Notes in the Margins: Industry, private loans and reverse age discrimination

Industry Puts Heat on Schools to Teach Skills Employers Need Big U.S. employers, worried about replacing retiring baby boomers, are wading deeper into education and growing bolder about telling educators how to run their business. (The Wall Street Journal)

Online Enterprises Gain Foothold as Path to a College Degree But a host of new online enterprises are making earning a college degree cheaper, faster and flexible enough to take work experience into account. As Wikipedia upended the encyclopedia industry and iTunes changed the music business, these businesses have the potential to change higher education. (The New York Times)

Too Young For College? My Fight Against Reverse Age Discrimination Being turned down from the college of my dreams was heartbreaking. But it was even worse when I found out it happened because I was "too young" to learn. (The Huffington Post)

Major Korean Firm Ends Its College Bias Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. on Monday said it would begin hiring high school graduates for office and engineering work, becoming one of the first big-name Korean firms to break the hiring bias towards college graduates that is a scourge on the country's economy and Koreans' mental health. (The Wall Street Journal)

Relief for Student Debtors Legislation is pending in both houses of Congress that would make private school loans dischargeable through bankruptcy, as most of them were before Congress changed the law in 2005. It had long been the case that federally backed student loans were protected during bankruptcy proceedings. The country has a compelling interest in making it as difficult as possible for student borrowers to elude payment for federal loans. There was no reason for extending that protection to private lenders of student loans. (The New York Times via NAICU)

Create a More Connected Minnesota

MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.