The University of Oxford's new vice chancellor, who takes office on Thursday, has courted controversy in his first interview with a British newspaper by stating that the relatively generous undergraduate financial aid the university now offers -- about $16,900 -- is not enough. British universities should offer American-style support packages, Andrew Hamilton, who was formerly provost of Yale University, told The Guardian.

As Britain prepares for a review of the current cap on tuition, and some university leaders have even suggested that top institutions break free from government support and its restraints, the article notes that Mr. Hamilton's "comments will fuel speculation that the top universities also want to charge American rates for degrees."

The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey has agreed to pay $8.3-million to the federal government to end an inquiry into allegations that it paid kickbacks to cardiologists in exchange for patient referrals, The Star-Ledger reported. Prosecutors said the move was part of an effort to increase the number of cardiac procedures at the medical school. The university did not admit any wrongdoing and said the institution had undergone sweeping reform since the investigation began.

The Apollo Group, parent company of the University of Phoenix, announced today that it was holding settlement discussions with the parties that have accused it of falsely obtaining billions of dollars in federal student aid while violating rules over how student recruiters are paid. The case, which has been working its way through the courts for several years, is slated for trial in March, but the parties have now agreed to seek a 45-day stay of all proceedings in the litigation.

The University of Regina, in Saskatchewan, has so much confidence in its graduates that it's giving them a job guarantee with their degrees. According to a news release issued today, the university promises students who complete the new UR Guarantee program's requirements that they will get a "a great job within six months of graduation" or they can return to the university for an additional 30 hours of free credit-bearing courses.

The athletics director at Binghamton University has resigned less than a week after six athletes on the university's men's basketball team were thrown off the team, The New York Times reports. One of the five was the team's star point guard, Emanuel Mayben, who was arrested last week on charges of possessing crack cocaine. The athletics director, Joel Thirer, was reassigned to the provost's office on the campus, part of the State University of New York, and Binghamton's president, Lois DeFleur, announced an external audit of the athletics program.

Just a week after its opening, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology was criticized by a member of Saudi Arabia's Supreme Committee of (Islamic) Scholars for being coeducational, which he called "a great sin and a great evil," according to the Associated Press. Whether his remarks indicate broader disapproval of the university remains to be seen. But pro-government publications quickly shot back, saying such criticism breeds terrorism and puts the country "behind the rest of the Muslim world."

When the University of Missouri's athletics department sold 25 old cellphones this past summer at a university auction, athletics officials forgot to do one thing: Erase the phones' memory. A resident of Columbia, Mo., purchased the phones for $190, intending to resell their parts, but discovered contacts, text messages, and e-mail from Missouri's athletic director and head football and basketball coaches. Unfortunately for rivals in Kansas, the recovered messages contained no secret strategies or recruiting tips.

Colleges and universities in the Northeast saw some of the biggest surges in swine-flu infection last week, according to the latest update from the American College Health Association. For the week ending September 25, 274 colleges representing more than 3.2 million students reported 6,527 new cases of "influenza-type illnesses." Ninety-one percent of the colleges reported new cases, the same as in the previous week. Eleven students were hospitalized. Nationwide, 20.1 cases were reported for every 10,000 students, 19 percent lower than the previous week's rate. Since the reporting began, on August 22, about 27,000 students have been reported to have flu symptoms, and 48 have been hospitalized. There have been no deaths on any of the reporting campuses, but a few deaths have been reported on other campuses.

The Federal Reserve Board has published proposed rules that would bar banks from issuing credit cards to consumers under the age of 21 unless their parents agreed to accept financial liability for the charge accounts or the students could demonstrate an independent ability to pay. The draft rules, which would also shield students and other consumers from sudden spikes in interest rates and fees, would put into effect a law passed by Congress in May.

Sen. Michael Bennet, a Democrat of Colorado and former superintendent of the Denver Public Schools, will take the seat left vacant by the death of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, CongressDaily reports. Sen. Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat, has succeeded Mr. Kennedy as chairman of the committee.