Harvard (sort of) apologizes for secret email probe following cheating scandal

Harvard University apologized for a subject-line search of administrators’ emails on Monday, according to CNN. An email sent from Deans Michael D. Smith and Evelynn M. Hammonds explained that the search was necessary to catch who had leaked a confidential email related to Harvard’s cheating scandal. The deans said the search was successful, limited to administrators’ email accounts and was limited to messages’ subject lines, meaning no emails were opened or read…

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Overeducated and underemployed

Getting a college degree still helps your chances of getting a job, but not necessarily a good one, CNN Money reports. Some Americans are becoming overeducated for the jobs that are available to them, as data shows more college educated workers are taking low-skill jobs that are clearly below their qualifications. Take taxi drivers for example. About 15%, or more than than 1 in 7, had at least a bachelor’s degree in 2010, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Compare that to 1970 when less than 1% of taxi drivers had college degrees. And the job description hasn’t changed much, if at all, since then.

“A lot of people, particularly people with bachelor’s degrees, are getting jobs, but not good jobs,” said Richard Vedder, an economist at Ohio University.

In a study released Monday, Vedder shows that about 37% of employed U.S. college graduates are working in jobs that require no more than a high school diploma……Read More

Students get creative in paying for school

What do sugar daddies, medical studies and pawnshops have in common? They help some students pay for a college education, CNN reports. With the average family reporting that they are only on track to meet 30% of their college savings goals, every extra dollar counts — and nothing is off limits. John McKinley-Campbell had no job, $135,000 in student loan debt and he wanted to go back to school to get his Ph.D. at Florida International University. In order to afford to make it all happen he became a lab rat. He has been participating in medical studies for pharmaceutical companies ever since his aunt saw an advertisement for one on TV. He lived in a medical facility for 14 days to test an arthritis medication and then signed up to receive injections of a breast cancer drug through an IV over the course of 8 days. Those two studies alone will earn him about $8,500, which he plans to put toward an $1,800 GRE preparation course, the GRE test fee of $175 and the university’s $100 application fee. The rest will go toward housing and tuition if he gets accepted. “If I can’t find work [while in school], there’s always a headache medicine I could test,” he said…

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Is Sebastian Thrun’s Udacity the future of higher education?

Educators and policymakers have long dreamed of providing universal, low cost, first-class higher education, says William J. Bennett, a CNN contributor. Their wish may come true soon thanks to an unlikely source: Silicon Valley. The mecca of the technology universe is in the process of revolutionizing higher education in a way that educators, colleges and universities cannot, or will not. One of the men responsible for what may be an Athens-like renaissance is Sebastian Thrun, Google’s vice president and pioneer in artificial intelligence and robotics. Known in science circles for his engineering feats — like Stanley, the self-driving car — Thrun is using his technological prowess to make quality higher education available to the world. I recently interviewed him on my radio show, “Morning In America.”

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Opinion: Do we need a revolution in higher education?

In spite of ever rising tuition and ballooning student loan debts, a large majority of students still desire to attend college, says William J. Bennett, a CNN contributor, and author of “The Book of Man: Readings on the Path to Manhood.”  Traditional notions are deeply engrained in the public’s mind. College is considered the path to a better, higher paying job, the best way to make connections and propel a career, and a status symbol, especially for those who go to elite universities. However, given the dismal reality facing college graduates, perhaps the future of higher education will have to change. In some cases, a college diploma may no longer guarantee the high potential lifetime earnings it once did. An online salary ranking system called PayScale.com calculates a student’s 30-year return on investment at the top 1,300 colleges nationwide based on average alumni salary and tuition costs. Their recently issued 2012 report suggests that out of the 4,500 colleges and universities in the nation only the top 800 to 850 give you an annual return on investment greater than 4%. In pure financial terms, students might be better off investing their tuition money in stocks rather than four years with one of our nation’s many colleges…

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NTSB recommends full ban on use of cell phones while driving

A federal safety board called Tuesday for a nationwide ban on the use of cell phones and text messaging devices while driving, CNN reports. The recommendation is the most far-reaching yet by the National Transportation Safety Board, which in the past 10 years has increasingly sought to limit the use of portable electronic devices–recommending bans for novice drivers, school bus drivers and commercial truckers. Tuesday’s recommendation, if adopted by states, would outlaw non-emergency phone calls and texting by operators of every vehicle on the road. It would apply to hands-free as well as hand-held devices, but devices installed in the vehicle by the manufacturer would be allowed, the NTSB said…

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New dating site helps college students find love

With countless dating websites such as match.com, eharmony.com and okcupid.com, the online dating market is a bit crowded. But Date My School has inched its way in and formed a niche for students searching for a boyfriend or girlfriend who shares the same educational goals and understands school comes first on the priority list, CNN reports. Lara Hirner, a grad student at Columbia University’s Teachers College, has gone on dates to the opera, Central Park and ice cream shops with guys she met on Date My School…

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Graph: Surging college costs price out middle class

What do you get when college costs skyrocket but incomes barely budge? Yet another blow to the middle class, CNN reports.

“As the out-of-pocket costs of a college education go up faster than incomes, it’s pricing low and medium income families out of a college education,” said Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of financial aid sites FinAid.org and FastWeb.com…

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Surging college costs price out middle class

What do you get when college costs skyrocket but incomes barely budge? Yet another blow to the middle class, says CNN.

“As the out-of-pocket costs of a college education go up faster than incomes, it’s pricing low and medium income families out of a college education,” said Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of financial aid sites FinAid.org and FastWeb.com…

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