College Shorts

Yale hopes to introduce the liberal arts to Asia

This Monday, Yale University announced its initiative to create a new liberal arts college to be located in Singapore. The new university, to be called Yale-N.U.S. College, would be the first of its kind for the American university and would ideally establish a new form of higher education in Asia.

The goal of this new establishment is to integrate Yale’s residential college system into a rigorous academic setting that would encourage consideration of both the humanities and the sciences. The envisioned college hopes to become a selective institution within the greater National University of Singapore.

President of Yale University Richard C. Levin said in a statement, “There has never been a greater need for undergraduate education that cultivates critical inquiry.” In Asia, where liberal arts colleges are a rarity, Yale University hopes to spread the importance of a well-rounded education in today’s world.

While some of the University is on board with this new idea, there are still many faculty who are concerned with joining with the Singapore government.  At the moment the new university is still in its early stages, and the current plan has yet to be passed by the board at Yale.

— The New York Times

Fewer international students choose U.S.A.

The number of international students coming to the U.S. for college has been on the decline since 2000, according to a study released this week by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Over the last 10 years, the number of students who study outside their native country has increased.  However, at the same time, the percent of those students who choose to study in the United States is decreasing.

College tuition and cost of living in the United States are much higher than elsewhere. These costs are seen as major factors chasing international students away from studying at American colleges and universities.

However, American colleges and universities still remain the popular choice for those students looking to go into specialized science and technology. Even with the specialization of sciences, American colleges and universities will have to continue to vie for the best students in the world.

— The New York Times

Harrison U. imposes social media blackout

This past week, Harrison University of Science and Technology had a campus-wide social media blackout.  Neither students nor staff members could access any social media sites, including Twitter and Facebook, from any place on campus.

Harrison University’s decision to employ this block was derived from a recent study by comScore Inc. The study says that Web users in the U.S. spend even more time on Facebook and other similar websites than doing things such as searching for information on Google.  With this experiment, the university hopes that its students will think about the overwhelming prevalence of social media on the Web and in their lives.

The announcement of the social media blackout has caused much controversy.  Many of the students however, have found their time without Facebook to be helpful.  Some students have said that the blackout has allowed them to spend more time concentrating on their classes rather than social networking.

Even though many students ended up finding this experiment enlightening and even enjoyable, most cannot wait to be reconnected.

— The Huffington Post