Education News

MPR News keeps track of the latest education news in Minnesota so you can understand the events shaping the future of learning and how it impacts students at any level.

Stay informed about local education events, policies and more happening in schools and colleges across Minnesota.

Why textbooks cost so much
User:K.lee via Wikimedia Commons Planned obsolescence — not just for appliances anymore In light of the recent federal legislation to reduce the cost of textbooks, The New York Times offers a series of essays in its Room for Debate feature on “The Real Cost of Textbooks.” The book publishers supported the legislation. But a number…
From what appears to be state Rep. Pat Garofalo’s Twitter account: NEWIDEA-post ACT scores nxt 2 twitter name so we quickly figure who 2 ignore. Losing patience w ignorant basement dwellers who tweet allday.
With a reportedly mixed record on drug commercialization, the U is trying to turn more of its drug research into marketable products. According to the MedCityNews.com piece, it’s planning to spend $1 million a year on safety studies, and its philanthropic foundation wants to raise $50 million to support commercialization of the U’s various technologies. I have little…
Stuffing in those frosh at St. Thomas
Nationaal Archief via Flickr Rise and shine, Tommies Almost 200 more freshman than expected have chosen to enroll at St. Thomas this fall, and the upcoming surge has administrators scrambling. The largest freshman class in St. Thomas history (1,522) will change class sizes, faculty-student ratios and class registration, which might prompt the university to hire…
Former Ed. Dept. official under scrutiny for outside contracts
State officials are investigating a former top Education Department official for her role in negotiating a state contract. Chas Anderson was the No. 2 person in the department until she resigned last month.
Scoot Williams via Wikimedia Commons Better whip those graphics into shape In a recent Huffington Post piece, Florida Atlantic University newspaper adviser Michael Koretzky slams college newspaper Web sites, calling them “so damn boring” and the content mere “shovelware” poured into templates. That’s odd news to this former newspaper hack, who has read countless industry journal…
Minneapolis is the 6th best U.S. city for those just out of college and looking for jobs, according to this year’s ranking by Bloomberg Businessweek. At #1 was Houston, followed by Washington, Dallas, Atlanta, and Austin, Texas. The profiles are in a slide show, but the full list also appears in Twin Cities Business. Biggest loser?…
St. John's medieval find
One of St. John’s medieval Spanish Bibles Scholars at the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library at St. John’s University recently realized that the microfilm copies the library has of two early medieval Spanish Bibles are actually the only ones in existence. That’s big stuff, considering that the Bibles, Codex Complutensis I and Codex Complutensis II, were practically destroyed during the Spanish Civil War…