age.

“Graduation rates, student-faculty ratios and financial aid are just as important — maybe more important — to nontraditional and part-time students,” Grove says. “All of this data should be looked at in context, though.”

When looking at faculty, for instance, nontraditional students should look not just at class size but at who is teaching the classes they want to take. “Some schools primarily serve traditional-age students, so their full-time faculty is there. Degree-completion or general studies programs may be taught by adjunct [part-time] faculty hired just to teach those classes,” Grove explains.

The one factor he’d add to the list for nontraditional students would be the availability of support services. “When are campus offices open? Are they strictly nine to five, or are they open evenings?” he asks. 

What to evaluate

Here is Grove’s list of factors.
   
1. Attractiveness of campus
2. High graduation rate
3. Low student-faculty ratio
4. Good financial aid
5. Internships and research opportunities
6.?Travel opportunities
7. Engaging curriculum
8. Clubs and activities to match your interests
9. Good health and wellness facilities
10. Campus safety
11.?Good academic support services
12. Strong career services
13.?Good computing infrastructure
14.?Leadership opportunities
15. Strong alumni network

You can read more about the significance of each factor at www.collegeapps.about.com.

The post Factors for evaluating your future college appeared first on Metro.us.

Now — after 20 years spent in various hip-hop scenes as an artist, organizer and scholar — Dr. Petchauer has completed his first book examining the culture of hip-hop on college campuses. “Hip-Hop Culture in College Students’ Lives: Elements, Embodiment, and Higher Edutainment” will be released by Routledge Books this month.

“There’s been a lot of talk about hip-hop in education for a while, but most of the time it’s focused on how teachers use rap music in order to teach,” says Petchauer, who is currently a professor at Lincoln University in Philadelphia. “I wanted to look at the creative spaces where people create hip-hop and develop habits of body, habits of mind — and how they take those habits into educational environments. It’s a way to conceptualize and understand their education.”

Based on Petchauer’s doctoral thesis, “Hip-Hop Culture” examines the largely underground hip-hop scenes at three anonymous U.S. colleges located in Southern California, the Northeast and the South.

“I wasn’t focusing on students that just listened to hip-hop. I was interested in the kids that create and sustain hip-hop culture — these are MCs, dancers, DJs, graffiti writers and event organizers,” explains Petchauer. “Hip-hop has a tendency to co-opt the power of larger institutions in society and appropriate them for a different use. There’s an incredible amount of resources on college campuses that people involved with hip-hop can use to their advantage. College radio and rehearsal spaces have had this core relationship with hip-hop from the beginning.”

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Indeed, college faculty members who replied to queries for this article reported that their current students are — more than any other in recent memory — looking for safe-bet careers and trending away from the for-profit sector. “There’s certainly a willingness to work for government amongst millennials,” says Mike Hais, a former political pollster for the Democratic Party, and co-author of the new book, “Millennial Momentum: How a New Generation is Remaking America.” “That’s a big shift from proceeding generations. Boomers, to a considerable degree, were not comfortable in government, and Generation X was very anti-institutional. But if you ask millennials what their ideal employer is, hi-tech is at the top, but then it’s the State Department, the CIA and Teach For America. There weren’t many Baby Boomers in the ’60s that wanted to work for the CIA.”

Does this point to a pragmatic millennial zeitgeist, or is it simply a natural response to a disastrous economy? The two might go hand in hand. “We’ve noticed more students coming in before the semester begins worried about their choice of major, career-wise,” says Anthony Ciarleglio, director of cooperative education and internships at Western Connecticut University. “They’re more accepting of the public sector, because they see a secure job there.”

Strategic service

While millennials are especially interested in nonprofit and community service work, they’re also aware of their résumés.

“Boomers were very idealistic and ideologically driven — looking  for the solution that ‘feels right for me.’ Generation X was very practical and pragmatic: ‘I’m on my own. The only person that will watch out for me is me.’ Millennials have a combination,” explains Morley Winograd, Hais’ co-author on “Millennial Momentum.” “They value community service because they want to change the world, but they’re not going to do it if it won’t help them through the next hurdle of life.”

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– One of the best things about a degree in nutrition is the wide array of career options it gives you, according to Jule Anne Henstenburg, director of the Bachelor of Science in Nutrition program at LaSalle University. Read more about what you can do with a nutrition degree here.

 – Whether you’re just looking for some extra party cash or trying to make ends meet with tuition, the college job is vital to survival for many students. While there are many part-time options, some can prove to be more lucrative than others, if you just know where to look. Here are five of the most well-paying jobs to have while you’re in school, plus what you could earn, according to Indeed.com.

– Every college has its quirky traditions. When Hamilton College professor Chaise LaDousa was a visiting professor of anthropology at Miami University in Ohio, he witnessed a phenomenon unique to that campus’ culture: House signs. LaDousa and his students embarked on a research project about the decades-old tradition. The end result is his recently published book “House Signs and Collegiate Fun.” Read more about it here.  

– What do most companies do when they are trying to move a product? They have a sale. Now colleges are jumping on the same bandwagon. Introducing: tuition discounts! It comes at a time when students and families are more hesitant than ever to invest exorbitant amounts of money into higher education. Find out how you can get in on it here.

The post Right now on EducationOption appeared first on Metro.us.

According to data published by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University in 2007, half of all full-time college students engage in drug abuse or binge drinking every month. Additionally, one in four of those students met the medical criteria for substance abuse or dependence.

The 2011 National Drug Control Strategy supports Obama’s goals of reducing illegal drug use by 10 percent within five years and having the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020.

In a letter to higher education institutions, DOE Director Kerlikowske and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan wrote:

The detrimental consequences of substance use on academic performance are significant and demonstrate why we must invest in prevention efforts among youth. About 25 percent of college students report academic consequences of their drinking, including missing class, falling behind, doing poorly on exams or papers, and receiving lower grades.

The strategy calls for more educational campaigns on college campuses, as well as early intervention for at-risk students. The Department of Education also plans to partner with collegiate recovery programs and student organizations to increase peer communication. The letter also lets colleges know about federal agencies that can assist in creating prevention programs on campuses.

Do you think these plans will have an affect on drug and alcohol abuse among college students?

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“College education in particular pays off for those that get it. On the one hand, it provides a channel of opportunity for some people, especially those from lower-class backgrounds,” says Hout. “But for those that are left out, it actually contributes to American inequality because the wage gap between college and high school educated people is so great in this country.”

For Hout and his peers, there are severe hardships ahead for the U.S. economy if investment in disadvantaged students does not increase substantially. “In the 1970s, the U.S. was in a league of its own in terms of access to college. Most countries witnessed the success we had in transforming into a post-industrial, information-based economy and, now, have emulated it. We haven’t kept pace.” 

The post Opening the doors to higher education appeared first on Metro.us.

Most of us fondly recall the cold, tile floors, rickety bunk beds, broken AC window units (or none at all) and flimsy vinyl shower curtains of our own college dorms. However, there is a new generation of dorms– dorms that are probably nicer than the apartment you can afford during your first (or second) job. So enjoy it while it lasts!

CampusSplash has compiled a list of the country’s top 15 best dorm from about 9,000 votes from college students. Behold– the 2012-2013 Dormy Awards! Students say these dorms feel more like apartments or hotels. Check out the list and rankings below. Do you agree with the winners?

1. University Village Suites at Kennesaw State University (4.4)

2. Borgia Hall at Saint Joseph’s University (4.4)

3. Seton Hall at DePaul University (4.3)

4. University Commons at Georgia State University (4.3)

5. Academic Village at Colorado State University (4.3)

6. Newman Towers at Loyola University in Maryland (4.1)

7. Ivory Tower at George Washington University (4.1)

8. 1300 Cecil B. Moore Ave. at Temple University (4.1)

9. Klekotka Hall at Villanova University (3.9)

10. McGloin Hall at Creighton University (3.9)

11. Wolman Hall at Johns Hopkins University (3.9)

12. Opus Hall at Catholic University of America (3.9)

13. Unanue at Catholic University of America (3.9)

14. Durfee Hall at Yale University (3.9)

15. Race Street Hall at Drexel University (3.9)

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The WSJ compares it to a bet. Apparently, people feel better about the gamble if they think they have a 90 percent chance of winning as opposed to a 10 percent chance of losing. It’s kind of like the “glass is half full vs. half empty theory and it also applies to choosing your school:

Families may be drawn to a school that charges $40,000 tuition and offers a $10,000 “merit” scholarship instead of one that simply charges $30,000. Likewise, one school may say that, after allowing for all aid, the student need pay only $5,000. That may seem a lot more attractive than another school that makes the same $5,000 offer but spells out what the family needs to do to get there: $10,000 in grant aid, $12,500 in loans that need to be repaid with interest and $2,500 in on-campus work, leaving $5,000 to be paid now. Same apparent bottom line, quite different stories.

Families may also tend to overlook additional costs like housing, food and books and just focus on a “low” tuition. But those other factors can greatly impact the bottom line.

Another mistake is focusing too much on the short-term. Parents and students often project about how much the student will be earning at their first job, leading them to choose a school with lower tuition, even if it’s not the best choice.

The current economic climate also tends to have a hold on families when it comes to making decisions. If they hear about a graduate who is thousands of dollars in debt from student loans and still without a job, they tend to think this will happen to them, too. That frame of mind sometimes causes the impression that college isn’t worth the money.

Alas, there is hope. You can free yourself from the confines of your own misconceptions:

If parents understand more about the decision biases they share with the rest of the human race, they may be able to plan and save more effectively and to help their children make more constructive choices. They should actively question all of their assumptions and be open to planning, choosing and supporting their children even in ways that don’t immediately feel “right”—like taking on more debt for a higher-tier school.

So as long as you remember that you are a completely irrational person and that you should question everything you believe, you’ll be fine! Best of luck.

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It’s called the four-year degree guarantee and it could be your golden ticket if graduating on time isn’t realistic for you. The concept is becoming increasingly popular as a marketing tool at private colleges. At a time when students are graduating with an average of $8,337 to $12,701 in debt, the four-year degree guarantee is an attractive feature to parents and students alike.

Here’s how it works: Once the agreement is signed by the incoming freshman, the school accepts responsibility for the financial burden of the additional years it might take the student to complete the degree. If classes needed to graduate are unavailable or the student gets poor advice from advisers, the school agrees to pick up the tab.   

However, students have to hold up their end up the deal, too. They must stay on top of their academics and prove that they have met regularly with their advisers. So if that super senior status is a result of skipping too many classes or deciding to change your major halfway through your junior year, you’re probably on the hook for your own tuition.

“College is one of the most significant investments a family will make,” said Janet Stocks, associate academic dean for Baldwin-Wallace. “An incoming freshman probably doesn’t anticipate having to stay more than four years at a university. But it happens quite frequently to the dismay of both the student and his/her parents.”

Baldwin-Wallace College outside Cleveland, Ohio is one of about 15 colleges that offer the guarantee, according to the New York Times.

Would the four-year degree guarantee be incentive enough for you to attend a particular college?

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“College students have a giant bullseye on their back for a lot of reasons,” says  Mike Prusinski of identity theft prevention service LifeLock. “Organizations see them as a huge marketing opportunity, so they’re getting offers for everything. And they’re in situations where personal information and mail aren’t private. There’s a tremendous increase in risk.”

And as far as real-world wake-up calls, identity theft can be a particularly ugly and expensive one, with more red tape than your university’s financial aid office. “College students have this attitude that, ‘Nothing can happen to me; and even if it does, my mom and dad will fix it,’” Prusinski attests. “Well, they can’t — credit bureaus won’t talk to your mom. And if you’re a new college student, you now have a lot to do between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.”

Prusinski’s advice
   
Ask why everyone and anyone needs your info: “One thing college kids never ask is: ‘Why do you need it?’ But it’s no different than when you go to see your doctor. You have every right to ask, ‘Why do you need it, how are you storing it?’”
   
Think beyond your bank account number: “While most people are worried about someone getting ahold of their credit card or debit card, the real problem is when someone has your social security number and date of birth. If someone has your social security number, they can get a job, they can get medical care and they can file your tax returns.”

Follow Monica Weymouth on Twitter @MonicaatMetro.

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1. ‘Me Talk Pretty One Day’ by David Sedaris

In 27 short works, the author — made immensely popular by NPR — explores his family roots, while also noting how these memories affect his judgment in day-to-day struggles. “What our struggling freshman needs right now is a good laugh,” says  Rosemary Graham, professor of English at Saint Mary’s College of California. “If Sedaris’ hilarious account of his own struggle to adjust to a strange new world — in his case, Paris — doesn’t resonate, it will surely distract and entertain, which may be even better.”

2. ‘Invisible Man’ by Ralph Ellison

“Invisible Man” is the classic tale of a young African-American’s search for identity amidst a sea of prejudices. Lars Larson, professor of English at the University of Portland, explains it this way: “Students, newly on their own and on the hunt for an identity they can live with — one that strikes a balance between independence and conformity, between maverick roughness and the sandpaper of socialization — will find an easy kinship with the nameless narrator.”

3. ‘The Left Hand of Darkness’ by Ursula K. Le Guin

A seminal work amongst tweedy sci-fi readers, “Darkness” presents a distant future where Earth is abusing female intellectuals while a species of sexless aliens have different but equally galling prejudices. “[The protagonist’s] adventures are concerned primarily with otherness,” says Davis Schneiderman, professor of English at Lake Forest College.  “He’s someone from the outside having to quickly and carefully navigate what seems to be a daunting set of foreign customs, norms and social codes.”

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Krauss found this out the hard way when she left her position as a classics professor at Vanderbilt to pursue a career in technology.

She blogs about her experiences in higher ed and the outside world at WorstProfessorEver.com. We caught up with her for some tips on landing a job, with or without a diploma.

Know how to discuss coursework

There’s nothing wrong with taking a varied, liberal arts-heavy courseload — but be prepared to explain how these classes translate into job skills. “There’s a lot of resistance at the higher level by people who don’t want to turn college into vocational school,” says Krauss. “If you want to study poetry, that’s fine; but make sure you know how to present that to an employer.”

Join professional organizations
No matter your education level, it’s important to stay current in your prospective field of employment. “Conferences and professional organizations are one of the universals of professional development,” says Krauss. “It’s where you learn about the most current trends in your field.” And then, of course, list these babies on your current, relevant résumé.

Think twice about a master’s

An undergrad degree in linguistics that you don’t know how to use? That’s a forgivable move, and your university shares some of the murky guilt. But the old “wrong me once” adage applies to poorly thought-out master’s degrees.

After leaving Vanderbilt, Krauss discovered that advanced degrees weren’t always an asset when job-hunting in new fields. “An advanced degree scares people if you’re not in higher ed. A lot of the time, employers think: ‘Why would you want to do this?’”

Follow Monica Weymouth on Twitter @MonicaatMetro.

The post When college can’t cut it: What it takes to get a job appeared first on Metro.us.

Condé Nast is set to open a fashion college in London next September. The Condé Nast College of Fashion and Design will offer about 300 students the chance to participate in a year-long fashion foundation course sponsored by its Vogue brand, according to the BBC.

“Easy Living” magazine editor Susie Forbes has been named the school’s principal.

“With access to some of the sharpest and most creative minds shaping the fashion, design and interiors industries today, we aim to educate students to the highest level,” said Forbes. “It makes perfect sense for Conde Nast to open its college doors in London, the fashion capital of the world.”

Students will be immersed in courses like the history of fashion and design, the fashion year, print and digital journalism and luxury brand marketing. Magazine “House & Garden” will also collaborate on interior design and decoration courses.

Condé Nast managing director Nicholas Coleridge said,”Condé Nast is perfectly placed to enter the world of education. The reputation and authority of our brands puts us in a strong position to teach and inspire the fashion and decorating talent of the future.”

The Condé Nast College of Fashion and Design could find itself in competition with London College of Fashion and Central Saint Martins, both part of the University of Arts London.

The publisher says fees for the new school will be “in line” with those charged by other institutions.

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The average reading score of 497 marked the lowest since data became available in 1972, according to a report released by the College Board, which administers the exam. The math result of 514 has wavered within 1 point the past five years. The score for writing has fallen in all but one year since being added to the exam in 2005, and dropped to 489 this year.

The nonprofit College Board attributed declining scores to a larger and more diverse group taking the test, especially lower-income students and those who speak English as their second language. Blacks and Hispanics lagged behind their white peers, while Asian-Americans outperformed them in math and writing. Almost 1.65 million students in the 2011 graduating class took the test, according to the College Board.

The decline in scores undercuts academic progress cited under No Child Left Behind, the nation’s main public schools law, said Bob Schaeffer, a spokesman for the National Center for Fair & Open Testing, a Boston-based nonprofit group critical of standardized exams.

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She’ll be waiting for a while.

According to a recent study by Ethnographic Research in Illinois Academic Libraries Project, students are turning more to internet search engines and less to physical research.

The three-year study consisted of interviews with librarians, students and other campus faculty at five universities. They found that students often don’t know where to turn when it comes to doing real research within the library. In fact, students prefer to just enter a few key words into a search engine rather than pour through academic journals and encyclopedias. Does that really surprise anyone?

The concept of using a librarian for academic assistance is apparently foreign to the modern student, researchers told USA Today. Not good, especially since the study found that students were completely lost when it comes to using library research materials.  

The researchers said they were surprised by “the extent to which students appeared to lack even some of the most basic information literacy skills that we assumed they would have mastered in high school.”

Ouch.

But it’s just so easy to Google stuff!! Who needs books!? Apparently, students mentioned Google 115 times during the interviews for the study, more than twice as many times as any other research method.

Students aren’t completely to blame, though, for their lack of library prowess. Researchers also point the finger at librarians for overestimating students’ knowledge of research techniques, often resulting in conversations that leave students feeling intimidated.

Silly librarians! Where ever did you get the idea that students would know how to use a card catalog?

In a realization that shocks us all, Google isn’t the answer to everything (gasp!). The absence of real research knowledge among students could, in fact, hinder their future careers.

One of the researchers told the Australian news website The Conversation, “This isn’t just about doing academic research, but also about being a savvy, reflective, and critical consumers of information.”

Hear that, kids? You can’t just Google things for the rest of your life! Well, you probably can. But you should still hit the books anyway.

For more about researching your way to college success, visit EducationOption.

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In March, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers approved the future use of “.xxx” domains for adult websites. Now companies, organizations and colleges might want to consider whether they should buy up some “.xxx” real estate to avoid an embarrassing identity crisis.

According to Inside Higher Ed, the ICM register (the official registry for “.xxx” domains) will take applications from trademark holders this month, giving them the opportunity to snatch up an “.xxx” site with their names in front of it, before the porn industry does:

The non-profit EDUCAUSE recommends colleges take two steps to avoid their names being used: Make sure that the name is trademarked in precisely the form to be blocked, and then apply to a registrar that has agreed to handle “Sunrise B” applications for .xxx, submitting the required documents and fees.

A “Sunrise B” application is a request to block or reserve a “.xxx” domain. Inside Higher Ed points out that some schools might have it easier than others:

For example, Harvard — which owns a trademark on its name (as well as several variations, including “Hahvahd”) — will be able to register Harvard.xxx before anyone else has a chance to do so. However, colleges that do not own trademarks on their names — including colleges that cannot do so because their names are too generic, such as Smith College or Brown University — will not be able to block adult entertainers from scooping up Smith.xxx and Brown.xxx when the ICM Registry begins processing registrations from non-trademark holding applicants from the porn industry on Nov. 8. (Brown will have the chance to block BrownUniversity.xxx, however, as it does own that trademark; Smith will not be able to block SmithCollege.xxx, as its trademark on those words expired in 1991.)

Will your school make the move and  block an “.xxx” opportunist?

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Wages for college-educate people have deteriorated over the last decade. We already knew that men still earn more than women, but this is just extra salt in that wound: In 2000, the starting wage for men was $22.75 and $19.38 for women. In 2010, men were earning $21.77 and women were earning $18.43. Both sexes are taking a hit, just not an equal hit. The report says:   

This lack of wage growth may be particularly surprising to those used to reading about the vast unfilled need for college graduates, which if true would lead to increases in their earnings.

It’s still important to get your degree, of course, even though you won’t be seeing the rewards right away. According to a recent Georgetown University study, someone with a bachelor’s degree will make 84 percent more over their lifetime than someone with just a high school diploma.

The reports ends on this bright, little note:

Now, with unemployment expected to remain above 8% well into 2014, it will likely be many years before young college graduates — or any workers — see substantial wage growth.

Hooray.

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