Roughly 38,153 people are going to be pretty upset at Harvard in a few weeks.

Harvard University announced that 40,246 students have applied this selection cycle.

According to the school's newspaper, The Harvard Crimson, it's the fewest applicants in three years. So far, the school has already accepted 825 students in December as part of the "Early Action" program, while "Regular Decision" students will learn their fate on March 26th.

An estimated 5.2% of students gain admittance each year. Using some quick math, that means a total of 2,093 will receive their golden ticket for life.

Don't feel too badly for the remaining 38,153 who find themselves rejected. I'm sure many will make do with the plebeian masses at Yale or Princeton or--dare say--even Columbia.

Public university president? No worries if you're in Texas.

Good news if you're the president of a public college or university and find that a salary under a million dollars, bonuses, and special accommodations aren't enough for your struggling lifestyle of driving only a Maserati. According to Forbes, things are looking up, especially if you're in Texas.

The Chronicle of Higher Education released their latest report on the highest paid public school presidents and chancellors, and two of the top three--and three of the top ten--come from the Texas system, all of whom made over seven figure salaries.

News gets even better for the poor schlub presidents scraping by on $800,000 a year: Salaries rose by 5%, on average, for public school administrators. This is compared to the usual 2-3% annual raise typically seen.

So who are the top ten paid public university presidents and chancellors?

1. Michael Crow, President, Arizona State University $1,554,058

2. William McRaven, Chancellor, University of Texas system $1,500,000

3. John Sharp, Chancellor, Texas A&M University system office, $1,280,438

4. W. Kent Fuchs, President, University of Florida, $1,102,862

5. Michael A. McRobbie, President Indiana University system $1,067,074

6. Eric J. Barron, President, Pennsylvania State University at University Park, $1,039,717

7. Michael V. Drake, President, Ohio State University, $1,034,574

8. Michael K. Young, President, Texas A&M at College Station, $1,000,000

9. Jean E. Robillard, Interim President, University of Iowa, $929,045

10. Raymond Watts, President, University of Alabama at Birmingham, $890,000

Let's not forget that both Texas A&M and the University of Texas' head football coaches made roughly $5 million EACH last year. The basketball coaches? Potentially around $3 million.

I already knew the stereotype that everything was bigger in Texas. I just never knew that meant public higher education salaries as well.



Let's not kid ourselves, though. Tenured faculty is always told there is no room in the budget for salary increases. Likewise, colleges and universities--public and private--are relying more and more on assistant professors that can be paid on the cheap with little to no benefits offered.

But at least the administrators found money in the budget for themselves. Phew--I was worried there for a moment.

Aristotle would be eating a lot of ramen if he were alive today. And not the boutique restaurant kind.

Forbes Magazine caters to the wealthy, the kinda wealthy, and the really bored people in a doctor's office who can't bear the idea of reading another Reader's Digest.

Which explains why Forbes would have an article detailing the college majors least and most likely to have millionaires as an alumnus. Turns out Kierkegaard would be panhandling if he was alive today.

Researches at WealthInsight analyzed data on over 100,000 high net worth individuals with assets of $1 million or more--and philosophy majors made up the least of them.

The list:

1.  MBA (12.1%)
2.  Engineering (10.7%)
3.  Economics (8.2%)
4.  Business studies/business administration (5.9%)
5.  Law (4.7%)
6.  Accountancy (2.9%)
7.  Finance (2.1%)
8.  Management (2.0%)
9.  Commerce (1.9%)
10.  Computer science (1.9%)
11.  Politics (1.3%)
12.  Mathematics (1.1%)
13.  Medicine (1.0%)
14.  Physics (0.9%)
15.  Chemistry (0.9%)
16.  History (0.8%)
17.  Marketing (0.7%)
18.  Biology (0.6%)
19.  Psychology (0.6%)
20.  Philosophy (0.6%)

Consider me stunned that those in the world of business, finance, commerce, accountancy, economics--everything that makes a worldwide business flourish and make the affluent richer--somehow dominate the top ten and would produce the most millionaires. Goodness! You might think there was some sort of incestuous relationship between it all!

You might ask where English majors are on this list. The cynic in you might suggest not oven 0.6% of them are millionaires. Your inner Negative Nancy might suggest writers are starving artists because, well, they are starving. The pessimist in your soul would suggest English majors must be a sad lot.

And you'd be right. But we're not sad. Just broke.

Locals want Princeton University to pony up more of its fair share.

Don't turn the last shuttle ride into this, folks.

"They're not being a benefactor -- they're being like the billionaire class," says 72-year old Princeton, NJ, resident Jim Firestone to Bloomberg Media about his famous Ivy League neighbor. "They want to impress you with a gift, and you say, 'Ooh, boy, that sounds big!' In reality, why is Princeton being so parsimonious?"

Emotions are starting to run hot in New Jersey's Ivy League enclave as dozens of local citizens have joined a lawsuit to see Princeton University pay millions more in taxes than it already does. Currently the school pays roughly $8 million in taxes, a huge discount it earns through exemptions. Plaintiffs in the lawsuit believe the school should be hit at a higher rate, pushing the tax bill closer to a reasonable $40 million. Local home owners have seen property tax bills double in just the past five years, but seeing Princeton pay more could force those same bills lower by a third.

The university claims it offers local residents freebies--the types of gifts Firestone references. Those freebies include free admission to athletic events and concerts, free lectures, and even a shuttle bus to a nearby Trader Joe's. If the allure of organic dried mango and overpriced plantain chips can't woo the masses any longer, the battle is truly lost for Princeton.

Princeton claims it also gives an extra $3 million per year to the town as well, purely as a bonus to cover the cost of public works and emergency services. This sounds quite charitable until you take into account Princeton is sitting on an endowment of $22.7 billion, or that the school earned $527 million through licensing income between 2005-2012 over a patent it owns for a cancer drug.

"I don't mind biting the hand that feeds me," Janet Martin, a retired university professor, told Bloomberg.

Even if that hand supplies access to Trader Joe's, Janet? Even the loss of the Joe?



In case you're wondering, a search of Google Maps reminds us that Trader Joe's is a six minute car ride away from Princeton University. The school is going to cripple locals with such strong arm tactics!!

Like hiking? Fan of poetry? Very patient? You might find millions in buried treasure.

Yup. Somewhere out there.

Eccentric millionaire, avid hiker, and occasional poet Forrest Fenn wrote a jaunty, rhyming poem detailing the whereabouts of a treasure chest he filled with gold and gemstones--and buried somewhere nondescript in the Rocky Mountains.

Buried six years ago during the Great Recession, Fenn tells NPR he did it to brighten people's moods, have them venture outside, and see nature. And nothing motivates people to see the great outdoors like the smell of sweet, sweet cash.

Tens of thousands of people have reportedly searched for Fenn's chest, buried somewhere between his home in Sante Fe, New Mexico, and the Canadian border at an elevation over 5,000ft. That's right, if you find the chest you're at least hauling that thing a long way down. But after finding a buried fortune you'll be walking on air, or can at least hire someone to carry it for you.

The only hint to where it's buried is in the following poem written by Fenn in his self-published book, The Thrill of the Chase:

As I have gone alone in there
And with my treasures bold,
I can keep my secret where,
And hint of riches new and old.

Begin it where warm waters halt
And take it in the canyon down,
Not far, but too far to walk.
Put in below the home of Brown.

From there it's no place for the meek,
The end is ever drawing nigh;
There'll be no paddle up your creek,
Just heavy loads and water high.

If you've been wise and found the blaze,
Look quickly down, your quest to cease,
But tarry scant with marvel gaze,
Just take the chest and go in peace.

So why is it that I must go
And leave my trove for all to seek?
The answers I already know,
I've done it tired, and now I'm weak.

So hear me all and listen good,
Your effort will be worth the cold.
If you are brave and in the wood
I give you title to the gold.

"No one knows where that treasure chest is but me," Fenn tells NPR. "If I die tomorrow, the knowledge of that location goes in the coffin with me."

Wait-wait-wait. Is that a hint? Did he just offer a hint? I think he offered a hint. Is it going to be buried with him? Or is he going to be buried in the chest?

That is what an eccentric millionaire would do after all.

You can buy Maya Angelou's Harlem home for $5.095 million.

It looks like a banker's house, circa 1880.

Back in October Maya Angelou's Winston-Salem, NC, home went up for sale. Now, according to the New York Times, her Harlem brownstone has entered the real estate market as well. Asking price? $5.095 million.

Someone with a greater real estate acumen could explain why the extra $95,000 was added on a $5 million price tag. It raises a litany of questions. Is an even $5 million going to set the seller back--but $95,000 really solidifies the financial picture? Was $5.096 million too high? $5.094 million too low? When did Maya Angelou's brownstone become a Goldilocks situation?

Better yet, who knew that Maya Angelou was sitting on so much coin from writing poetry?




photo: LinkNY Realty

A photograph of a potato might be the 15th most expensive picture ever.

The photo of a relatively circular, slightly dusty potato with the subtlest of root matter left on it sold for $1.08 million in a private sale.

Titled Potato #345 by Irish visual artist Kevin Abosch, the spud was chosen as the subject for specific reasons. "I see commonalities between humans and potatoes that speak to our relationship as individuals within a collective species," says Abosch.

Damn right. Have you ever seen a bunch of shoestring fries boiling in a vat of oil at McDonald's? If you blink, you might swear you saw middle America sweating it out on the boardwalk in Atlantic City. Potatoes are us!

Abosch isn't done waxing deep thoughts though. "Generally, the life of a harvested potato is violent and taken for granted. I use the potato as a proxy for the ontological study of the human experience," he says.

He's speaking to my soul. The next time I look in a mirror and see myself as dusty and round, it's not because I'm overweight and didn't bathe--it's because I'm just a proxy for a potato.




Photo: Kevin Abosch

Five college and university presidents made over $2 million last year

He suddenly feels motivated, too!

The big winner was Columbia University's Lee Bollinger, who pocketed $4.6 million. He has been the president at the school since 2002, when he came over from the University of Michigan after he primed his skills as--you guessed it--president there as well for six years.

The four other presidents to earn at least $2 million?

Amy Gutmann, University of Pennsylvania:   $3 million

Nido Qubein, High Point University:   $2.9 million

Richard Joel, Yeshiva University:   $2.5 million

Nicholas Zeppos, Vanderbilt University:   $2.1 million

In case you're wondering, Nido Qubein isn't the name to a second rate club DJ in Miami. His Wikipedia profile says he's not only a college president, but chairman of Great Harvest Bread Company and a motivational speaker as well. Do you suddenly feel motivated to make $2.9 million at a no-name college? I know I do.

Overall, median compensation was $436,429 for a private college or university president, up from just under $400,000 for the year 2012, according to the Chronicle for Higher Education.

In other words, college presidents should know better than anyone how to motivate a salary to drastically increase.

Gore Vidal's Los Angeles estate is for sale for $5.7 million

Gore Vidal? Of all writers, Gore Vidal was sitting on a $5.7 million home?

Finally, proof that if there is a God, he has horrible taste in literature.

Report: 65% of cities and towns with a 'good' school are unaffordable to average American.

RealtyTrac took a look at zip codes and their median house prices, and then compared to see if a "good" school existed within that zip codes confines.

Of course, "good" is a vague term. RealtyTrac only required that the given zip code's school performed better than average on tests compared to the rest of their given state. In essence, if the bar is pretty low in your state, you stand a better chance at hopping over said bar.

Then they ranked the zip codes for affordability for home prices. The result? 65% of "good" schools fall into expensive neighborhoods.

California wins out for being least affordable, with a seemingly endless array of zip codes in the unaffordability range. Atherton, CA, 94027, in San Mateo county has the least affordable houses with a "good" school. You only need to pay roughly $6 million per house to live there. Buy two or three while you're at it!

The most affordable? Some place called Harvey, IL, which sounds cozy and quaint until you find out it apparently has high levels of crime. But it has a "good" school! The median price for a house there is only $21,000. Hell, dinner costs more at Applebee's.

So strap a bullet-proof vest onto little Johnny and realize he's at least going to get a "good" education. Dodging bullets will teach him some nimble, cat-like reflexes.

1964 Malcolm X letter up for sale for $1.25 million.

Sometimes what you go looking for isn't what you end up leaving with.

Found in a storage locker, a six-page handwritten letter from Malcolm X is up for sale for $1.25 million, according to the New York Post.

Written after his return from a pilgrimage to Mecca in 1964, the civil rights leader pondered the situation in America, and believed that the religion of Islam was the answer for a uneasy country.

"I very much doubt that 10 American citizens have ever visited Mecca, and I do believe that I might be the first American-born Negro to make the actual Hajj itself," Malcolm X writes. Considering that in the history of the Hajj hundreds of millions of Muslims have made the pilgrimage, Malcolm X might be underestimating by a slight margin--but his point is made.

And he sees racism plaguing the United States. "If white Americans could accept the religion of Islam...they, too, could then sincerely accept the Oneness of Men, and cease to measure others always in terms of their 'difference in color,' he wrote. "And with racism now plaguing America like an incurable cancer, all thinking Americans should be more respective to Islam as an already proven solution to the race problem."

The letter, being sold by a California memorabilia company called Moments in Time, was nearly thrown out. As the seller, Gary Zimet, told Page Six of the Post, “It was found in a storage locker and almost thrown out. [...] Only because the owner saw some Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez autographs was it saved.”

Priorities, people. Derek Jeter autographs were to be had!!

University of Michigan student claims her family making $250,000 a year makes them middle class.

Defining what is middle-class is a fickle definition. The U.S. Census Bureau defines middle class in the United States as a median household income of $51,017. That said, the middle class varies. What's middle class in Massachusetts or New York is different than what qualifies as middle class in Mississippi or Alabama. But median is median. Massachusetts and Mississippi meet each other at some point, and it's regularly well under $100,000. Well, well, well under $100,000 for a family.

But that doesn't stop University of Michigan student Jesse Klein from claiming in the school newspaper that she is really middle class--despite her family earning over $250,000 a year and living in a $2 million home in Palo Alto.

"My family's household income is $250,000 a year, but I promise you I am middle class," says Klein in her article. "I live in a $2 million dollar house, but I promise you I am still middle class. It has one story, doesn't have a pool or its own movie theater. It is a modest three-bedroom, two-bath."

It doesn't have a movie theater? That's slumming it. And she did promise us...

Klein's story has raised the angst of people around the country who debate the merits of what makes someone middle class. (Psst: it's not $2 million homes). Palo Alto is an affluent neighborhood, but even there the median household income isn't a quarter million.

Indeed, the last demographic statistics for median household income for Palo Alto was $119,046--which is still lower than Ms. Klein's idea of middle class--by more than half of her estimate.

The problem for Klein is a matter of perspective, and to a degree, ridiculousness. While the median income of her hometown might be $119,046, the University of Michigan reports that 63% of all incoming freshman claim a family income of over $100,000. In essence, Klein has no idea how the majority of the world--the majority of America--lives, if only because everyone she grew up and attends college with is equally affluent.

And apparently, the University of Michigan has no idea as well.

There's a bubble, and sometimes it's hard to see outside it.

Mark Zuckerberg gave Newark, NJ, $100 million for its schools, and he didn't even get a lousy t-shirt.

The New Yorker has come out with a damning report that details how state and local officials in Newark and New Jersey, respectively, largely wasted a $100 million donation from Facebook's founder, Mark Zuckerberg, to improve the city's schools.

In 2010, Zuckerberg announced on Oprah's television show about his generous offer, and demanded few stipulations for the donation, except that Newark's then-mayor, Cory Booker, find other donors to raise another $100 million (thus, Zuckerberg's money being matched dollar-for-dollar), and that the superintendent of schools be replaced by a "transformational leader."

The governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie, signed off on the deal, and joined Booker in trying this new approach to funding a struggling school district.

What occurred, says the The New Yorker, is rampant waste, to the tune of $20 million alone being spent on consulting firms, with some individual consultants making upwards of $1,000 a day. Likewise, Zuckerberg's stipulation of a new superintendent went unfulfilled for months, until Booker eventually hired Cami Anderson.

Cami Anderson, according to the report, implemented ideas for programs--but never fleshed those programs out. Basic issues like transportation weren't even finalized, never mind academic matters.

Newark citizens haven't heard from Zuckerberg, Booker, or Christie how much money the district has left, or how poor the situation really is, says the magazine, "despite millions spent on community engagement."

To recap this mess:
1. A billionaire donates $100 million to improve a destitute school district.
2. Politicians promise to improve the schools as a result of that money.
3. Money goes to consultants instead of improving schools.
(...stop me if you're surprised at any point...)
4. "Community engagement" involves neither the community or engagement.
5. No one responsible wants to talk.

In other words, it's just Tuesday in New Jersey.




photo: dailytech.com

The check's in the mail: James Patterson mails out first wave of grants to independent bookstores.

James Patterson's books have sold over 300 million copies worldwide, making him one of the most successful writers ever of commercial fiction in terms of sales. He's made himself a good life.

Last year, Patterson decided to give money back. He promised that by the end of 2014 he would donate $1 million to a number of independent book stores, all in the form of grants largely ranging from $2,000 to $15,000. All the book store had to do is apply. As he told Publisher's Weekly this week, "It’s as easy as putting on half a page of paper what you need to do. It’s not like applying to Harvard. It’s not difficult, and there’s no catch. We want to be inundated."

The only requirements for the bookstores are that they are a viable bookstore and have a children's section.

This week Patterson followed through with his wish, sending out check's totaling $267,000, and completing the first wave of grants. He promises the remaining $733,000 will follow out in stages throughout the remainder of the year.

The list of bookstores receiving money are below (per Publisher's Weekly).

Bookstores Receiving Grants in the First Round:

A Whale of a Tale – Irvine, CA

Alamosa Books - Albuquerque, NM

Anderson's - Naperville, IL

Andover Bookstore (Hugo Books) - Andover, MA

Bank Street Bookstore - New York, NY

Bay Company Books Inc. (Bookshop Santa Cruz) - Santa Cruz, CA

Book Bin - Northbrook, IL

Book Culture -New York, NY

Book Passage – Corte Madera, CA

Book Revue - Huntington, NY

BookPeople – Austin, TX

Books & Books – Coral Gables, FL

Books & Greetings - Northvale, NJ

Books of Wonder - New York, NY

Booktenders - Doylestown, PA

Bookworks - Albuquerque, NM

Brazos Bookstore, Inc. - Houston, TX

Brewster Book Store - Brewster, MA

Broadside Book Shop - Northampton, MA

Browseabout Books - Rehoboth Beach, DE

California Bookstore Day

Children’s Book World – Los Angeles, CA

Children's Book World - Haverford, PA

Doylestown Bookshop - Doylestown, PA

Eighth Day Books - Wichita, KS

Gallery Bookshop & Bookwinkle Children - Mendocino, CA

Hicklebee’s – San Jose, CA

Innisfree Bookshop – Lincoln, NH

Lake Forest BookStore - Lake Forest, IL

Little Shop of Stories – Decatur, GA

Malaprop’s Bookstore and Café – Asheville, NC

Mysterious Galaxy - Redondo Beach/San Diego, CA

Nicola's Books - Ann Arbor, MI

Norwich Bookstore - Norwich, VT

Oblong Books – Millerton, NY

Odyssey Book Shop – South Hadley, MA

Old Firehouse Books - Fort Collins, CO

Page & Palette - Fairhope, AL

Park Road Books - Charlotte, NC

Parnassus Books - Nashville, TN

Percy's Burrow - Topsham, ME

Phoenix Books - Essex Junction, VT

Porter Square Books - Cambridge, MA

Reading Reptile - Kansas City, MO

Red Balloon - St. Paul, MN

Russo's Marketplace Books - Bakersfield, CA

Schuler Books and Music - Okemos, MI

Subterranean Books – St. Louis, MO

The Bookies – Denver, CO

The BookLoft - Great Barrington, MA

The Bookstore Plus - Lake Placid, NY

The Children's Bookstore – Baltimore, MD

The Yellow Brick Road - San Diego, CA

Wellesley Books - Wellesley, MA

Wild Rumpus - Minneapolis, MN

Wonderland Books - Rockford, IL

Elderly Connecticut teacher and her twin were secret millionaires, donate huge sums to charity upon death.

Among the money donated, the Simsbury, CT, native left...

• $480,000 to Simsbury public schools, where she taught.
• $500,000 to University of St. Joseph in West Hartford, CT.
• $375,000 to her local parish, St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church.
• $400,000 to McLean Nursing Home, where she died.

Kathleen Magowan and her twin brother, Robert, amassed nearly a $10 million fortune during their lifetime. Both never married, yet lived a quiet, unassuming life together in a single family home they inherited from their parents decades earlier.

Robert once worked at Prudential Insurance and was the financial wizard of the family, which included investing his sister's money. When Robert died in 2011, and his sister a year later in 2012, Kathleen was worth over $6 million, while her brother was worth nearly $4 million.

Kathleen taught for three decades as a first grade teacher in the Simsbury public school system, and always looked fondly at her time there, as well as her alma mater, the University of St. Joseph. Yet no one at the public school system or at the university knew Magowan was a millionaire. In fact, neither did Magowan herself. When she showed up to a law firm near the end of her life for some financial advice, a lawyer asked how much Ms. Magowan thought her estate was worth.

Her reply? $40,000.




photo: Hartford Courant and estate of Kathleen Magowan

The Friday Poem: A Question, by Robert Frost

Occasionally on Fridays we'll have The Friday Poem. (A capitalized title--and italicized!--so you know it's official and whatnot.) Famous poets, obscure poets, amateur poets, whatever poets--just a poem to end the week.

Like this one:


A Question, by Robert Frost

A Voice said, Look me in the stars
And tell me truly, men of earth,
If all the soul-and-body scars
Were not too much to pay for birth.

Man mispronounces word on Wheel of Fortune, loses $1 million dollar prize.

You pronounce it CURE-ee-oh. Contestant Paul pronounces it CURE-oh. He was breathless after all. He just thought he was going to win $1 million.

According to the judges on Wheel of Fortune, that breathless slip-up was worth telling Paul he was wrong.

The best moment is the four seconds of awkward, deadly silence before the buzzer.



Second best moment? Pat Sajak offering the casual hand tap and caffeinated upbeat tone as if Paul's dreams weren't just snuffed out, mob-style.

Kentucky college has $250 million dollar gift withdrawn.

You know when someone says they'll pick up the tab at dinner at a fancy restaurant and then stiffs you later claiming they don't have their credit card on them? Yeah, this is kind of like that.

The A. Eugene Brockman Charitable Trust originally announced a quarter billion dollar gift to the small, liberal arts Centre College in Kentucky. Then, for reasons largely unknown to Centre College, the trust withdrew the gift. Considering that Centre College's entire endowment as of 2012 was roughly $213 million, the withdrawal of a $250 million gift stings a wee bit.

Centre College had planned to use the money every year to offer full-ride tuition scholarships to forty students. That idea is now canceled.

A. Eugene Brockman is long dead, but his son had no comment to the AP about the alleged bait-and-switch from the trust. All that is reported is that a "significant capital event" placed pressure on the college to structure the gift in time, which apparently didn't happen.

The college states it is "not happy, in any shape or form," and that the gift was withdrawn "for reasons unknown to the college."

Meanwhile, the A. Eugene Brockman Charitable Trust said in a brief statement that "[T]his is between the trust and the college."

Sounds like a classic, American divorce story, minus the whole messy custody battle.

Californian teacher inherits recluse cousin's $7 million gold stash.

Walter Samasko Jr. was a lonely recluse with a bad ticker who died at his home, where it took days for anyone to complain about the stench coming from his home where his dead body was rotting.

(Editor's Note: Happy Christmas!)

Apparently Samasko didn't have much family--so little that none claimed the body--so his modest home was cleared by local authorities from his hometown. City Clerk Alan Grover was in charge of most of the work and stumbled upon the bounty.

According to ABCNews:

Grover said the coins were in boxes marked "books." There were also coins wrapped in aluminum foil and stored in ammunition boxes. There were Mexican, British and Austrian coins dating as far back as the 1870s.

There was so much gold that Grover used a wheelbarrow to carry the fortune to his truck. The coins were first moved to a bank vault and later moved to armored vehicles.

[...] Using the funeral attendance list from Samasko's mother's funeral (in 1992), Grover tracked down (school teacher Arlene) Magdanz, Samasko's first cousin in San Rafael, Calif.

The total value of the gold is around $7 million, a stark contrast to the $200 in Samasko's bank account when he died.

Arlene Magdanz decidedly has more than $200 in her bank account right now.

Two professors spend endless hours outside classroom researching and writing book.

These same professors proceed to claim undergraduate students aren't learning much in the classroom.

Now, I'm no Stephen Hawking, but those two statements might have something to do with one another.

According to a website called insidehighered.com (as opposed to outside higher ed, which possibly talks about lawn care maintenance), a newly released book called Academically Adrift performed a study on 2,300 undergraduate students and found some statistics that would make any parent's heart soar with pride:

1.) 45% of students didn't show any improvement on learning during their first two years of college.
2.) 35% of students continued mailing it in for the following two years as well--showing that, indeed, Animal House wasn't a fictional movie at all, but a stunning documentary instead.

Any other nuggets from the book?

1.) Studying alone leads to gaining more knowledge than studying in groups.
2.) Students in classes that require more out of you (reading 40 pages a week as opposed to 20 pages) tend to learn more.
3.) Fraternities and sororities tend not to be a haven for intellectual accomplishment. [No. Way.]
4.) Students in liberal arts fields tend to acquire more knowledge than those majoring in business, education, social work, or communications.

More or less, if you've been an observant college student at any point in your life, these facts shouldn't be a surprise. You mean frat houses aren't turning out the next Thomas Edison? Wha-wha-what??? Studying in groups leads to people just socializing and not studying? Impossible!

These professors also argue that college social activities are a waste of time at acquiring knowledge. Generally, they declare students should only be doing classwork 24/7. Everything else isn't teaching the student anything at all.

Which is good to know. You wouldn't want a student to emerge from college knowing how to interact with anyone. Good social skills never got anyone anywhere in life. Except, of course, the last three presidents of the United States, one of whom was a C student. But what parent wants their child to grow up to become president? Pssh.



Okay, yes, the book seems to make some good points about colleges and universities only wanting warm bodies in the classrooms to make a buck, and that education itself has become a secondary concern to campus activities that generate income. But the writers of the book aren't promoting those issues up front. They're promoting fun facts about students not learning anything in the classroom--fun facts that just happen to be of the "Well, duh..." variety for anyone who has roamed a college campus in the last 100 years.