Economy

Students on Los Angeles campuses struggle with trying to get needed classes, or any at all, as state budget cuts continue to take their toll on the community college system.

When prospective students tour the University of Missouri-St. Louis, they invariably ask to see the gym or recreation center. And that makes the tour guides cringe just a little.

Proposed changes to Michigan’s school employee retirement benefit system will save Grand Rapids Community College approximately $1.3 million this year, administrators said.

The L.A. Community College District had imposed a moratorium to examine whether campuses had sufficient funding to support a planned 60% increase in new facilities, particularly in light of severe state cuts.

Despite years of cuts in state funding, UC Berkeley is at the top of its game - ranked among the best universities in the world, glowing with research, and expanding options for undergraduates - all thanks to more private money, Chancellor Robert Birgeneau said Thursday as classes resumed for nearly 36,000 students.

In these tight budgetary times, paying for a new academic building on a public university campus requires creative financing, and in some cases, ambitious fundraising among special interest groups that could benefit from research produced there.

For more than a decade, Morris Brown College has clung to life as it struggled academically and financially in the face of growing debt and dwindling support.

The University of Louisiana System Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved a $762 million budget that represents a $38 million cut from last year's sum.

College costs keep rising. More students pile on student loan debt to get through. It's a much-chronicled story in higher education.

With a tight hiring market and tuition spending under pressure, schools are trying to narrow the gap between academia and the working world.