College Costs

For years, student loan-industry officials have complained about the way in which the government assesses the costs of the two competing federal student loan programs.

Federal budget analysts have consistently found that direct lending, in which the U.S.…

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As the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program has come under a torrent of criticism in recent months, loan industry officials have begun testing out a new line of attack in their long-running campaign to discredit the alternative Direct Loan program. The lenders claim and have convinced (hopefully temporarily)…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.

Debt-Free in N.C.

North Carolina Governor Mike Easley proposed a plan this week that would allow low-income students in North Carolina to graduate from college debt-free. The plan, called Educational Access Rewards North Carolina Scholars Program, would…

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Today, Democrats take their first step in achieving a major campaign promise: passing a bill in the House of Representatives to cut student loan interest rates in half.

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This week, Congressional Democrats will try to make good on their 2006 campaign promise to cut student loan interest rates in half. Higher Ed Watch will sketch out some of their options and comment on their actions.Two weeks ago, we posted our assessment of the political landscape for cutting…

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The New York Times has Higher Ed Watch reconsidering our thinking on why college tuition is going up. Our hypothesis had been that skyrocketing tuition is driven by the combination of: (1) declining state support for higher education, and (2) an "arms race"…

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As middle class families increasingly feel the squeeze of rising college tuition and stagnant financial aid, some in Congress have decided to go on the offensive. The hunt for both an explanation and a solution is in full force. Republicans are blaming the college affordability crisis…

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In their last moments in power, Senate Republicans want to examine whether federal education tax benefits like the HOPE Scholarship tax credit have contributed to college tuition increases. What they'll find, if they look closely, is a complicated relationship.

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Over the next couple of weeks, Higher Ed Watch will offer Congressional Democrats, Republicans, and the Bush Administration political and detailed policy advice on how to increase college affordability. We begin with a political lay of the land, because it's where policy begins and ends.

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Results of the 2006 election mean big and good changes for college access and college affordability. Watch for student aid to be front and center as Congressional Democrats work to retain their new majority status.

The 2006 election is in…

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