Biden Extends Pause on Student Loan Repayments 90 Days

President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that his administration will extend the pause on student loan repayment in the United States until May 1, 2022, in response to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.  According to a statement from the president released by the White House, pausing loan repayments is part of the country’s economic recovery. …

Despite Bonanza, Aid Trickles Slowly to US Homeless Students

Frank Hardy, 18, has been homeless for the past eight years, moving in and out of shelters with his mom, or staying with his sister’s family while his mom has been in jail. As part of an economic stimulus package to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Congress voted in March to fast-track $800 million…

US Rhodes Scholars for 2022 Includes More Women, Immigrants

The class of U.S. Rhodes scholars for 2022 includes the largest number of women ever selected for the scholarship in one year, the Rhodes Trust announced Sunday.  Of the 32 students chosen to study at the University of Oxford in England, 22 are women, the office of the American secretary of the trust said in…

Pandemic Dents Turnout at Brazil University Entrance Exams

Turnout for Brazil’s standardized university admission exam on Sunday appeared to be the lowest in 15 years, in large part reflecting the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the nation’s education, according to experts. Just over 3 million students signed up to take the annual exam, down 44% from last year’s registration and the lowest…

 US Colleges, Universities See Sharp Losses During Pandemic

The number of students studying at U.S. colleges and universities sharply declined for the school year that started in September 2020. Experts attribute the decline to the COVID-19 pandemic.   A survey of almost 3,000 institutions of higher education in the U.S. showed a 15% decrease in the number of international students attending the 2020-2021 school year.   The number of new student enrollments was…

Are Britain’s Top Universities for Sale?

Some of Britain’s prestigious colleges — including the ancient universities of Cambridge and Oxford — are being accused of losing their moral compass by accepting donations from what critics say are dubious sources. The University of Oxford, London School of Economics and University College, London, have prompted a firestorm of criticism for accepting millions of…

Hong Kong Student Group Shutdown Seen as Move Against Critics

Hong Kong’s universities have been under fire in a series of student arrests and university organization clampdowns since the territory’s controversial national security law was implemented in 2020. In the latest episode, the student union at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, one of Hong Kong’s most prestigious universities, dissolved itself in October under pressure…

Bomb Threats Investigated at Brown, Columbia, Cornell

Bomb threats at three Ivy League college campuses caused evacuations and police investigations Sunday, with at least two schools saying the threats there were unfounded. Cornell, Columbia and Brown universities alerted students to the threats. Authorities at Columbia and Brown said campus buildings had been cleared Sunday evening. In Ithaca, New York, Cornell police cordoned…

Ivy League President Calls College, University Rankings ‘Daft’

The president of Princeton University, which routinely leads the lists of best colleges and universities, advises applicants to be wary of choosing a school based on ranking lists. “My university has now topped the U.S. News & World Report rankings for 11 years running. Given Princeton’s success, you might think I would be a fan…

Nebraska School District Hires Students as Interpreters

 Facing staff shortages, public schools in Nebraska’s largest city have turned to bilingual high school students to interpret when families talk with teachers during report card conferences. The Omaha school district has some full-time bilingual liaisons, but students and their families speak more than 100 different languages, and more than 18,000 students have received services…

Zoom Gets More Popular Despite Worries About Links to China

Very few companies can boast of having their name also used as a verb. Zoom is one of them. The popularity of the videoconferencing platform continues to grow around the world despite continued questions about whether Chinese authorities are monitoring the calls. Since Zoom became a household word last year during the pandemic, internet users…

Students in US State Sue for Right to Civics Education

Students in Rhode Island are asking a federal appeals court to affirm that all public school students have a constitutional right to a civics education, saying that they aren’t taught how to meaningfully participate in a democratic and civil society and that the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol was a symptom of such ignorance.  Students…

Neuroscientist Leaves Rich Legacy for Students From Diverse Backgrounds

A Pakistani neuroscientist who came to the U.S. as an international student has died at 43, leaving behind a movement of support for diverse and nontraditional young scientists. “My campaign will provide awards to young scientists from backgrounds that are diverse, under-resourced, marginalized or traditionally under-represented in psychological and neural sciences,” Nadia Chaudhri wrote in…

Caste System Seen as Diversity Issue on US Campuses

Colby College is banning discrimination based on caste, a system of inherited social class, becoming one of the nation’s earliest colleges to do so. The private liberal arts college revised its nondiscrimination policy to add caste to its list of protections for the campus community. The efforts were led by a professor who took an…

Rastafarian Teen Fights to Keep Dreadlocks

Tyrone Iras Marhguy had to make a difficult decision after being accepted to the high school of his choice: his faith or his education. An official at the academically elite Achimota School in Ghana told the teen he would have to cut his dreadlocks before enrolling. For Marhguy, who is a Rastafarian, cutting his dreadlocks…

US Student Faces Prison for Helping Islamic State

A former Chicago college student was convicted Monday of attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State group. Thomas Osadzinski, 22, wrote a computer code to help IS bypass programs designed to block the group’s propaganda, prosecutors said. The former DePaul University student, who was born in a Chicago suburb, was living in the city…

Law Would Give Afghan Scholars Special Visa to US

A congressman from California has introduced legislation that would give Afghan Fulbright scholars special immigrant visas.   The legislation would automatically issue a special immigrant visa to any Afghan who lived in the United States as a Fulbright scholar and to their immediate family members to help them “escape persecution by the Taliban and relocate safely to the United States,” according to a statement from the office of U.S. Representative John Garamendi, a Democrat. “Fulbright…

Winner in Popular Game Show Reads This Encyclopedia Every Night 

Not many computer science students command a lot of attention, especially from the American public. But Matt Amodio, a student at Yale University, is on a streak. He has persevered (at last count) 36 consecutive times on the wildly popular and geeky game show “Jeopardy!” where the goal is to know more than your fellow contestants…

Fulbright Applicants in Afghanistan Seek Help

Afghan semifinalists for next year’s Fulbright scholars’ program are asking the U.S. government about the status of their candidacies, following the closure of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul as American troops withdrew from Afghanistan in August.  “After the fall of Kabul on August 15, we did not hear back from the U.S. State Department on…

Troubled Student Loan Forgiveness Program Gets an Overhaul

The Biden administration is moving to relax the rules for a student loan forgiveness program that has been criticized for its notoriously complex requirements — a change that could offer debt relief to thousands of teachers, social workers, military members and other public servants. The Education Department said Wednesday it will temporarily drop some of…