According to new research, your bank statements may be an indicator of how well your child will do in school.

The New York Times reported that recently published long-term analyses of academic achievement by income indicates that the gap between rich and poor children has grown substantially in the last four decades, and is now twice as large as the gap between black and white students.

"We have moved from a society in the 1950s and 1960s, in which race was more consequential than family income, to one today in which family income appears more determinative of educational success than race," said Sean F. Reardon, a Stanford University sociologist who authored a study showing that the gap between standardized test scores between affluent and low-income students have grown by about 40 percent since the 1960s.

This divide begins very early and continues throughout students' academic careers and beyond. According to another study cited by The New York Times -- this time from the University of Michigan -- the chasm between rich and poor children in terms of college completion has grown by 50 percent in the last two decades. According to the study, this statistic is the most important predictor of success in the workforce.

While the studies do not pinpoint one single contributor to this widening gap, The Atlantic suggested that it begins in pre-school: well-off parents are more likely (and able) to invest in a child's early education than low-income parents.

One study found that upper-income kindergartners begin school with 400 more hours of "literacy activities" under their belt than lower-income children. Another study cited by The New York Times found that in 1972, Americans at the upper end of the income spectrum were spending five times as much per child as low-income families. By 2007, spending by upper-income families more than doubled while spending by low-income families grew by just 20 percent.

Why does it matter? The Huffington Post reported that a plethora of studies -- including research conducted by McKinsey and The Brookings Institute -- show that parents' educational investments for the nation's preschool-age children are linked to both economic and cultural security.

Whatever the trend's root cause, it is unlikely, given the economy, that a solution to the achievement gap problem will be available any time soon, but the government is working to minimize the damage. According to The Huffington Post, President Barack Obama recently granted waivers to 10 states facing massive education budget cuts and school closures, punitive measures for failing to meet goals set under the No Child Left Behind Act.

"This decision, coupled with major new investments in early childhood education, including in the President's new 2013 budget, are putting us on a more solid path toward a better educated America," said Mark Shriver, vice president for Save the Children's U.S. Programs, in The Huffington Post editorial. "Achieving that goal will finally help tackle a serious poverty and education crisis that threatens our future."

Compiled by Aimee Hosler

Department of Labor information released today shows that President Obama's budget for the 2013 fiscal year aims to improve the link between community college education and the ability to find a high-growth, high-skilled job. In fact, $8 billion has been requested in the budget for just this plan, aptly called the Community College to Career Fund, according to a Department of Labor press release.

"We are at a make or break moment for the middle class and the Labor Department's fiscal year 2013 budget request reflects our commitment to supporting an American economy that's built to last," Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis said in the press release. "Our budget request focuses on programs that will help keep America's workforce strong and innovative, while providing needed worker protections. It also makes responsible and reasonable cuts that are rooted in current economic realities and a continued focus on increased efficiency and effectiveness."

The Community College to Career Fund is the most significant portion of the President's requested education spending, reported Reuters. It looks to train some 2 million workers for employment in fields such as clean energy, health care, and high-tech manufacturing. The money would be used to help develop partnerships between community colleges and local businesses, thus resulting in job training.

David Blaine, the American Association of Community Colleges' senior vice president for government relations and research, indicated the Community College to Career Fund could have a positive impact.

"Work-force training programs are costly and given sustained cuts from state and local sources, these proposals could greatly benefit local economies," Blaine told The Chronicle of Higher Education.

The proposed 2013 fiscal budget also includes other facets important to education. According to The Chronicle, some of these educational proposals include increasing the Pell Grant to $5,635 (an increase of $85); doubling the number of available work-study jobs; expanding the Perkins Loan from $1 billion to $8.5 billion with extra money going to schools that keep tuition relatively low and graduate higher numbers of Pell grant recipients; maintaining the interest rate on Stafford Loans at 3.4 percent for another year; and offering $1 billion in grant money similar to that of "Race to the Top."

Details are still becoming available about the Community College to Career Fund, but Obama is expected to say more at an Annandale, Va., community college today. Reuters reported that it is important to note that this new budget will need Congressional approval; The Chronicle noted that this may not be likely given that in 2009 Obama's $12 billion request for community colleges became a much smaller amount of $2 billion after going through Congress.

Compiled by Maggie O'Neill

In the wake of the recent online backlash regarding the Congressional bills SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP ACT), an executive from Paramount Pictures has sent a letter to various law colleges requesting to speak to students about the importance of intellectual property.

Sent in early February from Alfred Perry, Paramount's vice president for worldwide content and outreach, the letter asked to have an audience with students either through a formal presentation and discussion or to sit in on a session of a current course.

"Either way, our goal would be to exchange ideas about content theft, its challenges and possible ways to address it," Perry wrote in the letter. "We obviously think about these issues deeply on a daily basis. But, as these last few weeks made painfully clear, we still have much to learn. We would love to come to campus and do exactly that."

While the letter might be seen as an amicable attempt to open up a dialogue, Ars Technica noted that these bills never carried that kind of tone from the beginning.

"Both SOPA and PIPA began life as tough bills catering almost exclusively to major rightsholders, rather than emerging from some kind of stakeholder dialogue," wrote Timothy B. Lee in Ars Technica.

While its not clear what law schools received Perry's letter, CNET reported that Georgetown University was at least one of them. Julie Cohen, professor of law at the school, indicated she had not yet sent a response.

"Along with various others, I'm still mulling my response," Cohen told CNET. "This shouldn't be taken to suggest that there will be a concerted response, just that people are discussing possibilities."

Paramount is one of the members of the Motion Picture Association of America; the backlash of some 10 million Internet users last month to SOPA/PIPA apparently caught executives off-guard with Perry describing the opposition as humbling. However, recent comments by Phillipe Dauman, chief executive of Viacom, Paramount's parent company, were less amicable.

Dauman decried the recent opposition to the two bills as "mob mentality" and "unfortunate rhetoric" in approach, reported The Chronicle of Higher Education. Additionally, some in academia are confused by Perry's outreach to top law schools.

"I don't understand why, if they truly wanted to engage consumers, they would approach law professors, especially those at the most elite schools," Eric Goldman, associate professor of law at Santa Clara University, told The Chronicle. "There are at least a half-dozen ways that Paramount could get better marketplace feedback than eliciting the perspectives of law students, which reinforces why I think they intended to do more talking than listening."

Similarly, Jessica Lutman, a law professor at the University of Michigan, was "deeply suspicious" of Paramount's intent. However, she has invited Perry to speak at a March law class on copyright, according to The Chronicle.

"I like my students to hear from people who disagree with me," she was quoted in The Chronicle as saying. "I was pretty confident that he would be one such, and I thought my students are adults -- and I'm not worried they're going to be snowed by Paramount's pitch, so wouldn't it be interesting to hear what Paramount has to say?"

Compiled by Maggie O'Neill

For people coming from disadvantaged backgrounds, college can lower their chances of getting married, a new study showed.

"Disadvantaged" individuals are defines as those who "tend to have come from families with lower income and to have parents with less education; they are also less likely to have had college track classes or friends with college plans," co-author Dr. Kelly Musick, an associate professor of policy analysis and management in the College of Human Ecology at Cornell University, told The Huffington Post.

Previous research showed in general, education and marriage are connected. Currently, about 50 percent of Americans are married but among college graduates, 64 percent are, reported LiveScience. Having a college education also boosts the chances of having a lasting marriage. Further, adults who are college educated are more likely to marry by age 30 than those who aren't, a 2010 Pew Research Center study found, according to The Huffington Post.

However, the current study, published in the February issue of the "Journal of Marriage and Family," found reality is different for people who grow up disadvantaged. With their background and their education level so different, they seem to get stuck between social worlds in what the study authors called a "marriage market mismatch."

"College students are becoming more diverse in their social backgrounds, but they nonetheless remain a socioeconomically select group," Musick explained in a press release, HealthDay News reported. "It may be difficult for students from less privileged backgrounds to navigate social relationships on campus, and these difficulties may affect what students ultimately gain from the college experience."

In other words, college students with disadvantaged backgrounds may be hesitant to "marry down" to someone less educated but also may not want to "marry up" to a person who had a more privileged upbringing. This suggests that, along with economics, cultural and social factors play a key role in marriage decisions, the researchers noted.

The study examined a sample of about 3,200 Americans from the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, looking at family income, parental education and other social and economic factors to estimate the probability of attending college and the likelihood they'd marry.

It showed for the least-advantaged men, college reduced the odds of marriage by 38 percent. For the least-advantaged women, it was 22 percent. This compares to those in the well-off group, wherein a college education increased their likelihood of marriage. In that group, it boosted men's chances by 31 percent and women's by 8 percent.

"This research demonstrates the importance of differentiating between social background and educational achievement," Musick said in HealthDay News. "Educational achievement may go far in reducing income differences between men and women from different social backgrounds, but social and cultural distinctions may persist in social and family relationships."

Compiled by Doresa Banning

A suspected outbreak of the norovirus has occurred at two New Jersey universities, sending several students to the hospital.

According to CNN, 40 students from Rider University were sent to the hospital for treatment late Wednesday night. Several students from nearby Princeton University were also hospitalized last week.

Rider University issued a statement on its website, noting that while norovirus is usually not serious, it is highly contagious--according to the Centers for Disease Control, it can spread from the moment a person starts feeling sick to at least three days after recovery. Symptoms include diarrhea, vomiting, nausea and stomach pain. Less common symptoms include low-grade fever, chills, headache, muscle aches and fatigue. Most people recover in a day or two.

NJ.com reported that all sick students from Rider University are from different resident halls. Staff made visits to all dorms to find students in need of treatment. Some were sent to local hospitals, while others were treated on campus.

"They knocked on my door, they asked if I was feeling okay," said sophomore Matt Sheridan to NJ.com.

Freshman Carrie Lettiere said she first heard about the outbreak from Facebook posts. She later received a text message and email from school officials.

According to the university statement, officials are taking the outbreak very seriously. In addition to visiting each resident hall, the university's food and custodial services are taking all necessary precautions, including cleaning all residence hall bathrooms and other common areas.

The Daily Princetonian reported that the outbreak at Princeton University has been going on for the last two weeks. Approximately 90 students reported suffering from symptoms of gastroenteritis, which is caused by norovirus. Princeton's University Health Services and Office of Environmental Health and Safety have issued hygiene advisories and warnings to help prevent further contamination. The university has not issued such warnings since 2009 about H1N1 influenza and 2008 about gastroenteritis.

While the outbreak is unusual, Princeton University Spokesperson Martin Mbugua told The Daily Princetonian that the UHS was prepared.

"UHS plans for an increase in volume every February, since that is frequently a time when utilization of our services increases, so we have adequate resources to handle the number of students that we have been seeing," said Mbugua.

NJ.com reported that school officials do not know if there is a link between the two outbreaks. Nonetheless, Rider University officials have notified other area campuses as a preventative measure.

Compiled by Heidi M. Agustin

At Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania, beverages and snacks aren't the only items available for purchase through a vending machine. Emergency contraception can also be bought vending machine style for $25, according to UPI.

While the emergency contraception, called Plan B, has been available this way for at least two years, a wire story earlier this week created quite the buzz about this non-traditional vending machine item nationwide.

"This is nothing new," Peter Gigliotti, Shippensburg University spokesman told the Los Angeles Times. "I have no idea why it's getting the reaction it's getting now."

Plan B is commonly known as the "morning after" pill because of its ability to prevent pregnancy if taken soon after unprotected sexual intercourse. At Shippensburg, Plan B can be purchased from a vending machine in the university's self-care clinic. It is available, along with other health-related items such as condoms, cough drops and pregnancy tests, only after students are granted access by checking in through the healthcare lobby, UPI reported.

"We decided to use a vending machine back in our self-care clinic, which also dispenses some other things as well," Roger Serr, vice president of student affairs, was quoted in UPI as saying. "And that was a way that we could allow convenience for students, also it allowed privacy for students."

Plan B was made available at the school after a 2008 student study was conducted, in which some 85 percent of students supported making the emergency contraception available, according to a statement from Shippensburg University. No state funds or student health fees are used in making Plan B available.

"I think the issue is there's no fee money in this, and so that if I'm a student who's paying a health fee, and if I'm morally opposed to Plan B, my money is not really involved in this, and that's real key," Serr said.

Syracuse.com pointed out that Plan B is sold over-the-counter at pharmacies and federal law does allow those over the age of 17 to have access. All students reported to be attending the school are said to be 17 or older, according to the university's statement.

The Food and Drug Administration could become involved in an investigation, Syarcuse.com noted, as it appears no other vending machine in the U.S. dispenses emergency contraception. Plan B is controversial for some who consider it to be the equivalent of an abortion drug, noted Syracuse.com. Furthermore, some object to easy access when it comes to birth control and that is true even at Shippensburg University.

"To be able to walk up to a vending machine and just get that, get a pill like that, it's just ridiculous," Junior Cassandra Towsley told UPI.

Compiled by Maggie O'Neill

Business meetings are rarely enjoyable. But a recent study shows that that may not be the only reason to cut back on them--they can also make us dumb.

"You may joke about how committee meetings make you feel brain dead, but our findings suggest that they may make you act brain dead as well," Read Montague, the study leader, wrote in a Virginia Tech Carilion statement.

Montague is director of the Human Neuroimaging Laboratory and the Computational Psychiatry Unit at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute. There, Montague and researchers used IQ tests to measure 70 volunteer college students' intelligence before and during group activity and used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to observe corresponding changes in the brain, Life Inc. reported. What they found is that small group settings, such as meetings, temporarily lowered students' intelligence.

"We saw dramatic drops in the ability of some study subjects to solve problems, Montague told The Huffington Post. "The social feedback had a significant effect."

During the study, the volunteers were told how well they did on the tests compared to the others. The result, for some, was a drop in IQ scores. Also for that group, as they saw their rankings go down, they answered more questions incorrectly.

"Some people stayed stressed and freaked out the whole time, and some people habituated relatively quickly and started solving small problems," Montague told The Wall Street Journal.

The ones who didn't do well likely were more attuned to group social dynamics, worrying about how they did and comparing their performance to others, the researchers postulated.

According to the statement, age and ethnicity had no effect. Gender, however, did. Among male and female participants who had the same baseline IQ, more women than men fell into the low-performing group.

The Wall Street Journal noted that, for some, being in a small group resulted in them contributing nothing or making unintelligent comments. Remaining quiet is more common in women and people with higher IQs, the study showed. Women often are more attentive to what others may be feeling or thinking, which may have an evolutionary origin, Montague said.

What isn't clear, the study noted, is how much the effects of small group social dynamics occur in real world settings. Kenneth Kishida, one of the study's authors, argued that more research was needed.

"...Given the potentially harmful effects of social status assignments and the correlation with specific neural signals, future research should be devoted to what, exactly, society is selecting for in competitive learning and workplace environments," said Kishida in the statement.

Compiled by Doresa Banning

When media outlets and academic studies publish statistics regarding young black men and college, the news is rarely positive. According to Inside Higher Ed, black men represent just 4 percent of all undergraduate students, and their completion rates are the lowest of all major racial groups in the country. Professor Shaun Harper set out to find out why in his study, "Black Male Student Success in Higher Education."

Harper is the director of the University of Pennsylvania's Center for the Study of Race and Equality of Education. His report, published Monday, explores what characteristics and conditions nurture success among black male college students. However, what separates Harper's report from many others of its kind is its positivity: rather than identifying problems that limit black men's potential, which Harper coins a "deficit model," he aimed to identify positive influences using an "anti-deficient achievement framework."

"If all you read about [black men] is bad news, it's really hard to craft high expectations for them," said Harper to Inside Higher Ed.

According to a University of Pennsylvania press release, Harper interviewed 219 black male achievers from a wide breadth of instructions, from public universities to elite private colleges. The study examined topics such as selecting a college, paying for school, college engagement and responses to racism.

The report found that for most participants, success began at home: the overwhelming majority of interviewees always knew they would attend college simply because their parents expected them to. Their families also sought out resources that might help their sons succeed academically such as tutoring and college prep initiatives. Other strong motivators included encouraging teachers and groups like the YMCA or the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.

But perhaps the strongest driver for success among young black students was finding support from like-minded others. According to the report, many respondents found support in "same-race peers," mostly older students attending the same college or university. Harper quoted one anonymous student who believes a "macho mentality" had prevented him from asking for help, until he joined a discussion group founded by other black students.

"They told me I would really look weak if I quit college because I was too proud to ask for help," quoted the report. "They also made sure I knew exactly where to go to get exactly what I needed to be successful."

All in all, Harper noted that his most surprising finding was also his most disappointing one.

"Nearly every student we interviewed said it was the first time that someone had sat him down and asked how he had successfully navigated to and through higher education, what compelled him to be engaged and what he learned that could help improve achievement and engagement among black male collegians," wrote Harper. "Despite all that is stacked against them -- low teacher expectations, insufficient academic preparation for college-level work, racist and culturally unresponsive campus environments -- black males still find ways to succeed."

Compiled by Aimee Hosler

While the Bureau of Labor Statistics' recent January jobs report revealed that the U.S. economy is finally showing promising signs of recovery, a recent study released by technology trade group TechNet suggests that the mobile application industry may be one of the key contributors.

According to a TechNet press release, the so-called "App Economy" has generated 466,000 U.S. jobs since 2007. Prior to that, the market had zero jobs. However, with the introduction of the iPhone and the iPhone App Store, the demand for mobile apps quickly expanded to the billion dollar industry that it is today. Computerworld reported that in 2011, the App Economy generated nearly $20 billion in revenue.

"The App Economy, along with the broad communications sector, has been a leading source of hiring strength in an otherwise sluggish labor market," said Dr. Michael Mandel, the report's author, in the press release.

Indeed, Mandel's research showed that each app created a number of tech and non-tech jobs--programmers, user interface designers, sales, marketing and administrative support staff. Furthermore, although the App Economy has certain hotspots, jobs can be found throughout the nation. According to Computerworld, the metropolitan areas with the highest concentration of app jobs are the New York area (9.2 percent), followed by the San Francisco area (8.5 percent) and the San Jose area (6.4 percent). The press release also noted that while California has the highest percentage of app jobs, more than two-thirds of employment can be found outside of California and New York.

"America's App Economy... demonstrates that we can quickly create economic value and jobs through cutting-edge innovation," said Rey Ramsey, President and CEO of TechNet in the press release. "Today, the App Economy is creating jobs in every part of America, employing hundreds of thousands of U.S. workers today and even more in the years to come."

The Associated Press noted that, in the early stages, the boom was driven primarily by mobile computing and social networking. As the audience demand continued to grow, companies and entrepreneurs alike tried to find an in. According to the press release, app jobs now exist at "pure" app firms such as FarmVille and Words with Friends maker Zynga, as well as at companies that make app-enabled devices such as Google, Apple and Facebook. App-related jobs can also be found at large companies like Electronic Arts, Amazon and AT&T.

Because this industry is so new, Mandel's research was based on detailed information from The Conference Board Help-Wanted OnLine database, which is a comprehensive compilation of employment ads. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has yet to track app jobs.

Compiled by Heidi M. Agustin