college

Class, today's lesson in back-to-school shopping is what grownups call a good news/bad news situation. First, the goods news: Back-to-school spending is expected to increase over last year, according to the retail analyzer ShopperTrak. The bad news: Shoppers won't be coming to the store as much.

This week, researchers at Georgetown took the nation's humanities majors to task for making such unlucrative choices in college. But their report takes too shallow a look at the results of not becoming an engineer. Former Latin American Studies major Loren Berlin offers a wider take on the real value of a B.A. in the humanities.

Sending a new college student off to school with a computer is so time-honored, I myself -- some 20 summers ago -- was gifted with a new computer (a Tandy desktop). I think it cost about $1,000 in 1991 dollars and stayed with me through four years of school, a double major and a 72-page honors...

My friend, Larissa, tells a story about a collections agent who called while she was working at an entry-level job for a non-profit and having a hard time making payments on her student loans. "You can't use your degree if you can't pay for it!" the woman almost shrieked at poor Larissa. Even...

In today's tough economy, a college degree is even more necessary -- though it's no guarantee of a job. But with tuition costs going through the roof, what's a frugal student to do? Try getting a deep discount on your degree with the help of the local community college.

Last month we wrote about the Get Schooled College Affordability Challenge, a national competition organized by MTV, the College Board, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to re-imagine and simplify the college financial-aid process by using digital tools. The submissions were winnowed...

Liberal-arts degrees get a bum rap. After all, what in the world are you going to do with that philosophy or American history degree? And why spend $30,000 and upwards annually to learn about it? Well, actually, it's because a liberal-arts degree is a versatile ticket to a wide range of jobs, and...

In February 2011, the U.S. House of Representatives passed an appropriations bill that would cut the Federal Pell Grant Program, beginning in July 2011. The bill is now being debated in the Senate as anxious students await the outcome for the college funding program. The Federal Pell Grant,...

With warm weather around the corner, it's time for many high school students to start touring college campuses and making decisions about their higher education. The process can be overwhelming as students contemplate cost, location and campus life, so here are six apps for under $2 to help find...

In an effort to be hip, the College Board asked one-third of SAT-takers this year to write an essay on whether reality TV shows are beneficial or harmful. That was a bad choice on multiple levels, and an excellent metaphor for much of what's wrong with the whole college admissions race.