The American Enterprise Institute, a nonprofit research group, sliced and diced graduation rates nationwide to come up with lists of universities with the highest and lowest six-year rates. Chicago State and Northeastern Illinois are near the bottom at 16 percent and 19 percent, respectively. The study pools colleges by how competitive they are, so Illinois Institute of Technology ended up in the bottom five of its group, with a six-year graduation rate of 67 percent. The numbers varied widely among Chicago-area schools. Forbes has an article on the big picture. Or go straight to the report with the nitty-gritty (Illinois on page 44).

A federal report says adding a cost-of-living factor in financial aid awards would help about 10 percent of Pell Grant recipients – students who live in expensive areas like New York, Chicago and the Bay Area. But if applied across the board, students from rural and low-cost areas could see their Pell Grants drop.

Our ears, fond as they are of all things related to land use, perk up when we hear the words “master planning.” Yours should too, because this is the process happening at UIC that 10 years from now will have you wondering, “Why is this building here, and whose idea was it to fill in that grassy sunbathing spot with trees?” There are two town hall meetings on UIC’s master planning process scheduled for Sept. 9 and 10. More details are here.

Remember the City News Bureau? Two veterans of the defunct wire service are launching a journalism class at Loyola this fall that focuses on teaching students how to pound the pavement, squeeze information out of officials and report on local government. The stories students write are slated to appear on the Daily News. 

The sports section

DePaul’s men’s basketball schedule is out. The regular season’s dozen games are packed into five weeks, ending on Dec. 22. John Templon at ChicagoNow has some opinions on the schedule.

Speaking of basketball, we wrote about Phil Gary’s jump from the City Colleges to Div I a couple of months ago. If you’re looking for more, check out the profile of Gary that the Wednesday Journal just did.

Wrap up your summer flings...

School starts Monday for the City Colleges, Loyola, St. Xavier and UIC. One word that you missed all summer long: U-Pass, baby. What are you looking forward to, and what are you dreading? Let us know.