With the economy in the sh*tter…it’s not crazy to ask yourself how the eff you are gonna pay for college. Well for you young’uns lookin for schooling in this time of economic turmoil, here’s a list of schools you might want to avoid, despite their prestige.

Consumerist.com posted a list of the 25 most expensive colleges in the U.S. (determined by tuition + room and board). Naturally, this list consists of the creme de la creme of prestigious schools (though surprisingly you won’t see Yale or Harvard on there), that charge extra for the name.

Now, I may not be going to Sarah Lawrence – which costs about $53,166 per year – but I think I’m getting a damn good edumacation without totally putting myself in debt (by “totally” putting myself in debt” I mean I’ll only be paying back loans till I’m about 40… not 80). While prices are on the rise, Hofstra University maintains a rather affordable tuition with plenty of financial aid. The University boasts several accredited departments as well as famous alums, such as Francis Ford Coppola. Hofstra proves that there are schools out there that offer a great education without having their students bend backwards to cover tuition.

So really guys, what’s in a name? Why the hell are these school’s so expensive? And how is anyone going to pay back the loans if they can’t get a job? And are these schools really worth all this money?

So many questions; I need answers!

If there’s anyone reading this who attends one of these top-o-the-line schools, tell us: are you gettin your penny’s worth?

As you may already have read on an earlier post, Oscar-winning actress and American Idol contestant Jennifer Hudson is searching for her 7-year-old nephew, Julian King, after police found the singer’s mother and brother shot to death in their home on Friday. Hudson posted a $100,000 reward for any information leading to the safe return of her nephew.

Unfortunately, The Associated Press has reported that the body of a young, black male has been found in the back of the white van in Chicago. Though the body has not been confirmed as being Julian, the van matched the one being sought after in the Amber Alert issued for Julian’s disappearance.

We cannot possibly think of any reason to harm an innocent child, so we hope the police find out who did this soon.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Hudson family…

It has been a pretty scary week on college campuses. First there was the shooting at Western Kentucky University, which prompted a campus lockdown to keep students safe. Last night there was yet another campus shooting, this time at the University of Central Arkansas.

According to reports:

One student died at the scene. Another, later identified as an 18-year-old male, died at Conway Regional Medical Center. A 19-year-old male was treated for a gunshot wound to his leg and released from the hospital.

The university has cancelled classes for today and are investigating the incident. So far it is still unclear what prompted the gunfire, but it is yet another sad reminder to students that college campuses are not the safe bubbles we have always considered them to be. Crime, especially heinous ones like these, are more common than we’d like to believe and we must remain aware of our surroundings wherever we are on campus.

The good news is that UCA has an emergency alert system and was able to inform students of the situation via text and email. Students were then able to get inside safely, which prevented this particular situation from getting any worse.

Remember when you had to prepare for the SATs? The courses, the books, the tutors, and missing many Saturdays with your friends to take those damn practice tests? Yeah, that totally sucked.

And remember even before that when you were a sophomore and you had to take the PSAT? The Saturday morning spent at school instead of in bed (with reruns of Saved By the Bell), and then that stupid breakdown that told you what your future held (mine said “guidance counselor”)? Yeah, that totally sucked too.

Especially since I hate kids.

Looks like those fools at College Board (those are the people behind the SAT and PSAT, by the way) want to ruin yet another part of your life. This time: middle school. They are sick of losing potential testers to the dreaded ACT (which was so. much. better.), so they decided to rope em in early. Like, in 8th grade.

The College Board claims that this new test will point out areas that students need to work on to be successful in both high school and college, but it is basically just another way to make a few bucks, freak parents the eff out, and piss off 13 year olds across the country.

I may dislike children, but I still feel for them. Another test? There is already plenty of controversy surrounding the validity of the SAT to predict future success, so how can anyone think this test will be any different? And I made it through high school and college successfully without this test, so why burden these poor, defenseless kids (who already have enough to worry about with braces and acne) with another test?!

Just be glad this happened long after we finished all that standardized testing. Although, if College Board has its way, there may be a standardized test for getting a job. Or finding a new apartment. Or having kids.

But maybe that one won’t be so bad.

[For more college news, entertainment and all that jazz, join CollegeCandy's Facebook group!] 

In case you haven’t heard, there have been reports of a gunman at West Kentucky University. Though nothing has been confirmed, it has been reported that police have been responding to calls of gunshots heard on campus.

It is suspected these gunshots may have come from an altercation between students, however no weapons were found.

We will keep you posted as more information becomes available.

If you know anything, let us know by leaving comments below, or emailing us at Lauren@CollegeCandy.com.

Whatever is going on over at WKU, we hope everyone on campus is safe.

Update from the New York Times:

Update 4:45 p.m. Central time: Police give the all-clear signal to the campus and say they have taken four people into custody for questioning. Reports of shooting remain unconfirmed.

For more information on this story, check out WKU’s student paper, or what other students had to say.

…At least this one wasn’t hopped up on drugs (though she was in possession), alcohol, or showing her ta-ta’s to the world.

Lindsey Evans, 18, a.k.a. Miss Teen Louisiana, was charged with theft and drug possession after she and her cronies pulled a good ol’ dine and dash and ditched out on a bill of almost $50.

But here’s the kicker…

The oh-so-bright beauty queen left her purse at the restaurant and upon returning to retrieve it, was greeted by police who placed her under arrest for the D & D and let her know they found her stash of the Mary Jane in her purse.

Sigh.

Will they ever learn? And aren’t these girls supposed to be role models? Somehow I imagine getting high and ordering $50 worth of food (that you don’t pay for) isn’t setting such a great example to the younger Louisians.

Although, Louisiana also boasts the Spears sisters as its own, so maybe Lindsey Evans isn’t all that bad.

And she looked so innocent….

(Picture courtesy of bittenandbound.com)

With the economy in the toilet, finding a job these days is like lookin’ for a needle in a haystack (or a good guy in a college town. Ayooooo!). But for those of you interested, San Francisco is looking to decriminalize prostitutes in the city in an effort to free up some $11 million police spend on arresting prositutes every year!

Woo! Work for everyone! Forget that English major; sex is the way. to. go.

Proposition K is being proposed, not to illegalize prostitution, but to eliminate the power of the po-po to go after the Vivian Wards of San Francisco.

Opposers of the proposition say passing it will result in an overflow of prostitutes, pimps and possibly harm the fight against sex trafficking; since the proposition would not allow the investigation of prostitution, authorities wouldn’t have the opportunity to help those being victimized by sex trafficking. Clearly, that is incredibly serious.

On the flip side, though, this could be the push the economy needs! $700 billion bailout, schmailout – San Francisco has the right idea.

So what do you think? Should the pretty women of SF be allowed to keep their posts on the sidewalks without worry of being handcuffed (and not in the good way)? Or should the po-diggies be allowed to continue their investigation of prostitution and sex trafficking?

[Join CollegeCandy's Facebook group for more news, advice and entertainment.]

Listen up, iPod users (while you still can).

You may love listening to your music on the way to class, during class, or in the library to drown out the sounds of those annoying kids who won’t shut up, but it looks like all that jamming is going to wreak havoc on your hearing.

It used to be a myth or a worry, but now there is actual proof that listening to your iPod or other personal music players (are there any besides the iPod?) too loud can lead to some pretty serious long-term problems. Like total hearing loss. The New York Times reports:

“Regularly listening to personal music players at high-volume settings when young,” the report said, “often has no immediate effect on hearing but is likely to result in hearing loss later in life.” The report is the latest of several to warn that the “MP3” generation of youths may be heading for hearing impairment in later life.

Um. Sh*t. Looks like our entire generation is gonna be without hearing in just a few short years. And those of us with those handy dandy inner-ear buds (like the crappy ones Apple makes that are always falling out of my ears) are even worse off, because they get even closer to our ear drums and cause more damage.

Want to be able to listen to music in your 40’s? Scientists recommend “limiting listening time to one hour per day and setting the volume to no more than 60 percent of maximum sound output when using headphones that are placed over the ears — and even less when using ear buds.”

It may be tempting to rock out to Journey on your way to a 9am class, but turn down the music. Not only does it annoy the rest of the people on the bus with you, but it just isn’t worth it when you consider the alternative: never being able to perform “Don’t Stop Believing” at Karaoke again.

Oh the horror.

Whoever says college students are lazy, ungrateful and just wasting their time and (parents’) money hasn’t been to Rice University, where a group of students is working diligently on a cure for heart disease and cancer.

That just so happens to be a beer.

The students are hoping to create a genetically modified strain of yeast that will ferment the beer while also producing resveratol, a substance in grapes that has been shown to reduce the risks of heart disease and cancer.

The brew will be known as BioBeer, and if all goes well, we will all soon be drinking/chugging/bonging/beer ponging/keg standing to our health.

Literally.

Great work, students of Rice University. Great work indeed.

[Photo courtesy of www.united-nations-of-beer.com]

College students in the State University of New York (SUNY) system are outraged. According to a proposal from their Student Assembly, SUNY students want their tuition raised!

Wait, what?

The unlikely resolution to raise state college tuition comes from the executive board of the SUNY Student Assembly, representing 427,000 students within the system. According to the Albany Times Union, the 122 representatives of the Student Assembly will have the opportunity to vote on the resolution this weekend. Officially, the state legislature and the SUNY Board of Trustees have authority over tuition rates. But the cry from the Assembly executive board is a loud one.

“I think this is a strong indicator of the state that New York is in right now ,” said SUNY Albany student David Belsky to the Times Union, “that we’re in such a dire economic situation that students themselves are standing up and saying we’re willing to pay a little more for a public education to protect the quality.”

The concern is that the SUNY system does not meet its fellow state university competitors when it comes to university spending per student and campus resources, and students are acknowledging the fact that they may have to dig deeper into their own pockets for a quality education. Currently, tuition at any SUNY school stands at $4,350 per year.

To everyone representing state colleges nationwide, do you believe your tuition price is fair? What would you do if a tuition hike was proposed by students in your state? And if there are any SUNY students who would like to sound off, tell us what you think about the resolution.

[image of SUNY Geneseo courtesy of wikimedia.org]