To take another criterion the US News and World Report uses to judge how good a college or university is, their criterion is the percentage of alumni who contribute money to the college or university.

BBC: NEWS | UK | Education | Higher education 'market' warning

Since 2008, more than 20, 000 of the service's student-athletes have self-reported that they have committed to a college or university and received some sort of scholarship, says Mr. Prabhakara.

WSJ: Competing for Scholarships on the Field and Online

He said a memorial or further scholarship in honour of Lady Thatcher was a matter for Somerville College, not the University of Oxford.

BBC: Margaret Thatcher's Oxford college to hold memorial event

The commercial enterprise linked to a college or university is the type of operation Gov. Andrew Cuomo is trying to encourage with his proposed tax-free zones.

WSJ: Public-private partnership pushes '3-D printing'

If you're in college or you have a university education, as of the 2000 census you're part of, say, 3.6 percent of China's population.

NPR: Chengdu Youths Discuss Life in China

Clancy advises students to try to work with a school that has a partnership with Cisco, like Northern Illinois University or College of DuPage.

FORBES: Is There A Glut Of Technology Jobs For Young People?

Brad Duchaine of University College London studied eight siblings from a family that suffers from a condition known as prosopagnosia, or the inability to identify people from their faces.

ECONOMIST: Facial characteristics

The proposal would involve SUNY Downstate, Brooklyn's only academic hospital, handing one of its three facilities, Long Island College Hospital, to a new operator or closing it and laying off staff at another, University Hospital of Brooklyn.

WSJ: SUNY to Unveil Plan for Struggling Hospitals

Another upside to owning property in a college town--even for those home owners who are not affiliated with the nearby college or university--is that the local school districts may have a diverse student population because of the academic community.

FORBES: A+ College Real Estate