Higher Ed Watch: Publications, Events and More

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 ...

... 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. ...

At the age of forty-three, Martine Leveque decided it was time to start over. For several years, she had worked in the movie business, writing subtitles in Italian and French for English-language films, but her employer moved overseas. She then tried her hand at sales, but each time the economy dipped sales tumbled, along with her income, and as a single mother with a teenage son, she wanted a job that offered more security. She decided to pursue a career in nursing, a high-demand field where she… more

According to the New America Foundation, government-backed loans account for about 70 percent of federal student aid, while grants comprise approximately 20 percent. ... Original Article

The public-private arrangement made sense 40 years ago when the government needed local banks to handle lending across the country, said Jason Delisle of the New America Foundation, a nonprofit policy institute. Changes in technology and regulations have since it possible for the government to lend directly. ... Original Article

Over at the New America Foundation's Higher Education blog, Stephen Burd has much more on the dynamics in the Senate. It's not clear that the Senate will ...

Firing back at the Republicans, Jason Delisle wrote in Higher Ed Watch, a blog at the New America Foundation, that the revised CBO estimate at the very least confirms that direct lending is significantly cheaper than the FFEL program, even if by a smaller margin than first thought. Delisle, who supports Miller’s bill, was formerly a Republican staffer on the Senate Budget Committee. ... Original Article

"The student-loan industry is as close as you can get to letting industry set their own subsidy rates," says Jason Delisle, a veteran Republican budget staffer who now directs the Federal Education Budget Project for the nonpartisan New America Foundation. "Congress was writing these subsides into law, and the lobbyists encourage them to make it as high as possible." ... Original Article

... and pocket the difference all day,” says Jason Delisle, director of the Federal Education Budget Project at the New America Foundation. ...

... to administer bank-based student loans have evolved into inefficient middlemen that waste taxpayer money, the New America Foundation said today. ...

WASHINGTON, DC--Today the New America Foundation's Education Policy Program released "Rethinking the Middleman: Federal Student Loan Guaranty Agencies," by Benjamin Miller. The policy paper provides an overview of the history and current responsibilities of guaranty

Each year, the federal government guarantees billions of dollars in loans disbursed through the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program, a public-private partnership that provides financial aid to students attending institutions of higher education. Despite the significant investment of taxpayer dollars, the actual  administration of the FFEL Program is largely handled by participating lenders and a group of 35 non-federal guaranty agencies across the country. Guaranty agencies perform a number of administrative functions, such as disbursing federal default insurance provided… more

Analysts at the New America Foundation, which takes a generally skeptical view of the student loan industry and has editorialized in favor of the Obama plan, questioned some of the principles underlying the lenders' alternative proposal.

"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

During the Bush Administration, the Education Department signaled approval for some lender policies that then-Education Secretary Margaret Spellings halted in 2007, according to an investigation by the New America Foundation's Higher Ed Watch blog. ...

Public policy think tank New America Foundation pointed out in an online article Kanjorski's personal interest in keeping this lending powerhouse healthy; earlier this month, it shifted several hundred jobs into his eastern Pennsylvania district. ...

“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)

Department of Education officials say the direct lending program is better at preventing default and provides a higher level of customer service to students. At a New America Foundation discussion Tuesday, Bob Shireman, an advisor to Education Secretary Arne Duncan, said the direct lending program would be a better deal for taxpayers. Original article (subsription required)