Penn in the News

Marybeth Gasman of the Graduate School of Education urges educators to get more involved in helping change gun laws in the wake of mass shootings at schools and universities.

Does the world need a new way to apply to college? The question echoed throughout the convention center on Thursday here at the National Association for College Admission Counseling’s annual conference. Three days after a group of more than 80 selective colleges announced plans to build a shared application platform that would "streamline the experience of planning for and applying to college," some admissions officials described the idea as a bold, welcome innovation.

Philip Tetlock of the Wharton School and the School of Arts & Sciences co-writes an article about using forecasting tournaments to depolarize political debate.

An idea that started in the back of a car in Ethiopia 21/2 years ago culminated Wednesday with a $45 million gift to Drexel University's public health school and a new name: the Dana and David Dornsife School of Public Health. The donation, one of the largest in the university's history and by far the biggest for the public health school, will strengthen Drexel's long-standing commitment to Philadelphia neighborhoods and broaden its global work in urban health. Wednesday's announcement brings the California couple's Drexel gifts to $58 million.

Undergraduate Whitney Stewart is highlighted for being the Boys & Girls Clubs of America National Youth of the Year.

Penn football head coach Ray Priore is quoted about a cancer-surviving 4-year-old who serves as the team’s captain.

The challenges facing college admissions leaders just keep growing. As has been the case in recent years, many colleges struggle to fill their classes, according to the 2015 Inside Higher Ed Survey of College and University Admissions Directors.

George Hajishengallis of the School of Dental Medicine is featured for studying a protein that prevents periodontitis and could eventually help prevent bone loss.

For now, the largest public university in Georgia remains the predictable one: the University of Georgia. But a four-year school in Atlanta is close on the heels of the flagship in Athens and is gaining widespread attention for innovative efforts to keep disadvantaged students on track toward a degree. Georgia State University had nearly 33,000 students in fall 2014, 25,000 of them undergraduates. Its undergrad enrollment has grown 50 percent since 2000. U-Ga.’s enrollment was 35,000, including 27,000 undergrads.

Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business has won plaudits for its tech-focused offerings and been ranked the top school in the nation, if not the world. The two-year M.B.A. program admits just 6% of applicants, counts among its alumni General Motors Co. Chief Executive Mary Barra and maintains a powerful network in Silicon Valley.