College Costs Still Rising, But More Slowly

This year's College Board survey of higher education costs has found that tuitions at U.S. colleges and universities continue to rise, but at a slower pace than in previous years.

Students at public colleges and universities now pay an average of $5,836 in tuition and fees each year, 6.3 per cent more than in 2005.

Students at private schools now pay an average of $22,218, which is 5.9 per cent higher than last year.

The College Board report had even better news for students enrolled at two-year insititutions, where prices grew by only a couple of percentage points. Students eligible for financial aid may actually be paying slightly less to attend community colleges than they did a year ago.

Source: "College Tuition, Fees Up at Four-Year Public Schools," Associated Press, October 24, 2006

Georgetown Adds Farsi to Foreign Language Offerings

Georgetown University has added Farsi (Persian) to its list of foreign language classes.

Georgetown has offered Farsi as a summer course since 2003, but this is the first time that it has offered it as a foreign language course during the academic year.

Two classes, both taught by a native speaker, are being offered: Non-Intensive First Level Persian, for beginners, and Intermediate Persian I, for students who already have some knowledge of the language. Faculty, noting that student interest was high enough to quickly fill this semester's two classes, hope to expand course offerings in the future.

Farsi, which is spoken in Iran and parts of Afghanistan and Tajikistan, is one of several foreign languages which has become more popular on college campuses in recent years. Other U.S. colleges and universities which offer a Farsi or Persian language program are Yale, Princeton, Harvard, Emory, and the University of Virginia.

More Students Taking Both the SAT and ACT?

The number of high school students who either took or registered to take the SAT or ACT exam in October is significantly higher this year than it was a year ago, according to the organizations that administer the tests.

ACT registration has increased by about 17 per cent, and SAT registration increased by just under 16 per cent.

Educators and testers think that some of the increase may be due to students taking both the SAT and the ACT. The biggest increases in ACT registration took place in the Eastern U.S., where the SAT is the more traditional college entrance exam. Observers think that last year's problems with incorrect score reporting for the SAT, and anxiety over the longer length of the new SAT, may be causing students to hedge their bets by getting an ACT score for their college applications as well.

Source: "SAT, ACT See Number of Test-Takers Rise," by Justin Pope, Associated Press, as carried by the Washington Post, October 18, 2006

Union College Drops SAT/ACT Requirement

Union College has joined the ranks of selective colleges that no longer require prospective students to submit standardized test scores as part of their application package.

The change will take effect in the 2007-2008 application season and will apply to all applicants except those applying for the Leadership in Medicine program.

Admissions Dean Dan Lundquist told the Business Review of Albany, New York, that "We have learned that the best predictor of academic success is a past record of academic achievement in a demanding, rigorous class roster." Applicants who think their SAT or ACT score will strengthen their case for admission are welcome to submit the score, but the scores will no longer be required of any applicants.

The freshman class entering Union College this fall had an average SAT score of 1240.

Source: "Union College Joins Trend of Dropping SAT, ACT Requirement," the Business Review (Albany, NY), October 16, 2006

Gettysburg College Goes SAT-Optional

Pennsylvania's Gettysburg College has joined the ranks of selective liberal arts colleges that have adopted a SAT and ACT-optional admissions policy.

Faculty voted to change the College's standardized testing policy following a two-year study period.

Vice President for Enrollment and Educational Services Barbara Fritze told a local newspaper that Gettysburg staff and faculty had concluded that applicants' high school records were a better indicator of their academic potential than standardized test scores are.

Gettysburg is the 27th school on the US News & World Report's list of the top 100 US liberal arts colleges to go SAT-optional.

Source: "G-Burg Prospects Can Skip Tests," by Angie Mason - the York Daily Record, October 12, 2006.

Carrel Shortage Plagues Wesleyan Thesis Writers

Almost 70 Wesleyan students working on senior theses this year have not been assigned a research carrel at the University's Olin Library, the campus paper reports.

According to the Wesleyan Argus, 69 students have been placed on the wait list for carrel space this fall, compared to just 35 last year. In a typical year, about 15 waitlisted students are eventually assigned carrel space.

The carrel shortage is being caused by an increase in the number of students seeking carrel space and a temporary decrease in the number of available carrels as a result of building renovations.

Library officials say that it is difficult to expand carrel space because most of Wesleyan's carrels are actually small rooms with doors. 88 of the 108 students who are currently assigned to carrels have use of these 'single' carrels. 6 students are assigned to double carrels and the remaining 8 are assigned to group carrels.

The Olin Library uses lottery system to assign research carrels to students working on theses and senior essays. Each year, about a third of Wesleyan students opt to pursue a senior thesis in the Social Sciences, Sciences, or Arts and Humanities. A list of recent theses is available on Wesleyan's website: http://www.wesleyan.edu/admission/academics/academics-research.html

Source: "Space Case: Thesis Writers Suffering from Carrel Shortage," by Arie Eernisse, the Wesleyan Argus, October 6, 2006