A nearly $800 million increase in Washington University’s endowment over the past fiscal year is allowing the University to allocate more funds to departments previously subject to significant budget cuts.

The Master of Business Administration (MBA) program at the Olin Business School is aiming for an interdisciplinary approach by collaborating with the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

More than 50 percent of graduates from at least 30 accredited law schools did not get jobs requiring a law degree in 2009, Brian Tamanaha, a Washington University School of Law professor, said. Tamanaha drew the conclusion from data assembled by U.S. News & World Report.

Lan Yang, assistant professor in the Department of Electrical & Systems Engineering, will travel to Washington, D.C., next week to receive the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineering Professionals (PECASE) from the United States Department of Defense.

The School of Engineering & Applied Science is increasing its offerings to diversify its approach and address the relevance of evolving subfields. In addition to creating a new energy engineering minor last year—expanding its current offerings to 10—the school is adding a new course, Energy & the Environment, next semester for seniors and graduate students.

While the national student loan default rate jumped from 7 percent to 8.8 percent between fiscal years 2009 and 2011, the default rate at Washington University dropped from 2.2 percent to 2.1 percent.

Washington University dropped to 14th place in this year’s U.S. News and World Report’s ranking of national universities, released online this Tuesday. Last year the University tied with Johns Hopkins for 13th. In an official statement, University officials said they are not worried about the drop.

Washington University School of Medicine researchers are focused on sequencing cancer patients’ genomes as a diagnostic tool. The research results are expected to improve medical treatments and continuous research studies, helping doctors to decide on the most effective treatment for patients.

The recently imposed paywall on The New York Times’ website has not impacted the Washington University community’s ability to access news, students say. On March 28, The New York Times, which had previously offered free access to current articles online, established a paywall that limits access to online content.

The Washington University Office of Undergraduate Research is participating in a national event this week. The week’s events will focus on improving the undergraduate research experience. In order to do so, the Office of Undergraduate Research will try to recruit more professional mentors for students to interact with.