Afternoon announcements: Colleges offer deals to make price tag more attractive

A new report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project suggests that a majority 1) have cell phones and 2) are using their mobile phones to browse the internet. According to the report, 78 percent of teens have cell phones, and of them, 1 in 4 use it to browse the internet. That compares to 15 percent of adults who access the internet primarily by mobile phone. Education Week

New guidance from PARCC, the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, says that the new Common Core assessments will take up to 10 hours for students to complete. Schools will have multiple days to administer the tests. Education Week

Senator John D. Rockefeller IV (D-West Virginia) proposed an expansion of the $2.3 billion federal E-Rate program, “which subsidizes basic internet connections for schools and libraries,” to ensure every school has access to high speed internet. New York Times

Colleges’ new recruiting tool is offering deals, similar to a car dealership. Some of the deals being offered include “apply today, get $2,500 cash back,” and a promise of a free semester after purchasing a set number of others. Wall Street Journal