3 vital ways to measure how much a university education is worth [Click here to view this message in your web-browser](.
Edition: US
30 April 2018
[[The Conversation]Academic rigor, journalistic flair](
Editor's note
Tomorrow is National Decision Day, the deadline for college-bound high school seniors to choose what university to go to. This is arguably the biggest decision in their lives so far. And it’s being made at a time when there’s increased pressure – from both sides of the political spectrum – for colleges and universities to demonstrate their value to students, families and taxpayers. So, what is the best way to judge what a college education is worth? That’s the question we asked [the presidents of three of the country’s leading universities](: Michael Drake of The Ohio State University, Michael Schill of the University of Oregon and Mark Schlissel of the University of Michigan.
Nitrogen is a critical nutrient for all life forms, and for decades scientists have believed that virtually all of it came from the air. But more nitrogen accumulated in soils and plants than they could explain. In a recent study, Benjamin Houlton, professor of global environmental studies at the University of California, Davis, [found that the “missing nitrogen” comes from weathering of bedrock](. This paradigm shift raises an intriguing prospect: could rock nitrogen fertilize plant growth that would pull more carbon from the air? Potentially, Houlton writes – but it’s no magic answer to climate change.
Maria Balinska
Editor and Co-CEO
Top Stories
The U.S. continues to wrestle with questions about the value of a college degree. ByEmo/Shutterstock.com
[3 vital ways to measure how much a university education is worth](
Mark S. Schlissel, University of Michigan; Michael H. Schill, University of Oregon; Michael V. Drake, The Ohio State University
The presidents of the University of Michigan, the University of Oregon and The Ohio State University offer three ways to judge the value of a college education.
Long’s Peak framed by rock outcrop, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. Roy Luck
[Nitrogen from rock could fuel more plant growth around the world – but not enough to prevent climate change](
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Scientists have long thought most nitrogen in Earth's ecosystems comes from the air, but new research shows it also is released as rocks weather. This could boost plant growth and help sequester carbon – but not fast enough to avert climate change, as some pundits have claimed.
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[Theodore Endreny] Theodore Endreny
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