| When It Comes to College Costs, Middle-Class Kids Are Still Screwed Posted: 29 Apr 2016 04:29 PM PDT  The study by researchers at Vanderbilt University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Institute for Research in Higher Education found that since 2008, overall college affordability has fallen 45 states, owing in part to slashed state spending on higher education in the years during and since the Great Recession. As a result, low- and middle-income earners in certain states now must spend as much as 76 percent of their annual income to pay a student's tuition and expenses at a four-year public school, according to the study, The 2016 College Affordability Diagnosis. Meanwhile, financial aid doesn't go as far as it did before, access to it has tightened, and a working student would need to work so many hours to pay the bills—and probably is already facing pressure to support him or herself, or a family—that college would take a backseat to finding a job, the study says.
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| Could these electronic glasses change a blind person’s life? Posted: 29 Apr 2016 01:15 PM PDT  "Oh Mommy, there you are!" 12 year old Christopher Ward Jr. said as he saw his mother for the first time. He was born with optic nerve hypoplasia, so his view of the world ended about five inches from his nose. Luckily his mother learned about eSight glasses, and took him from Forest Virginia to Washington, DC to try them out. "When I looked at her she was pretty," the young man said, bringing half of us to tears. eSight glasses use a small, high resolution camera and live streams enhanced video directly in front of the user's eyes. Software ensures there's no lag time allowing the wearer to seamlessly go from reading a book to looking at someone sitting across the room, then out a window. eSight Eyewear helped a mother see her baby for the first time, and kids as young as six years old see a world they've never been able to view before. "Pretty cool glasses huh?" Chris said, drawing a laugh. Related : Facebook uses AI to help the blind 'see' images Yes, indeed. They won't work for everyone — for 14 percent of the world's sight-impaired population, those completely blind or severely sight-impaired, eSight glasses are ineffective. But they do work for legally blind and those with low vision, like Chris. Unfortunately, one pair of eSight glasses carry a $15,000 price tag, though the company offers free demos. Ward's mother Marquita Hackley told WSET, "Whatever it takes to raise the money for it, that's what I was determined I was going to do." The difference these glasses can make in Chris' life is painfully evident. Because he can't see the words on a printed page, he learned Braille and uses a special typewriter to turn in his school assignments, but even now, some textbooks aren't available for him. As he moves on in life, specifically to high school, sticking to paper and a typewriter will become more difficult; for instance, his high school primarily uses computers, which Chris can't see at all. So Chris's mother set up a crowdfunding campaign for him. 565 donors raised $25,241 before Ms. Hackley closed the fundraiser. She's overwhelmed by all the well-wishers. She said, "All the messages that we've gotten on Facebook and emails, I mean it's just amazing." The extra money will go into a trust fund for Ward's college tuition.
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| As college prices soar, poorest students fall further behind Posted: 29 Apr 2016 09:49 AM PDT Hundreds of food pantries cropping up on college campuses offer one stark symbol of the gulf between the experiences of rich and poor as they reach for the American dream. It symbolizes a fundamental challenge facing US families: Even as students from all income backgrounds agree they need it, higher education is getting harder and harder to afford. In fact, one newly released study suggests the gap in college attainment between students at the top and bottom of the income scale has been widening. |
| Clinton endorses all-boys public schools in high-crime areas Posted: 29 Apr 2016 09:12 AM PDT  NEW YORK (AP) — Hillary Clinton says she wants a network of all-boys public schools in high-crime areas to "spread across America."
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| 3 Advantages to Online Bachelor's Degree Programs Outside Classes Posted: 29 Apr 2016 07:00 AM PDT Now that I've completed a bachelor's degree online, I realize how much richer my college experience would have been in the past if I had gone to school online in the first place. Students today, with undergraduate online learning, have an opportunity to maximize their extracurricular lives while at the same time achieving their academic and scholastic goals. Online school allows for travel: The student who backpacks across Europe has been a cliche of the college experience since at least the 1970s. |
| Social media stars cast in teen comedy 'Mono' Posted: 29 Apr 2016 05:31 AM PDT  Christian DelGrosso, Brandon Bowen, Jake Paul and Eric Ochoa join a cast of high-school students who see the tables turned when a virus immobilizes the cool kids, leaving two outcasts on top.
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| America’s Most Popular College Application Is Now Trans-Friendly Posted: 29 Apr 2016 03:09 AM PDT  Every fall, high school students across the United States begin the tedious process of applying to college. For the 2016–17 school year, both standardized application forms—which can be sent to more than 600 colleges collectively—will feature updated language that allows applicants to disclose gender identity in greater detail. "A gender identity field on applications indicates that schools should take this information seriously and gives them the opportunity to address and assign students appropriately," Gabe Murchison, senior research manager at Human Rights Campaign, wrote in an email to TakePart.
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| Popular La Crescenta teacher mourned by teachers, students Posted: 28 Apr 2016 06:12 PM PDT  Teachers at a La Crescenta school are raising funds to help the family of a teacher who died one day after moving into a new home.
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