Top Tier Insider

For the second year in a row, Stanford University topped the list of university fundraisers, bringing in a total of $832 million dollars, an amount that has been exceeded only once, and that by Stanford a year ago. Harvard came in second in the dollar sweepstakes, raising around $614 million according to the Council for Aid to Education. Overall support to colleges and universities rose over 6% to a staggering $29.8 billion!

Here is how the Top Tier fared:

• Stanford (1)
• Harvard (2)
• Columbia (5)
• Cornell (6)
• Penn (7)
• Yale (
• Chicago (12)

We’re talking about some serious money here. These data suggest that there is little if any pushback on the part of donors concerned about the spiraling wealth of these (and other) institutions of higher education.

For more information see the CAE press release.

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Although most of the recent news concerning undergraduate admissions has focused on increased competition involving more students applying for the same number of seats, both Yale and Harvard are developing plans to significantly expand the size of their undergraduate classes.

According to Yale president Richard Levin, the university will build additional dorms for two new residential colleges; added space would be almost 500,000 square feet. He has asked the Yale finance office to develop firm plans for the new addition. Similarly, Harvard is planning to build four new undergrad dorms, along with a new science complex in the city of Allston.

This sounds like good news for future generations of Ivy League students. We’ll see if less well-endowed institutions can follow suit. Certainly there appears to be a global interest in these growth plans and state university systems in the U.S. are under real pressure due to tax revenue limitations.

For more about this see… Yale Pushes Expansion To Ease Admissions Process - February 20, 2008 - The New York Sun

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Princeton University has released details of a gap year program under which recently admitted students can defer their studies for the year after high school to participate in international service programs. This seems an interesting idea because it lets young students focus on the issues faced by cultures other than their own at a time when they are relatively free from academic pressures.

The Insider does wonder whether such young students are really ready for the kind of international experience that such service programs might provide. As anyone who has had experience with undergraduates can attest, there is a big difference between the maturity levels of incoming freshmen and third-year students who typically take advantage of study abroad opportunities.

In any case, this will prove to be an intriguing and worthwhile experiment. Oh, and by the way, it really helps Princeton manage its undergraduate intake numbers, a hidden benefit of this plan. Crafty work, folks.

For more about this see… University introduces gap-year plan for new admits - The Daily Princetonian

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The Ivy Group’s Executive director, lawyer Jeff Orleans, has announced that he will retire in mid-2008. Mr. Orleans has served in this position since 1984, making him one of the few people who is old enough to have been in office when yours truly, the Insider, was roaming the ivy-covered walls.

Congratulations to Mr. Orleans on a job well done, and best wishes in his retirement. The Ivy presidents will now search for his replacement.

For more about this see… Ivy commish to step down after 25 years - Sports

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Congrats to Microsoft founder Bill Gates for recognizing the importance of early exposure to technology tools that encourage students to develop their skills. Many of us visited local branch offices of companies like IBM in the days long before the personal computer was invented, and we developed a life-long interest in the promise of technology.

According to reports, Microsoft will grant students the right to download their core development environment, Visual Studio. The cost can’t be beat: zero. No doubt this will create a real business advantage for MS, but not if this serves as an example for other corporations. Of course, the free software folks in the open source movement may find this a challenge too.

Let the games begin!

For more about this see… Microsoft to give out development tools to students | Technology | Reuters

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Just when it seems that admissions to the Ivy League couldn’t get any more competitive, it looks like top English students are beginning to look across the Atlantic for educational opportunities. Why? The simple answer appears to be the superior financial aid packages being offered by the best U.S. schools.

With the decline in public support to Oxbridge universities, students are finding that it’s actually more economical to pursue their university studies in the United States. The recent announcement of significant enhancement of financial aid packages at the schools like Harvard and Yale, as well as the extension of need-based aid to international students will only highlight these differences.

Will Oxford and Cambridge be able to raise sufficient endowment funding to compete effectively for the best English students in the years to come? Certainly the leadership of these schools clearly understands the threat, and as you’ve read here they have started to respond. Look for the competition to increase over the next few years as these great universities respond to the challenge…..

For more about this see… More top English students opt for American universities - Times Online

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The Governor of New York State, Elliot Spitzer has proposed the creation of a $4 billion endowment to support public higher education. He would raise that endowment by selling or leasing some of the state’s lottery revenues to the private sector. As noted, some in state government have expressed discomfort with the use of gambling revenues in this way.

Spitzer also has proposed the addition of 2,000 additional faculty across SUNY and CUNY, the City University of New York. Of those, 250 will be top researchers who will lead the graduate programs of the New York schools. It’s not so clear whether those additional faculty will be funded out of the endowment or through other state resources.

Congrats to the governor for proposing such an ambitious plan. We’ll be interested to see how it helps the New York schools in competing with the Ivy League and other top tier universities.

For more about this see… The Spectrum Online:

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It looks like Dartmouth College has decided to take a time out. The board has announced that it will not, for the time being, expand its membership by doubling the number of self-elected trustees in the face of a lawsuit initiated by its alumni association. Clearly, with the judge in that case deciding not to dismiss the action, Dartmouth felt it would soon be faced with an injunction.

We’ll see if some sort of compromise can be worked out or if this is going to go to court after all.

For more about this see… The Dartmouth trustees blink - Power Line

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Advocates of open access to the scholarly literature won an important battle this week when the faculty of Harvard’s arts and science college agreed to grant the university a license to distribute all of their publications freely over the Internet. The university has committed to the creation of a repository that will make that information available, presumably in perpetuity.

This is the latest round in a long series of encounters over open access that has pitted government agencies and advocates of free access against publishers, both in the for-profit and not-for-profit worlds. Many scientific societies fund at least part of their activities from the income derived from their publications, so decisions like those made at Harvard have the potential to significantly impact those organizations.

No doubt we’ll be hearing much more about this in the months and years to come. It’s the Insider’s guess that the world of scholarly publication is about to undergo a revolution….

Read more at… Harvard to collect, disseminate scholarly articles for faculty — The Harvard University Gazette

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I think this was covered in a Seinfeld episode some years ago, but it looks like Stanford University student activism has successfully overcome an effort by the school to limit flow rates in dormitory showers. As the result of student protests, the administration has agreed to install regular shower heads to replace low-flow units installed over the winter break.

Given the likely impact of global warming on water availability in northern California, Stanford students will eventually be showering with Perrier; no doubt that will result in calls for increased financial aid……

Get more information from… Stanford strikes shower compromise - UPI.com

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