Education

Two weeks ago, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln fired its athletic director, Steve Pederson, after the football team started the season 4-3 overall and 1-2 in the Big 12 conference. Following three more losses, Nebraskas perennially dominant football team has now been outscored 150 to 59 by Big 12 opponents in its past four games.

Student loans are often categorized as good debt, because a college education is considered a sensible long-term investment. ...

But it's important to understand that not all student loans are alike. Federally guaranteed student loans, known as Stafford loans, have fixed interest rates, now 6.8%, and flexible repayment terms. Any full-time college student, regardless of family income, can take out a Stafford loan.

When it comes to private student loans, loan giant Sallie Mae speaks out of both sides of its mouth. Case in point: Sallie Mae officials say they go out of their way to persuade students to exhaust their federal student loan eligibility before taking out more costly private loans. Not exactly.

One month after President Bush reluctantly signed legislation requiring the government to auction the rights to make student loans, the Education Department is calling the new program unworkable and inflexible. Even some proponents of auctions agree, while the loan industry says that the plan will hurt borrowers by narrowing their lender choices.

Senate Prepares to Fight Bush on Labor, HHS, Ed Bill

The student lender Sallie Mae, after trying to force colleges in at least three states to provide it with contact information for potential student borrowers, is backing down.

The company, which is the nation's largest student-loan provider, described the shift in strategy after a Washington-based policy group revealed this month that the lender had filed a New York Freedom of Information Law request asking community colleges in the State University of New York system to provide it with student names, telephone numbers, and mailing and e-mail addresses. ...

Taking up an issue that could resonate with young voters, Sen. Chris Dodd’s (D-Conn.) presidential campaign blasted the Education Department for allowing student loan recipients to over-pay the loans and not get the money back. In a sharply worded statement Monday, Dodd pounced on a Washington Post article from Saturday in which Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings admitted that her department "had some responsibility" for "confusion" over regulations that allowed the excess payments to occur.

The growth in private student loan borrowing slowed considerably last year according to the College Board, but thats hardly reason to celebrate.

The No Child Left Behind Act, the major federal law supporting elementary and secondary education, is due for reauthorization by Congress. Teachers unions, business groups, civil rights leaders and researchers have all weighed in with recommendations to change the law’s provisions. But what do the people most impacted by NCLB -- educators working with kids on a day-to-day basis -- think about it?

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.