Education

MOHELA Audit Uncovers Untamed Spending

Weve reported extensively on the reconciliation bill passed by Congress earlier this month and its student aid provisions that shift taxpayer subsidies from lenders to students. But, like all major pieces of legislation that go through Congress, this one has a lot of moving parts, some of which have received little public scrutiny.

TEACH Grants

Yesterday, we praised colleges that have resisted lenders efforts to use open government laws to get personal data about their students for marketing purposes. Unfortunately, not all higher education institutions are as vigilant in protecting the privacy of their students information.

Last week, Higher Ed Watch revealed that Sallie Mae had filed a New York Freedom of Information Law request asking community colleges in the State University of New York (SUNY) system to provide the company with contact information for their students.

Colleges and universities raked in money by the billions last year. But their investing success now has a price a movement in Congress to force the wealthiest schools to spend more of their money to keep down tuition.

In recent weeks, a string of colleges and universities have announced enviable investment results. Leading the way was Yale, which earned 28 percent over the year ending June 30, increasing the school's endowment to $22.5 billion overall. …

Hillary Clinton Includes Two New America Policy Proposals in Her Education Plan

Theres been discussion in Congress recently about how the tax code can be better used to encourage college attendance among low-income students. One proposal being considered by the Senate Finance Committee is to make higher education tax credits refundable and thus available to people who now do not benefit from them because they dont make enough money to pay any federal income taxes.

University of Miami officials have confirmed they sent students' private data to lender Sallie Mae last summer, even though students said they never applied for a federal loan from the company.

In the school's view, students did apply for a loan when they filled out the standard form all students submit to establish eligibility, financial aid director James Bauer said.

Lenders that market private loans directly to students are increasingly using state open government laws to demand public colleges turn over personal data on their students.

Last year, oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens broke the all-time record for gift-giving to a university athletics program when he donated $165 million to Oklahoma State University, his alma mater. Not only did OSU's sports program benefit, but Pickens himself received a large subsidy from the government because he was able to deduct that contribution from his income taxes.