Michigan State University students walk near Chittenden Hall, the home of graduate school.

With relief stalled, debate continues over tuition costs

While the Biden administration continues a legal fight to save its student debt forgiveness plan, public policy attention is beginning to focus on the causes of rising college tuition.

The average student loan debt for recent college graduates is nearly $30,000, according to U.S News data. That amount has been rising as tuition-driven schools raise fees to keep up with their own costs.

Bianca Doniver, manager of the pharmacy at Walmart in White Lake, works on a computer at the retail counter.

High inflation continues to hit pocket books

While price increases appear to be slowing, inflation remains high. Prices of common consumer goods and services are up 7.1% since last November, according to inflation data released Tuesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Rising costs for housing, food and energy are leading contributors.

Abe Frank and Grace Cannon working with other students and looking at satellite imagery during a Human Rights Lab meeting. The meeting took place on Nov. 4, with students discussing progress on their Libya project for the International Criminal Court.

James Madison student aids efforts to battle human rights crimes  

Abe Frank — nose and forehead scrunched with one eyebrow slightly raised — looked at his computer screen. He was searching through satellite imagery, looking for locations he wouldn’t talk about. Frank, a lab leader for James Madison College’s Human Rights Lab, is working with other students in the program to assist the International Criminal Court on a project.

Peter Truong

Vietnamese language program catching attention at MSU

Interest in Vietnamese is growing thanks in part to interest from students with Vietnamese heritage and a growing number of students from Vietnam attending U.S. colleges. The language is one of eight language courses offered through MSU’s Community Language School.

Spartans show support in cold home football season closer

Michigan State University had its last home game for the season at Spartan Stadium on Nov. 19.

Student Olivia Stout came out for the game. “Earlier in the year I would just be looking out my window and see everyone head to the stadium, which made me want to do the same,” said Stout. “It was the last home game, so I had to come. It really brought the campus together and everyone was very lively.”

Michigan State University sampling sites.

Don’t hide your poo — and here’s why

WASTEWATER PRIVACY: Ever since John Snow, the father of epidemiology, linked an 1854 cholera outbreak in London to contaminated water, wastewater surveillance has been a tool for scientists to track disease. But some are raising medical privacy concerns in the modern age as wastewater is used to track COVID-19. In the Great Lakes Basin, universities are teaming up to join a national network, including the University of Toledo, Northwestern University, Notre Dame, Michigan State University and the University of Wisconsin. By Mackenzie DeRaad. COMMENTARY FOR LANSING AND ALL POINTS.