NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF over at the New York Times serves up 15 ways to stay safe when traveling abroad. He is a big advocate of real world experiences:
If colleges provide credit for dozing through an introductory Spanish class, why not give credit for a “gap year” in a Bolivian village? If students can learn about [...]

With yesterday’s graduation marks yet another graduation–20 or so if memory serves me correct. So I look to higher ed commencent speaches for inspiration and find it in David Foster wallace’s speech given to kenyon College back in 2004:
David Foster Wallace
“Real Freedom?”
Commencement address at Kenyon College
Gambier, Ohio, USA
May 21, 2005
David Foster Wallace, 1962-2008, was an [...]

even if they don’t. “With the profusion of companies and Web sites offering to help draft applicants’ personal statements for a fee, no admissions tutor believes them to be the sole work of the applicant anymore,” Geoff Parks was quoted as saying in both The Times and The Guardian. “We certainly don’t assign any marks [...]

NACAC has released another study examining college admissions–this time focusing on dose SAT prep work? The Wall Street Journal reports that the study found an average 30 point increase. So why do test prep companies routinely advertise and even guarantee more substantial gains from 5 to 8 times!
Technically a 30 points increase is NOT statistically [...]

The New York times is running a series on their blog, the Choice, give advice to juniors as they begin their college search. Anyone can write in and a guidance counselor will possible respond to your question. Here is a sample:
How do you highlight a special skill that may be attractive to a college. And [...]

Over the past year, lots of stories have emerged focusing on Chinese students cheating to get into college, cheating at college, or buying degrees. The latest involves a girl who stole another girl’s identity to go to college. But the Chinese are not alone as this excellent article outlines vey diverse cheating in the USA [...]

I had no idea just how many colleges had revamped their liberal arts core requirements–sure Harvard has been commented on a lot, but “18 percent have adopted changes in the last five years, 30 percent are assessing learning outcomes to consider possible changes, 22 percent are in the process of discussing proposals for changes, and [...]

From Inside higher ed:
After career at Yale, Alison Richard was tapped as Cambridge’s leader. In podcast interview, she discusses academic leadership and the future of research universities.

Apparently quite, at least according to college presidents who took up the Wall Street Journal’s challenge to answer their own application essay question:
Even some presidents say they grappled with the challenge and had second thoughts about the topics they chose. Several shared tips about writing a good essay: Stop trying to come up with the [...]

Amazon launches the Kindle DX today jumping into the higher ed textbook market with much fanfare. With 6 well selected partners, Princeton, UVA, PACE, Arizona State, Case Western Reserve, and, Reed, higher ed pundits should be jumping up and down.

Apparently the kindle Dx is not yet fully baked. Although resleased you cannot actually get one. [...]