I still remember being a restless high school senior waiting to cut my ties and finally make it to college. My sister had chosen a community college for her freshman-sophomore experience just three years before me, and since I followed in her footsteps in most areas I naturally considered taking the same route.

So on a hot day in mid-May back in 2004, my mom and I made the journey just one hour south of Wichita, Kansas, to check out the college that would soon be my new home. While my stay there was short – just two years until I could snag my associates degree – it was memorable. And the following two years spent at Wichita State University securing my bachelor’s degree were even more enjoyable than the first.

When I was looking for schools, my top priorities were proximity, price and degree offerings, among other minor considerations. Out-of-state universities weren’t an option for me as tuition would’ve been outrageous. And along the consideration of price, I also wanted a school that could offer me a scholarship.

Earlier this month, Forbes announced its list of top 650 colleges in America. Among its highest-ranking universities were Princeton, Williams College and Stanford, with Johnson & Wales and Texas Southern University snagging the last spots in 649th and 650th place.

While some have criticized the methods Forbes and other news sources, including US News and Newsweek, use to determine their respective rankings, there’s really no one, tried and true way to determine which colleges are superior. Because the truth is, everyone has their own opinion about what makes one college better than another. Read the rest of this entry »

Since 1986, Dr. Christina Hull Paxson has been teaching at Princeton University. She started out teaching economics, founded the Wilson School’s Center for Health and Wellbeing in 2000, and became dean of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs in 2009.

Paxson obviously has had an impact on Princeton’s history for the past 26 years, but she is now stepping down from her position as dean in order to assume a more prestigious title: President of Brown University. Paxson will take over Ruth J. Simmons’ position on July 1, 2012. Simmons announced plans to vacate the position in September 2011.

Chancellor Thomas J. Tisch led the search committee which selected Paxson to become the newest president at Brown University. Tisch said that after seeing what Paxson has done at Princeton, he knew she was the right person for the job. Read the rest of this entry »

Each year, U.S. News releases rankings of the top universities around the country. Although many education experts question the value of college rankings, most schools use these rankings a marketing tool. The list of best colleges is almost unvaryingly topped with Ivy League institutions, followed by highly competitive technical universities, such as MIT and CalTech. The rankings are determined by a number of criteria, including student matriculation rate, class size and the average ACT/SAT score of the student body.

This year, California Institute of Technology and Massachusetts Institute of Technology both rose from the 2011 rankings, in an odd tie between five universities for the fifth position.

Here are the top 10 Colleges, according to U.S. News:

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Finding a group that fits your interests is a very important part of being happy in college. When I first came to college, I joined some traditional clubs, such as Spanish Club, a sorority, and a professional writing club.

However, if I had been interested in a more unique hobby, such as lumber jacking, I would have been out of luck at my school. I guess I would have had to transfer to another school – like Michigan Technological University – to pursue my passion.

Many schools are now offering clubs and organizations for their students that are more diverse and unique. Check out some of the most unique college clubs- and see if anything peaks your interest:
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It’s a very commonly accepted fact: college is expensive. I feel like I have written hundreds of blogs about this sensitive subject, but sadly, here I am writing yet another about an expensive commodity becoming even more so. According to NJ.com, all four-year colleges in New Jersey will be raising their tuition rates for the 2011-2012 school year.

Last spring, students at various colleges throughout the state held rallies and protests to call for a tuition freeze, but unfortunately, their efforts were to no avail and now, all of the schools in the state will be becoming even more expensive as they raise their rates by anywhere between one and 7.4 percent. This means that annual fees will range from $10,021 at New Jersey City University to more than $40,000 at private universities like Drew University.

Even though the schools have increased their tuition rates, they are trying to be mindful of the students’ wishes. Rutgers University, Princeton University, and William Paterson University all raised their tuition rates, but it was the lowest increases the schools have implemented in years.

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Pooja Nath was one of the few women to study engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur in India. Since most of her classmates were males, Nath had a hard time finding people to study with.

“Back then, no one owned a laptop, there was no Internet in the dorm rooms,” said Nath. “So everyone in my class would be working in the computer lab together. But all the guys would be communicating with each other, getting help so fast, and I would be on the sidelines just watching.”

This difficult experience during her undergraduate studies prompted Nath to create a website called Piazza. Nath created Piazza in 2009 when she was studying at Stanford Graduate School of Business as a way for students to get help with their studies, even if they can’t find a study group that works for them.

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Lee Iacocca is the former CEO of Chrysler. He is an Italian American whose parents moved to the USA from Italy. EDUinReview will now take a look at his education background.

Iacocca was born on October 15, 1924 in Allentown, Pennsylvania. His parents owned a restaurant, Yocco’s Hot Dogs, in Pennsylvania’s steel making belt. His full name is Lido Anthony, an unusual name that is rumored to be because he was conceived during his parents’ honeymoon in Venice in Lido. However, Iacocca does not support this rumor.

Iacocca graduated from Allentown High School in 1942. After high school, he attended Lehigh University, where he earned his degree in industrial engineering. In high school, he was a member of the Tau Beta Pi fraternity and the engineering honor society.

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Graduation prospects are glum for New Jersey college students. Less than half will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in four years.

A Star-Ledger summary of graduation statistics from campuses around the state found that four-year graduation rates varied  from 6 percent at New Jersey City University to 90 percent at Princeton University. Data was gathered from the federal Department of Education’s latest statics, which were compiled in 2008.

“This is not the best we can do,” said Kean University President, Dawood Farahi. “We need to shift the paradigm. We need to focus on the student outcomes and the graduation of the students.”

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For all of you Biggest Loser fans, this is a name you’re going to want to be familiar with: Brett Hoebel. Hoebel is an international fitness expert, personal trainer for celebrities, and could quite possibly be the newest Biggest Loser trainer for season 11.

Hoebel is not just some muscular guy who spends too much time in the gym. He developed his workout plans based on his studies as an undergraduate and graduate student. As an undergrad, Hoebel majored in biomedical science with hopes of becoming a doctor. Then, in his post-grad studies, he studied functional strength training, nutrition, yoga, and holistic health.

According to ExtremeBodyWorkout.com, he is also certified in Nutrition & Lifestyle Coaching, Metabolic Typing, Holistic Exercise Kinesiology, Hatha Yoga, and Prenatal & Postpartum Conditioning. He also has published papers with UCLA, New York University, and Princeton University.

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Elena Kagan, Image Via the DailyPrincetonian.com

President Obama just announced his pick for the U.S. Supreme Court: Elena Kagan.

Kagan was born in New York City and graduated from Princeton, summa cum laude in 1981. She went on to earn her Master’s degree in philosophy from Oxford University and her Juris Doctor from Harvard Law in 1986.

While Kagan was at Princeton, she was the editor of the Daily Princetonian, the school newspaper, from 1980-1981. The Daily Princetonian issued a report on Kagan on May 3, 2010.

 Here are some excerpts from that report:

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