The biggest problem for consumers of American
higher education is that many of them must take on a mountain of debt
to get the degree they want. That intimidating quandary has inspired
some unique, though often unsuccessful, attempts to make student loans
more affordable over the years...Now comes the latest innovator, SafeStart,
just in time for back-to-school season. It aims to reduce the fear
of debt that might keep, say, middle-class 18-year-olds from borrowing
for school in the first place. SafeStart, owned by a company called
BridgeSpan Financial, charges $40 to $70 for every $1,000 a student
borrows. In exchange, it promises to lend customers money interest-free
later on to pay back some of those loans. You get the money only if
you’re having trouble paying back your loans in your first years
in the workplace because your income is too low...
Some of the nation's biggest for-profit
colleges and vocational schools are boosting enrollment in tough times
by making more loans directly to cash-strapped students, knowing full
well many of them probably won't be able to repay what they borrowed.
The schools still make money because the practice boosts their enrollment
and brings in tuition dollars subsidized by the government. But some
of these students could end up saddled with high interest rates and
loan payments they can't handle, a burden that could damage their credit
for years to come...
With Democrats in control of both chambers
of Congress, President Obama has generally gotten his way when it comes
to federal funds for higher education. Spending bills making their
way through the House of Representatives and Senate mostly mirror his
budget plan for student aid and for colleges in the 2010 fiscal year,
which starts on October 1. But lawmakers haven't moved entirely in
lockstep with the new president, particularly in the area of research
spending...
In tough economic times, success in college
often depends as much on money smarts as book smarts. Risky financial
behaviors, such as paying bills late or paying less than the minimum
due, maxing out credit cards or taking out payday loans, for example,
can jeopardize a student's college career. Students who exhibit one
or more such risky behaviors say they're less likely to graduate than
students who don't take on such risks, according to a University of
Arizona study published earlier this year...
...For most college students looking to
live in or near the District, the cheapest option is to rent a house
with a large group of friends, packing in as many people as possible.
Living off campus also frees students from the adult supervision of
the dorms, but they quickly learn that their new neighbors have rules,
too -- and enforcement tactics that have been honed on decades of young
neighbors...Stuck in the middle are university officials who want to
stick up for the rights of their students but also keep peace with
the neighbors who can have immense influence on zoning requests and
construction plans, said David Clurman, president of the Mid-Atlantic
Association of College and University Housing Officers...
The single greatest part of U.S. News & World
Report's formula for ranking undergraduate colleges is also
the most controversial: the "peer rankings" in which college presidents
rank all similar institutions. Criticism of the system as unfair
has grown, leading many liberal arts college presidents to boycott
this part of the system...Rankings will be much in the news in the
weeks ahead, with the latest from U.S. News due out this week and
the doctoral program rankings of the National Research Council, using
a new methodology, due out some time soon...
...But U officials are saying the
new TCF Bank Stadium could bring in about $2 million less its first
year than initially forecast. They blame a slumping economy that stalled
sales of the priciest luxury seats and a Legislature-induced decision
to ban alcohol, which drove more people away and prompted price reductions
for those who remained..
...Near the end of June,
in the midst of one of the worst budget crises in California history,
the City College of San Francisco chancellor told The San Francisco
Chronicle that any private donor who gave $6,000 to the institution
would have the canceled course of his or her choice revived and named
after them. The critics, including trustees who learned of the chancellor’s
idea only after reading about it in the newspaper, wailed. While donors
have endowed chairs and entire divisions of colleges for years, this
was different, critics said. What would happen, they asked, if -- for
example -- the college offered a health course sponsored by a big alcohol
or tobacco company?...
Adding a cost-of-living adjustment
to the federal formula used to determine families' financial need could
increase aid to students from high-cost cities like New York and San
Francisco, but decrease it to students from less expensive parts of
the country, according to a report released today by
the Government Accountability Office. The report, which was requested
by Congress, looked at three options for accounting for geographic
cost differences in housing and other expenses...The biggest beneficiaries
of an adjustment would be Pell Grant recipients with relatively high
incomes living on the East and West Coasts. A family in San Francisco
earning $51,000 a year, for example, could see their $860 Pell Grant
increase to $3,060...
"Vertigo
year," Column, Inside Higher Ed, Aug.
17.
...Perhaps we can "get undergraduates
through" in three years. However, what we may have
to alter to achieve that end might severely compromise what we hope
to accomplish for our students, particularly in areas vital to a thriving
21st century democracy and economy.Consider the following areas of
concern...(Authors: William G. Durden, president, and Neil B. Weissman,
provost and dean, both of Dickinson College)...
