Wednesday Linkpile compiles, for your information and delight, links to noteworthy news articles pertaining to all things online and higher-educational.

• Taking the groans out of student loans. MoneyExpert.com offers advice on "How to become a financially savvy student." "These tips will give you some ideas about how to get a degree that is worth its weight in gold – and doesn’t cost quite as much."
• Norway's ComputerWorld asks, "For-profit tech colleges: Can employers trust them?" "For-profit schools, such as Capella University, DeVry University, ITT Technical Institute, Kaplan University, University of Phoenix, and Walden University have come under increasing scrutiny for alleged deceptive practices that leave students in high debt for jobs that pay little."
• Tampa Bay Online (tbo.com) headline: "Florida poised to make big splash in online education." "Supporters say expanding the Virtual School prepares children for college and work, eases teacher shortages in critical areas and helps kids learn at their pace."
• Headline from Inside Higher Ed's March 7, 2011 edition of "Quick Takes": "Moody's: More Public Colleges Will Declare Exigency." "Moody's Investors Service is today releasing a report predicting that the coming years will see more public colleges declare "financial exigency," a condition of such dire financial danger that faculty groups acknowledge it may justify steps as severe as layoffs of tenured faculty members. Moody's makes its prediction on the basis of continued state budget cuts -- without additional federal stimulus money to minimize the impact of cuts."
• Is student loan comparison shopping about to get easier? "EduLender Raises $1 Million For Student Loan Comparison Search Engine." "Currently, EduLender is tracking loans from over 250 lenders. EduLender is also announcing the upcoming launch of EduLender OnePay, which is a solution for students who want to consolidate their existing federal student loans. EduLender will use the new funding towards future product development."
• "And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins...." A headline in UK Guardian announces, "The future of distance learning is calling." "Research carried out recently among a group of students enrolled on a distance MA Tesol course at Leicester University offers a glimpse into a not-too-distant future when learners distributed around the world but linked via the internet will be able to enhance their learning experience with the use of some simple and low-cost digital tools."
• A headline from eCampus News asks, "Does online education put traditional universities at a 'grave risk'?" "A university’s stockpile of faculty members with Ph.D.s soon could be irrelevant if online learning continues its rapid growth and provides flexibility for students of every age, said Clayton Christensen, an authority on how innovative technologies affect businesses and economies."
• Is a marriage between lower prices and higher education in the offing? "Walmart To Offer Online Degrees For Its Workers," reads a headline from WebPRoNews.com. "Employees will be able to earn job-learning credit in current degree offerings in programs such as management, transportation and logistics, and security management. APU plans to offer new concentrations in related management and other related fields."
• Word of cuts to student aid for college and their impact is much on the lips of politicians and pundits these days. "Lemons and Lemonade: Federal Student Aid Cuts and Distance Learning." "Phasing out year-round Pell Grants and interest deferment for federal loans will have the net effect of forcing students of insufficient means to borrow more money to fund their university education. The end of interest deferment means that, should students have no way of defraying interest while the matriculate, the principal amount borrowed will balloon by virtue of all the capitalized interest added to it. College graduates carrying such debt will likely discover that come the end of the customary sex-month grace period, they face years upon years of high monthly payments to amortize an amount that will have doubled over this term."
• Also on this subject of aid cuts comes this headline: "Fate of Nations: Federal Budgets, Financial Aid, and Online Learning." "Gone are the days of career employment with a single interest. The entire labor market has moved into a configuration in which low-commitment, flexibility, and contingency have had high premiums placed on them. Many workers work on a contractual basis for limited, often short terms, anywhere from eighteen months to three years. Many other workers, finding full-time positions — positions that come with medical benefits, set hours, vacation, and other perks — harder to win than ever, work two or three jobs where hours and schedules fluctuate wildly. Couple this need constantly to coordinate these various work responsibilities with responsibilities to family, friends, and community, and the conclusion becomes clear that equally as needful as money for many higher-ed aspirants is time."