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

• A July 27, 2011 Inside Higher Ed article brings word of "Anxiety and Uncertainty" attending the national debt and what it augurs for student aid. "As the Aug. 2 deadline for increasing the federal debt limit approaches with little sign of an agreement between President Obama and Congressional Republicans, the uncertainty is growing at colleges: what happens to financial aid and federal research funds if the government defaults?"
• EducationVoters.org's blog The Soapbox features a first-person account of a career-college career (second in a three-part series). "For-Profit Colleges: A Personal Story." "More often than not, the debate around the cost of college pushes aside first-hand accounts in favor of graphs and charts. Statistics provide cold, solid numbers that have the ability to end a discussion immediately with, say, a correctly timed insertion of a percentage or dollar amount. But the personal stories go behind the digits, and help paint the picture that is worth a thousand words."
• "Fate of Student Aid is Uncertain; Grad Students Taking Out More Loans Than Ever," reads the hed to a July 27, 2011 Campus Progress article. "As the Aug. 2 deadline for increasing the federal debt limit approaches with little sign of an agreement between President Obama and Congressional Republicans, the uncertainty is growing at colleges: what happens to financial aid and federal research funds if the government defaults? Once the limit is reached, the U.S. Treasury will no longer be able to borrow to pay all of its bills and will have to prioritize its payments, including Social Security checks, debt payments and federal financial aid programs such as Pell Grants and student loans."
• Yet dark portents about debt can't dim the prospects of healthcare career aspirants in Rhode Island. "Healthy Prognosis: Nursing Degree Holders in High Demand." "Nursing is a boom profession in the Ocean State -- and, indeed, in the nation generally -- as the demographic shift toward a graying population continues in the United States. Getting in on a nursing career now should mean steady, remunerative employment for years to come."
• A July 27, 2011 Chronicle of Higher Education article takes "Another Look at the Weaknesses of Online Learning." "The responses to my last post (both online and off), in which I questioned the supposed strengths of online learning, were so well informed and provocative that I think I have no choice but to return to that topic. The supporters of online learning are simply bringing me around to their way of thinking. They also have the advantage of having either taught or taken online courses, while I have only experienced a traditional college education, on both sides of the classroom."
• Debt-limit anxiety touches graduate and undergraduate students alike, according to a July 27, 2011 post on Forbes.com's blog Taxing Matters. "Debt Ceiling Plans Take Aim At Graduate Student Loans." "The competing deficit reduction/debt ceiling increase plans proposed by House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) would both cut off subsidized Stafford student loans for graduate and professional students."
• "Online learning uplifting, efficient," proclaims the hed to a July 27, 2011 Charleston Post and Courier article. "Imagine a public education system able to provide access to high-quality instruction, regardless of where a student lives. Imagine schools able to give individualized instruction to potential dropouts. Or course offerings that encourage students to master their studies, instead of simply show up for class. In fact, this vision for the state's public school system already exists; it's called online learning."
• The question remains, however, as to whether once uplifted by online education students can continue to soar at the postsecondary level. "Epic Fail: Study Finds Attrition Rates Highest Among Online College Students." "The hed to a July 25, 2011 KPLU.org story states the matter rather unambiguously: 'College students more likely to fail online.' A recent study produced findings that strongly suggest 'that students have a greater chance of not only bombing classes if they take them remotely but of dropping out completely.'"
• A July 26, 2011 Minneapolis Star-Tribune article chronicles one career college's struggle to stay financially afloat. "Capella profit rises, new students drop." "Like other for-profit education companies, Capella's new enrollments are declining as a result of economic uncertainty, questions about job security and prolonged high unemployment, said Peter Appert, an analyst at Piper Jaffray & Co. in Minneapolis. New enrollments are considered a leading indicator of future declines in total enrollment because graduating students aren't replaced. Capella's students are mostly midcareer professionals who seek advanced degrees online in a quest for promotions."
• A July 26, 2011 Huffington Post article offers some sense of the changing work environment. "Bridging the Skills Gap in Today's Economy." "Ready or not, the demands on America's workforce are changing. In 1950, unskilled positions accounted for 80 percent of U.S. jobs, but today, 85 percent of our country's professions require skilled workers who have critical-thinking capabilities combined with career and industry specific requirements."