Grace period for US student loan payments is over. Here’s what you need to know

NEW YORK — The 12-month grace period for student loan borrowers ended on September 30. The “on-ramp” period helped borrowers who are struggling to make payments avoid the risk of defaulting and hurting their credit score. “The end of the on-ramp period means the beginning of the potentially harsh consequences for student loan borrowers who are…

Boston university relaunches journalism curriculum to encompass humanities

Washington — As the fall semester begins, a women’s college in Boston, Massachusetts, has retooled its media-related curriculum to best reflect the ideals of the school’s namesake, the late journalist Gwen Ifill. Simmons University announced it would relaunch the media school as the Gwen Ifill School of Media, Humanities and Social Sciences. A search committee also…

China’s youth unemployment fuels rise in postgraduate studies

Taipei, Taiwan — Youth unemployment in China climbed to nearly 19% in August, its highest level so far this year, according to official data. Analysts say that the higher level of youth unemployment is driving more college graduates to enroll in graduate schools to escape the job search as the world’s second-largest economy struggles. According to…

Board approves more non-lethal weapons for UCLA police after Israel-Hamas war protests

LOS ANGELES — The University of California board of regents approved Thursday additional non-lethal weapons requested by UCLA police, which handled some of the nation’s largest student protests against the Israel-Hamas war. Clashes between protestors and counter-protestors earlier this year on the campus led to more than a dozen injuries, and more than 200 people were…

Nine charged in police breakup of pro-Palestinian camp at US university

ann arbor, michigan — Authorities have filed charges against nine people who are accused of trespassing or resisting police during the May breakup of a pro-Palestinian camp at the University of Michigan. “The First Amendment does not provide a cover for illegal activity,” Attorney General Dana Nessel said Thursday, a day after charges were filed in…

Economics, tensions blamed for Chinese students shifting from US to Australia, Britain

Austin, Texas — U.S. universities are welcoming international students as the academic year begins. But while the total number of foreign students is steadily growing, the top sending country, China, is showing signs of leveling out or shrinking. Industry analysts say the negative trend is mainly due to higher costs amid China’s struggling economy, with a…

California announces new deal with tech to fund journalism, AI research

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California will be the first U.S. state to direct millions of dollars from taxpayer money and tech companies to help pay for journalism and AI research under a new deal announced Wednesday. Under the first-in-the-nation agreement, the state and tech companies would collectively pay roughly $250 million over five years to support California-based…

US colleges revise rules on free speech in hopes of containing anti-war demonstrations

NEW YORK — As students return to colleges across the United States, administrators are bracing for a resurgence in activism against the war in Gaza, and some schools are adopting rules to limit the kind of protests that swept campuses last spring.  While the summer break provided a respite in student demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war,…