Our hat goes off to Sam Lee, a graduate student, and to Inside Higher Ed, for shedding some more light on the shaky college rankings game. Lee had noticed that the University of Southern California ranked lower than seventh on all of the graduate level engineering category subfields yet somehow managed to earn the number seven slot on the U.S. News and World Report College Rankings.

Lee’s questioning led Inside Higher Ed to contact both U.S. News and USC to see if it could get to the bottom of the matter. Turns out the large number of the engineering school’s professors that were reportedly also members of the National Academy of Engineering helped push the USC rankings to seventh.

But while USC reported to U.S. News 30 professors belonging to the academy and the school’s web site listed 34 such professors, Inside Higher Ed, through a very simple fact check, was able to determine that these figures were entirely inaccurate.

For reporting purposes, the school was supposed to be sending along the number of full-time faculty members that met the prestigious status. Turns out, of the 34 listed on the web site, 17 did not meet the criteria set forth by U.S. News.

U.S. News immediately acknowledged that if the school did have fewer faculty members in the academy than had been reported, the engineering college’s ranking would indeed fall. The exact drop would of course depend on the final numbers reported and how they related to competitor schools.

And in one of the most important acknowledgments for students to hear, officials for the magazine also indicated they were not in the business of verifying the accuracy of the reports from schools. Instead, they trust the schools to be institutions of integrity and simply take what is reported at face value. Of course, they also base their rankings on the information provided.

This episode comes on the heels of the surprising candor of a Clemson official who publicly expressed how the rankings could be gamed (including the very issue expressed here, the accuracy of the reported data). That story was all over the internet in prompt fashion as was a followup admonishment from school officials.

Ultimately, the lesson for students is not to put too much emphasis on these rankings. Especially now that it is clear that those doing the ratings acknowledge they do not verify the information provided.

It appears that those auto dealers have been right all along.

A new study reveals the car a man drives is critical to getting a second look from a member of the opposite sex. It must be noted that this is a UK study and well, we all know that those European’s are just a wee bit different.

But the results are unequivocal. What a fella’ drives really does matter.

Car Gets a Lady’s Motor Running

A team of university researchers showed a substantial number of women pictures of a male model. In one instance, the model was pictured in a silver Bentley Continental, a luxury car that would set a car buyer back more than a hundred grand.

In the second instance, he was pictured in a “battered Ford Fiesta.”

The 120 women, aged 21 to 40, were asked to rate the man’s attractiveness. In a sign that women rated the motor over the man, they selected the model when he was seated in the fancy Bentley.

One of the researchers, Dr. Michael Dunn of the University of Wales Institute in Cardiff, put it this way: women will rate a man higher if he happens to be driving a “fancy motor rather than in an old banger”.

Lady Gets the Male Motor Running

Dunn went on to repeat the experiment in reverse, picturing a female model in the Bentley and the Fiesta. For the male assessors, they were not inclined to select the women in one setting over the other.

Instead, the men proved more interested in the woman, specifically her face and figure. Status had no bearing on the views of the men, a fact that could prove very interesting as women become more independent and wealthy.

Dunn noted this in both instances, this was an evolutionary and not a social trait. He stated:

“There’s a wide variety of evidence that does suggest that females are more influenced by wealth and status. It’s not a recent phenomenon. It is very ingrained and the evidence is not just anecdotal.

“Females focus on questions of wealth and status because if the male possesses those, that male would be in a better condition to rear healthy offspring.”

On the flip side, those same evolutionary trends caused men to view women in terms of reproductive attractiveness. Wealth or status simply does not enter into the equation.

Next Study

Sorry ladies, but not only does Dunn suggest these basic human traits will not change in the future, most will interpret these results as evidence that women are shallower than men.

In an effort to take the idea one step further, Dunn plans to follow up with another status-type study to determine what happens when a middle-aged man chooses to purchase one of the more expensive cars. Specifically, Dunn would like to determine if the high-status car can actually overcome the current negative impact of age on attractiveness.

The question: can the right car overcome a receding hairline and a corresponding growing waistline.

There are those news stories that really give you pause. And we are not talking about those AOL headliners mind you, the ones like “NASA astronaut insists government covering up evidence of alien visits.”

What we are talking about is the latest news regarding college students and credit cards. According to a study from Sallie Mae, many students are now using credit cards for almost all of their college expenses, including tuition.

Talk about giving one pause – we might have expected students charging books and fees on their card. But we could never imagine anyone in their right mind putting their tuition on one, not with those cards carrying anything from 14.99 to 18.99 percent interest rates.

The Numbers

Today, Sallie Mae notes that more than 84 percent of undergraduates have at least one credit card. Half of all college students carry four or more cards with the current average at 4.6 per student.

An incredible 92 percent of all undergraduates with a credit card charged textbooks, school supplies or other education expenses. College seniors led the way with an average credit card debt of $4,100.

According to the report, “How Undergraduate Students Use Credit Cards: Sallie Mae’s National Study of Usage Rates and Trends, 2009,” students charged an average of $2,200 in direct educational expenses per person, more than double the $942 amount from four years ago. Of those charging educational expenses, roughly 30 percent actually placed tuition on a credit card as well.

Terrible Choice

While many students were using the cards for convenience, the overall findings of the study pointed to college students using credit cards to live beyond their means. In fact, 82 percent of the students incurred finance charges by carrying a monthly balance.

In a clear indication that credit management was a huge problem, roughly 40 percent indicated they had charged items even though they knew they did not have the funds to pay the bill.

Given the going interest rates and monthly charges of as much as $30.00 for transactions beyond credit limits, the idea that students would place their tuition charges on their credit card demonstrates a real lack of knowledge regarding how credit cards work.

There is no doubt that credit cards offer great convenience. No need to fill out the FAFSA forms and no need to complete additional paperwork to apply for a loan. Add in the ease of online payments and the process is indeed extremely easy.

But credit card interest rates of 15 percent are more than double the current rate for Federal Stafford loans (6.8 percent). Even private loans, considered the least advantageous of loan options carry current rates of only 8 percent.

The result is that credit card users are overpaying for college big time. Unless a student pays off his or her card in full, by placing these charges on a credit card he or she is paying far more than the list price for books, fees and tuition.

College, Expensive Enough

There is no doubt that college expenses are extremely taxing – however, students should be aware that using credit cards to cover these costs only makes the costs of college less manageable in the long run.

First and foremost, students need to build a budget ahead of time that tallies the cost of tuition, books, fees and travel. Once the need is determined, students must pursue the most advantageous funding help available.

That means completing the FAFSA, the standard federal form that is the ticket to potential grants, scholarships and federal loans. Filling out the FAFSA form does take time but it is a must for any serious student.

Even if students do not qualify for grants or scholarships, the first credit option everyone should pursue is the Federal loan program. Simply stated, they represent the best borrowing bargain.

Only after completing the federal application process should students pursue the more expensive private loan option. Such loans carry higher interest rates and other processing fees may be assessed depending on a student’s credit standing.

Still, private loans are a bargain compared to the fees and rates associated with credit cards. Unless a student has a wealthy friend or relative paying that credit card bill for them, placing one’s tuition on a credit card is a recipe for disaster.

In fact, it is as preposterous to us as that NASA astronaut claiming our government is hiding evidence of intergalactic visitors.

Editors note: The full study is available in PDF format online.

Let’s face it, some folks don’t give a whole lot of thought to how their web site bloated with advertising appears to the average reader. However, some sites are so littered with selling that you find yourself turning away from the site before really examining specific content.

Then again, perhaps you are someone who really doesn’t care much for the idea of ads in the first place.

If so, you will likely want to download a copy of AdBlockPlus to get rid of as many of those intrusions as you can. And today, if your heart desires, you can go one step further, and make a personal statement with yet another application that replaces those advertising eyesores with art work from a variety of creative folks.

AdBlockPlus

Downloading a copy of AdBlockPlus will block 80-90% of those ads cluttering your favorite reading material. The software features a pre-determined list of ad materials to block depending on your home country.

AdBlockPlus simply whites out the majority of the ads, creating blank space. The feature not only eliminates the advertising that serves as a distraction, it reduces the overall visual clutter that is often pervasive on web sites today.

While AdBlockPlus fails to white out all, it is constantly being updated, a step that allows it to perform better with each passing upload of a site. A typical page features more than a 100 ads – more often than not, with AdBlockPlus that number will be reduced to single digits.

Add-Art

Those who have pursued a download of AdBlockPlus or now think they may want to pursue a download and are also using Mozilla as a web browser may also want to go one step further by pulling in a copy of Add-Art. Developed in the Eyebeam OpenLab, Add-Art is free and in the public domain just as AdBlockPlus.

The program takes the white out feature one step further, replacing the advertising clutter with art. Featuring material from art shows that are hand selected by curators of contemporary artists, the idea is to bring this work to a wider audience in a way that also provides a positive service.

The Add-Art folks insist they will bring new art shows to readers every 2 weeks. As for that art, users must understand that the software platform and the art represent separate entities. It is of course possible that you may like the concept, replacing the ads with art work, but not like the art work that is being chosen to replace the ads.

Techies May Want to Pursue Next Generation Concepts

For most of us, the chance to eliminate the ads and replace them with white space is more than enough. However, those with a creative flair will likely be enamored with the chance to import new art in a random manner as they surf their various internet sites.

But the real future could lie in giving the user more choices as to what they might replace the ads with. A program that allows the user to select from a bank of image clusters (let your imagination run here) would take the experience one step further.

Adding multiple options to get to a variety of styles that users could select depending on their whim is more in line with the current move towards giving the user complete control over their web experience.

Of course, the reverse is also true. Given the importance of advertising for sites, there will likely be yet another generation of programmers who seek to find other ways to ensure those ads appear in some manner.

The Akron Beacon Journal has some figures on the colleges and universities in Ohio and the increasing popularity of distance learning. The article, entitled ‘Distance learning attracting full-time students‘, goes through some stats about who’s using these modern class methods.

Of the 37,000 students taking distance-learning courses in the state, more than half are full-time students.
..and, a majority are community college students, with fewer than one-third attending main university campuses, according to the Ohio Learning Network of 72 colleges and universities.

An increasing trend is to attend a local school, and take distance learning courses at other schools and then have them transferred over. This clearly shows a demand for more online classes, and many schools are adding to their list of internet classes.

Wright State, where 1,500 students have enrolled in Internet courses, offers five online degree programs and 17 general education courses. The school plans to expand general education courses and create three additional undergraduate degrees and eight additional online graduate degrees.

From The National Jeweler – The Manufacturing Jewelers & Suppliers of America’s Education Foundation, or MJSAEF as I like to call them, awarded 6 college students with scholarship funding.

Out of the total $6500 allocated for 2006:

• two students received $2000
• two students received $1000
• three students received $500

All seven students are majoring in some form of arts degree.

If you know what you will do for a living after graduation, always find and apply for small scholarships like these from niche business foundations.

You may have seen the Ben Stiller movie, ‘Along Came Polly’, where the protagonist had a job as a risk assessment expert. The details of the job were a little exaggerated of course, but this profession is certainly real and important; mostly to companies in the business of:

• insurance
• health
• retirement
• finance

These risk experts are also called actuaries. I decided to check out if there are any education grants for students studying in the field of risk management and assessment.

Here is a list of some colleges that offer grant and/or scholarship programs for students interested in actuarial science.

• The University of Nebraska at Lincoln
• Illinois State University
• The University of Iowa
• Ball State University
• The University of Texas at Austin

A great resource to check out to learn more about this profession would be the Society of Actuaries

Pamela Yip writes in The Dallas Morning News about the challenges facing many student debt holders. It’s true that on average, students with a college degree earn much more over their lifetimes than high school diploma holders. On the other hand, there are situations where the job received is less rewarding than anticipated.

Many people take out student loans while they are young and first entering college. They may not see the actual risk of taking out a loan for such a large amount of money. These loans should be repaid promptly, and any default will cause personal and professional consequences.

Student loans are very different from other debts such as with a credit card. Students should financially plan like the adults they are to consider the negative effects of a college degree such as not getting the job they want, being underpaid, losing their job in a recession, and paycuts.

The article describes the uniqueness of a student loan with other consequences:

The Internal Revenue Service can seize your tax refund to pay your student loan. You can’t discharge your loan by filing for bankruptcy, and the federal government can garnishee your wages to pay the loan. That applies even in Texas, which has strict prohibitions against wage garnishment.

What’s more, professional licensing boards will deny you a license if you default on student loans.

If you think you’ll have trouble paying off your federally guaranteed student loan, contact your lender immediately to work something out. You don’t want to mess with Uncle Sam.

An article in Bloomberg entitled, “Kindergarten to Grad School Loans Boost Bond Market”, covers the increased activity in the bond market due to the increase in both federal and private student loans being taken out.

The interesting part was the mention of modern trade schools and how some lenders are catering to this market:

Students enrolling at The National Schools in La Mesa, California, can finance classes in bartending and casino dealing through Sallie Mae. The bartending program costs $500 while a two-month course to learn how to deal poker, including Texas Hold-Em and 7 Card Stud, costs $895.

The Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment in Fairfield, Iowa, advises its students that they can take out a loan with Citigroup. It costs $2,500 to study transcendental meditation and loans can be repaid over as long as 10 years at an interest rate of prime plus 1.50 percent. The prime rate is currently 8.25 percent.

The tuitions mentioned for the bartending and casino schools are small enough where many students can afford to take out a small personal loan or line of credit.

Ideally we should have accreditation agencies that approve alternative and trade schools for government student loan status. Many community colleges are accredited and have these alternative classes, but there are not enough of them to fulfill the demand. Online bartending schools do offer a solution, but lack the important hands-on experience.

There doesn’t seem to be a big push by lawmakers to include some smaller trade schools in federal education funding, so look for an increase in the private banking sector to market their financial services to match the growing demand.

All new Stafford Loans taken out after July 1, 2006 will have a FIXED rate of 6.8%. The interest rates used to be variable, changing every year on July first. Experts remind us that the average student loan rate has been in the high 6 and low 7 percentile, and this current rate hike reflects the average over time.

Many have become used to the historically low rates that have been prevalent in the past couple of years. The interest is capped at 8.5%, and the closer the Stafford rates are to that figure, more private loans will become more attractive. However, private loans usually require a cosigner.

Students looking for additional funds should look into PLUS and Perkins Loans for more federal funding options.