EDUCATION

MGSLP is committed to a proactive approach, by offering assistance with entrance and exit counseling, providing training to financial aid administrators, and educating students on responsible borrowing habits.

"Voices" went live this week, replacing the Faces feature. The new blogs are intended to give prospective students an idea of what life at UM is like, as well as to foster a sense of community among UM students, employees and alumni.

“Montana’s families have been priced out of an education,” Schweitzer said. “Our most talented should have the opportunity to attend college in Montana and be the engines that drive our state’s future economic growth.”

The report urges the most comprehensive reform in decades. It calls for reining in tuition, improving access and graduation rates, and doing more to demonstrate the value of higher education. The issues aren’t new, but Ms. Spellings, herself the mother of a college student, is asking Congress, state governments, and both public and private universities to work together to start making changes now.

UM got connected to private investors in China through Kent Price, a UM alumnus who now sits on the board of the University of Montana Foundation. Price, who got degrees from UM in 1965 and 1966, is now a venture capitalist in San Francisco. When he learned that investors in China wanted to look into English-based curriculum, he said he knew the right school for the job.

The agonizing decision to pick Yale over Harvard didn’t come down only to academics for Philip Gant.

It also came down to his tummy. And his eco-savvy.

With changing demographics among visitors to national parks, and some observing that kids increasingly feel less comfortable in nature, it’s time for gateway communities to launch a "no child left inside" program.

”People tend to do what they think other people are doing,”

"We are underestimating what young children are capable of as students of science — the bar is almost always set too low," the report said. "Moreover, the current organization of science curriculum and instruction does not provide the kind of support for science learning that results in deep understanding of scientific ideas and an ability to engage in the practices of science."

To turn out a more capable crop of young adults, colleges and universities should do their part: Raise academic standards to ensure that only those who want to be in college get there.