Education

Internships are generally unpaid. But they will pay off handsomely under a new program announced Tuesday by the Rhode Island Student Loan Authority.  Starting May 1st the Authority, known as RISLA, will forgive $2,000 of a student’s loan if he or she completes an internship worth three credit hours. It will be forgiven upon graduation. 

RISLA director Charles Kelley says the idea is to stem the brain drain, the practice of promising young college students leaving the state for lack of work.

NECAP, the standardized test that’s become a requirement for high school graduation in Rhode Island, may be harder than most people think. A majority of adults who took a portion of the math test last weekend failed to make the grade.

The results of a mock standardized test given to politicians and community leaders will be released Tuesday afternoon.  The math test was administered Saturday by a student group which opposes the test known as NECAP or the New England Common Assessment Program.

The chairwoman of the state Board of Education is blasting the adult test takers for participating in what she calls a “publicity stunt.”  Eva Marie Mancuso says if the adults had a hard time with it it’s because they weren’t prepared, as students are.

The University of Rhode Island says it’s seeing a record number of applications for the Fall 2013 semester.  University officials believe their marketing efforts are paying off.

Close to 21,000 students have applied for admission to URI for next fall.  Roughly 75 percent will be admitted so that the university has its desired freshman class of 3,100 even after students who have been admitted decide to go elsewhere.

URI Admissions Dean Cynthia Bonn believes the interest in attending URI is a direct result of their outreach efforts.