This collection of innocuous prerequisites generally went unnoticed and was conceptually unrelated to degree completion. In recent years, however, the number of students enrolled in developmental education courses combined with the cost of offering them, has demanded more attention.

You've heard about the importance of a college education and were told that any job worth having required one. You heard that higher education was scarce, and a degree in any subject would set you apart from the competition. And, once upon a time, it was true--but in 2013, it's not.

Students at colleges and universities seeking more interesting options than the basic reading, writing and arithmetic courses are in luck. Several schools continue to explore innovative topics to boost their curriculum inside and outside of the traditional classroom.

Sociologically speaking, one of the most fascinating aspects of zombies has been their persistence as "the Other," something against which we can mirror our fears.

It is our job as teachers to create those learning moments that help us make sense of complex realities, that clarify without oversimplifying, that disturb our assumptions and force us to think through new ones.

Some students are lucky -- they know exactly what they want to do practically from the womb. As for the rest of us, it can be a very lengthy process of self-discovery before you realize what you're meant to do.

Sure, students skip class and space out. But my job as a college professor is to figure out how to make you want to come to class and then hold your attention when you're there. It is to make ideas matter and learning come alive.

Pardon me for being so bold, but... What's so bad about TAs? In my eyes, comparing a professor and a TA isn't necessarily about one being better than the other. Rather, I think they offer two very different teaching styles.

Most students don't literally sleep in class, but I suspect many people figuratively sleep through college. It's easy to do, actually. Students become experts at how to get the best grades possible, and the most painless way to meet the requirements for a degree.

One challenging adjustment that students face when they enter college is how to approach reading assignments. In many cases, students are required to have mastered lengthy and challenging reading materials prior to arriving in class.

Many students don't realize that professors are often the gatekeepers to a multitude of opportunities in college, and even after college. Therefore, how to make a positive impression on professors is critically important.

Here is an experience almost all faculty have periodically: taking on a class assignment for a topic they haven't taught before, and that possibly falls outside their area of expertise.

Is it possible to gain the education and the intellectual development associated with a traditional bricks-and-mortar university curriculum through a largely online course of study?

When the University of Illinois announced it would offer online courses for free, thousands of prospective students came running. Illinois' opening...

Should those degrees we spend tens (or hundreds) of thousands of dollars on should maybe focus less on forcing freshman to take sex ed and Bio 101 and instead provide us with courses on how to do our taxes?

For students who haven't yet declared a major, they might want to consider learning how to fly unmanned predator drones. A growing number of schoo...

It's that exquisitely anxious time of the year when high school students applying to colleges are getting their acceptance letters and trying to decide where to spend the next four years of their time and most of their parents' life savings.

College is a time to expand your horizons. It is a time to explore things you normally would not explore and learn subjects you never thought you woul...

What exactly makes a class difficult? Is it a professor with indecipherable handwriting who mumbles through lectures and refuses to curve a test with...

From courses on Mad Men and Glee to iPad apps and the financial collapse, The Daily Beast rounds up the coolest classes on campus this fall. At Har...