Stephen Burd: All Publications, Events and Press

Subprime Student Loan Crisis | NHPR

Cecille Isidro — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:46:00 -0500

The New America Foundation's Stephen Burd has been investigating the for-profit college industry for The Washington Monthly and joins us with more on what ...

Continuing Ed: For-Profits | New York Times

Cecille Isidro — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 23:14:00 -0400

... so your life isn't ruined even if you fail out,” says Stephen Burd, editor of the New America Foundation's Higher Ed Watch blog. ...

The Subprime Student Loan Racket

Erin Drankoski — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:57:00 -0400

Compensation in the Spotlight | The Chronicle of Higher Education

Cecille Isidro — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:25:00 -0400

"The Bush administration basically stopped paying attention," said Stephen Burd, editor of the Higher Ed Watch blog at New America Foundation, a public-policy institute. "They gave them the green light to do whatever they wanted." Original article

Student Loan Industry Fighting to Avoid Extinction

Cecille Isidro — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 09:22:00 -0400

“We haven’t seen anywhere near the final act in terms of lobbying,” said Stephen Burd, a senior research fellow at the New America Foundation. “This is just the overture.” Original article (subscription required)

Degrees of Difficulty: The Truth About Online Universities | Consumers Digest

Cecille Isidro — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 11:29:00 -0400

“The point at many of these schools is to get students in and signed up as fast as possible before they have much chance to consider their decision,” says Stephen Burd, a higher education expert for a public policy think tank New America Foundation. “This often means rushing students through the financial-aid process. Students often don’t understand what they have gotten themselves into until they have to start paying the loans back.” Original article

Plan to Nix Student Loan Program Sparking Major Battle | Congress Daily

Cecille Isidro — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 10:40:00 -0500

"There will be an intense amount of lobbying. It's just going to be a huge fight," said Stephen Burd, a senior fellow for education policy at the nonprofit New America Foundation. Original article

Loan Charity's High-Flying Guests Exposed | CBS News

Cecille Isidro — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 19:37:00 -0500

Watchdog Stephen Burd says money spent on the jet comes off the backs of students, who have Educap loans costing up to three times more than government loans...

Student Loan Charity Under Fire | CBS News

Cecille Isidro — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 19:20:00 -0500

“These are absolutely not charitable terms,” said Stephen Burd, of the New America Foundation. Burd says Educap charges up to 18 percent interest - triple the government rates and as much or more than for-profit companies. He's heard from dozens student borrowers who complain about costs and aggressive collection tactics, who advise to avoid this company because it is predatory lending. ...

College Readiness and Remediation Crisis: New America Foundation's "Bridging the Gap" Report

Communications — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 10:31:00 -0500

Washington DC -- Today the New America Foundation's Federal Education Budget Project released a report on America's college readiness and remediation crisis. The paper, "Bridging the Gap: How to Strengthen the Pk-16 Pipeline to Improve College Readiness," by Ulrich Boser and program fellow Stephen Burd, details the failings

Bridging the Gap

Education Policy — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 09:16:00 -0500

Far too many students leave high school unprepared for the rigors of college and the workplace. Nearly a third of all incoming freshmen- 42 percent of first-year students at public two-year colleges-require remediation. At some postsecondary institutions, more than 90 percent of first-time freshmen need to take remedial classes before enrolling in courses that count toward their degrees. Remedial courses are offered at 99 percent of public two-year colleges and more than 75 percent of public four-year institutions.

Student Debt Grows; Financial Aid Application Rates Rise | Capital News Service

Communications — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:55:00 -0500

"Private loans are a terrible tool for promoting college access," said Stephen Burd, a senior fellow at the New America Foundation, a group dedicated to fixing challenges for the next generation. ... Outside Article

Bailout Plan for Student Loan Companies Might Hurt Students | Diverse Issues in Higher Education

Communications — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:52:00 -0500

“We are very wary of the government bailing out private student loan providers, many of whom engaged in predatory practices by pushing high-cost private loans on high-risk borrowers,” says Stephen Burd, senior fellow at the New America Foundation, a nonpartisan public policy think tank. ... Outside Article

Stephen Burd in St. Petersburg Times | 'Castor Seeks Checkups on College Lenders'

Communications — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 14:47:00 -0400

Experts say Castor's proposed changes [to the federal student loan industry] are sorely needed, and could be made without putting an undue burden on government regulators...

Such fixes would be a "common-sense solution" to lax oversight by the federal government, said Stephen Burd, a senior fellow at the New America Foundation...LINK

Steve Burd in Reuters | "U.S. Student Loan Bill Advances, Bush Will Sign"

Communications — Thu, 01 May 2008 15:46:00 -0400

. . . Stephen Burd, senior research fellow at think tank New America Foundation, said some lenders were having financing problems. "We just don't think the government should let the loan industry define the terms of the intervention." . . . For the complete article, go to Reuters.com.

Steve Burd in U.S. News | Look Twice at Loan Advice

Communications — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 07:13:00 -0400

Look Twice at Loan Advice (U.S. News & World Report)

. . . Stephen Burd, a senior research fellow at the New America Foundation, says many colleges are affordable without the help of private loans at all. Plus, Burd adds, federal loans also are due only after graduation, and the subsidized ones don't accrue interest while students are still in school, as most private loans do—a fact not mentioned in the ads. . .

Steve Burd in CQ Weekly | "In Student Loan Market, A Direct Approach"

Communications — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 13:51:00 -0400

In Student Loan Market, A Direct Approach (CQ Weekly)

. . . But private lenders who need help face a dilemma. "Lenders are sort of putting themselves in this weird spot, where on the one hand they're raising huge alarms on the viability of their program, and on the other hand are trying to make sure they don't scare schools into the direct loan program," said Steven Burd, a senior research fellow at the New America Foundation. more

Stephen Burd of New America Foundation's Higher Ed Watch.Org Blog Receives National Education Reporting Award for Investigating

Communications — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 17:11:00 -0500

Higher Ed Watch.Org's staff writer and a lead investigator on the 2007 student loan scandals, Stephen Burd, is the winner of a 2007 National Award for Education Reporting, the Education Writers Association announced on Monday. Burd is a Senior Research Fellow with New America Foundation's Education Policy Program and a former Senior Writer at The Chronicle of Higher Education. Burd's two award winning articles from April 2007 appear here on the Higher Ed Watch.Org Blog.

"The student loan 'pay for play' scandal, which Higher Ed Watch.Org and Steve Burd broke, is a perfect example of the way in which new media expert blogs are becoming for newspapers what newspapers long have been for television news - content drivers," said Michael Dannenberg, Director of the Education Policy Program at New America Foundation.

Higher Ed Watch.Org provides news, analysis, commentary, and new ideas on issues of college access, affordability and quality. Burd's prize-winning blog articles from April lay out the findings of the blog's month-long investigation into improper payoffs made by a student loan company to college financial aid officers and a key U.S. Department of Education official.

These articles, which were widely picked up throughout the news media, prompted the firings and resignations of three financial aid directors and the three top executives at the loan company Student Loan Xpress, more than a dozen federal and state investigations, and a series of multi-million dollar settlements. They also played a significant role in galvanizing support for a sweeping reevaluation of the relationship between colleges and financial institutions, and of the implications these arrangements have for students.

In the story, "Inside the Cuomo Probe," published on July 31, 2007, Inside Higher Ed, an authoritative online source of news on higher education, credited the Higher Ed Watch Blog's reporting for having "turned the tide" in favor of efforts to reform the guaranteed loan program. "The findings of personal wrongdoing by some of the leading lights in the financial aid world added a sensational and tangible element to the student loan investigation," the publication noted. "While talking about 'preferred lender lists' can make some eyes glaze over, people understand 'cash and stock payments.'"

The New America Foundation's Higher Ed Watch blog's writers continue to post frequently on the topic of student loans. In addition to the Higher Ed Watch blog, the New America Foundation's Education Policy Program also runs an Early Ed Watch.Org blog and Ed Policy Watch.Org blog. For more information visit HigherEdWatch.Org.

Please direct media inquiries to Erin Drankoski, 202-997-8727, Drankoski@newamerica.net.

About New America's Education Policy Program

New America's Education Policy Program focuses on closing multiple educational achievement and opportunity gaps by highlighting ways to improve equity, access, and affordability in education from pre-kindergarten throughcollege. Experts in the program's Federal Education Budget Project include former employees with the Office of Management and Budget, U.S. Department of Education Budget Service, and Congress' education and budget committees, both Democratic and Republican staff.

New America Foundation
The New America Foundation is a nonprofit, post-partisan public policy institute whose purpose is to bring exceptionally promising new voices and new ideas to the fore of our nation's public discourse. Relying on a venture capital approach, the Foundation invests in outstanding individuals and policy solutions that transcend the conventional political spectrum. Headquartered in our nation's capital, New America also has offices in California and New York. More information is available at www.newamerica.net.