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- Commencement season: Speakers share inspiration, insight, and advice with college grads It鈥檚 college graduation season and the strains of 鈥淧omp and Circumstance,鈥 which began in late April, will be heard at commencement ceremonies until mid-June. Many more speeches have yet to be given that impart the usual pearls of wisdom and advice on pursuing dreams, being daring, and contributing to society. Here鈥檚 a sampling of excerpts from speeches given to graduates around the country.
- Google Doodle contest: young artists vie for site's 1 billion viewersThe Google Doodle tops the Internet giant's search page, and the company is holding a contest to let kids design their own. The winner will get $30,000 toward college 鈥 and a lot of eyeballs.聽
- Harvard and MIT to offer online courses. A step in lowering college costs?On Wednesday, Harvard and MIT announced they're forming a new organization called edX to deliver online courses to learners around the world. Each school is investing $30 million.
- Student loans and college finance: Take our quiz!
Rising college costs have pushed America's student loan debt over the $1 trillion mark for the first time. That's just one sign of the challenges that students and parents face as they navigate a sea of how-to-pay complexities. The rewards of earning a degree remain as high as ever, some economists say. But the risks of going into too much debt are also high. Can you make the college-finance "honor roll"? Here's a quiz designed to test your knowledge ... and expand it.
- Student loans: As debts hit $1 trillion mark, protesters plan Occupy-type eventsStudent loan activists in New York and some 20 other cities are gathering Wednesday, when student debt is expected to cross the trillion-dollar threshold. Among their student loan proposals: The federal government should cover all higher-education costs.
- Student loans: Is petition to forgive debt completely a good idea?Students and parents will think so. But blanket amnesty for all student loans could destroy the student-loan system and might not do much to address the underlying problem.聽
- Lesson in UCLA error: Make sure that acceptance letter is for real.UCLA has already apologized for mistakenly notifying 894 wait-listed college seniors that they'd been admitted. It's not the first or worst such case, and it won't be the last, say experts.
- California colleges consider asking applicants: Are you gay?The University of California system is considering asking about applicants' sexual orientation. Gay-rights groups applaud the move, but others are worried about student privacy.
- Education report: Shortcomings of US schools pose national security threatFormer secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and former New York City schools chancellor Joel Klein cochaired a task force that released its report Tuesday.
- US high school graduation rate inches past 75 percentThe graduation rate rose by 3.5 percent between 2002 and 2009, according to a new report. But 10 states had lower graduation rates in 2009 than in 2002.
- Law school rankings: The results are out, but do they really matter?US News & World Report released its annual law school rankings Tuesday, reviewing about 200 schools. The rankings can have a powerful impact on universities, experts say.聽
- Minority students are punished more than whites, US reports. Is it racism?Black students are more than three times more likely to be suspended from school than white kids, a Department of Education report finds. Secretary Arne Duncan calls it a violation of civil rights.
- Ohio school shooting: why the gun owner won't be held accountableOhio has no laws governing child access to guns on its books and there are not yet signs the shooting in Chardon will force a reassessment of the state鈥檚 gun laws.
- Chardon High School shooting: what we've learned since ColumbineDespite the horrific events of the day, the Indicators of School Crime and Safety report puts recent school-related violent deaths at an all-time low since it began tracking them in 1992.聽
- One student in custody in Ohio, after fatal Chardon High School shootingFive Chardon High School shooting聽victims 鈥 four boys and a girl 鈥 were taken to area hospitals after 8 a.m. Students have identified the alleged shooter as a fellow student.
- The next Race to the Top? Arne Duncan outlines vision for teacher reform.Education Secretary Arne Duncan launched a $5 billion proposal Wednesday aimed at improving the teaching profession at every level. It would be modeled after the Race to the Top program.
- Miramonte sex abuse: Schools facing Catholic Church-like wave of scandal?The Miramonte School scandal could be a wakeup call about the prevalence of sexual abuse in schools nationwide, experts say 鈥 adding that scandals could sweep though education world the way they did though the Catholic Church.聽
- No Child Left Behind waivers: five ways education will change President Obama announced the first 10 states to receive waivers from certain aspects of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) federal education law on Thursday. Here鈥檚 a look at some ways they are pushing for progress through the flexibility granted by the waivers.
- Who is to blame for LA school sex abuse? Push for answers poised to escalate.Three suits involving 23 students have been filed in an L.A. court in the wake of the Miramonte school sex abuse scandal, but the those numbers are expected to rise dramatically in a push for accountability.
- No Child Left Behind loses bite as Obama issues waiversMany educators applaud the waivers from some parts of No Child Left Behind, saying the education-reform law has a one-size-fits-all approach. Others worry that minorities could suffer.聽