New York Times Co. Foundation suspends new grants, shrinks college scholarship program

September 30th, 2009 Worker misconduct cases rise at science foundationARLINGTON, Va. — A watchdog tasked with stopping fraud involving taxpayer-funded science grants says it has been forced to spend time addressing government employee misconduct, much of it involving pornography.

September 17th, 2009 House bill would boost Pell GrantsWASHINGTON — The House voted Thursday in favor of the biggest overhaul of college aid programs since their creation in the 1960s — a bill to oust private lenders from the student loan business and put the government in charge. The vote was 253-171 in favor of a bill that fulfills nearly all of President Barack Obama's campaign promises for higher education: The measure ends subsidies for private lenders, boosts Pell Grants for needy students and creates grant programs to improve community colleges and college graduation rates, among other things.

September 17th, 2009 House passes overhaul of college aid programWASHINGTON — The House has voted in favor of the biggest overhaul of college aid programs since their creation in the 1960s — a bill to oust private lenders from the student loan business and put the government in charge. Thursday's vote was 253-171 in favor of a bill that fulfills an array of President Barack Obama's campaign promises, ending subsidies for private lenders, boosting Pell Grants for needy students and paying for community college reforms, among other things.

September 7th, 2009 Penn St asking merit scholar parents for donationsPHILADELPHIA — Students who are accepted into Penn State University's prestigious honors college get more than academic feathers in their caps. They get $3,500 annual merit scholarships.

September 1st, 2009 Texas pulls out of merit scholarship programAUSTIN, Texas — The University of Texas at Austin is pulling out of the National Merit Scholarship Program to focus on needs-based financial assistance. The 50,000-student university — second only to Harvard University in the number of merit scholars enrolled — said budget pressures were causing it to end its participation in the merit-based program, which awards scholarships to top high school achievers.

August 28th, 2009 SPIN METER: College aid outpaced by college costsWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says a bill in Congress would help him send millions more Americans to college. But the measure may fall short of Obama's goal.

August 21st, 2009 Wikipedia operator gets $500,000 foundation grantSAN FRANCISCO — The nonprofit organization that operates the popular online encyclopedia Wikipedia has received a $500,000 grant from The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation to expand its work bringing free educational content to people around the globe. The Hewlett Foundation says Wikipedia plays an important role in making information freely accessible.

July 28th, 2009 Park Service awards Japanese internment grantsCHEYENNE, Wyo. — The National Park Service has awarded nearly $1 million in grants to increase public awareness about and help preserve sites related to the detention of Japanese-Americans during World War II.

July 16th, 2009 Gates Foundation offers $6.5 million for librariesSEATTLE — The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is announcing $6.5 million in grants to help public libraries in 11 states improve the quality of the free computer access they offer. The money announced Thursday will pay for computer hardware updates at some of the 800 library branches in Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Vermont and Wisconsin.

July 1st, 2009 Key dates in history of Antioch CollegeKey dates in the history of Antioch College: — 1852: College is founded by the Christian Church, with Horace Mann becoming its first president. — 1862: Antioch closes because of financial problems, reopening three years later.

May 9th, 2009 Under coach Lane Kiffin, 11 Vols players have leftKNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A total of 11 Tennessee players with scholarships have left the Volunteers football program under new coach Lane Kiffin, including four since the end of spring practice.

May 8th, 2009 Study of Gates Foundation shows global influenceSEATTLE — A new study of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation illustrates its global reach with spending on health issues, but notes a need for accountability on whether the money is being spent in the most effective way. The world's largest philanthropic foundation focuses its global health giving on eradicating diseases such as malaria and AIDS.

April 23rd, 2009 Gates Found. pledges $57M to overseas librariesSEATTLE — The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will spend $57 million to improve Internet access at public libraries in Poland, Romania and Vietnam.

April 23rd, 2009 Colbert: Does Bill Gates ever talk about me?SEATTLE — Stephen Colbert had an important question for an official with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: "Does Bill Gates ever talk about me?" The host of Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report" helped announce a $4.1 million donation from the foundation to donorschoose.org at a New York City high school Tuesday. Colbert is a board member of donorschoose, a Web site where teachers seek money for student projects and donors choose which projects they want to support.

March 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Three Indian-Americans students have made it to the top 10 in what has been described as the brainy version of American Idol, introducing America's next top scientist. Narendra Tallapragada from Virginia was ranked fourth, Preya Shah from New York eighth and Nilesh Tripuraneni from California ninth in the Intel Science Talent Search with the top honours going to Eric Larson, 17, of Eugene, Oregon.