Two signature buildings on the campus of Minnesota State University in Mankato came down today. A demolition crew razed the twin 12-story residence halls known as Gage Towers, built nearly 50 years ago, at about 9:30 a.m. The school’s interim alumni relations director, Jennifer Myers, says the buildings were demolished because they can’t be updated. Read more →
Yesterday I spoke by phone for a few minutes with Max Hailperin, chairman of the faculty senate at Gustavus Adolphus College. It was just after the college had announced the coming retirement of President Jack Ohle, who had been weathering calls for his ouster since earlier this year. Ohle had reportedly clashed with faculty, among Read more →
More than 200,000 Minnesotans take out a key low-interest federal student loan each year: the subsidized Stafford loan. With Congress still gridlocked on how to avoid its interest rate from doubling as scheduled July 1, that rate jump looks likely. (You can read and hear more on the matter here on today’s Daily Circuit segment.) Read more →
A couple of readers have chimed in on the issue of acceptance by private colleges of PSEO, or college-level courses that high-schoolers take to gain college credit (and possibly save some money). Their assessment: The PSEO system is not a straightforward as it may first appear — and may not save the amount of money Read more →
Student loan rate likely to double on Monday, but lawmakers hope to reverse hikeLawmakers acknowledge that the rate on a low-interest federal loan for millions of college students in financial need is likely to double on Monday because of a congressional stalemate over how to stop that from happening. (The Washington Post) Rite of Passage Read more →
Update: I just got off the phone with President Ohle. He said his decision to retire had nothing to do with recent tensions, but did acknowledge the clash, calling it all part of running a campus. He told me: “You have to accept and understand that there always will be differences, and the debate will Read more →
At the risk of starting this debate anew, I’m wondering what the cost structure would look like if the PSEO-to-University-of-Minnesota option were charted, along with PSEO-to-private-college path. I’ve been told PSEO students would naturally gravitate toward those types of institutions. Are those paths possible? Would be worth a call. (Read: I’ve got a call in.) Read more →
I was hoping for a few details on the University of St. Thomas Opus College of Business’ use of infographics to market itself, so I spoke with Dean Christopher Puto. The university worked with its PR firm to produce three since December. (The first is here, and the second one is above. It hasn’t officially Read more →
I remember meeting South Central College President Keith Stover in September 2011 during a day’s visit there. (I blogged all day about what I found on campus.) He was a dynamo early in the morning — and was not what you’d call formal. At the time he was focused on three things: improving the college’s Read more →
Bipartisan plan in Senate would prevent doubling of student loan interest rate A bipartisan group of senators has announced a proposal to prevent a doubling of the interest rate on certain federal student loans, an increase that would affect 7 million college students in the coming school year. (The Washington Post) Examine Budget Proposals’ Impact Read more →
Jon Gordon
Alex Friedrich