September 1, 2009

Parents' Education Matters: SAT Gap Widens

Georgia children of parents with college degrees score much higher on the SAT, according to data released this week. The 2009 scores widened the gap by parents' education attainment: At the bachelor's and graduate degree levels, SAT scores increased over last year, while scores dropped among children of parents without four-year degrees. Average results for children of parents with graduate degrees were up 14 points. Full 2009 report >

Atlanta's College Population: Growing Fast
Students are back on campus – and there are even more of them this year at both private and public colleges in the Atlanta region. Atlanta ranks as the No. 1 fastest growing metro area among top U.S. higher ed centers, and ARCHE estimates that as many as 250,000 students attend college here now.
Agnes Scott College's enrollment is the largest in five years and the most diverse ever.
>Brenau University opened with at least 6 percent growth this year, including significant increases in graduate enrollment and a 31 percent surge in students registering for online programs.
> Georgia Gwinnett College's enrollment jumped to more than 3,000 over last fall's 1,500 and could double again by next fall.
> Georgia State University enrollment topped the 30,000 mark this fall, including a record-breaking freshman class.
> Kennesaw State has grown to 22,000 students.
> Mercer University announced the largest enrollment in its 176-year history, led by a 12 percent growth on its Atlanta campus.
> Morehouse School of Medicine welcomed its largest ever incoming class, and total student enrollment is the largest in the history of the 34-year-old medical school.
> University of Georgia's undergraduate class will be about 300 students larger than last year.


Cole Serves as ITC Interim President
Thomas W. Cole Jr. has been named interim president of Interdenominational Theological Institute as the seminary conducts a national search to replace Michael A. Battle, who is now U.S. ambassador to the African Union. Cole is president emeritus of Clark Atlanta University and, most recently, interim chancellor of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.


Unearthing "Hidden" Civil Rights Collections
With grants from the Mellon Foundation, three Atlanta archives are collaborating to make available to the public manuscript collections related to civil rights organizations. The Robert W. Woodruff Library at the Atlanta University Center expects to open papers from the Voter Education Project in 2011. Emory University and Auburn Avenue Research Library, an ARCHE Affiliated Library, are inventorying and cataloging collections related to the Atlanta NAACP, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and Andrew Young.

Can Sugar Make You Stupid? 
Georgia State University researchers have found that too much fructose impairs memory in rats. Human consumption of foods sweetened with fructose has increased steadily.  More >

Look to University Hospitals in Health-Care Reform
Who understands the depth, breadth and complexity of health-care reform as much as the nation's academic health centers? Opinion by Emory Executive VP for Health Fred Sanfilippo > 

Trends on a Collision Course
Enrollment in Georgia colleges is soaring  while budget cuts are leaving fewer resources to meet the demand. Rome News-Tribune >

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Photo credits: Brenau University, Georgia Gwinnett College, Georgia Institute of Technology, Interdenominational Theological Center, Oglethorpe University, University of Georgia, University of West Georgia