Colleges

Given today's increasingly stratified job market, higher education has become crucial not only for recent high school graduates, but also for those seeking to enhance their professional skills or change careers. There are many choices among the area's colleges, universities and trade and vocational schools, and choosing the right campus is the key to making the most of post-high school education. Here are some tips from education experts to help you select a school.

Gyrating hips, Jesus and--to hear some people tell it--a conga line of demons will converge here next month. Under the glow of granite street lamps honoring students who died in World War II, a 150-year-old Baptist tradition will officially get the ax. On April 18, Baylor University plans to allow dancing on campus. The news has set off a ripple of controversy among the faithful--and a tidal wave of curiosity in the media.

High school students from across Southeast Los Angeles County are invited to meet representatives from dozens of colleges nationwide today in Bell Gardens. Sponsored by Assemblywoman Martha M. Escutia (D-Huntington Park), the Fourth Annual Southeast College Conference is scheduled to include workshops on admission and financial aid application procedures, as well as information booths representing 45 public and private colleges and universities.

Florida State University was named the No. 1 party school in the country by the Princeton Review's "Advantage Guide to the Best 310 Colleges." And to delight the hearts of the Seminoles, the book ranked the school's archrival, the University of Florida, No. 3. FSU dethroned three-time champion University of Rhode Island, which failed to finish in the top 10 after banning alcohol on campus last year. George Washington University in Washington was No. 2.

When Adele Sagun told her father she wanted to attend Amherst--a small, private and expensive East Coast college--he laughed. "Every parent would like to send their kids to college. But she started telling me about the cost, saying it costs $10,000 or $20,000 a year," says Jesus Sagun, an Alhambra-based electronics technician. "At this point, I have nothing saved. I am up to the hilt in debt. I started laughing. What was I supposed to do?"

Projections of what college will cost when your youngsters are ready to enroll can be terrifying, but parents needn't fall into apoplexy. With proper planning, you can manage it. Here are some strategies that not only can help your kids, but can put you in a stronger economic position as well. Strategy I: Speed Up the Mortgage Gregg and Karen Ritchie of Malibu decided they would handle college expenses "on the house," so to speak.

Faced with empty seats and intense competition for top students, colleges and universities are increasingly turning to "merit aid"--scholarships based on high grades and test scores rather than financial need--to lure the best young scholars to their campuses, a new study shows.

The former president of Howard University, one of the nation's foremost black colleges, warned his fellow higher education administrators Monday to prepare for a contentious debate over affirmative action that could split America "right down the middle." Speaking at the annual American Council on Education conference here, Franklyn G.

Tucked away upstairs at Cal State Fullerton's library, in a salmon pink sanctuary largely overlooked by students, is a collection of books, maps and artifacts so rare that researchers wear white gloves to touch them. The treasures are part of the university's special collections section, a "library within a library" that draws researchers from as far away as Singapore while eliciting scarcely a shrug of interest from most of the 22,000 students on campus.

Eugene Conner no longer faces a tedious commute by bus once his high school classes end for the day. If Van Truong wants to stay on campus late, he doesn't have to scrounge a ride back home. And Mariah Alquiza, who comes from a large, busy family, has no more worries about finding time and a quiet place to do her homework.