Politically active graduate students in Iran have been "placed on a list of students considered a threat by the intelligence ministry," The Wall Street Journal reported today, and face "a partial or complete ban from education." The clampdown against such "star students," so-called because they often learn they have been singled out by finding stars beside their names on test results, has intensified in recent days, as students have remained at the forefront of the huge national demonstrations that have convulsed the country. Students with three stars, the most severe level of censure, face a lifetime ban from higher education.

Texas Tech University's firing on Wednesday of the head football coach Mike Leach has kicked up a fuss among sports journalists. The power dynamic between big-time coaches and university leaders may be shifting, one columnist says, citing another recent dismissal of a Big 12 Conference football coach, which like the Texas Tech firing stemmed from player-treatment issues. Others say the university railroaded Mr. Leach, partly over money concerns. Meanwhile, Texas Tech's chancellor, Kent R. Hance, says he fired the coach because of insubordination. For his part, Mr. Leach has promised to sue the university.

A New Jersey appeals court has ruled that Fairleigh Dickinson University is immune from liability for the 2005 death of a student who fell from a fourth-floor dormitory window, The Star-Ledger reports. The student, Keith Orzech, 21, had been drinking heavily. The ruling overturns a $260,000 jury award to Mr. Orzech's family. The three-judge panel cited New Jersey’s Charitable Immunity Act, which protects educational institutions if a plaintiff is a beneficiary "of the works of such nonprofit corporation."

Mike Leach, the Texas Tech football coach who was suspended two days ago while the university investigated his treatment of a player with a concussion, was fired today, the Associated Press reports. The player, Adam James, had alleged that the coach confined him twice in dark rooms while the team practiced. The university would have owed Mr. Leach an $800,000 bonus if he was still the coach on December 31.

The board of Alabama's beleaguered prepaid-tuition program approved a survival plan today under which the program would no longer pay participants' full tuition at public state universities, the Associated Press reported. Instead, starting next fall, it would pay a fixed amount based on average tuition costs. The plan, which is subject to court approval because it would alter contracts with participants, also depends on getting more money from the Legislature -- an estimated $236-million over the next two decades.

North Dakota State University is investigating what caused part of a four-story academic building to collapse on Sunday, leaving dozens of professors' offices exposed, The Forum, a newspaper in Fargo, reported. Engineers are exploring whether they can attach a crane to structural beams to keep the roof intact, and possibly allow employees to retrieve books, computers, and other belongings. The university expects to reopen portions of the building that are deemed safe when classes resume on January 11.

A federal judge in Michigan has ruled that a disabled student does not need to be enrolled in a degree-granting program in order to live in the dormitories at Oakland University, according to The Detroit News. The 25-year-old student has a cognitive disorder and was completing a program to improve his social and independent-living skills.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology isn't likely to meet a 2014 goal for the nuclear reactor on its Cambridge campus to stop using a type of uranium fuel that could be used to make atomic bombs, potentially complicating an Obama administration effort to persuade countries including Iran to take similar steps with their commercial reactors, The Boston Globe reported.

According to the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, Mike Leach, Texas Tech University's head football coach, ordered a player to stand in a shed for two hours because he felt the player was faking an injury. He then repeated the punishment two days later. Craig James, a former professional football player, confirmed to the Associated Press that it was his son, Adam, a wide receiver on the team, who was injured during a practice on December 16 and later complained about his treatment. The AP reported that Adam James suffered a concussion during a scrimmage.

The University of Hawaii and its faculty union have been negotiating for 15 months, but talks have stalled. According to the Honolulu Advertiser, President M.R.C. Greenwood wrote to professors on Monday to tell them that, given the budget deficit the university faces, it had no other viable option and would move forward with instituting its final offer.