New Visa Rules Worry Some Students

The U.S. has proposed a new rule for international students that would set student visas to a fixed four-year term. International students looking to extend their stay would be required to apply for an extension, according to the new rule. The rule would also limit international student visas to a fixed two-year term if students are…

Ski Resorts Struggle to Hire Amid Trump’s Student Visa Ban

Milagros Sotelo was looking forward to traveling from South America to Tennessee to start a job at Ober Gatlinburg ski resort this winter. The 22-year-old student worked the last two ski seasons in the equipment rental shop at the small resort nestled in the Smoky Mountains and was excited to reconnect with friends, practice her…

Students Miss Milestones, But Learn to Adapt

Yes, it’s a pandemic, and, yes, it certainly is better to be safe than sorry, but nonetheless, college students are lamenting the loss of major milestones — like starting college, moving on campus, celebrating turning 18 or 21 with friends, and graduation — interrupted by COVID, they say. “I couldn’t move into American University, haven’t…

Dutch Students Work Hard To Keep Virus Out of Shared Houses

This is not the student life Iris Raats had hoped for when she was accepted at Leiden University to study law. With the coronavirus pandemic casting its long shadow over education in the Netherlands and around the world, most of her lectures are online and the vibrant social life in the country’s oldest university city…

US Colleges Struggle to Salvage Semester Amid Outbreaks

Colleges across the country are struggling to salvage the fall semester amid skyrocketing coronavirus cases, dorm complexes and frat houses under quarantine, and flaring tensions with local community leaders over the spread of the disease.Many major universities are determined to forge ahead despite warning signs, as evidenced by the expanding slate of college football games…

Former Exam Administrator Pleads Guilty in College Scam

A former college entrance exam administrator pleaded guilty Friday of taking bribes to help wealthy parents rig their kids’ test scores as part of a college admissions bribery scheme. Niki Williams, 46, a former employee of the Houston Independent School District, is among about 40 people who have admitted to charges in the case that exposed…

Proposed US Visa Changes Explained

The Trump administration has proposed to eliminate “duration of status” on visas for international students, exchange visitors, and those working in international media. Officials are hoping to impose fixed end dates rather than allowing visas to be valid for as long as it takes them to get their degree or finish a research project. Currently, a…

Trapped in Elevator, Professor Teaches Class Online

When Jay Van Bavel, a social neuroscience professor at New York University, stepped into his apartment building elevator 10 minutes before his Introduction to Psychology class online, he “breathed a sigh of relief,” thinking he would start his lecture on time.  That is, until the elevator lurched downward before halting to a stop between floors.…

Quarantine Ordered for 2,500 Students at Elite Swiss School

Swiss health authorities have ordered a quarantine for a staggering 2,500 students at a prestigious hospitality management school in the city of Lausanne after “significant outbreaks” of the coronavirus that are a suspected byproduct of off-campus partying.     Authorities in Switzerland’s Vaud canton, or region, said all undergraduates at the Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne,…

UW-Madison Restricts Student Movement Amid Coronavirus Spike

The chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on Monday canceled all in-person social events and ordered undergraduate students to restrict their movements for the next two weeks in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19.  The order from Chancellor Rebecca Blank comes as the number of coronavirus cases among students has continued to rise.…

Colleges Combating Coronavirus Turn to Stinky Savior: Sewage

Days after he crossed the country to start college, Ryan Schmutz received a text message from Utah State University: COVID-19 had been detected at his dorm.  Within 10 minutes, he dropped the crepes he was making and was whisked away by bus to a testing site.”We didn’t even know they were testing,” said Schmutz, who…

Hungarian Protesters Demand Academic Freedom for Top Arts University

Several thousand people protested Sunday for the independence of Hungary’s University of Theatre and Film Arts following the imposition of a government-appointed board, which they say will undermine its autonomy.The management of the school, which nurtured many of Hungary’s most famous directors and filmmakers, resigned Monday in protest over the changes, which have also prompted…

DC University Investigating White Professor Who Claimed to Be Black

George Washington University is investigating the case of a history professor who allegedly admitted to fraudulently pretending to be a Black woman for her entire career.In a blog post that has gained international attention, a writer claiming to be Jessica Krug, a GW associate professor of history, writes that she is in fact a white…

University of Oklahoma Students: Virus Response Inadequate

More than a dozen students gathered outside the University of Oklahoma’s administration building Thursday to protest what they say is an inadequate response to the coronavirus pandemic.Students are violating the university and the city of Norman’s mask mandates at bars, restaurants and at fraternity and sorority functions, OU student Kellie Dick, a senior from Shawnee,…

More Charges Brought in College Admissions Bribery Scandal

Another wealthy parent was charged Wednesday with trying to bribe his child’s way into an elite university as a fake athletic recruit, a day after two former college coaches caught up in the nationwide admissions bribery scandal were hit with additional charges. Amin Khoury, 54, of Palm Beach, Florida, and Mashpee, Massachusetts, in May 2014 paid…

College Town Businesses Hope Students’ Return Will Help Them Bounce Back

College towns across America are eager to see students return to classes this month and help local businesses recover from the coronavirus pandemic. But as Mariama Diallo reports, local business owners are also worried there will be a surge in new cases.  …

Court Filing Shows 11-3 Big Ten Vote to Postpone Football Season

A court filing disclosed Monday shows Big Ten Conference presidents voted 11-3 to postpone the football season, bringing some clarity to a key question raised in a lawsuit brought by a group of Nebraska football players. The vote breakdown was revealed in the Big Ten’s response to the lawsuit.  The court documents did not identify how…

Young Activists Take Center Stage at March on Washington

When the son of famed civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. took to the stage in Washington on Friday – 57 years after his father’s famous “I Have a Dream” address – he stepped aside for yet another King.“I am so honored to be here,” Martin Luther King III said while standing at the…

College Athletes Add to Voices to Those Protesting Injustice

College athletes across the country added their voices to those calling for an end to racial injustice Friday with football players and others marching on campus or stepping away from practices to protest the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin.In Oklahoma, the Sooners football team walked in rows of three to the Unity Garden,…

College Towns Growing Alarmed Over Outbreaks Among Students

As more and more schools and businesses around the country get the OK to reopen, some college towns are moving in the opposite direction because of too much partying and too many COVID-19 infections among students. With more than 300 students at the University of Missouri testing positive for the coronavirus, the local health director Friday…

Small Businesses in College Towns Struggle Without Students

Perry Porikos sat in the street outside one of his five businesses, in a makeshift patio area that didn’t exist before the COVID-19 pandemic  sent his best customers — University of Michigan students — back home in mid-March. The Greek immigrant arrived here more than four decades ago as a 20-year-old soccer player for the…

US School District Lost 700 Students During Online Classes

Hundreds of students in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, didn’t participate in online learning last spring and all but vanished after the coronavirus pandemic drove the district to close classrooms. Keloland.com reported 700 kids, or 3% of the district’s student body, never connected with their teachers during the last quarter of the year. Assistant Superintendent Teresa Boysen said…

Can Anonymous Classrooms Protect Students from Beijing Snooping?

With many American universities holding online courses this semester because of the pandemic, faculty members at Princeton, Harvard and other elite schools are looking for ways to protect the privacy and identity of students logging in from Hong Kong and China, where they are subject to China’s repressive rules on self-expression.  The Hong Kong National…

School Days: Online Classes Reveal Students Without Access to Technology

It’s the end of summer in the US, a time when many families are preparing for the new school year. But with the threat of COVID-19 delaying a return to campuses across the country, preparations this year include trying to make online learning work better for everyone. Matt Dibble has the story …

US Schools Scramble to Close Digital Gap

Many schools are opening around the U.S. for in-person classes, but many others are offering classes online only.  That has set parents, school officials and community members scrambling to make sure every student has the equipment they need for online learning.The pandemic has drawn attention to a long-standing problem in the U.S.: the gap between students…

Anonymous Classrooms: Professors Try to Protect Students from Beijing’s Snooping

With many American universities holding online courses this semester because of the pandemic, faculty members at Princeton, Harvard and other elite schools are looking for ways to protect the privacy and identity of students logging in from Hong Kong and China, where they are subject to China’s repressive rules on self-expression.  The Hong Kong National…

Zoom Suffers Worldwide Outages

Videoconferencing platform Zoom experienced worldwide outages Monday morning, coinciding with the first day of remote classes for many schools and universities. On its status page, Zoom reported partial outages for its website, meetings and webinars. By Monday afternoon, all systems were reported as operational. Downdetector recorded a spike in issue reports, mostly from North America and western…

US WeChat Users sue Trump Over Order Banning Messaging App

Some U.S.-based users of WeChat are suing President Donald Trump in a bid to block an executive order that they say would effectively bar access in the U.S. to the hugely popular Chinese messaging app.The complaint, filed Friday in San Francisco, is being brought by the nonprofit U.S. WeChat Users Alliance and several people who…