Notes in the Margins: Walmart, applications and gender bias

Study shows gender bias in rec letters When it comes to recommendation letters for women, kind words do more harm than good. (thedp.com)

UC Wants All Applications To Be Read By Humans Amid budgetary turmoil and rising exclusivity, the University of California system is taking steps toward a more comprehensive application review process -- including requiring all campuses to have humans review students' applications. (Huffington Post)

The World's Smallest Walmart Opens On A College Campus - The Consumerist It opened last week on the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville. (Consumerist)

Liz Mandarano: College Savings Plans Should Not Be Defined as Gifts With all the brouhaha surrounding the recent negotiations between the White House and Congress regarding the limit and tax rate for estates and gifts, one area that has failed to garner any attention is whether the definition of gifts should exclude 529 college saving plans. (Huffington Post)

CSU Students' Tuition Suit Now A Class Action A longshot legal complaint by five students who accused California State University trustees of illegally raising tuition in 2009 is now an official class-action lawsuit on behalf of 200,000 students demanding their money back. (universitybusiness.com)

For Some Colleges, the Road to Growth Is to Go Hybrid New ownership models are emerging in higher education, blurring some of the distinctions between for-profit and nonprofit institutions. (chronicle.com)

Series Lays Out Blueprint for Increasing Graduation Rates at 2-Year Colleges The Community College Research Center has begun publishing working papers on eight topic areas that call for broad institutional reforms. (chronicle.com)

• How Augsburg is going all Mark Twain
• How past U of M presidents view higher-ed today
• Metro State data breach affected 160,000 students