The U.S. Senate is currently considering a bill that would raise the upper limit on the value of federal loans available to college students, according The Chronicle of Higher Education. The bill, which was passed by the House of Representatives on Wednesday, would increase the amount available per student by $2,000 per year. Several student organizations object to raising the student loan maximum, claiming that adding $8,000 to already heavy student debts will only worsen the economic burden of attending college, The Chronicle reported. The bill's opponents also argue that colleges may raise tuition bills in response to the increased loan limits, according to The Chronicle. Other organizations, including the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, support the federal loan increase, arguing that the measure will help students avoid taking out expensive private loans, The Chronicle reported.
American college students have lower scientific reasoning abilities than their counterparts in China, according a study published in Science magazine last week. Chinese students scored an average of 66 percent on a test of knowledge about electricity and magnetism, while the American students averaged 27 percent, Inside Higher Ed reported. Lei Bao, the study's main author and director of Ohio State University's Physics Education Research Group, said the test may have been unfair, as American secondary institutions often do not emphasize the theoretical concepts the test included. The study's results should encourage American and Chinese educators to improve their scientific teaching methods, Bao said, particularly by emphasizing student reasoning skills.
Dartmouth students and staff are competing in RecycleMania 2009, a contest in which colleges attempt to recycle more materials than their competitors, according to a Dartmouth press release. Dartmouth team members will collect and weigh recycled items on campus each day, and report the data to the competition's coordinators. Gary Hill, director of custodial and recycling services at Facilities, Operations and Management, said in the press release that he sees the competition as a way to encourage greater recycling efforts on campus. The competition is also an opportunity for Dartmouth to reevaluate and improve its existing recycling programs, Hill said. The competition began on Jan. 18 and is organized by the National Recycling Coalition.
