Linkpile for Wednesday, January 11, 2012:

• A January 10, 2012 U.S. News & World Report article lists "4 Technology Must Haves for Online Students." "Most online students fall somewhere between the dial-up users and those who purchase every new gadget and device, so here are four technologies that can work for everyone."
• "'U.S. News' Sizes Up Online-Degree Programs, Without Specifying Which Is No. 1," reads the headline to a January 10, 2011 Chronicle of Higher Education article. "Unlike the magazine's annual rankings of residential colleges, which cause consternation among many administrators for reducing the value of each program into a single headline-friendly number, the new guide does not provide lists based on overall program quality; no university can claim it hosts the top online bachelor's or online master's program. Instead, U.S. News produced 'honor rolls' highlighting colleges that consistently performed well across the ranking criteria."
• An article in Tanzania's The Citizen newspaper asks. "Will your master’s get you that job?" "With the rising graduate unemployment, it’s little surprise that students want to further their education in the hope of finding employment. There are, however, growing fears in academia that the rise in fees and the stringent measures for one to benefit from the Higher Education Students' Loans Board (HESLB) schemes will leave students unable to afford a postgraduate education."
• Via National Public Radio comes a New Republic article announcing "Belt Tightening on College Costs." "Over the last three decades, through good economic times and bad, one of the few constants in American life has been the relentless rise in the price of higher education. The numbers are stark: According to the non-profit College Board, public four-year universities raised tuition and fees by 8.3 percent this year, more than double the rate of inflation. This was typical: Over the last decade, public university tuition grew by an average of 5.6 percent above inflation every year.And the problem is also getting worse: In the 1990s, the annual real increase was 3.2 percent. In the 1980s, it was 4.5 percent."
• A January 9, 2012 Technorati article brings startling news of "Fastest Growing Student Loan Debt Among Middle Aged." "The most talked about student loan debt group is the younger generation but for the past three years the middle aged group has been consistently growing more debt than any other group. Reuters reports that 'middle-aged borrowers are piling up student debt faster than any other age group.'"
• A January 9, 2012 Time Moneyland article asks, "For-Profit Schools: 'Agile Predators' or Just Business Savvy?" "Despite such dismal outcomes for for-profit students, the study didn’t entirely write off these institutions, which range from institutions like the online University of Phoenix, which enrolled 532,000 students in the 2008-09 school year, to smaller certificate programs. Because these institutions provide training in a specific vocation or trade, they often provide a more direct route to a career than general education and liberal arts programs. They are highly-attuned to changes in the marketplace and are quick to respond by opening new schools, hire faculty and add programs in growing fields. As such, the industry is booming. For-profits are the fastest growing part of the U.S. higher education system, with enrollment increasing from just 18,333 in 1970 to 1.85 million in 2009."
• A dismal new year? "Rates of Decline: Ballooning Tuition and Mounting Debt the Trend for 2012." "Interest rates for student loans have crept up to percentages that equal and sometimes surpass those attached to loans for homes and automobiles, and, most significantly, tuition rates have sailed upward at an astonishing rate. These factors have combined to push college out of reach of a great many citizens who, had they been born earlier, would very likely have been able to attend. Indeed, in terms of education, upward mobility, and other related facets of the so-called 'American dream,' the post-9/11 U.S. has begun to resemble its younger pre-World War II self."