College Access

Senate Prepares to Fight Bush on Labor, HHS, Ed BillThe Senate set up a potential showdown with President Bush over spending following the passage Tuesday of the 2008 appropriations bill that finances the Departments…Note: This post pre-dates Higher Ed Watch's shift to a new publishing system. For the complete original post, including any comments, please click here.

The growth in private student loan borrowing slowed considerably last year according to the College Board, but that's hardly reason to celebrate. Private loan borrowing continues to escalate at alarming rates for undergraduate students, and much of the debt is being taken on by students…

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Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) has followed the lead of Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) in pushing colleges and universities to make greater use of their endowments - echoing a proposal of the New America Foundation. Needless to say, associations representing wealthy colleges have not reacted favorably. Several…

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MOHELA Audit Uncovers Untamed Spending

Lavish Christmas gifts, expensive board retreats, and inflated severance packages were just a few instances of profligate spending uncovered during an audit of Missouri's student loan agency. According to the audit, the…

Note: This post pre-dates Higher Ed Watch's shift to a new publishing system. For the complete original post, including any comments, please click here.

Last week, Higher Ed Watch revealed that Sallie Mae had filed a New York Freedom of Information Law request asking community colleges in the State University of New York (SUNY) system to provide the company with contact information for their students. After posting that item, we learned that…

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There's been discussion in Congress recently about how the tax code can be better used to encourage college attendance among low-income students. One proposal being considered by the Senate Finance Committee is to make higher education tax credits refundable - and thus available to people who now do not benefit…

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Wealthy College Endowments Keep Increasing

The endowments of the nation's wealthiest universities continue to soar. Stanford University reported this week that its endowment grew by 23 percent to a staggering $17.2 billion in the 2007 fiscal…

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In August, the College Board announced that for the first time since the early 1990s average SAT scores in reading and math had declined two years in a row. The announcement caused hand wringing in the news media and among pundits. Have students' scores dropped because…

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As the college football season kicks into high gear, it's hard not to get caught up in or at least be exposed to the insane promotion of big-time college athletics. Many of us watch and read around-the-clock media commentary that glorifies college football players for their…

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The Senate Finance Committee appears to be moving forward with a proposal that would require wealthy colleges and universities to spend a minimum percentage of their endowments each year - a move which we at Higher Ed Watch strongly support. Private foundations, like the Bill & Melinda…

Note: This post pre-dates Higher Ed Watch's shift to a new publishing system. For the complete original post, including any comments, please click here.