"Without research we're into the territory of try it and hope it works, which is not what our students want or expect from us, " George says.

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What companies want are students with inside knowledge of school traditions and campus hotspots.

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Employers want students who have already played the field and learned what they really want out of a job.

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With the federal government and states looking for ways to trim their budgets, appropriations to colleges and universities are likely to be scaled back as students and institutions sort through what they want from a university education and how much is it worth.

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"What has changed is the type of students who want these tools, " Ms. Wixom said.

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Advocates of choice and accountability often want what they think is best for students.

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Everyone knows that a lot of Division I recruits are jocks first and students second, which undercuts the spirit of what most people want college sports to be.

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The Labour Market Survey is a more reliable indicator of what's going on in the economy, including full-time students who want part-time work.

BBC: No longer the poor relation

"I want to see students provided with clear information about where their money goes and what they are getting for their fees, rather like those pie charts you get from your council explaining how your council tax has been spent, " he told delegates.

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