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On Campus Blog

Notes in the Margins: Amenities, student spending and the best celebrity commencement speeches

College Student Spending Power Flat This Year  After a big jump last year, discretionary spending by college students is expected to remain largely flat this year at $117 billion, per the latest College Explorer report from re:fuel. That remains significantly above discretionary spending power from 2009-2011, though, which stood at roughly $90 billion. (Marketing Charts via e-Strategy Trends) Fancy…
by Alex Friedrich

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Why Bethel is being public about its fight with the feds

On Friday, I reported on Bethel University‘s fight with the U.S. Dept. of Education over how the ED has been conducting its test of financial health on U.S. private colleges and universities. The feds say Bethel has failed it, and want it to post a multimillion-dollar letter of credit as a form of insurance. But…
by Alex Friedrich

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How Bennies are sharing their memories

How Bennies are sharing their memories

Now that it’s celebrating its centennial, the College of St. Benedict has released a nifty iPhone/iPad app  (Update: and an Android version as well) that helps its alumni share photos of their Bennie reunions: Help us celebrate 100 years of Bennie memories and connections! Snap a picture with a Bennie friend or other important person…
by Alex Friedrich

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What do you do when a MOOC student does not meet the prerequisites?

What do you do when a MOOC student does not meet the prerequisites?

I quickly learned one thing from my conversations with University of Minnesota faculty about their Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs): Students don’t follow directions — including when they choose which MOOCs to enroll in. Professor Chris Cramer’s “Statistical Molecular Thermodynamics” MOOC has a list of prerequisites — otherwise known “recommended background”: One year of college-level…
by Alex Friedrich

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Notes in the Margins: Roma, mascots and scholarships for the middle class

UCLA, Southwestern law students to write ‘real world’ amicus briefs Two Los Angeles law schools are launching programs designed to give their students real-world legal experience by writing briefs on behalf of nonprofit groups or other causes that professors deem worthy. (Los Angeles Times) For Roma, a Steppingstone to Graduate School A program at the Central European…
by Alex Friedrich

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Why Bethel University is fighting the U.S. Department of Education

Why Bethel University is fighting the U.S. Department of Education

Bethel University is challenging sanctions imposed by the U.S. Department of Education, which says the school has flunked its assessment of financial health. Federal officials have given the school until later this month to post a multimillion-dollar letter of credit. But the university’s finance chief says Bethel is doing fine, and that the federal assessment…
by Alex Friedrich

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When MOOC interactions are better than those on campus

When MOOC interactions are better than those on campus

In speaking to faculty for my story on how the University of Minnesota’s experiment with Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) is going, I heard several times that the anonymity of online interactions has enabled a few students to forget their manners sometimes. (That, as well all know, has been a common online problem for years.)…
by Alex Friedrich

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Notes in the Margins: China, the NSA and the elimination of tuition

NSA Recruiters Taken Apart By Ravenous University Of Wisconsin Badgers  A duo showed up at the University of Wisconsin, hoping to sell students attending a summer language program at the school on the idea of working for the NSA. The audience — comprised mainly of grad students and a few members of a local high school class…
by Alex Friedrich

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Why are federal agents at St. Cloud State?

Why are federal agents at St. Cloud State?

St. Cloud State University chemistry professor Jack McKenna tells MPR reporter Conrad Wilson why he met with FBI agents on Tuesday: “They were investigating the effect of transcript alterations, the removal of grades and the possible impact on financial aid eligibility.” Wilson reported on the mysterious disappearance of grades from transcripts last month. University spokesman…
by Alex Friedrich

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UMN faculty: MOOCs have made us rethink learning

UMN faculty: MOOCs have made us rethink learning

The University of Minnesota is underway with its first wave of the U’s free Massive Open Online Courses, and the verdict so far: It’s a lot of work. But professors are awed by the sheer reach their words have. And when they bring thousands of students and experts from all over the world to talk…
by Alex Friedrich

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