I recently wrote a post on MBA programs overseas. One of the main points of the article focused on the growing distrust of US MBA programs because of the current economic situation. Critics of US programs cite a certain level of arrogance within our business schools. The schools are listening, and have started taking major steps to overhaul their programs, both in the short and long term. (more…)

A recent study showed that seven out of ten high school students say that the economy has affected which colleges they’ve applied to. While economic concerns are certainly valid, you shouldn’t sacrifice applying to your dream school simply because you might not be able to afford it. Financial aid is still available, you’ll just have to work harder to find it. (more…)

A growing number of US students are heading overseas for their MBAs. This leaves me to wonder: is this a sign of the times, a necessary market evolution due to the stress put on America’s businesspeople and their alma maters? Or is it less complex than that and based on the shorter, less expensive programs? More likely, it’s a convenient combination thereof. (more…)

I went to an overcrowded high school. It was built for 1800 students; there were nearly 2300 of us. Classes were held in converted faculty lounges and the larger storage closets. Some higher level classes couldn’t be offered because there were too few of us to occupy the valuable room. Universities are cutting classes available and upping class sizes to compensate, leaving students to question the quality of education they’re paying for. (more…)

Being required to do community service brings images of road-side work crews dressed in bright orange with a police officer in charge. This was going to change. One of Obama’s plans for higher education was to offer a tax credit that required community service. This seemed like a great example of that vote-for-change, yes-we-can message that characterized this administration’s run for office, but it didn’t come out the way it was supposed to. (more…)

The Bureau of Labor Statistics, which is a very handy Web site for occupational info of all kinds, showed that there were only two industries that actually added jobs in January of this year: private education and health care. The February numbers are out, too, but they didn’t show growth in education, so we’re going to ignore those for now (incidently, health care continued to show growth–thanks to stimulus packages coming down the pike, it looks like health care is a solid career choice). Education is a big part of this country’s infrastructure, and improvements via stimulus packages have been getting some heavy coverage lately. (more…)

We’ve been seeing newspapers take a hit lately. It’s part of this whole adjustment to the Internet that we’re all still making. More people are getting their news online. It’s free. It’s fast. It’s easy. It’s chic. With the economy the way it is lately, newspapers are also seeing a decline in ad revenue and cut budgets across the board. For the larger papers, this isn’t the best situation, but they have a bit of a cushion–not to mention a devoted readership. It’s the local papers that are taking the biggest hits, and newspapers put out by college students are no exception. (more…)

I remember the first time my parents pitched the idea to me. I was entering the fourth grade, and they sat me down. An A would earn me two dollars, a B would earn me one, and a C would get me grounded (that wasn’t part of the pitch, but it was implied). It didn’t really motivate me over the course of the semester; the reward came too long after most of the work was done. The idea was that school was my job. They, my parents, went to work; I went to school. I must admit that I never actually bought into that, not even in college.

Meanderings down memory lane aside, the question is: Should we reward children for academic achievement? (more…)