Tracy Davidson

The government is moving forward with its crackdown on the country’s for-profit schools, aiming to protect students from taking on too much debt to attend schools that do nothing for their job prospects. The Department of Education has finalized its “gainful employment” rule, which will ban for-profit schools like DeVry University or Apollo Group Inc.’s [...]

The House Republican budget is now out in the public. Though it’s in sharp contrast to Gov. Tom Corbett’s spending plan, the parameters of the budget had been public for several days before Tuesday’s official announcement. The GOP plan would maintain Corbett’s $27.3 billion spending level, but dramatically increase funding for State System of Higher [...]

Employers plan to hire 19.3% more recent graduates this year, says a report by the National Association of Colleges and Employers. The association surveyed 174 schools from February through April. The increase in open positions means employers have half as many applicants per job now than at this time last year: 21.1 applicants this year [...]

As colleges and universities begin setting tuition for the upcoming academic year, a few schools are already touting their efforts to keep costs down. Last Thursday, the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia announced a 3.9% tuition increase, its “second smallest … in 43 years.” A day earlier, The University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn., [...]

Three years of falling real estate prices, and three bad bets placed with a giant Wall Street bank, have pushed Philadelphia’s city-run Girard Estate to make drastic cuts in Girard College, the free boarding school set up by Philadelphia’s richest citizen in his will 180 years ago. “We have downsized the school,” Joseph S. Martz, executive [...]

Just in time for the fall semester, New Jersey has sent colleges and universities within the state a reminder about its new law regulating credit card issuers on campuses — including a ban on the freebies that used to lure college students to sign up for the cards. Piggybacking on the 2009 federal law, New [...]

USA TODAY College students will be able to shop around more for deals on textbooks, thanks to a new law that took effect this month. The Higher Education Opportunity Act requires colleges to release required book lists at the time of class registration. Publishers must disclose prices and revision information to schools. Proponents say the [...]

USA TODAY- In just a few weeks, thousands of recent high school graduates will pack up the minivan and head off to college. For many students, though, the thrill of embarking on a new adventure is tempered by the sobering reality of student debt. More than 60% of students borrow money to pay for college. [...]

USA TODAY- Even as Michigan endures the nation’s highest unemployment rate, there are jobs available in select fields for people with the right skills. Among the “hot jobs” highlighted by one college are pharmacy technicians, call center specialists, computer numerical control machinists and quality inspectors. The average wage for those jobs typically ranges from $12 [...]

The Lower Merion School District, embroiled in lawsuits over laptop cameras and redistricting, faces the possibility of a substantial tax increase for next school year. The current budget contained the largest tax-rate percentage increase in the region. The preliminary $201.5 million proposal for next year calls for a 4.39 percent tax hike. If that passes [...]