Universities Weblog

(Source: NCAAsports.com)It's Final Four time, and all eyes are on college basketball's showcase. Teams that shoot over 50 percent will no doubt do well. Too bad graduation rates aren't that high.

College Athletes, it seems, particularly those in basketball and football, typically don't complete their studies. As a New York Times article points out, 16 of the original field of 65 teams in this year's tournament have graduation rates of less than 25 percent. That means fewer than one in four—maybe one of the starting five—will graduate in six years. Four teams have a rate of zero.

A recent study showed that, overall, Division I athletes graduate at a rate of 62 percent (again, within six years). But for basketball, that figure drops to 42 percent. And for minority students, the rates are dramatically lower. The article cites one scholar whose research reveals that over the past 10 years, "more than 50 Division I basketball programs had failed to graduate even one black player."

To its credit, the NCAA is trying to address this issue. But as long as the NFL and NBA continue to offer riches to underclassmen, the problem will persist.

There's hope for students and families who are considering several colleges but can't visit all of them. For a modest price of $15, a company called Collegiate Choice will provide a walking tour on video.

As this article points out, these videos have their limitations, but they can convey more than what you'll find on a college's Web site. The narrated videos are supposed to be unbiased and present a more balanced view of each campus community. The company's site is fairly basic, though it offers admissions tips and humorous takes on college life.

To learn more about online tours, visit campustours.com. This company is dedicated to creating virtual tours and offers links to those at hundreds of colleges.

But keep in mind that there's no substitute for visiting a campus in person. If you're planning to drop thousands of dollars and spend four important years of your life somewhere, it's best to take a test drive.

Evidently, some conservative groups don't trust public universities when it comes to affirmative action. Three national organizations are hoping sunshine laws will require universities to disclose just how race factors into admissions decisions. Not surprisingly, college officials aren't eager to cooperate.

What would these organizations do with such information? What would it prove? Who knows? But according to one group's spokesman, taxpayers "have every right to know precisely how applicants are being treated" by public institutions.

We have every right to know lots of things we'll never know.

Worried about whom you might have to live with next year? Hate your current roommates? You're not alone.

That's why some colleges, such as those discussed in this article, now offer online roommate selection. With this service you can create a profile outlining your living habits and preferences, and browse the database to find students whose profiles match yours. You can also correspond with potential roomies. The system is supposed to supplant the traditional approach of throwing students together randomly.

Still not satisfied? Try a single.

Here's a site dedicated to advancing the use of blogs in education. "It's my place to collect ideas for Web logs in the classroom," the site's author says, "to ask questions to the teacher Web logging community, and to reflect on my teaching. It's also intended to be a clearinghouse for sites and issues relating to Web logs in education."

You'll find dozens of examples of how blogging can influence teaching and learning. While most relate to K-12 classrooms, some university links do make the "best practices" list.

For those interested in such issues, this site's a goldmine.

It's a familiar theme: a recent high school graduate wants to continue his education but isn't sure about where he wants to go or what he wants to study. Why invest thousands of dollars in a college just to experiment? he thinks. Instead, he opts to enroll at a community college, studies for one or two years, then transfers to a four-year college after amassing credits and saving money on tuition.

These days, that story has become even more familiar, and studies show that community colleges will become an increasingly popular option in the next decade. Two-year schools are even attracting traditional-age students who, in years past, might have gone straight to a four-year institution. As a result, the average age of students at some community colleges has decreased dramatically over the last ten years.

The downside, of course, is that these traditional students now compete for limited spaces with non-traditional students—working adults, low-income minorities, and first-generation college goers whom the community college system was ostensibly created to serve. Here's a snippet from the Washington Post:

Others worry that a Crush of young, middle-class go-getters could squeeze out the older and lower-income students whose education was the founding mission for community colleges. "It raises real questions about the access to opportunity," said Robert G. Templin Jr., president of Northern Virginia Community College, one of the nation's largest.

Community colleges "used to serve as an opportunity for the less well-prepared or first-generation students," Templin said. If admissions become competitive and budget cuts continue to reduce programs, "maybe they won't have a place now," he added.

I doubt community colleges will become bastions of privilege, but in the zero-sum game of college admissions, disadvantaged populations counting on guaranteed enrollment might someday be unpleasantly surprised.

It seems incredible, but every year college campuses witness 20 homicides, on average. As this article points out, though, that figure rises to 70 if you include off-campus students.

What's more, the U.S. Department of Justice says that in recent years "students were 14 times more likely to be victims of violent crimes off campus than they were on campus."

Why? Evidently, off-campus digs host raucous, unsupervised parties that often lead to violence. Plus, students find trouble traveling to and from campus.

Even in "safe" towns, you can't be too cautious. It's best not to walk alone, especially at night. adopt a pack mentality—you know, the buddy system.

Simply put, use common sense.

(Source: Brown University)Little Rhody sure is causing quite a ruckus these days. First, as I reported last month, students at Rhode Island's Roger Williams University established a scholarship for whites only. Now, neighboring Brown University has created a committee to examine that school's historic ties to slavery.

Brown president Ruth Simmons, herself a descendent of slaves and the first African-American woman to head an Ivy League school, convened the "Committee on Slavery and Justice." This group will spend two years digging deep into Brown's past to investigate how slaves and the slave trade shaped the university's early years.

And to what end? Well, nobody's quite sure yet, but Simmons is talking about "making reparations" of some sort. According to the New York Times, the committee will "recommend whether and how the university should take responsibility for its connection to slavery." Reparations? Responsibility? Brown's formative years may unfortunately have been tainted by connections to slavery, but to imply that the university is today somehow responsible for actions that occurred 240 years ago seems ludicrous. And suggesting Brown must now make reparations smacks of political grandstanding.

Everyone's familiar with U.S. News and World Report's rankings of colleges and graduate schools, as well as some others such as those in Business Week. For people obsessed with rankings, here's a smorgasbord of them. You'll find links to evaluations of undergraduate schools, law and Business Schools, and even international programs. The site also offers commentaries on rankings and links to dozens of similar pages.

A rank enterprise, indeed.

Interested in a particular college? You might want to let them know.

Increasingly, colleges and universities are paying attention to students who demonstrate a special affinity for them. As USA Today makes clear, colleges track students' interest from initial contact through the application process, even going so far as to chart the number of times they log on to their Web sites. Scary stuff. According to the article, the National Association for College Admission Counseling "found that 55% of 595 [colleges responding to a survey] said they consider demonstrated interest when they evaluate applications, and nearly a third said it is of moderate or considerable importance."

Apparently, colleges believe high interest among candidates translates into better yield statistics. Yield, of course, is the percentage of accepted students who choose to attend. The higher the yield, the more "desirable" a college appears. But given the widespread use of early decision programs to tweak yield figures, U.S. News stopped using the stat in its annual college rankings. Still, yield is an important measure for enrollment planning.

So here's the rub: "It's a game," says Shirley Levin, an independent college counselor in Rockville, Md. "But I tell my students and families that it's (the colleges') ballgame, not ours, and if they say that they pay attention to whether you show some interest, then by golly, I guess you better show some interest."