Student activists in the U.S. have long championed both the Israeli and Palestinian causes. Amid the war between Israel and Hamas, many students report feeling threatened for their opinions. Activists claim to have been doxed (when your identity is unwillingly leaked to the public) and threatened online. Douglas Belkin and Melissa Korn speak to students affected for the Wall Street Journal. (October 2023) …
Leave a commentKatalina Karikó won the award for helping pioneer mRNA technology, which was used to develop the COVID-19 vaccine. Before that, she fled authoritarian Hungary, failed to earn tenure and toiled as an underpaid research assistant for years, with few taking her ideas seriously. Yet she never gave up on her research. In this op-ed for The Philadelphia Inquirer, Dr. Priya E. Mammen insists that Karikó’s accomplishment is “nothing short of heroic.” …
Leave a commentStudents can expect to pay $40,000 to $80,000 per academic year to attend a four-year American college or university, but there are ways to drastically reduce costs if you are an international student set on studying in the U.S. VOA’s Laurel Bowman has more. Camera: Adam Greenbaum, Saqib Ul Islam …
Leave a commentSonoma State University, a public institution in California, is offering guaranteed admission to any high school student who meets the minimum academic standards. In doing so, it joins university systems like the State University of New York, which sent 125,000 automatic acceptance letters last year. The scheme could expand access to education by reaching students who otherwise wouldn’t or couldn’t apply. Universities benefit, too, by admitting more students as the number of applications drops nationwide. Jessica Dickler has more for CNBC. (October 2023) …
Leave a commentPart of competitive collegiate admissions is crafting a compelling narrative about yourself, and part of sales is telling a story about your product and why it matters. Businesses and graduate schools are turning to professional storytellers to help. Marlena Corcoran has some of their insights in Forbes. (October 2023) …
Leave a commentThe Israel-Hamas war has animated students on college campuses across the United States. As young people voice their opinions, there are questions of safety, free speech rights and even future job prospects. VOA’s Tina Trinh reports from New York …
Leave a commentAndrew Raupp, a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) educator, contends that STEM degrees prioritize cramming facts over the thoughtful, questioning Socratic method once common in the humanities. Read the op-ed in Newsweek. (October 2023) …
Leave a commentThe group that successfully won a landmark college affirmative action lawsuit earlier this year is suing to end raced-based admissions at the United States Military Acadamy at West Point. According to a report from CNN, the conservative group Students for Fair Admissions is asking that the academy be prohibited from considering or knowing an applicant’s race during the admissions process. (September 2023). …
Leave a commentA TVC News Nigeria report says that about 14,000 Nigerian students are currently studying in the United States, and more would like to join them. But they need information about schools and the proper processes to follow. (September 2023) …
Leave a commentJanhavi Munde, a student from India, writes about her experiences going through international student orientation at Wesleyan University in the U.S. state of Connecticut. “We were all away from home, we were all converting kilometers to miles on a daily basis, and we would all make jokes about American food and deportation as our go-to,” she writes. Read the entire piece here. …
Leave a commentThe Teen Mag takes a look at the application process at U.S. colleges and universities, specifically the Common App. The Common App lets students apply to many universities at once via a common application. Writer Charu Yadav examines the process from an international student’s point of view. Read the article here. …
Leave a commentWith the highest number of international students since the start of the pandemic, one U.S. university is conducting a program to help foreign students feel more at home. Kent State University in Ohio hosts Conversation Partners, which pairs international students with students from the U.S. Yui Kaichi, writing for Kent Wired, explains how the program is helping students make new friends and learn more about the world. (September 2023) …
Leave a commentEnrollment declines and other financial pressures could lead more U.S. colleges to close or merge with other institutions, according to Fitch Ratings. The company told Bloomberg News that half of its below-investment-grade ratings on higher education entities carry a negative outlook, Yahoo! Finance reports. (September 2023). …
Leave a commentWithin the past year, young journalists have produced investigations that led to the resignation of Stanford University’s president, the firing of Northwestern University’s football coach, and a school shooting graphic so striking that it led a veteran newsman to say, “I’ve never seen a better front page.” All while making sure to get their homework in on time. A news industry that has been shedding jobs as long as they’ve been alive, and the risk of harassment when their work strikes nerves hasn’t dimmed the enthusiasm of many college students — often unpaid — who are keeping the flame alivemore
Leave a commentSome students at a few U.S. universities blamed Israel this week for the Hamas militants’ attack on the Jewish state, drawing a sharp rebuke from academic leaders at the schools as well as from prominent alumni and potential employers. The debate touched off at Harvard University, the alma mater of eight former U.S. presidents and perhaps the most politically influential school in the country. A coalition of 34 Harvard student organizations said they “hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence” following decades of occupation of Gaza. They called Israel an “apartheid regime” and said it was “themore
Leave a commentFor international students who have been accepted to a U.S. college or university, the journey has just started. One part of that is applying for an international student visa, and that can mean months of waiting. The World reports that lengthy wait times can cause problems for students, but also for a nation trying to attract talent from around the globe. …
Leave a commentHigh school students’ scores on the ACT college admissions test have dropped to their lowest in more than three decades, showing a lack of student preparedness for college-level coursework, according to the nonprofit organization that administers the test. Scores have been falling for six consecutive years, but the trend accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Students in the class of 2023 whose scores were reported Wednesday were in their first year of high school when the virus reached the U.S. “The hard truth is that we are not doing enough to ensure that graduates are truly ready for postsecondary success inmore
Leave a commentIt has been 25 years since the body of Matthew Shepard was discovered in Laramie, Wyoming. The gay college student had been tied to a fence post, tortured, and left to die. The murder drew national attention to violence against gay people, and attracted the interest of theater director Moises Kaufman, who turned the horror into art with “The Laramie Project.” This 25th anniversary has triggered deep sadness for Kaufman, founder and artistic director of the New York-based Tectonic Theater Project. He wonders about all the things Shepard could have become. “Every year around this time, it’s painful to remember,more
Leave a commentCultural differences can lead to misunderstandings about issues like plagiarism and copying the work of others, but the penalties can be severe: A mistake can lead to a failed assignment, a failed class or expulsion. U.S. News & World Report explains what international students need to understand about academic integrity. (August 2023) …
Leave a commentLeadership skills can help international undergraduate students land a scholarship in the United States. According to U.S. News and World Report, a track record of teamwork and good writing skills will also help. …
Leave a commentA sophomore business student from India says he’s living his dream as a student at Fordham University in New York. At Fordham, Om Bhosale says, he’s been able to combine two interests: entrepreneurship as part of his business administration major and global business as a minor. Read an interview with him here. …
Leave a commentWith easily accessible artificial intelligence programs available to write essays, and learning loss from pandemic restrictions hard to measure, some U.S. colleges are trying a new method to get to know applicants. They are inviting potential students to campus. Times Higher Education explains how personal interviews are being used to evaluate candidates. …
Leave a commentOne of the first women’s colleges in the United States is the target of a federal lawsuit, with five current or former tenured faculty members saying the school pays female professors less than their male counterparts. The New York Times reports Vassar College, in Poughkeepsie, New York, also faces allegations of delayed promotions for female professors and a discriminatory performance-evaluation system. (September 2023) …
Leave a commentU.S. policymakers are worried about losing potential American advances in science and technology to China, and this could lead to limits on academic exchanges. Fewer research papers are being jointly authored by scientists from the two countries, and there are signs that the United States is becoming a less desirable study destination for Chinese students. But academic ties should be preserved, according to an article in Foreign Affairs magazine. …
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