Posts filed under 'News'
With the New England Patriots and New York Giants facing off in Super Bowl XLVI next month, we wanted to see where they stacked up, in terms of colleges and universities. Neither town fumbles with its wide array of schools, which have turned both areas into hubs for higher education.
The Boston, Mass., area – home to the New England Patriots – boasts elite schools including Harvard University and MIT (both in nearby Cambridge), private and public two-year and four-year universities, community colleges, and technical schools. The team plays outside of Boston, at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.
Here’s our Super Bowl-worthy lineup of historic and innovative colleges and universities in Boston.
Boston University
Number of students: 33,480
Founded: 1839 (It actually began as a Methodist seminary in Vermont and moved to Boston in 1867.)
Majors: Boston University has more than 250 fields of study.
Cool fact: Boston University has seven Nobel Prize winners, including Martin Luther King Jr. (who earned his Ph.D. from the school in 1955), and 22 Pulitzer Prize winners among its faculty and alumni.
Emerson College
Number of students: 4,290
Founded: 1880
Majors: Majors in the School of Communications and School of Arts are among its most popular.
Cool fact: Emerson has a well-developed comedy community that consists of several different comedy troupes.
University of Massachusetts Boston
Number of students: 15,400
Founded: 1964
Majors: UMass Boston has eight colleges and graduate schools, with the top five bachelor’s degrees awarded in management, psychology, nursing, criminal justice, and English.
Cool fact: The University has been recognized for its advocacy of human and civil rights, and works to promote social justice worldwide.
Berklee College of Music
Number of students: 4,131
Founded: 1945
Majors: The largest independent college of contemporary music in the world, offers majors in composition, contemporary writing and production, electronic production and design, film scoring, jazz composition, music business/management, music education, music production and engineering, music therapy, performance, professional music, and songwriting.
Cool fact: Berklee alumni earned 30 Grammy nominations in 2011.
If you go to or are applying to these or other schools in the Boston area, we would love to hear from you in the comments section below. Look for schools in the New York Giants area in our next blog post.
-Lori Johnston (additional reporting by Delaney Young)
January 30th, 2012
Here’s the scene I saw recently at a public university: Students spread out with laptops perched on tables or their knees, reviewing course material, doing online research, and of course, logging onto Facebook.
It may not be much different than what you see in the halls of your high school or at libraries or coffee shops.
A few of the college students had iPads, Kindles, and Nooks. But for the most part, the majority of them had the essential gear for a college student – a laptop – as they crowded into cozy booths near a coffee shop, claimed cushy chairs around TV screens, took a break to eat at tables in and near restaurants, and even sat on the floor near the stairs.
A lot of them had pricey physical textbooks and required books for class out with them, too.
But that all may be changing. Apple just started selling e-texbooks with a new version of its iBooks store, and high schools can buy them for their students. Plus, five colleges –the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Minnesota, the University of Virginia, the University of Wisconsin, and Cornell University – are planning to purchase e-textbooks in bulk (through the Internet2 program).
It’s great that these colleges are making an effort to curb the high costs of textbooks for students. But one big question is what type of prices can be set for the e-textbooks, and if they can truly be less expensive than traditional textbooks.
Other challenges still exist, such as making sure the e-textbooks are compatible on a laptop, smartphone, and tablet. The students at the colleges in the pilot e-textbooks program will use Courseload software to print, access eTexts on tablets, smartphones, and computers, and use annotation that can be shared with classmates and instructors.
Throughout your college experience, textbooks are going to be a big part of your budgeting each semester and anything that can be done to reduce costs can be helpful. And even better, those bulky backpacks filled with traditional textbooks may no longer be something you have to lug around.
What do you think — is the e-textbook a great idea or tech overload?
-Lori Johnston
January 26th, 2012
Recently, 23 universities were awarded a total of $150 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Education and private donors who want these innovative programs to help millions of students.
We took a look at the list of recipients in the 2011 Investing in Innovation (i3) Fund competition. There are some cool efforts that colleges and organizations, from coast to coast, are doing with middle school and high school students. See for yourself – here are four worthy of the spotlight:
Old Dominion University Research Foundation (Norfolk, Va.)
What it’ll do: Improve math instruction in high-need middle schools in Virginia, Texas, and Kansas by using online coaching, videos of effective classroom instruction for teachers, and a virtual community of learners.
North Carolina New Schools Project
What it’ll do: Create Early College High School programs in 18 rural schools that serve high-need students.
Oakland (Calif.) Unified School District
What it’ll do: Help improve college readiness by implementing The College Board’s EXCELerator process and providing other support to students and teachers.
Berea College (Berea, Ky.)
What it’ll do: Use Advanced Placement training in middle schools and high schools participating in the college’s Promise Neighborhoods project.
Do you feel as if your school system or local colleges and universities are helping you get ready for college? Let us know in the comments below.
-Lori Johnston
January 24th, 2012
Monday is Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, and it may mean a three-day weekend for you. Some schools are out, others are in session, but maybe your classes are taking time to discuss the late Civil Rights Leader.
Photo from: The Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change
King’s college career is definitely worthy of recognition, as he is one of our nation’s most famous graduates of a historically black college and university.
Check out these five facts about the education King received on his way to making a lasting impact on our country before his assassination in 1968.
1. Martin Luther King Jr. graduated from high school in Atlanta at age 15.
2. He entered Morehouse College, a HBCU for men in Atlanta, as an early-admission student in 1944.
3. MLK received his bachelor’s degree of arts in sociology from Morehouse in 1948 (his grandfather and father also graduated from Morehouse, and his son, Martin Luther King III is a Morehouse man).
4. At Morehouse, King was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the nation’s oldest fraternity for Blacks.
5. He earned a divinity degree from Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania in 1951 and then his doctorate from Boston University’s School of Theology in 1955.
If you’re in school on Monday, go ahead and bring up King and his legacy with your teachers and friends (maybe one of these facts can help create a discussion about him and college). And if you’re in the midst of college application madness, get some inspiration from this well-educated man who was so important in our nation’s history.
January 13th, 2012
For the first time, U.S. News has ranked online bachelor’s degree programs, giving another resource for those of you researching online learning in college.
The ranking looked at 196 online bachelor’s degree programs (plus more than 500 master’s degree programs) from for-profit and not-for-profit schools. To be considered an online program, at least 80 percent of the content had to be delivered online.
To stand out, the programs had to have strong faculty credentials and training, student services and technology, and student engagement and assessment – all of which can help enrich the online learning experience.
You may be surprised to see which four schools made the honor roll for online bachelor’s degree programs.
These universities are not for-profit institutions and are not in the online-only business – they have a long history of on-campus education, too. Another thing they all have in common: Classes are recorded and available online, which allows students to listen to lecture material when their schedule allows. Here’s a sneak peek…
Pace University (based in New York, NY) – Pace is proving the bigger doesn’t need to be better. With 196 students in its online bachelor’s degree programs – according to U.S. News data – the school ranked fourth in faculty credentials in and training and 10th in student engagement and assessment.
Granting online bachelor’s degree since: 2004
Online bachelor’s degrees: iPace Bachelor’s Degree Completion Program (B.B.A. in Business Studies w/concentrations in Internal Auditing and Business Communications, B.S. in Professional Technology Studies w/concentration in Computer Forensics)
B.S. in Professional Technology Studies, a part-time program offered in conjunction with the National Coalition for Telecommunications Education and Learning (NACTEL).
Florida Institute of Technology (based in Melbourne, FL) - In Florida Institute of Technology’s online bachelor’s degree program, students can still work full time while earning their degree, and courses last eight weeks. An estimated 4,631 students are enrolled in those programs, according to U.S. News, with the most popular being business administration and management.
Granting online bachelor’s degree since: 2008
Online bachelor’s degrees: B.A. in accounting, applied psychology, business administration, criminal justice; B.S. in computer information systems.
University of Florida (based in Gainesville, FL) – Students are joining the Gator Nation from afar, as online learners at the University of Florida. It has 557 students pursuing their bachelor’s degree online, according to U.S. News. The school cracked the top 20 in faculty credentials and training, coming in at No. 17.
Granting online bachelor’s degrees since: 2002
Online bachelor’s degrees: B.S. in microbiology and cell sciences, business administration, fire and emergency services, health education and behavior, sport management, and applied physiology and kinesiology
Westfield State University (based in Westfield, MA) – Westfield is tops among all online bachelor’s programs for faculty credentials and training, recognizing its focus on ensuring quality education by requiring all faculty who teach online to go through training. The school offers degree completion programs that allow most students with an associate’s degree to complete their bachelor’s degree online. Its online bachelor’s program had 57 students enrolled, according to U.S. News, but the school expects that online student enrollment will increase by a 300 percent this year.
Granting online bachelor’s degrees since: 2008
Online bachelor’s degrees: Business, liberal studies, history and sociology
The fact that online bachelor’s degrees programs are now included in U.S. News’ reflects how they are a viable option for students today.
What about online learning intrigues you most?
January 10th, 2012
When LSU and Alabama vie for the BCS National Championship tonight at New Orleans’ Superdome, we’ll see again how they match up on the field as football teams. LSU won when it played Alabama during the regular season, back in November, with a 9-6 victory. This football championship and other bowl games that have happened during the holidays are times that students, alumni, and fans look forward to so they can cheer on their schools.
As for LSU (ranked No. 1) and Alabama (ranked No. 2), both are in the Southeastern Conference and have a recent history of performing well in football (recently, LSU was national champion in 2007, Alabama in 2009). Here’s a look at how else the schools match up:
University of Alabama
Football Coach: Nick Saban
Mascot: Crimson Tide
School location: Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Number of students: More than 31,000
Year founded: 1831
Famous alumni: The Help author Kathryn Stockett, football players Joe Namath and Bart Starr, Broadway actor and Tony Award winner Norbert Leo Butz
LSU
Football Coach: Les Miles
Mascot: Tigers
School location: Baton Rouge, La.
Number of students: More than 26,000
Year founded: 1853
Famous alumni: Former President Hubert Humphrey, political strategist James Carville, basketball player Shaquille O’Neal, composer Bill Conti
If you’re watching a game, see what you think of the school’s commercials, or tell us if you’ve liked any other school commercials during the recent bowl games!
–Lori Johnston
January 9th, 2012
A lot of people like to get organized in January, and when you’re preparing to go to college, there are some key things students need to during the first days and weeks of the year, too. Maybe you’re already suffering from senioritis, or feeling overwhelmed by all the details required in the college application process. But take a deep breath and don’t let those gray winter skies (unless you are lucky enough to live in a state with perpetual sunshine) get you down. Instead, attack January with a new attitude looking to the future – graduating high school and going to college.
Remember all the school work you did during the fall? It may be a hazy memory for you, but many colleges want to look at your fall semester results as part of the college application process, according to CollegeBoard. One of the reasons for doing so is that colleges want to make sure you kept up your grades and didn’t drop any classes, so be proud of yourself if had a strong semester! And be sure to put this at the top of your to-do list: Ask your counselor to send your fall semester grades to colleges with your application in their hands.
As soon as Jan. 1 hits, you also can send in your application for federal aid for college, known as the FAFSA. Getting it in as soon as possible (and filled out CORRECTLY) is not just good for federal grant and loan money, but it will put you in the running for state- or school-based scholarships, grants, and loans, which can be granted on a first-come, first-serve basis. Submitting the FAFSA online also allows you to cut out any extra time it would take for your paperwork to be received.
Those are two big steps for high school seniors in January, and getting them done can make a huge difference when it comes to getting into the college of your choice and affording tuition next fall.
–Lori Johnston
January 2nd, 2012
Exciting news out of Cambridge, MA today–the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is planning to offer open online certificate courses through its new e-learning venture, MITx.
Millions of students have already taken advantage of the free lectures and course materials offered through MIT’s OpenCourseWare, but the school is upping the ante big time by offering certificates of completion of the coursework–not to mention pouring “millions of dollars” into the initiative, said MIT’s provost L. Rafael Reif (as reported in The Chronicle of Higher Education).
MIT was already a leader in the open-education movement a decade ago, but MITx is set to go far beyond simply posting videos and syllabi online. According to The Chronicle, although the first class has not yet been announced for the spring, the scope of the courses will be similar to those that attract hundreds of students to the on-campus lectures.
So does this mean you can earn an MIT certificate without moving to Cambridge? Not exactly. The certificate would be awarded under a different name, not MIT. But don’t let the lack of the MIT name lead you to believe that these classes are easy–hard work will be required of you, just like it is of the MIT students.
As of now, MIT does not have plans to offer online degree programs, but the increased breadth of open coursework is certainly indicative of the school’s interest in having a widespread audience for its curricula.
–Barbara Bellesi
December 19th, 2011
Thursday is Bill of Rights Day and it’s a day for you to possibly get bills – dollar bills, that is – for college. Singers Ke$ha and Blake Shelton are among the celebrities involved in a Dec. 15 tweet-athon, in celebration of the 220th anniversary of the Bill of Rights and its First Amendment. Let’s hear it for free speech!
The “Free to Tweet” effort encourages students ages 14 to 22 to share on Twitter how they enjoy their right to free expression. The best student Tweets – using #freetotweet – will win one of 22 scholarships, for $5,000. That’s a total of $110,000 in scholarships, funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
Other singers – Brad Paisley, Frankie Ballard, Darius Rucker, Joe Nichols, John Oates, Wynonna Judd, Sarah Jarosz, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Elenowen, Jana Kramer, Joanna Smith, and The Civil Wars – will be joining in with their tweets.
To be part of the scholarship contest, your tweet can stand alone or be linked to original content on a website or another type of social media. A panel of educators and First Amendment experts will review the entries and choose the scholarship winners.
So celebrate Bill of Rights Day – created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1941 – by expressing yourself via social media and trying to win cash for school. We’ll be watching your tweets from @CollegeBoundNet!
–Lori Johnston
December 14th, 2011
Here’s some news to made you smile on a Monday: President Obama met this morning with a small group of college and university administrators to discuss the soaring costs of higher education. Although this close-door meeting is considered an unusual one, not to mention a last-minute one, it couldn’t come at a better time, as student debt is quickly heading towards the $1 trillion threshold.
While the complete list of those invited to this meeting is unknown, Inside Higher Ed is reporting that the following colleges were being represented, and it’s quite a cross section: State University of New York, University of Texas System, University System of Maryland, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Maryland at Baltimore County, California State University at Long Beach, Ivy Tech Community College (Indiana), Carnegie Mellon University, Berea College, and Western Governors University.
It should be interesting to see what comes of this meeting, but for now, it’s certainly a step in the right direction. Join us today at 4pm ET for a Twitter chat on this and other hot topics in higher education.
–Barbara Bellesi
December 5th, 2011
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