State and local funding for higher education dropped 7 percent in the 2012 fiscal year, The New York Times reported. According to a report from the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association, per-student support dropped 9 percent from the previous year to a 25-year low of $5,896. The share of public university revenues from fees and tuition climbed to 47 percent in the past year, an increase from 23 percent in 1987. Before the recession in 2008, local and state governments provided a record high of $88 billion to colleges and universities. Higher education funding, despite state cuts during the recession, was kept relatively stable due to federal stimulus funding from 2009 to 2011. However, in the past year, most stimulus money was spent, leading to a significant decline in government support for higher education.
For $300 a month, students in Boston can have unlimited access to the seven full-time employees of Boston Collegiate Consulting Group, a new college concierge service, The Wall Street Journal reported. The service helps students find and decorate apartments, find academic tutoring and snipe restaurant reservations, among other chores. One Babson College junior, Salvador Neme, needed help throwing a last-minute party in his Boston apartment. With the service, Neme was able to host an authentic Mexican Independence Day soiree, complete with a bartender and a three-piece mariachi band. AJ Rich, the founder of the company, said his service offers an easy transition to college life in a new city. For many students, he said, it is "not an indulgence, but a need."
Princeton Talks, a student group founded by four Princeton University sophomores, will provide a public forum for students to discuss a range of issues on campus, The Daily Princetonian reported. The group found inspiration in the TEDTalks series and aims to remedy what one of its founders calls a "lack of conversation on campus." Once the group officially receives funding, it will organize public panels of five or six speakers who will give 10-minute presentations on a topic of their choice. This new student group is similar to Dartmouth's new Project Z discussion conference and xTalks series. This year's Project Z conference sprouted from last year's discontinued TEDx event and incorporated students' personal and inspirational stories. Dartmouth's xTalks, held last month, gathered students and faculty to debate about campus climate.
