After last month’s tragic event at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, students have yet to return to a classroom. As reported by CBSNews, the students at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown will be attending a new school redesigned specially for them.

The new school is in the town of Monroe. Signs saying “Welcome Sandy Hook Elementary School” and “Welcome. You are in our prayers” hung along the road greeting students, parents, and teachers as they made their way back to class today. Security will be enforced at the new school to ensure students, parents, and teachers feel safe.

A few weeks of renovating from volunteers and the former middle school known as Chalk Hill School in Monroe, Conn. is ready for these young students to step foot inside. Volunteers even made the school size friendly by raising bathroom floors for smaller children to reach the toilets. Students’ supplies from Sandy Hook Elementary and photos will be placed in the new school to make students feel comfortable. Experts and counselors say it is vital that students feel comfortable and back to a regular schedule. Read the rest of this entry »

The countdown has more than begun. The next college football season in 2013 will be the last year for the BCS.

In 2014 the new 12-year contract with ESPN for the 10 FBS-level conferences will go in to effect. According to USA Today Sports, an anonymous source (due to subject sensitivity) gave them the information that about $400-600 million will go to these 10 conferences annually…and that’s not including the sales coming from tickets and merchandising from the championship game.

Since this revenue is going to be drawn out over the 12-year contract, numbers on how much goes to whom are yet to be decided. It’s being estimated that the revenue total will actually be less than $400 million during the first year but will progressively grow throughout the life of the contract to up to $600 million for the last year of the contract in 2025.

After expenses, here’s an estimated list of how the annual revenue is planning to be split:

• “Power” Conferences – 71.5%
• “Group of 5″ Conferences - 27%
• Notre Dame – slightly less than 1%
• Remaining FBS Independents - .5%

To give a brief idea on about how much revenue that could end up being, we’ll use $500 million as an example figure. After all expenses taken into consideration, about $350-375 million would be left to spread across the 10 FBS conferences (not including revenue from the contracts with the Rose, Sugar and Orange Bowls). Read the rest of this entry »

The race to the White House came to an end Tuesday night. President Barack Obama will be serving a second term as the President of the United States. During his 2012 election campaign, he promised to help America build a better education system and wanted America to have the highest promotion of university graduates in the world by 2020.

A few months ago, President Obama proposed a one billion dollar effort to help students excel in math and science, known as the Master Teachers Program. A group of elite teachers will be a part of the program and their salaries will increase by $20,000 in an effort to put the best math and science educators in front of our students. “I’m running to make sure that America has the best education system on earth, from pre-K all the way to post-graduate,” said President Obama during a rally in July. Only time will tell if the program will be implemented in schools across the country or not.

As reported by the HuffingtonPost, Jeffrey Henig, a political scientist at Teachers College, Columbia University, said, “It’s clear the Obama administration will continue to make education a priority.” Henig predicts President Obama will look to improve how academic performance is measured, like designing new assessments students take.

Since being elected in 2008, President Obama has stopped student federal loan rates from doubling and increased funding for Pell grants for students that need financial aid. Additionally, he has adjusted the federal student loan system so that repayments are based on income rather the amount a student has borrowed.

Karen White, political director at the National Education Association (NEA), said during President Obama’s second term she will expect him to focus on early education and college affordability.

Imran Apollo, a student at Wichita State University, comments on why he supported President Obama’s education views, telling us, “Obama wanted to increase the budget for Pell grants, which would increase taxes. Romney wanted to decrease taxes by increasing the requirements to qualify for Pell grants, thereby reducing the overall amount of aid. Romney also stated that increasing aid only encourages colleges to increase tuition costs. While this may be true, I still felt that many families, middle class in particular, would have had significant trouble paying for tuition were they denied Pell aid, or if they received reduced aid.”

Another Wichita State University student, Courtney Seddon, weighed in on the re-election and how it will affect education, telling us, “I think Obama’s re-election will give a lot of educational opportunities to the younger generation; programs like “Pay as You Earn” and debt forgiveness make the financial burden of higher education so much easier.”

The Obama administration’s new program, “Pay as You Earn,” will reduce the payment cap on loan payments from 15% of the borrower’s income to 10%, which will accelerate loan forgiveness from 25 years to 20 years.

Education is a big issue for the country. Americans have high hopes for our education system. During the president’s first term in office he had created new policies and programs to better America’s education system. He has made college more affordable for individuals and eased the financial burden for graduated students.

President Obama: We want our kids to grow up in a country where they have access to the best schools and the best teachers. #ThinkED — Sean Gill (@seanrobertgill) November 7, 2012

And we need to drastically improve #education – from elementary school to college – in this country! Lots of work to do!!! — Perez Hilton (@PerezHilton) November 7, 2012

Congrats to Pres @barackobama. Let’s ensure that #education is the USA’s top priority over the next 4 years #thinkED twitter.com/StudentsFirstH… — StudentsFirst (@StudentsFirstHQ) November 7, 2012

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Four years of college have passed, and you’re debating whether or not your education is over. Many recent grads face this dilemma: workforce or grad school? The experience vs. higher education debate may have your brain spinning with conflicting information, but here’s what you need to know to make a decision.

When Local is Best

The majority of master’s students are enrolled at the local level (in smaller, community-based schools). These are good choices in three scenarios:

1. When you plan to stay local.  While these schools don’t have the reach of their top 10 counterparts, they do have strong brands and alumni communities in their areas. A degree from a local school will provide professional recognition and a network, both of which can greatly help for job placement in your area.

2. When you need it to move forward. Some career paths, such as physical therapy and engineering, require advanced degrees to move forward. In these cases, attending a local school can be a great investment.

3. When you are going to school part-time. Not everyone has the time or money to pursue an advanced degree full time; local schools tend to be cost-effective and flexible. Read the rest of this entry »

Education is a hot topic in the 2012 presidential election. Debates between President Obama and Governor Romney are ongoing and quite heated as the two butt heads on the issue. But before the candidates can implement their respective strategies, they’ll be sharing their views on the U.S. education system at the Education Nation Summit next week.

With a growing number of students and families concerned about America’s future educational system, it’s an issue on high alert for most voters. The annual Education Nation Summit will be held September 23-25 at The New York Public Library.

As reported by MediaBistro, Condoleeza Rice and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush will take part in the event, during which a taped interview with President Obama will be presented. The president and his opponent Mitt Romney will also appear in person later in the summit to discuss their views on education and answer questions from summit attendees.

Both presidential candidates will cover such issues as unemployment, educational challenges, and ever-rising college tuition costs.

The opening early session of the Education Summit will begin with NBC News correspondent Tom Brokaw, and followed by an address from New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg. Read the rest of this entry »

During his speech at the 2012 Democratic National Convention, President Barack Obama accepted his party’s nomination to run for president and hopefully take on another four years. Among the topics he covered were weighty issues like the economy, the national debt, battling environmental pollution, medicare, and taxes. He also gave his views and ideas on education and how it should be strengthened.

Obama was optimistic about the state of education in America, saying that some of the country’s worst schools have improved their math and reading scores, and that nearly every state has committed to raising their teaching and learning standards. He spoke to concerns about college tuition, bringing up more than once his commitment to keeping rates low.

“Education was the gateway to opportunity for me. It was the gateway for Michelle. And now more than ever, it is the gateway to a middle-class life,” Obama said in his speech.

The president gave several specific goals for raising the bar with education. For college students, he asked his fellow Democrats’ help in putting two million students into community colleges that will guarantee them a job once they leave. He also wants to cut the growth of the cost of tuition at colleges and universities in half over the next decade. Read the rest of this entry »

An August Gallup poll reveals that more than half of Americans are dissatisfied with the public education system, with only 7 percent of parents of school-aged children believing that public schools provide an excellent education. Home schooling rated higher by the general public than public schools for quality, but private schools received the overall best ratings.

The poll reported that 78 percent of Americans said children in private schools received an excellent or good education. Parochial schools came next with a 69 percent rating, then came charter schools (60 percent), home schooling (46 percent) and public schools (37 percent).

Although 83 percent of parents polled said their oldest child attends public school, only 47 percent thought their child was receiving an excellent or good education. Among parents of K-12 students, the results were similar to the public at large, but they gave public schools a slightly higher rating than home schooling. Read the rest of this entry »

A new study has been released showing that high jobless rates in major cities across the country may correspond to poor education. Another factor revealed showed that cities hit hard by the housing crisis have larger gaps between workers’ actual education and the required education level of most job listings.

The study was conducted by the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. Calculations were completed by senior research associate Jonathan Rothwell, and included online jobs posted between 2006 and 2012.

Rothwell looked at the average number of years required for jobs in 100 metro areas and compared that with the education level of those respective populations. The most narrow education gaps were found in locations with highly-skilled workers such as Raleigh, North Carolina, and Washington, D.C. – both boasting gaps of 2 percent or less.

“Narrowing the education gap is particularly important for improving the long-term health of metropolitan economies,” Rothwell told Forbes in a recent interview. “Metro areas with wide education gaps have higher unemployment, but metro areas with narrow education gaps have lower unemployment, more job creation and more job openings.” Read the rest of this entry »

A trend that many have suspected to be on the rise – including college graduates – has been confirmed in a recent survey regarding employment rates among young people. An online survey from PayScale.com conducted between July 2011 and July 2012, showed that 63 percent of young people between the ages of 18 and 29 have a bachelor’s degree, however, are often forced to take jobs that don’t require one.

The survey included input from nearly 500,000 young workers, and only further suggested that a four-year college degree doesn’t mean as much as it used to when it comes to securing a job.

As reported by MarketWatch, a similar survey conducted by Rutgers University saw similar conclusions. They found that nearly half of young people who have graduated in the last five years say their jobs don’t require a four-year degree, and only 20 percent said their first job was actually in their desired career field.

Cliff Zukin, a professor of political science and public policy at Rutgers, told MarketWatch that these findings paint a grim picture of employment for recent college grads, saying, “Our society’s most talented people are unable to find a job that gives them a decent income.” Read the rest of this entry »

College life may be a fun and exciting adventure to look forward to, but it’s far from the easiest stage in life. The average college student must learn strong multitasking and time management skills in order to keep up with tests, assigned readings, papers and projects all while working a part-time job in order to pay for bills, gas and groceries.

There are many techniques a college student can employ in order to handle today’s fast-past lifestyle; for example, study groups can be extremely beneficial for cutting down on work load. But there’s another aid students are getting their hands on, and it’s called the “The College Study Drug,” also known as Adderall.  The following is an infographic from LearnStuff.com with statistics concerning the drug.

Adderall is a prescription drug used to treat those who have been diagnosed with ADHD. It helps those who have issues with concentrating to tune into the task at hand.

So what’s the problem? The prescription drug is being abused by millions of college students across campuses all over the country. It’s been found that Adderall can be as addictive as cocaine and meth, and not all of those taking the drug actually have a prescription for it.

Another major issue is the drinking problem for those taking the drug. Nine out of 10 students who are illegally consuming Adderall are also binge drinking. In addition, it’s been found that abusive Adderall takers are more likely to to abuse other drugs as well.

Below is a list of statistics regarding the abuse of “The College Study Drug.”

• Since 2007, prescriptions for ADHD have risen 26%
• 8% of American children have ADHD
• 7 million students are abusing their ADHD treatments
• Emergency calls about students misusing ADHD drugs are up 76% since 2011
• 12% of high school seniors, 40% of college students, and 50% juniors and seniors have used a prescription stimulant

By sharing alarming findings such as these, we can inform college students about the dangers of Adderall and other addictive drugs. In doing so, hopefully they will stray far from their path and toward healthy habits instead.

Also Read:

More Than 100 College Professors Sign Letter to Legalize Marijuana

How to Stay Healthy in College

How to Manage You Time in College

*Photo from learnstuff