Notes in the Margins: STEM grind, Penn State and gender-neutral locker rooms

The Evolution of Higher Education Drawing on his experience as the first chief technology officer at Hewlett-Packard, director of the National Science Foundation’s computer and computation research division, and dean of Georgia Tech’s College of Computing, Richard DeMillo offers an engineer’s view of the challenges facing higher education. (The New York Times)

The big college scam The ostensible purpose of federal guarantees for student loans was to make college more affordable. In fact they did the opposite, by fueling the massive tuition hikes. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via University Business) Generation Jobless: Students Pick Easier Majors Despite Less Pay Students who drop out of science majors and professors who study the phenomenon say that introductory courses are often difficult and abstract. Some students say their high schools didn't prepare them for the level of rigor in the introductory courses. Science classes may also require more time—something U.S. college students may not be willing to commit. (The Wall Street Journal) Education Department investigating Penn State The U.S. Department of Education is launching an investigation into the scandal at Penn State University to see if officials there failed to comply with a law that requires institutions of higher education to disclose criminal offenses that occur on campus each year. (The Washington Post) College adds dorms, locker rooms to gender-neutral policy Iowa's Grinnell College added a gender-neutral locker room to its mix of gender-neutral dormitory options. (USA Today)

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