Welcome back to The Rival Rundown! If you’ve always wanted to give props to your school on CC, now’s your chance! Shoot us an email explaining what’s awesome and unique about your school (or what stinks about Rival U) at rivalrundown@collegecandy.com!

This week, we take a look at the opponents in the nation’s most notorious holy war–no, not the mission in Iraq, but the rivalry between Boston College and Notre Dame, America’s premier Catholic universities.  Besides giving mad props to the Pope, these two institutions share a common interest in superior athletics, academics, and intense fan-dom. The Holy War refers to the quasi-annual football game between the schools (the only Catholic universities to play NCAA D1-A ball), and the fierce competitiveness between the two. Let the pillaging begin!

1. Mascot Matchup

BC – The Golden Eagles can be seen emblazoned on every Superfan shirt and bumper-sticker in Beantown.
Notre Dame - South Bend, Indiana is home to the famed Fighting Irish–the mascot championed in media from The West Wing (President Bartlet was an alum) to the football film classic, Rudy.

Three credits to: Notre Dame (extra points for high media recognition).

2. Holy War Stats

BC - has won 9 out of 18 games.
Notre Dame - has also won 9 games!

Three Credits to: It’s a tie! Read More »

Our economy is crumbling, and things just got worse for Bachelors degree-hopefuls, especially those in Massachusetts. Last year, the Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority secured over $500 million in educational loans. This year, they’ve announced that they will not be offering loans for the upcoming academic year.

None. Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada. They didn’t cut their $500 million budget to, say, $250 million. They exed the loans altogether.

MEFA secures loans for 40,000 students who live in Massachusetts, or who attend school there. Unfortunately, this year, the financing authority could not secure the money. Executive director Tom Graff blames “disruptions in capital markets.” So, just like that, 40,000 students are sh*t out of luck.

MEFA is the first to make headlines, but any financing authority could also be treading on thin ice. Which means that students across the country could be forced to drop out of college, or sell their souls to finance a degree that can cost upwards of FORTY GRAND per year at top-notch schools like Carnegie Mellon, Tufts, NYU, and Notre Dame.

When I was in college, I played my cards right, and managed to get through my degree with almost no debt, and decided to pursue a Master’s, rather than join the work force right away. With our declining economy, I am currently paying dearly for that decision. Read More »