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

• Show me the money! A May 4, 2011 Reuters article reports, "College students still denied federal funding." "'Still denied: How community colleges shortchange students by not offering federal loans,' a study released last week by the Institute for College Access & Success, finds that more than one million students across 31 states do not have access to student loans from the federal government, a low-interest lender."
• Models of efficiency. A May 3, 2011 U.s. News and World Report article lists "10 Colleges With Highest 4-Year Graduation Rates." "Each year, U.S. News surveys more than 1,700 colleges and universities to glean a multitude of student statistics, including the size of an entering class and the total number of enrollees who graduate four years later. In 2010, 1,266 schools submitted graduation rate data for students who entered college in the fall of 2003 and completed their degree by August 2007 -- the most recent data available per a standard set by the government to track students six years out."
• Skipping school. Some college-aged folks are considering "The Road Less Traveled: Forgoing Higher Education for Entrepreneurial Endeavors." "The idea of higher education many consider so reasonable that they hardly find occasion to doubt it. Ever since American troops marched home from World War Two and onto college campuses across the U.S. (coaxed thither by the Montgomery G.I. Bill) Americans have come to esteem postsecondary education as the sine qua non of middle-class status, comfort, and security."
• Recruit crisis. A May 3, 2011 article on The Huffington Post announces, "Attorneys General In 10 States Launch Joint Investigation Into For-Profit Colleges." "The for-profit higher education industry, which includes a vast swath of colleges ranging from the more than 400,000-student University of Phoenix to small mom-and-pop beauty schools, is facing intense scrutiny from the federal government due to growing federal student loan default rates at many schools. Although only about 10 percent of college students nationwide attend such for-profit institutions, the schools account for nearly half of all student loan defaults, leaving the government to pick up the tab."
• Prisoner's dilemma. A May 4, 2011 Inside Higher Ed article brings word of "Limited Education Behind Bars." "The authors [of a report entitled "Unlocking Potential"] found that about 6 percent of inmates in the 43 states whose officials did reply were enrolled in some form of postsecondary education for the 2009-10 school year, though the figure varied considerably by state. At the high end was North Carolina, where more than 16,500 inmates were enrolled in higher education. In South Dakota, however, fewer than 50 were enrolled. While the report didn't break down enrollments based on each state's inmate population, the percentage of enrolled inmates appeared to vary from state to state. Some populous states with high prison populations, such as Florida, enrolled fewer than 1,000 students in higher education programs, while some small states, such as Vermont, enrolled more than 1,000."
• Saving the village to burn the village. A May 4, 2011 California Watch article reports, "Student aid cuts to generate have of expected savings." "A new California law that cuts off Cal Grants to colleges whose students default on federal loans at high rates will produce less than half of the previously expected budget savings -- thanks to a data mix-up by the U.S. Department of Education."
• The agony of Mammon. Many higher-ed aspirants face a troubling choice: "Borrow, Borrow, Tomorrow Sorrow: Surge in Student Loans Precipitates University Enrollment Decline." "The chilling effect that escalating tuition rates and greater education borrowing has had suggests that the student aid financial bubble has inflated about as far as it’s capable. Some education consumers have seen the writing on the wall and have thus chosen to bide their time, lest they find themselves shackled to debt they cannot discharge through bankruptcy."