Many students know that in the past week there has been much discussion concerning the future of higher education. Among the concerns addressed in Student Senate were the daunting budget cuts set upon not only UW-La Crosse, but the University of Wisconsin System as a whole, creating frightening challenges for not only the universities' student body. This also is a concern for the staff and administration as a whole; this fiscal problem is the greatest difficulty faced by the university system today...

Having reduced state funding for the UW school system by $250 million while setting the 2011-13 budget, the state is demanding $174 million more from state agencies, $46 -$74 million of which will come from the UW system. This sum comes from the lapse provision from when the budget was initially balanced...

UW-Milwaukee's Chancellor Michael Lovell met last Thursday with a committee of dismayed and exasperated faculty and staff responsible for handling budget issues in order to address a state budget lapse that could cost the UW System $66 million...

UW-Eau Claire students offered varied opinions when asked about preliminary approval by the state Assembly early Wednesday to eliminate race as a factor in college grant applications. The measure was introduced by Democratic Rep. Democratic Rep. Peggy Krusick of Milwaukee and backed by Republicans, who control the Assembly. "This is a school based on academics, and if it's solely based on academics, then why is race a factor for grants?" said Demetrius Evans, a black UW-Eau Claire sophomore who explained she generally opposes considering a person's race in awarding college grants...Jarrel Montgomery, also a black UW-Eau Claire sophomore, said considering race in grant applications is a way to ensure diversity at colleges...

..."Jack meant a lot to me," Jensema said Wednesday at the dedication of the Jack Snyder Court on the UW-Sheboygan campus. The college unveiled the new floor during a ceremony in a standing-room only gymnasium. Several of Snyder's former athletes and other campus leaders spoke about how Snyder changed their lives and bettered the Wombats community. Snyder, the longtime athletic director and multi-sport Wombats coach, died of a heart attack at the age of 68 on Dec. 26, 2009...

The University of Wisconsin-Fond du Lac Theater Department will present Richard Kalinoski's "My Soldiers"..."My Soldiers" is a Fond du Lac premiere produced and directed by UW-Fond du Lac Professor Richard Gustin, according to an event press release. Kalinoski is a local playwright and theater faculty member at UW-Oshkosh...

University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Concert Choir members will sing a special rendition of "Happy Birthday" to those celebrating their special day. The choir is raising funds for its May 2012 performance tour in Ireland and Northern Ireland...

A Journal Sentinel photojournalist and two University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee students were arrested near campus Wednesday during a rally connected to the Occupy Wall Street movement...

Police arrested a Milwaukee newspaper photographer along with two other people during an Occupy demonstration Wednesday afternoon at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. It started out as a peaceful demonstration to show solidarity with occupy protestors in Oakland Calif., but when the protesters hit the streets without a permit things got ugly...Two of the people taken into custody were UW-Milwaukee students...

Milwaukee police arrested three people early Wednesday afternoon, who officers claim ignored their repeated commands to clear the street near Oakland and Linnwood. The gathering started at UWM when people there staged an Occupy Milwaukee rally. But university police summoned the MPD to help, after some protesters left campus and headed out onto city streets...

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is looking at the possibility of bringing football back to the campus. New UW-Milwaukee Athletic Director Rick Costello is kicking off the push to get football back to the school. He eagerly awaits the results of what he says is an $87,000, comprehensive, strategic plan for the University's Athletic Department. It involves exploring the feasibility of fielding a football team...

A journal of marketing education ranks the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater No. 1 in the nation for the number of articles published by marketing faculty in prominant education journals over the past decade. The Journal of Marketing Education ranked UW-Whitewater ahead of schools such as Baylor University, Texas Tech University and University of Denver...

Students studying marketing at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater are learning from the most productive professors in the United States. A report by the Journal of Marketing Education ranked UW-Whitewater No. 1 in the nation, based on the number of articles published by faculty members in prominent business education journals in the last decade. UW-Whitewater outranked schools such as Baylor University, Texas Tech University and University of Denver...

Effects of the new voter photo I.D. law on UW-Whitewater students were discussed yesterday afternoon by the Whitewater League of Women's Voters...Currently, UW-Whitewater's university identification cards do not meet the requirements. Thomas Rios, vice chancellor of administrative affairs, said the university is currently working on creating a second photo I.D. card that can be used for student voting purposes only...

...Researchers at the University of Wisconsin were wondering if getting people out of their cars just a wee bit would create measurable improvements in health...They found that if the Midwesterners ran half of their short-distance errands by bike rather than by car, 1,100 deaths would be avoided each year, and $7 billion would be saved in reduced health-care costs...

A La Crosse man is suing two University of Wisconsin-La Crosse police officers for what he said was a false arrest during a political debate last year. Ronald Clark, 49, was arrested Oct. 26, 2010, outside a congressional debate at the university...

Alexander Landerman said while he was never much of a student growing up, he was always passionate about drawing and art. As he followed his passion, he eventually began showing his work around Stevens Point along with other artists in places such as Emy J's and during Arts Walk...Now a senior at UWSP, Landerman said he is looking forward to continuing his drawing and attending graduate school with the intent of becoming a teacher...

It's no coincidence that the party bust on Oct. 20 at 404 W. Center St. was broken up the same week as last year's large-scale party on Highland Street – the week before homecoming. The Whitewater Police Department created an alcohol abatement project to deter binge drinking and underage consumption of alcohol by following the crowds of students...

Wisconsin college students, tuition money, and sex? The I-Team goes undercover and takes a close look at a controversial website designed to hook men and women up with "sugar babies", all for a price. The website's CEO says - the University of Wisconsin ranks 3rd with the most "sugar babies" signed up on the site! But the question remains - is it just a clever way to promote prostitution?...

The Senate still has to vote on a bill passed by the Assembly dealing with college grants. It would no longer allow race to be a factor in applying for one form of student aid...UW-Green Bay student Afeni Grace says any help minority students can get for college is important... (Video clip)

What does it take to have a "threat assessment team" called on you? If you're on a college campus these days, not much. University of Wisconsin-Stout professor James Miller found this out merely by hanging two satirical posters outside his office door. His case, and others like it, illustrates just how far universities are willing to go to suppress harmless expression under a false rationale of preserving "safety"...

A proposal to eliminate race as a factor in a college grant program received preliminary approval from the Assembly Wednesday morning, the Associated Press reports. The surprise proposal was made about 11 p.m. Tuesday by Rep. Peggy Krusick, D-Milwaukee, and backed by Republicans, who hold the majority. It passed around 8 a.m. Wednesday -- with all Democrats except Krusick voting against it. A procedural move by Democrats, however, will block final passage until Thursday...

Minorities would no longer get preferential treatment for certain college scholarships under a measure the Assembly passed Wednesday after a bitter overnight debate that ground the chamber to a halt and prevented action on major legislation on teacher discipline...

Late Tuesday night the Assembly floor session hit a major snag after Rep. Peggy Krusick (D-Milwaukee) introduced a last-minute and highly controversial amendment to a bill that would allow non-consecutive enrollment for recipients of talent incentive grants for students attending college. The amendment would effectively end affirmative action in some of those higher education grants for disadvantaged students...

Democratic lawmakers are blasting fellow Democrat Peggy Krusick for offering up a controversial amendment to a college grant bill that prompted a marathon Assembly session. A furious debate that pitted Democrats against a fellow Democrat over college grant applications...

About 5,500 students at Milwaukee Public Schools are on a path that research shows leads to better understanding of science, engineering and math, more engagement in school and improves their academic performance. Project Lead the Way does all that. Which is why William Symonds thinks more kids should have such "apprenticeship" opportunities. And we think he's right...

It isn't hard to find skilled scientists and engineers in Madison or to bring them here from other parts of the country. It isn't even much of a problem to land $1 million or so to start a company here. But what is very difficult is bringing in enough money to take a company beyond the startup stage, and that's where the state needs to step in. That was the message from executives of several of the Madison area's most successful tech companies at a panel discussion Wednesday at the Early Stage Symposium at Monona Terrace...

In Wisconsin, a state that fares poorly in winning most types of federal grants and contracts, companies such as Stratatech represent an important competitive edge: They are finding ways to turn pure research into products and services the world can use. The ability of Wisconsin tech-based companies to attract federal research dollars, which are awarded sparingly to companies nationwide, will be highlighted during this week’s Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium in Madison...

The state retirement system needs to be fair for everyone — including taxpayers. The troubling "retirement" and quick re-hiring of a top UW-Green Bay administrator suggests that it isn't. The Legislature should adopt tighter limits on the ability of public sector employees to draw both a pension and a large paycheck, which has been dubbed "double-dipping"...

The Wisconsin Assembly voted Wednesday to end consideration of race in a state grant program for disadvantaged students attending colleges in the state, The Capital Times reported...

Students who earned their bachelor's degrees in 2010 and borrowed to help pay for their education graduated with an estimated average of $25,250 in student loans, says a report released Thursday by the Project on Student Debt. About two-thirds of graduates had borrowed, the report says...

We write a lot on Economix about whether college is worth it. In a piece in Investor's Business Daily, Alex Tabarrok, an economics professor at George Mason University, suggests that Americans are focusing on the wrong question. They shouldn't be debating whether college in general is "worth it"; they should instead be thinking about whether the specific college degree they're considering is marketable...

...Comparatively affluent students are picking community colleges over four-year schools in growing numbers, a sign of changing attitudes toward an institution long identified with poorer people. A recent national survey by Sallie Mae, the student loan giant, has found that 22 percent of students from households earning $100,000 or more attended community colleges in the 2010-11 academic year, up from 12 percent in the previous year. It was the highest rate reported in four years of surveys...

State governments have been grappling with the question of whether to provide in-state college tuition rates to illegal immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children. Now a Florida lawsuit is highlighting a rare practice of forbidding U.S.-born students -- citizens by birth -- from getting in-state tuition because their parents are illegal immigrants...

One of the most fundamental obligations of any society is to prepare its adolescents and young adults to lead productive and prosperous lives as adults. This means preparing all young people with a solid enough foundation of literacy, numeracy and thinking skills for responsible citizenship, career development and lifelong learning. Yet as we end the first decade of the 21st century, there are profoundly troubling signs that the United States is now failing to meet its obligation to prepare millions of young adults... (Excerpt from "Pathways to Prosperity: Meeting the Challenge of Preparing Young Americans for the 21st Century," a study prepared in February by the Pathways to Prosperity Project at the Harvard Unviersity Graduate School of Education)

...Mr. Yisu chose to attend college more than 7,000 miles from home, he said, because "the Americans, their education is very good." That opinion is widely shared in China, which is part of the reason the number of Chinese undergraduates in the United States has tripled in just three years, to 40,000, making them the largest group of foreign students at American colleges. While other countries, like South Korea and India, have for many years sent many undergraduates to the United States, it's the sudden and startling uptick in applicants from China that has caused a stir at universities -- many of them big, public institutions with special English-language programs -- that are particularly welcoming toward international students. Universities like Delaware, where the number of Chinese students has leapt to 517 this year, from eight in 2007...