U.S. News & World Report: Best Col­leges 2009
The new rank­ings are out.

For Some Col­lege Fresh­men, The First Day of School Comes A Bit Late
“Fac­ing a burst of qual­i­fied appli­cants, higher edu­ca­tion insti­tu­tions in the U.S. are increas­ingly offer­ing midyear enrollment.”

Is Col­lege Still Worth the Price?
“After adjust­ing for finan­cial aid, the amount fam­i­lies pay for col­lege has sky­rock­eted 439% since 1982.”

Fol­low­ing the Kids to Col­lege
“But some par­ents are invest­ing in col­lege towns in an unex­pected new way: they’re fol­low­ing their kids to col­lege. From South Bend, Ind., to Oxford, Miss., from Hanover, N.H., to Knoxville, Tenn., they are buy­ing sec­ond homes for them­selves near cam­puses where their chil­dren are enrolled.”

Col­leges Work to Keep Stu­dents in School Until They Earn Degree
“As col­leges wel­come a record num­ber of stu­dents this fall, they are tak­ing steps to ensure more stu­dents actu­ally com­plete a degree.”