Tag Archive | "majors"

Weekly College News Roundup: Student Loan Rate Doubles, David Patraeus Begins Lucrative Education Career


Federal student loan rates have dominated the news this week, and one former CIA Director is trying to hide on the sidelines as Gawker unveiled his massive salary for teaching just one class at CUNY. Also, read on to hear about the future of the English Major and the latest social trend: video sharing.

8265142495_0c23d13bbc_zStudent Loans Just Got Pricier

#Loans

Students expecting to get student loans next year may be facing a new, unexpected challenge if Congress can’t make a decision before their recess in August:

Subsidized Stafford loans, which account for roughly a quarter of all direct federal borrowing, went from 3.4 percent interest to 6.8 percent interest on Monday. Congress’ Joint Economic Committee estimated the cost passed to students would be about $2,600. – The Huffington Post

In a world where over 11% of people can’t afford to pay back there student loans at all, this increase amounts to a big hit.

Disgraced CIA Director Receives Comfy College-Funded Paycheck

#Professors

As Gawker points out in their report this week, most new professors at City University of New York will bring home only $25,000 per year for their efforts. Still, the school has seen fit to pay former CIA Director David Patraeus $200,000 for teaching a single class:

[Patraeus] will net a whopping $200,000 a year for the course, which will total about three hours of work, aided by a group of graduate students to take care of “course research, administration, and grading.”…That works out to approximately $2,250 per hour. – Gawker

Fortunately, it looks like his salary will be granted from a “Private Gift,” but it’s still got people questioning this use of funds.

Humanities Majors Continue to Decline

#Majors

English, History, Literature, and the rest of the humanities majors have dwindled, and many believe that’s a problem. It’s easy to let them pass by the wayside when faced with an economic crisis, but is there something more we can do to help them return to glory?

The teaching of the humanities has fallen on hard times. So says a new report on the state of the humanities by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and so says the experience of nearly everyone who teaches at a college or university. Undergraduates will tell you that they’re under pressure — from their parents, from the burden of debt they incur, from society at large — to choose majors they believe will lead as directly as possible to good jobs. Too often, that means skipping the humanities. – New York Times

The Social Medium of 2013: Micro-Video

#Technology

Snapchat, Vine, and now Instagram have all made a big splash in the mobile social networking markets, and it looks like that trend will continue into 2013. More on micro-video on CNN.

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