Types Of Financial Assistance From The Department Of Education

 What's the hardest part about obtaining a college degree? Is it passing your subjects? Well, some would possibly think so. Most college students could attest that the most challenging part about getting a college education is, as you may have guessed, paying for your college tuition fees.

Every school year, American college students pay at least $20,000 to cover college tuition fees alone. And as you well know, the costs doesn't really stop there. You still need to pay for books, allowance, food, transportation, and the list just continues to infinity and beyond.

Perhaps you've spent a lot of sleepless nights thinking about it. And perhaps you'd be glad to learn that the United States government, your government, has thought about it as well. In fact, the government has been thinking about it well before 1980.

The United States Government mandated the establishment of United States Department of Education under the Department of Education Organization Act of 1979.

The US Department of Education was basically created to encourage the promotion of student achievement and their preparation for global competitiveness by way of fostering academic excellence and ensuring equal access to quality education.

The department participates in four fundamental activities, including:

a) The development of policies that are associated with federal education funding, the administration of funds and the monitoring of its usage

b) The gathering of data and overseeing of scientific studies in American schools

c) The detection of major issues in education and the development of solutions that would address them

d) The enactment of federal laws that prohibit discrimination in certain programs that receive federal funds.

The Department of Education provides a lot of programs and several other forms of financial assistance which have been proven to be largely helpful for students who are academically deserving but financially challenged.

Head suspended after theology school protest

The head of a theology school at a Catholic university college has been suspended after he criticised plans to close his department. Anthony Towey, head of the School of Theology, Philosophy and History at St Mary's University College, Twickenham, was suspended last week "pending investigations into a very serious disciplinary matter", the college has confirmed.

The action follows protests over plans to merge Dr Towey's department with the School of Communication, Culture and Creative Arts. Academics at St Mary's, which hopes to become Britain's first Catholic university by 2013, fear the lack of a dedicated theology department may harm teaching and research as well as undermine the college's commitment to its Catholic mission.

Students told Times Higher Education that Dr Towey was interrupted while giving a Christology lecture on 17 September and escorted off the premises of the institution by a member of security. His suspension comes after he sent an email to staff and students informing them about the proposed merger, saying he was "completely in the dark" about how it might affect students.

The bullies of academia and suicide

About 20 bullying victims at one of Australia's leading universities have attempted or considered suicide, an inquiry has been told.

One female academic became so traumatised she tried to kill herself in her campus office, she told the federal parliamentary committee into workplace bullying.

Microbiologist Dr Michelle Adams later told 'The Daily Telegraph' she swallowed "tablets" in February last year during a long-running campaign to stop bullying at Newcastle University.

"I am now medically retired and ... under the medical care of both a psychiatrist and a psychologist," the 46-year-old mother of two said.

Dr Adams told the inquiry she suffered "almost 10 years of bullying, harassment and victimisation" after reporting academic misconduct in 2003.

"When one act of bullying involved the theft of ... tuberculosis from my research laboratory, at least one colleague was of the opinion that 'things go missing all the time',"she said.

"When I explained I was scared the attacks would escalate to violence I was told I was 'over-reacting'."

In a letter to NSW and federal MPs, Dr Adams said an anti-bullying group at the university had collected "evidence about 20 victims of the bullying have either attempted or considered suicide".

The issues at Newcastle follow revelations during the inquiry that staff relations at the University of NSW had become so dysfunctional some employees spend days "crying in the toilets".

More than two thirds of the academic and general staff at UNSW say they had been bullied at work and some claim to have been sexually assaulted. University authorities have been accused of failing to address the issue.

The anti-bullying group at Newcastle told the inquiry 175 current and former staff and students had responded to an online survey.