A study conducted by Indiana University research analyst Amy Ribera determined that the education level of a child's parent does not serve as a good indicator for how well he or she will perform in college, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported. The study found that those whose parents had earned a baccalaureate degree were slightly less likely to engage in deep learning than their classmates whose parents did not finish college. The survey also showed that students who had vocation-oriented majors were less likely to engage in deep learning behaviors than those who majored in the arts or sciences and planned to attend graduate school. The study sampled 9,000 students, who were asked 12 questions each about his or her college learning habits.
A study published recently by Harvard Business School professor Doug Chung revealed that a university's athletic success can influence the number of applicants to the school, Forbes reported. Chung's study, "The Dynamic Advertising Effect of Collegiate Athletics," found that a school's applications increase by 18.7 percent when its football team goes from "good" to "great." Students who had below average SAT scores tended to apply to schools with better athletics programs, while those with above average scores applied to schools with academic prestige. Chung hypothesized that prospective college students' enthusiasm for athletics is due to sports' prevalence in American culture and concluded that universities should invest more money in their sports teams.
Data from the Department of Labor suggests that the job market is improving for college graduates, The Boston Globe reported. The unemployment rate for graduates fell to 12 percent in 2012 from 17.6 percent in 2009, and the overall jobless rate among all demographics fell to 7.6 percent last month from its 10 percent peak in October 2009. While the job market for recent college graduates has not recovered entirely from the recession, students who major in fields such as engineering and computer science generally face less difficulty finding jobs after graduation. Data from Northeastern University's Center for Labor Market Studies shows that recent graduates with degrees in math or science fields often find jobs more easily than their peers in the humanities.
