Boston College saw a 26-percent decrease in applications this year, a drop officials largely attribute to a new essay requirement. Last year the private Jesuit institution received a record 34,051 applications for 2,250 spots in its freshman class. This year approximately 25,000 students applied, and all of them had to do one thing their…

The author describes how providers of free online courses are officially in the headhunting business, bringing in revenue by selling to employers information about high-performing students who might be a good fit for open jobs. Coursera, which works with high-profile colleges to provide massive open online courses, or MOOC's, announced its…

Dozens of universities have started encouraging students to go abroad early in their college life in the last decade, offering overseas opportunities that last a week to a full academic year, in countries as diverse as Britain, China, and Mexico. A variety of factors are driving the growth. Universities say the programs help globalize the…

This article reports on the studies of Caroline M. Hoxby, a professor of economics at Stanford University; and Sarah E. Turner, a professor of economics and education at the University of Virginia, who examine why bright students from low-income families do not apply to select colleges. After analyzing millions of records from the College Board,…

Participation in two federal programs that supplement Pell Grants for high-achieving, low-income students grew significantly in the last academic year, though not as much as the Education Department had hoped, suggesting that the fledgling programs are still struggling to gain their footing. Approximately 465,000 college students received aid from…

In September 1965, not long after news broke about a Pentagon-sponsored program to study social conflict in South America, the Social Science Research Council played host to a meeting on overseas research. Feelings were raw. Opposition to the Vietnam War was mounting, and many scholars worried that the Pentagon's studies of conflict and…

Yielding to pressure from Congress and grant recipients, the U.S. Education Department has agreed to abandon a controversial evaluation of the Upward Bound (UB) college-preparation program. The study, which began last year, was designed to measure whether Upward Bound would have a bigger impact on college-going rates if it were refocused on…

The Davidson Academy of Nevada may have one of the most-intelligent student bodies in America, with each student required to be in the 99th percentile on IQ or achievement tests. But these kids need room to run and jump and have someone to talk to as much as any middle schooler. The 44 students now at the academy are at the precarious stage of…

Discusses how new studies indicate that high achievers indeed influence their peers academically, but that it is not always clear how. (EV)

The 50 colleges and universities attended by the most 1984 freshman National Merit Scholars are ranked, and the number of students receiving scholarships from institutional funds is reported for most of those institutions. (MSE)

This article deals with issues of community-college transfers of students from Alamance Community College to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This article discusses the involvement of the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation in the issue of community-college transfer. The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, based in Lansdowne, Va., near Washington,…

Discusses the special situations of college professors who are the offspring of academics, including forging an independent identity when a parent is eminent in the same field, advantages of the family connection, and nepotism. Most such academic offspring report that the advantages of the family connection outweigh the disadvantages. (DB)

Describes how the competition for top students for business and law schools has become so fierce that recruiters are perfecting the "hard sell." (EV)

InterAmerican College in San Diego (California) is an 18-month-old institution that specializes in helping college-educated immigrants acquire U.S. degrees so they can find jobs that make use of their prior education and skills. Despite obstacles, including lack of accreditation, the state-licensed institution may fill a niche. (MSE)

Reports that student computer programmers from Russian universities, despite outdated equipment, poor facilities, and meager salaries, recently dominated the International Collegiate Programming Contest World Finals with the team from St. Petersburg State University winning first place. Western companies are developing arrangements with Russian…