Colleges across the country are cutting back on technology spending in response to the current economic crisis, according to the results of the Campus Computing Project's 2008 survey, as reported in the Chronicle of Higher Education. The Project, which surveys over 500 colleges and universities, reported that around 29 percent more public universities and nine percent more private colleges indicated decreases in their technology budgets since last year, the Chronicle reported. Even with these setbacks, technology directors continue to expand programs at their institutions, including systems that immediately notify students and faculty about emergencies on campus and programs that detect plagiarism. The need for technological advancements on campuses continues despite the decreases in spending, which has forced colleges to find more economical ways to maintain technology services, according to the Chronicle. According to its web site, Campus Computing Project, started in 1990, is "the largest continuing study of the role of information technology in American higher education."
Tuition has risen approximately five percent on average since last year for both public and private universities, according to the College Board's annual Trends in College Pricing report. Overall, four-year private colleges in New England were found to have the highest prices in the nation for tuition and room and board, and New Hampshire was reported to have some of the highest costs for public two-year and four-year colleges. Moreover, at public universities, tuition only accounts for one third of students' annual costs. According to the report, only 19 percent of undergraduates attend universities with tuitions over $24,000. Despite the rising costs of attending college, the percentage of high school graduates attending college has increased 17 percent in the past thirty years.
A recent study by Arizona State University found that social
networking web sites may be beneficial to colleges, Inside Higher Ed reported Thursday. In a survey of more than 3,000 undergraduates, 93.2 percent of students reported using social networks such as Facebook and MySpace, which has lead colleges and universities to consider ways to use these sites to communicate with students, according to Inside Higher Ed. Chong Ho Yu, one of the researchers, argued social networking sites could increase student retention, because such sites help integrate students into the social and academic realms of college life. Although students said they are reluctant to interact with faculty through Facebook or MySpace, researchers believe that these networks could be used to match roommates based on interests and to contact prospective students. The findings were released at this year's annual Educause conference, which discusses trends in information technology at U.S. colleges, according to the conference's web site.
