[ Colleges Must Hand Over Names ]

The Defense Department has announced a new get-tough policy with colleges and universities that interfere with the work of military recruiters and ROTC programs.

Under new rules, defense officials said they want the exact same access to student directories that is provided to all other prospective employers.

Students can opt out of having their information turned over to the military only if they opt out of having their information provided to all other recruiters, but schools cannot have policies that exclude only the military, defense officials said in a March 28 notice of the new policy in the Federal Register.