In his first book, "Acts of Faith," Eboo Patel describes his early encounters with interfaith events in the late 1990s. He was not impressed. "They were excruciatingly boring," he writes. Why so much talk and so little action, his restless, twenty-something self had wondered. "And where were the young people?" Fast forward a dozen years. Now 37,…

At many colleges, taking time off to care for a relative, or missing a few days of class to attend a funeral, can be difficult for students. They may encounter a professor who tells them, in so many words, to suck it up. They might have difficulty negotiating extensions for assignments and make-up dates for exams. Although most institutions have a…

Hunger on campus is part of a lingering national problem that grew after the financial crisis that began in late 2007. In an unforgiving economy, many students across the country struggle not only to pay tuition but also to buy food. Colleges and nonprofit groups have noticed, and more are reacting. Food pantries are cropping up on two-year and…

Amid a national debate about paying college athletes, the NCAA likes to tout its often-overlooked Student Assistance Fund, whose goal is to provide direct financial support to players. The fund--which draws from the association's multibillion-dollar media-rights deals--will distribute some $75-million this year to Division I athletes. The money…

At Middlebury College--and on campuses throughout the country--class is coming out of the closet. Long hidden from view, economic status is emerging from the shadows, as once-taboo discussions are taking shape. The growing economic divide in America, and on American campuses, has given rise to new student organizations, and new dialogues, focused…

Every discipline has its own specialized language, its membership rites, its secret handshake. In its most benign and neutral definition, jargon signifies "the technical terminology or characteristic idiom of a special activity or group." More often, however, the jingly word that Chaucer used to describe "the inarticulate utterance of birds" takes…

American colleges have to be in India. After all, no other country in this century, save China, is likely to be as important geopolitically, financially, demographically, or culturally. Globally savvy students ought to study here. There are research opportunities for political scientists and public-health specialists, economists, and…

The author introduces a new program that brings city kids who really need college to a private rural campus that really needs kids. Under the program, called Pipelines Into Partnership, a handful of urban high schools and community organizations--the groups that know their kids beyond the black and white of their transcripts--determine which…

Scholarly groups have long served as hubs of academic life and the embodiments of their disciplines, but they face uncertain and divergent futures. Some disciplinary associations are struggling to remain relevant and financially viable as demographic and technological changes threaten their traditional sources of revenue. The core of their…

More than half of students who belong to campus organizations experience hazing, according to a national study. While the practice is most common in fraternities, sororities, and varsity athletics teams, it also happens to half of students in performing-arts organizations and to more than a third of those in academic clubs, according to a report…

A newly compiled analysis by the U.S. Department of Education and obtained by "The Chronicle" shows that 114 private nonprofit degree-granting colleges were in such fragile financial condition at the end of their last fiscal year that they failed the department's financial-responsibility test. Colleges that fail the test are subject to extra…

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is no stranger to criticism. This article reports that during a meeting of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, some higher-education officials questioned the NCAA's handling of a CBS fantasy football league, announced over the summer, that would use college athletes' names. Many…

This article describes how nonprofit organizations like Hillel are offering free genetic testing for Jewish college students. A growing number of colleges, including Pittsburgh, Brandeis University, and Columbia University are offering students free or reduced-cost screenings for diseases common to Jewish population. Genetic diseases common to…

The high-school seniors drifting in and out of the office in New York should be weighing financial-aid offers and deciding where to go to college. But some of them have yet to begin the process of applying for student aid. This article describes a nonprofit group in Harlem which gives last-minute help to students uncertain about applying for…

Americans have decided that the work of nonprofit colleges and universities is so invaluable that they should be exempt from taxes. Those tax exemptions involve a social compact: In exchange, colleges are obliged to carry out the charitable purpose of providing the best education to the most students at the lowest cost. In this article, the author…