Linkpile for Thursday, December 8, 2011.

• A December 6, 2011 Inside Higher Ed article puts readers front row At the White House Roundtable." "A meeting Monday between President Obama, university chancellors and presidents, and experts on higher education cost and productivity appears to mark a shift in policy for the administration, which will focus more on college affordability in the coming months."
• Strategy of refusal: "Occupy groups calls on people to default on student loans," reports a December 5, 2011 article in the Daily Sundial (the student newpaper of California State University–Northridge). "The Occupy Student Debt Campaign, which is comprised of students, alumni and current faculty from schools across the country, aims to challenge the rising crisis of student debt and make people aware of the injustices of the current higher education infrastructure to the public, according to a statement from the group."
• A December 5, 2011 article in The Daily Wildcat (the student newspaper of The University of Arizona) issues a call to pols. "Attention lawmakers: We need a debt cure." "While it is promising that the regents recognize the issues with student debt and financial aid, there needs to be some sort of cohesive effort to see to it that the same epiphany occurs at the capitol. The regents should be aware of these realities because it’s their job. The problems with financial aid are so evident that anyone who pays even the slightest attention to education can recognize them. So why can’t Arizona lawmakers?"
• "What are the basic types of college financial aid?", asks a December 6, 2011 Charlotte Observer article. "With college tuition prices escalating annually, faster than the cost-of-living index, discussing what funds are available for college is a conversation every family needs to have."
• Education? Trust me, it will cost you a lot more to be ignorant," states a December 6, 2011 Sydney Morning Herald article. "Having an education enhances our chances of a well-paid job, enables us to make informed choices, improves our understanding of the value of investments and highlights the importance of managing our health. Education allows us to harness the power of technology, be conscious of our carbon footprint and to forge new frontiers."
• Get what it takes to achieve in digital distance higher learning. "Smart Learners Learn Smarter: Tips for Online Study Success." "Study, study, study – and do so weeks in advance. The world of distance learning is still as strange and seemingly unforgiving as a Martian landscape. But students can succeed if they take the right measures. Start by choosing an online school that's right for you. Each one has a different learning model, and it's likely you'll find one that suits your needs perfectly. From Arizona State University to Vanderbilt, almost every school in the nation has developed a distance learning program. Start looking today. It's never too late to improve your life through distance learning!"
• Will online unversities help the U.S. economy rise from the ashes of recession? "University of Phoenix: Its Business Is Business."Truly, University of Phoenix feels it needs to live up to certain commitments. In this they point the way forward into the next nine decades of the century. Our welfare as a civilization depends crucially on striking a harmonious balance between private and public needs. By devising private means for proffering a public solution, namely, a trained and educated workforce capable of meeting the demands of a technology-driven global market, University of Phoenix shows itself an indispensible actor in the present century – and perhaps in the century to come."