Notes in the Margins: Debit cards, recruiting and the three-year degree

Deals with banks stack fees on college students As many as 900 colleges are pushing students into using payment cards that carry hefty costs, sometimes even to get to their financial aid money, according to a report by a public interest group. (Associated Press via Pioneer Press)

Tech Firms Scour College Campuses for Talent Companies are wooing the best engineering and computer science students with equity, fat salaries—and free food. (The Wall Street Journal)

New momentum for the three-year degree? Last week brought two significant events in the annals of the three-year bachelor’s degree. First, the president of Wesleyan University in Connecticut announced a new initiative to encourage the three-year degree on his campus. Second, Hartwick College in upstate New York graduated its first three-year class of a dozen students. (The Washington Post)

Dear Peter Thiel: Let’s Fix College, the Right Way Most people agree with you that college has become too expensive and that the trillion-dollar student debt is a serious problem. So do I. But the solution isn’t to skip college. (Mashable via University Business) Higher Education's Online Revolution The substitution of technology (which is cheap) for labor (which is expensive) can vastly increase access to an elite-caliber education. (The Wall Street Journal via University Business)

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