Penn in the News

Anthony DeCurtis of the School of Arts & Sciences talks about rap artist Kanye West and the discussions he provokes in DeCurtis’ pop culture and arts criticism course.

For-profit tutoring companies are targeting students with online ads these days, and the message is tempting. Why spend so long studying, the ads say, when paid tutors or study guides can help you get better grades with less work? At Pennsylvania State University, that marketing has grown so loud, and the commercial tutoring so popular, that the student government voted last month for a resolution calling on the university to beef up its own free tutoring options and to do a better job spreading the word about them.

On a plane trip to California, two Northwestern University officials worried over the $3.75 billion campaign they were leading. Three years after the start of the quiet phase of the drive and almost a year after its public launch, they were ahead of schedule and landing multimillion-dollar pledges, including one for $40 million. But in their planning, they had expected at least one gift of $100 million.

Professors from universities across the country — from Stanford to North Carolina Central to the University of Nebraska to Harvard — signed a petition Tuesday calling on the Mount St.

College tuition has risen too quickly, and debt is unmanageable for increasing numbers of students; that much is clear. But to contain college prices, education leaders will need to answer a contentious question: Why does the price keep rising? Higher education's critics tend to blame high prices on overpaid professors or fancy climbing walls. At public colleges, lobbyists tend to blame reductions in state support. But a new study places the blame elsewhere: the ready availability of federal student aid.

Marybeth Gasman of the Graduate School of Education is quoted about The Center for Minority Serving Institutions launching a new program called Pathways to the Professoriate.

Adam Grant of the Wharton School is mentioned for studying ambiverts.

A new book co-authored by Scott Barry Kaufman of the School of Arts & Sciences is reviewed.

Dean Eric Furda of Admissions comments on the new SAT and says the performance of first-time test takers will determine which version of the test is better.

Say your campus likes to encourage students to resolve sexual-misconduct cases through mediated discussions. When a student confides in a professor that a guy took advantage of her while she was drunk and asks her not to tell anyone, the professor obliges. Clear and convincing evidence is the standard your disciplinary panel insists on before finding someone responsible for an assault. If you haven’t already heard from the U.S.