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Top Colleges See Record-Low Acceptance Rates
Tweet Share on Facebook March 31, 2009 Comment (8)A bunch of acceptance rates are out, and it looks like some of the top schools (but not all) had record-low rates this year.
Harvard: A record-low 7 percent of applicants were accepted, down from 7.9 percent last year. That's just 2,046 of 29,112 applicants. The school saw a 6 percent increase in the total number of applicants.
Columbia: The university saw a 13 percent rise in the number of applicants (a record 25,428), resulting in a record-low 9.8 percent acceptance rate this year.
MIT: The school saw a 17 percent increase in applicants, and its admittance rate dropped to a record low of 10 percent, with 1,597 students out of 15,661 applicants admitted.
Brown: In its "most selective year ever," the institution admitted 10.8 percent of its applicants. The number of applications rose 21 percent over last year. In total, 2,708 of 24,988 applicants were admitted.
Dartmouth: The school has admitted 12 percent of its record 18,130 applicants.
Duke: The university accepted a record-low 17 percent of applicants after seeing a 17 percent increase in applications. "We'll be denying and wait-listing people that we may have easily admitted a year or two ago," said the dean of undergraduate admissions. "In terms of talent, broadly defined, this is the best class we've ever seen. And that's made possible by a larger applicant pool."
University of Pennsylvania: The school accepted 17 percent of its applicants this year, roughly the same as the year before.
University of Virginia: 29 percent of applicants were offered admission, compared with 35 percent last year. The total number of applicants rose 17 percent over last year.
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University of Nevada-Reno Plans for 20.7% Cut
Tweet Share on Facebook March 31, 2009 Comment (2)University of Nevada-Reno officials submitted proposals last week that outlined what would happen if the school had to cut its budget 20.7 percent, the Nevada Sagebrush reports. Under this scenario, the institution could lose two sports, 25 percent of classes, and its planetarium.
A 20.7 percent cut represents a reduction to 2006 budget levels. If the state cuts the entire higher education budget further than 2006 levels, Nevada would not be eligible for about $123 million of stimulus money.
University officials and Gov. Jim Gibbons have been in a loud and high-profile fight over how massive the cuts to higher education institutions should be. School officials would prefer cuts in single-digit percentages; the governor has proposed reductions of 36 percent, and Gibbons has asked the Obama administration for a waiver from the stimulus requirements. Budget levels from 2006 (an 18.8 percent cut to the entire system) fit snugly between these two constituencies.
At Reno, school officials have already made plans for a 14 percent cut, but "if they went to 20 percent, we're kind of out of options," said the Reno provost. "If we go further than [14 percent], I'm having a hard time figuring out where to go. We are just whacking all over the place." Officials would not name which sports could be affected by a 20.7 percent cut, but they said it would not be football or basketball. As for education, 100 faculty and 20 classified positions could be eliminated, and Reno could save $12 million by cutting about 800 class sections between 2009 and 2011.
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Babson Shuts Down After Norovirus Outbreak
Tweet Share on Facebook March 30, 2009 CommentBabson College in Wellesley, Mass., shut down at 5 p.m. Saturday because of a norovirus outbreak that has affected more than 100 students since Wednesday, the school reports. All classes and events have been suspended, and students have been asked to stay on campus and avoid congregating in groups to prevent the spread of the virus.
Symptoms of norovirus include nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea and last between 24 and 60 hours. Health officials do not believe the outbreak was food-borne and are still searching for the root cause.
The school plans to reopen Wednesday morning.
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N.D., Minn. Classes Remain Canceled to Aid in Flood Control
Tweet Share on Facebook March 30, 2009 CommentNorth Dakota State University, Minnesota State University - Moorhead, and Concordia College have canceled classes until April 6 so students and employees can help with the flood effort, the Chronicle of Higher Education reports.
Concordia turned off its water and sewage systems and closed its campus on Friday after the City of Moorhead advised evacuation of the area the college is located in. The college helped transport and arrange housing for students who could not return home. Concordia football players built dikes to protect houses, and its soccer teams helped protect a neighborhood from a flooding channel, college officials said.
Minnesota State, which is on relatively high ground, remained open even though classes were canceled and on-campus students were urged to go home. About 25 students who had nowhere to go were evacuated to Bemidji State University.
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MIT Officers Suspended for Trashing Student Newspapers
Tweet Share on Facebook March 30, 2009 Comment (1)Two MIT police officers have been suspended without pay after they admitted to trashing hundreds of copies of the student newspaper, the Boston Globe reports. Last Tuesday's issue of the Tech had a front-page story about another officer's recent drug trafficking arrest. The story featured a large mug shot of the officer, who is accused of distributing prescription painkillers.
About 400 copies of the twice-weekly paper were recovered from a handful of recycling bins around campus. "They put it in paper recycling," said the Tech's executive editor. "They were kind. It seems pretty polite."
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Maryland Raises $80,000 to Help Students Stay
Tweet Share on Facebook March 27, 2009 Comment (2)The University of Maryland has raised $80,000 for students who need aid to stay in school, the student newspaper, the Diamondback, reports. The Keep Me Maryland campaign started last month in response to the increasing number of students requesting financial aid, and the money raised will go specifically to returning students. This campaign is part of a larger initiative to raise $350 million toward scholarship funds and $1 billion overall by 2011.
Already the financial aid office has seen a 37 percent increase in the number of requests, and it expects $3 million worth of requests this year. Last year, the school was able to fund only $500,000 of such requests.
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Florida Programs Submit 10% Budget Cut Plans
Tweet Share on Facebook March 27, 2009 Comment (9)The various schools within the University of Florida have begun submitting their worst-case scenario proposals for across-the-board 10 percent budget cuts, the Florida Alligator reports. These proposals will be reviewed by the public and decided upon by the Board or Regents. The school is not planning a universitywide 10 percent cut, but it will use the proposals to determine which schools and departments will be cut to what extent. A rundown of some of the potential damage:
Nursing: The undergraduate program will likely be spared and there are no planned layoffs so far, but nursing could see reduced enrollment if the school does not bring back the same number of temporary faculty. The program would cut $813,000 from its budget, $609,000 of which would come by not filling eight vacant positions (seven professorships and one staff position). The program also would cut five temporary faculty members and an unknown number of student assistant positions.
Business: To help achieve a $2.3 million cut, the business program would lay off five faculty members, saving around $407,000. The school also plans to recoup $1.4 million via donations and revenue from online degree programs.
Medicine: The College of Medicine might be forced to cut $3.8 million, forcing it to lay off seven people and leave 28 positions vacant. The latter move would save about $2 million.
Design, Construction , and Planning: Its proposal would cut about $985,000 and would eliminate two vacant positions and involve layoffs of about six temporary faculty members and four faculty members who would not be eligible for tenure. Cuts would be concentrated mostly in the dean's office.
Journalism: To help cut $909,000, the proposal suggests eight layoffs and would leave empty two vacant positions. The college's Documentary Institute and the master's degree program in documentary film would be eliminated.
Dentistry: The program would have to cut $1.7 million, although a spokeswoman says much of that could be made up via clinical revenues and by attracting more donations and grants. The school does not plan to reduce enrollment and has no layoff plans.
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YouTube Launches Education Site
Tweet Share on Facebook March 27, 2009 Comment (5)YouTube has launched an education portal that compiles all the video from official university and college partners. Creatively named YouTube Edu, it's not the spot to find drunken frat-party antics, but even PR-sterilized content can still be interesting.
Currently, the University of Minnesota has a stranglehold on video popularity, and with good reason. Check out the Science of Watchmen and the impressively produced video on HIV/AIDS.
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Pitt Prepping for Victory Riot
Tweet Share on Facebook March 26, 2009 Comment (2)In preparation for a possible NCAA men's basketball championship win, the University of Pittsburgh is readying itself for potential rioting on campus after the April 6 final game, the Pitt News reports. The pre-emptive fight against rioting will be led by the university's Celebration Task Force, which was formed just after the Steelers' win at this year's Super Bowl when revelers caused at least $150,000 worth of damage on campus. "I was so disappointed after the Super Bowl," said the dean of students. "[The students] have left me no choice."
The university has instituted a no-tolerance policy for dangerous celebrations and right now is focusing on outreach, reminding students to stay responsible. Expulsion, especially for repeat offenders, is a possibility.
Officials hope to control the potential crush of people by screening the postgame show on a large screen surrounded by barricades and have planned a fireworks show if either the men's or the women's team wins the championship. One tactic considered and rejected: greasing light poles so they can't be climbed.
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San Jose State Rejects Qualified Students for First Time
Tweet Share on Facebook March 26, 2009 Comment (5)San Jose State University rejected 4,400 students this year, the first time the school has ever had to turn away qualified students, the San Jose Mercury News reports. Because of budget cuts, the school was forced to cap enrollment this year, enrolling just 29,750, down 9 percent from the previous year. "The situation is unprecedented," said Veril Phillips, San Jose State's vice president for student affairs. "We've never had a situation where there were so many applicants and we were not able to accommodate them."
Because of the school's commitment to local students, all applicants from Santa Clara County were accepted, as were all students who applied before November 20, when the state and school's dire financial situation became more apparent. The school also limited the number of transfer students it allowed in.
Admissions officials have already begun planning for next year in order to prevent the "sledgehammer approach" of this year's rejections, especially because the state's budget problems will most likely not be resolved by then.