Low-Income Students

Career Education Corp. Settles With Pennsylvania A.G.

Private Giving to Colleges Up in 2007

Stanford, Wash U to Increase Financial Aid

Widening Education Gap Hinders Economic Mobility

Michigan Non-Profit Lender Pulling Out of Private-Loan Market

Lawsuit takes aim at study-abroad "home – fees"

More Students Pass AP Exams, but Achievement Gaps are Widening

Policymakers and journalists, don't be fooled by the Career College Association's spin. Sallie Mae's decision last week to stop engaging in subprime student lending at some of the most scandal-ridden chains of for-profit colleges is good news for low-income and working class students, not bad.

For years, Sallie Mae and some other lenders have "partnered" with giant publicly-traded, for-profit higher education companies to provide high-cost private student loans, with interest rates and fees of more than 20 percent, to low income and minority students who normally wouldn't qualify for them because of their subprime credit scores. Serious questions have been raised about whether some of these companies such as Career Education Corporation and Corinthian Colleges -- which have both come under scrutiny from federal and state regulators and have faced numerous class action lawsuits by former employees, shareholders, and students over allegations that their schools have engaged in aggressive and misleading admissions tactics -- have duped disadvantaged students into taking on private loan debt without making them aware of their cheaper loan options first.

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…

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.

With all the attention paid to student loans of late, there is a risk that policy makers will lose track of an issue of even greater importance for college access for low- and moderate-income students: grants for postsecondary education. Research has long shown that grants, not loans, are the most…

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, we discussed the paucity of low-income students at the country's wealthiest colleges and universities. We offered a proposal that would require the richest private colleges to devote a portion of their yearly endowment income to help increase the socioeconomic diversity of their students. Some might argue that there aren't enough qualified underprivileged students…

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.

In June, we floated a proposal that would require the wealthiest colleges and universities to spend a minimum amount of their endowments to help increase enrollment of low-income students. After taking a closer look at just how inadequately the most affluent private…

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.

Yesterday, Higher Ed Watch reported that Catherine B. Reynolds' nonprofit company EduCap has marketed private loans -- under the brand name Loan to Learn -- that are as expensive, and in many cases even more expensive, than its for-profit competitors. Today, we take a closer look and find that Loan to Learn is…

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.

Financing a college education isn't easy for anybody these days, but it's an especially Herculean task if you're a working-class student living paycheck to paycheck. The obstacles to attending college are high, and the more you have to work to support yourself and your family, the less help…

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 leaders of the Senate Finance Committee are considering an intriguing proposal that is certain to infuriate higher-education leaders but could be beneficial for low-income students: requiring some colleges and universities to spend a minimum percentage of their endowments each year.

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.