Due to the increasingly violent anti-government demonstrations in Cairo and other regions of Egypt, several United States colleges and universities have begun to help students studying abroad in Egypt relocate or return home, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported. It has been difficult for institutions to communicate with students due to the Egyptian government's decision to terminate internet access last Friday. The overcrowded airports and newly-imposed 4 p.m. to 8 a.m airline curfew also impede student departure from Egypt, Gary Rhodes, director of the Center for Global Education, said in an interview with The Chronicle. The U.S. State Department released a travel warning Sunday recommending that Americans in Egypt "remain in their residences and avoid all demonstrations" during the current period of unrest, according to the State Department website.
Cornell University's Board of Trustees announced Jan. 21 that the university's annual tuition will rise $1,875 from $39,450 to $41,325 for in-state and out-of-state undergraduates at the endowed colleges the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning, College of Arts and Sciences, School of Hotel Administration and College of Engineering for the 2011-2012 school year, according to The Cornell Daily Sun. The 4.8 percent tuition hike outpaced the national inflation rate, which was 1.5 percent in 2010. Tuition increased at an even higher rate at Cornell's contract colleges, with an increase of 7.9 percent scheduled for 2011-2012. Cornell Vice President of Planning and Budget Elmira Mangum defended the tuition rises as necessary given the institution's rising costs and the reduced state funding provided to contract colleges. Cornell will supplement the tuition increases with a "concerted effort to streamline operations and reduce expenses," Mangum said in a statement, The Daily Sun reported.
Eduardo Ochoa, the U.S. Department of Education's assistant secretary for postsecondary education, encouraged institutions to "speak with one voice" and reform the public perception of higher education at the Association of American Colleges and Universities' annual meeting on Friday, according to Inside Higher Ed. Changing the nature of higher education discussions will help institutions secure much-needed national funding, he said in an interview with Inside Higher Ed. At the meeting, Ochoa urged colleges to communicate "their shared values" to the community such as the "transformative power of higher education" and the "quiet miracles" that occur on campuses, Inside Higher Ed reported. Ochoa also voiced support for the "gainful employment" regulations, which would prevent federal aid from helping career-oriented programs at which many graduates fail to earn enough to pay back loans.
