Colleges

Here's what they're saying in academic circles across the country: California wrecked its public schools decades ago, and now it's starting in on its colleges. That may be an exaggeration, but few would deny that this is a pivotal time for the state's much-admired public colleges and universities, which have been underfunded for years. In their efforts to expand access without spending more money, education officials and state lawmakers will no doubt offer all sorts of bad proposals for how to do more with less, and those who care about the system will have to be vigilant in protecting it. Already, there's legislation to create a fourth college system - in addition to the community colleges, the California State University and the University of California - with no classes, just tests.

At least 11 people were stabbed at a Houston-area college Tuesday, which was on lockdown after the attacks, officials said. At least four victims at the Cy-Fair campus of the Lone Star College system in a northwestern Houston suburb were taken by helicopter to local hospitals, and more were taken by ambulance, the school said in a statement. The Harris County Sheriff's Office reported that a suspect had been taken into custody after the incident at the school's Health Science Center.

California community colleges on Tuesday will launch a new tool that provides a snapshot of performance at all 112 campuses, designed to help students pick the right school and push the institutions to improve. The Student Success Scorecard is being touted as one of the most ambitious attempts by any college system to make such key measures as completion rates, retention of students and job-training success accessible to the public and policymakers in an easy-to-use format. Information for each college as well as statewide averages is available via a portal on the community college chancellor's website , and individual campuses will have their own score card and a link to other colleges on their websites.

CYPRESS, Texas - A male student who fantasized about stabbing people was charged Tuesday in connection with an attack that injured 14 people, two critically, at a Houston-area community college, authorities said. Dylan Quick, 20, faces three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He is suspected of acting alone in what one official described as a "building-to-building" attack at the Lone Star College-CyFair campus about 30 miles northwest of Houston. "According to the statement the suspect voluntarily gave investigators, he has had fantasies of stabbing people to death since he was in elementary school," the Harris County Sheriff's Office said in a statement late Tuesday.

Fewer than half of California's community college students transferred to a four-year school or earned an associate's degree in 2011-12, the lowest level of completion in five years, according to data released Tuesday by the chancellor's office. Statewide, 49.2% of students who enrolled in 2006 achieved those goals after six years, compared with 52.3% of students who enrolled in 2002. The completion rate for students needing remedial math and English was about 41%. By comparison, 71% of students who entered prepared to do college-level work in those subjects earned degrees or transferred.

CYPRESS, Texas -- A male student from Lone Star College in Texas has been arrested in connection with a mass stabbing attack on campus that injured 14 people, two critically. The student, whose name was not released, is believed to be about 21 years old and is suspected of acting alone in what one official described as a "building-to-building" attack at the community college.  The campus was put on lockdown and then closed for the day after the late morning attack. Twelve of the victims were hospitalized with laceration injuries, including four who were taken to the hospital by helicopter.

More grim news for university grads: The starting salaries of those who have recently earned college diplomas have stagnated -- and even dropped -- over recent years, a report says. Between 2000 and 2012, the wages of fresh college grads dropped 8.5%, a roughly $3,200 decline for full-time workers. In the last six years alone, their pay fell 7.6%, according to a report from the Economic Policy Institute. Last year, college grads earned an average $16.60 an hour -- about $34,500 a year.  “The wages of young graduates fared poorly even before the Great Recession began,” the report said.

The subject of the morning class was criminal investigation, and there was no hesitation on the part of the 17-year-old when he was asked to stand and explain aggravated assault. The boy related the story of how his father, estranged from his mother, had shown up at the house and begun pushing her around. He told of how police had come and explained to his mother the steps she would need to take to obtain a restraining order. School was in session at the Los Angeles Police Department's Ahmanson Training Center in Westchester as high school seniors dressed in brown khaki trousers and blue uniform shirts kicked off another day in an unusual law enforcement training program called the Police Orientation Preparation Program.

Doug Anderson, a high-flying forward from the University of Detroit Mercy, capped his college career on Thursday night by easily winning the dunk contest at McCamish Pavilion in Atlanta to begin Final Four weekend festivities. The 6-foot-6 senior from Kalamazoo, Mich., did nothing but impress, including a final 360-degree dunk in which he brought the ball between his legs and did a reverse windmill slam. Check out the video above to believe it. You'll also see Anderson do a double-pumping, two-handed reverse dunk, and leap above another player, grab the ball from his raised arm and slam it as his head rises above the rim. Four dunks, four perfect scores for Anderson, who many are saying could win the NBA dunk contest.

Michigan point guard Trey Burke, who helped the Wolverines reach the Final Four for the first time since 1993, and Miami's Jim Larranaga have been selected the Associated Press' player and coach of the year. Burke garnered 31 of 65 votes from the same media panel that selects the weekly top 25. He is the first Michigan player since Cazzie Russell in 1966 to win player of the year. The 6-foot sophomore averaged 19.2 points, 6.7 assists and 3.1 rebounds while often playing with four freshmen.