201 High St.
Farmville, VA 23901
434-395-2060 or 800-281-4677
• Web site
    • E-mail

800 S. Main St.
Harrisonburg, VA 22807
540-568-5681
• Web site
    • E-mail

4400 University Drive
Fairfax, VA 22030
703-993-2400 or 888-MASON12
• Web site
    • E-mail

116 Jamestown Road or P.O. Box 8795
Williamsburg, VA 23187
757-221-4223
• Web site
    • E-mail

1 University Place
Newport News, VA 23606
757-594-7015 or 800-333-4268
• Web site
    • E-mail

People sometimes joke about the fact that in today’s world students should start thinking about college when they enter kindergarten. That may be a stretch, but the college application process often does begin early in a student’s high school years.

Mary Nguyen has $10,000 (and growing) in college debt. Does she regret it? Not a bit. Does she worry about paying it back? Yes. She taught herself the college financial aid process.

Each school has unique attributes to offer prospective students. Virginia is home to more than 40 residential colleges and universities, including some of the most historic institutions in the country.

Area campuses generate news all the time, with new programs, construction, awards and initiatives. Here is a roundup of news items submitted by the schools profiled in this section:

Granted, this is college, not first grade. But somehow, all the rules and bits of advice seem to be the same: Pay attention to the teacher. Share the toys and don’t fight. Don’t lose your lunch money. Admit when you need help.

Students, schools finding more funding, cutting costs to cope with financial woes.

Central Virginia Community College next year will introduce systems engineering as the fourth track in its collaborative program with the University of Virginia, the school’s Stan Shoun said Tuesday.

Authorities can lock down a kindergarten classroom, a middle school or a prison. But officials say it’s not really possible to lock down a sprawling college campus.

Virginia Commonwealth University is open: for more business, more engineering, more advertising education and more parking.

Some parents buy houses or condos for their children and rent rooms to other students to help pay mortgages. “It’s becoming more and more prevalent, especially for students in medical or law schools,” Johnson said.