OCC raises tuition 2.2% in $48.9 million budget

Students at Ocean County College this fall will pay an additional $2 per course credit — an additional $30 per semester for the typical full-time student — under a budget for the 2007-08 school year approved by the board of trustees Monday.

The $48.9 million operating budget does not include any increases in student fees. College administrators said the tuition increase to $90 a credit — a hike of 2.2 percent — shows a relative easing compared to recent years, when OCC was boosting its spending and contending with cuts in state aid.

Click here to read the entire story (Asbury Park Press).

New cafe feeds minds

Montclair State University students have a new place to study on campus -- a "learning cafe," where students can get help from a librarian while ordering coffee.

Student Government President Angelo Lilla, 22, cut the ribbon Tuesday on "Cafe Diem," a 4,300-square-foot facility attached to the Sprague Library. The cafe -- a windowed structure with comfy chairs and long tables -- dishes up soups, sandwiches, Starbucks coffee and desserts, while providing high-speed Internet access and a place where students can unwind.

I'll have a coffee and a Camus!

To read the entire story from the North Jersey Media Group, click here.

Related stories:
Library cafe mixes learning, lattes
MSU Opens Cafe Diem Library Cafe

Four-Legged Students Study At Rowan University

Higher education can always use a little more diversity, this time of the canine variety. It does sadden me though, to read that the pups-in-training "happily ignore the library on a nice day." Well, hopefully they at least know LC classification. Enjoy reading the full article from CBS3 Philadelphia by clicking here.

Winter Mini-mesters Gaining Popularity

Star-Ledger, 01/07/07 - Earn three to four credits in two weeks? That's right. Winter intersessions or mini-mesters are now in demand across the state. Classes offered on campus are approximately 4 hours long and meet on a daily basis. Online classes provide working students with far greater flexibility in terms of scheduling.

"The class is demanding," claims Norma Guevara, a South Plainfield resident who is taking an online course at William Paterson University which will allow her to graduate earlier than anticipated.

Winter intersessions have come along way since the 1970's when the concept was a novel one. For an interesting retrospective read Pancakes and Plumbing, an article from the January 24, 1977 issue of Time Magazine.