Paying in full is the ticket into college

    In the bid for a fat envelope this year, it may help, more than usual, to have a fat wallet.

    Facing fallen endowments and needier students, many colleges are looking more favorably on wealthier applicants as they make their admissions decisions this year.

    Institutions that have pledged to admit students regardless of need are finding ways to increase the number of those who pay the full cost in ways that allow the colleges to maintain the claim of being need-blind -- taking more students from the transfer or waiting lists, for instance, or admitting more foreign students who pay full tuition.

    Private colleges that acknowledge taking financial status into account say they are even more aware of that factor this year.

    Applications to colleges

    Applications to selective colleges and universities are reaching new heights this year, promising another season of high rejection rates and dashed hopes for many more students.

    Harvard said last Wednesday it had received a record number of applicants -- 27,278 -- for its next freshman class, a 19 percent increase over last year. Other campuses reporting double-digit increases included the University of Chicago (18 percent), Amherst College (17 percent), Northwestern University (14 percent) and Dartmouth (10 percent).

    A master’s for science professionals sweeps U.S. schools

    A curiosity tucked away in a handful of university catalogs a decade ago, the professional science master’s degree is emerging from the shadows at a number of college campuses.

    The degree, which a few universities quietly pioneered in the mid-1990s, combines graduate studies in science or mathematics and business management courses. In 2008, 58 universities were offering the professional science master’s degree, or P.S.M., according to the Council of Graduate Schools in Washington. By the start of this academic year, the number had nearly doubled to 103, and is set to climb further.

    2 teenagers arrested for stabbing

    Two teenagers were arrested early Thursday over the stabbing of a student outside his Bronx high school a day earlier.

    The victim, a 16-year-old who was heading to Public School 12 on Tratman Avenue when he was stabbed in the neck, remained in critical condition on Thursday at Jacobi Medical Center, a hospital spokeswoman said.

    One of the teenagers, Allassane Keita, 15, was charged with attempted murder, first-degree assault and criminal possession of a weapon, the police said. The other, Tyrone Graves, 16, was charged with first-degree assault and criminal possession of a weapon. Both attend Lehman High School, half a mile from the site of the stabbing.