I never met Yeardley Love. Apparently we had a mutual friend on Facebook, an alumna from the University of Virginia who I haven't spoken with in years, but we never crossed paths. She, a striking and intelligent women's lacrosse star from Cockeysville, Md., and me, an aspiring senior student journalist...

Like thousands of their peers across the country, students at the University of Maryland, College Park are struggling to weather rising costs and dwindling services. But since they're set to pay only $200 more next year than current the in-state rate of $6,566, their concerns seem less poignant than students...