Faster, thinner: Colleges are swiftly trimming a B.A. degree to three years [ Hechinger Report ]

The flava:

Quinn McDonald planned to spend the typical four years working toward a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. Then he heard about a place where he could get the same degree in three.

“It was the idea of being able to save a year” that grabbed his attention, said McDonald — a savings of not only time, but tuition. And he could start earning a salary faster than if he spent four years in college.

So, last fall, McDonald joined the inaugural class of one of the nation’s first in-person programs approved to award bachelor’s degrees with fewer than the usual 120 credits, at Johnson & Wales University. He’ll need only 90 credits, putting him on track to graduate in 2028, after three years  instead of the usual four or more. . . .    

The article:

https://hechingerreport.org/faster-thinner-colleges-bachelors-degree-three-years/

Americans Love Everything About This Scottish University—Except All the Americans [ WSJ ]

The flava:

Holly Govan left New York ready for an adventure abroad at the University of St Andrews in a cobblestone-street town 3,000 miles from home.

Instead, the Upper East Sider got paired with a roommate from lower Manhattan.

“Practically every person you hear sounds American,” Govan says. “You think you’re coming to get this Scottish or international experience, and there’s just so many Americans.”

The picturesque Scottish university, once the secret of private-school students from the East Coast, now boasts a student body that is about 20% American. With more than 2,200 American students, it beat even Oxford for the highest number of U.S. university expats last year, according to the Higher Education Statistics Agency. . . .   

The article:

https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/americans-love-everything-about-this-scottish-universityexcept-all-the-americans-ec45cb63

A.I. today

President Trump Participates in a Saving College Sports Roundtable [ The white House ]

https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/4312

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7095330/2026/03/06/trump-saving-college-sports-roundtable-executive-order-score-act/

https://www.wsj.com/sports/trump-chaos-of-college-sports-aa57c92c

https://www.ms.now/opinion/trump-nil-college-sports-paying-student-athletes

UGA instructor fired. . .

https://www.latestly.com/us/antonio-alfieri-viral-video-uga-professor-removed-from-campus-amid-serious-allegations-7329425.html

:-)

Hidalgo Aransas Pecos Presidio Yoakum 💚  Bexar Irion Rockwall Travis Houston Dallas Atascosa Young 💜  Caldwell Atascosa Lubbock.  

What’s the Point of School When AI Can Do Your Homework? [ 404 Media ]

The flava:

There’s a new agentic AI called Einstein that will, according to its developers, live the life of a student for them. Einstein’s website claims that the AI will attend lectures for you, write your papers, and even log into EdTech platforms like Canvas to take tests and participate in discussions. 

Educators told me that Einstein is just one of many AI tools that can do homework for students, but should be seen as a warning to schools that are increasingly seen by students as a place to gain a diploma and status as opposed to the value of education itself. 

If an AI can go to school for you what’s the point of going to school? For Advait Paliwal, Brown dropout and co-creator of Einstein, there isn’t one. . . .   

The article:

https://www.404media.co/whats-the-point-of-school-when-ai-can-do-your-homework/

The real impact of Mackenzie Scott's historic donations to HBCUs [ ABC News ]

Whistleblower statutes should be changed to incentivize university research groups to investigate potential fraud. [ Moshe Alamaro ]

"Whistleblower reward laws are designed to incentivize insiders to expose corporate fraud by offering a bounty. In the U.S., agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission and laws such as the False Claims Act typically grant whistleblowers 10 to 30 percent of the total fines collected. These rewards help offset the significant professional and personal risks faced by those who come forward. . . .  Are universities and their scientists eligible to receive rewards like those that whistleblowers who expose fraud receive? Only in limited circumstances. . . ."

--Moshe Alamaro

Starting at Harvard and Falling for Your First Tree [ NYTimes ]

The flava:

In a time when we live ever more deeply embedded in the digital ecosystem, Harvard University’s seminar called “Tree” should be a required course for all.

Its lessons are not delivered in a lecture hall, nor is there a hefty, Latin-filled botany textbook to wade through. And despite his impeccable credentials, the professor of record, the evolutionary biologist William Friedman, isn’t the one bestowing the weekly installments of instruction on the students, exactly — at least not in the traditional format.

The trees themselves do much of the teaching. . . .    

The article:

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/realestate/starting-at-harvard-and-falling-for-your-first-tree.html