Hofstra U. Is 2nd University in 2 Weeks to Drop Its Football Team

Hofstra University has eliminated its football program and will redirect the team's $4.5-million budget toward new academic ventures and need-based scholarships, the university's president said today, echoing a similar announcement last week at Northeastern University. The Hofstra team suffered from low attendance and flagging interest among students and the local community, and financial support was dwindling, the president, Stuart Rabinowitz, said in a letter to the university. He called the decision a "strategically driven reallocation of resources."

Full text article by Libby Sander is available via The Chronicle of Higher Education, 12/3/09.

Online Education, Growing Fast, Eyes the Truly 'Big Time'

Online education is a runaway best seller. At a growth rate of 12.9 percent, online education dwarfs the overall pace of academe’s student expansion. More than 25 percent of all students may have taken at least one online class this year, according to a speculative estimate suggested at a distance-education conference that wraps up here today.

Full text of the article by Marc Parry is available via The Chronicle of Higher Education, 10/30/09.