165 University Presidents Call on Congress and President Obama to Close Innovation Deficit
Deeply concerned about major federal budget cuts to research and higher education at a time when other nations are steadily increasing investments in those areas, 165 university presidents and chancellors today called on leaders in Washington to close what they call the “innovation deficit.”� In an open letter to President Obama and Congress published as an advertisement in Politico, the university leaders wrote that closing the innovation deficit—the widening gap between needed and actual investments in research and education—must be a national imperative. This effort continues to grow online, as more presidents and chancellors sign on at www.innovationdeficit.org.
�

The Chronicle of Higher Education
Data and Analysis: The State of Academe
The Chronicle takes the measure of higher education in the 2013-14 Almanac, our annual compendium of data on colleges. This year’s Almanac features many new tables and charts along with familiar ones.

The Chronicle of Higher Education
For Internet Access, Rural Students Have to Hit the Road
By Sara Grossman
Some 19 million Americans lack access to high-speed Internet service, according to a 2012 report from the Federal Communications Commission. And there's a significant access gap between residents of urban and rural areas. The FCC's data show that while only 1.8 percent of urban residents lacked access to broadband, nearly 24 percent of rural Americans live where high-speed access is unavailable.

The Hill
Obama bus tour to focus on higher ed
President Obama will present proposals for reducing the cost of higher education during a Northeastern bus tour next week, the latest in a series of summertime campaign-style economic events from the White House.

Western Farm Press
Land Grant Institutions Are Foundational To Agriculture
by Todd Fitchette
In an age where it is too easy to blast politicians for wasteful spending, there remains some very useful expenditures of public funds that some may take for granted. America’s land grant institutions have a rich history. Much credit for the advances in American agriculture goes to the campuses and university researchers who developed programs and studied issues affecting farmers and ranchers. It is through the cooperative efforts of the campuses and growers that more efficient means of producing crops have developed.

USA Today
Picking college, major, comes down to money
The financial burden of paying for college has families cost-cutting before their kids even apply to schools. And it's affecting students' decisions about not only where to go, but what to study, according to survey data given exclusively to USA TODAY.