Dartmouth alumni have the highest mid-career median incomes in the country in comparison to other college graduates, according to a survey by PayScale, Inc., a company that compiles compensation information across business sectors. Dartmouth ranked second in terms of average income of the highest-paid 10 percent of alumni, behind Yale University. The College placed 18th for graduates' starting income, with alumni less than five years into their careers earning an average of $58,000. The survey also noted that incomes generally increase at the same rate for all graduates, irrespective of their alma mater, although starting salaries for Ivy League graduates are on average 32 percent higher than those for alumni from other liberal arts schools. In addition, the survey found that there is little correlation between undergraduate major and long-term income.
The Massachusetts Education Financing Authority will not offer student loans for the 2008-2009 academic year, The New York Times reported Tuesday. The organization, which provides financial support for over 40,000 students who live or go to school in Massachusetts, was unable to obtain the necessary funding because of the country's economic downturn, The Times said. "While we continue to pursue every possible option, raising the necessary funds to offer fixed-interest rate private education loans is taking longer than originally projected and has become even more challenging," MEFA executive director Tom Graf said in a statement in The Times. "As soon as MEFA has secured funding, we will make education loans available. At this time, however, it remains unclear when MEFA will be able to resume its lending activities."
Microsoft unveiled several new, free tools Monday that will help scholars craft journal articles and will aid in the research process. The additional features will help researchers collect and analyze data, as well as draft and publish information, according to Tony Hey, corporate vice president of Microsoft's External Research Division. "We're supporting that scholarly communication life cycle with free software tools to improve interoperability with existing tools used commonly by academics and scholars to better meet their research needs," Hey said in a press release. The new tools include an e-Journal service to promote self-publishing, server software to enhance collaboration and add-ins for Word 2007 to track changes and developments over the course of a research project.
