NAICU - News Room

Senate Banking Committee Testimony

The testimony of NAICU Vice President Sarah Flanagan before the Senate Banking Committee, in the committee's April 15 hearing on student loan issues, is now available on the NAICU Web site.

The Credit Crunch and Student Aid at Private Colleges and Universities

Between March 3, 2008 and March 14, 2008, NAICU surveyed its 952 members to gather information on how the current credit crunch is affecting student loans, specifically FFELP and private-label loans. Click here for a snapshot of the responses.

NAICU Annual Meeting

The NAICU Annual Meeting may be over, but you can still benefit from the sessions and speakers by visiting the NAICU Annual Meeting blog.

Private Colleges Fight Sticker Shock

Replacing loans with grants, cutting tuition, guaranteeing no price increases, and more. Responding to consumer needs, private colleges are redoubling efforts to stay affordable and accessible. Download our compendium of innovative efforts (updated on March 18) to see examples of these initiatives. See our news release for NAICU's perspective on this accelerating national trend.

NAICU's University & College Accountability Network

About the items posted on the NAICU site . . .

News items, features, and opinion pieces posted on this site from sources outside NAICU do not necessarily reflect the position of the association and its members. Rather, this content reflects the diversity of issues and opinions that are shaping American higher education.

Banner images provided by Bryant University.

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National Higher Education News

Behind college raid, rising drug use on campus

Christian Science Monitor

May 9, 2008

The arrest this week of 96 suspects on drug-related charges, after a six-month sting operation at San Diego State University is shining a fresh spotlight on the growing substance abuse at America's colleges and universities. The incident also highlights the growing sophistication of on-campus drug sellers and the need for university officials and police to broaden their response capabilities to meet the challenge.

The Taxman Cometh

Wall Street Journal - Column

May 9, 2008

Harvard, Yale, Princeton and other big-name schools have begun reducing tuition costs for many students. But few of the nation's more than 3,000 colleges and universities have the resources for that kind of generosity, mandated or not. For smaller institutions, the endowment disbursement requirement being contemplated by Sens. Grassley and Baucus -- 5% a year -- would cause serious problems, requiring annual spending at the expense of a school's ability to save for bigger undertakings.

College Endowment Tax Is Studied

Wall Street Journal

May 9, 2008

Massachusetts legislators, demonstrating a growing resentment against the wealth of elite universities in tight economic times, are studying a plan to levy a 2.5% annual tax on the portion of college endowments that exceed $1 billion. The effort takes aim at one of the primary economic engines of the state, which is home to nine universities with endowments that surpass the $1 billion level, led by Harvard University's $35 billion cache, the nation's largest.

How to strangle an economy

Boston Globe - Editorial

May 9, 2008

Rep. Paul Kujawski of Webster says his proposal to tax the endowments of the state's wealthiest universities and colleges was intended in part to "gain a lot of attention from the institutions." In that regard, the proposal has been a success. But only in that regard. The Legislature should abandon the endowment tax - an ill-conceived money grab that ignores how vital higher education is to the local economy.

Top Colleges Dig Deeper in Wait Lists for Students

New York Times

May 9, 2008

Although colleges turn to wait lists to fill out their classes, it is unusual for the most selective to go so deep, college officials say. For high-school students graduating in an unusually large class and for colleges trying to shape a freshman class, this has been an unusually challenging year, with the changes in early-admissions programs and the broad expansion of financial aid at many elite universities.

Veterans: GI Bill falls short

Newsday, Long Island, N.Y.

May 9, 2008

The wide disparities between the benefits and college costs have spurred more than a dozen reform proposals on Capitol Hill, where leaders hope to resolve the issue by the end of the year. The Pentagon, however, opposes the measures to increase educational stipends, arguing that if increased GI Bill benefits make college affordable to more servicemembers, that will make it harder to convince them to re-enlist.

Colleges Express Concern About State Laws That Require Them to Fight Online Piracy

Chronicle of Higher Education

May 9, 2008

At a conference sponsored by EDUCAUSE, the nonprofit higher-education technology group, college officials were advised to watch for lobbying efforts in state capitols across the country by the Recording Industry Association of America and the Motion Picture Association of America. The attendees were told to prepare to start a counterattack, which would involve telling state lawmakers that the bills would be burdensome and costly, and would be ineffective in preventing students from swapping music and movie files.

White House renews veto threat against troop funding bill

Associated Press

May 8, 2008

Congress appears increasingly unlikely to meet its goal of approving President Bush's war funding request before Memorial Day as divisions deepened among Democrats and the White House issued a fresh veto threat. The new GI Bill - designed to give Iraq war veterans enough help to finance a four-year stint at a public college - would cost $51 billion over 10 years. It runs afoul of a rule designed to prevent new benefit programs from causing the deficit to spiral.

Student Loan Landscape Changing

CBS News

May 8, 2008

Student loans aren't immune to the credit woes affecting the rest of the economy and, as Early Show financial guru Ray Martin explains in this column, the result has been numerous changes on that front, even as demand for such loans peaks. Martin also offers advice to students and parents to help them navigate the moving education loan waters.

When FERPA Affects IT

Inside Higher Ed

May 8, 2008

In late March the U.S. Department of Education released its proposed changes to regulations that govern the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. Until now, the rules haven't specified whether students' Social Security numbers, and the proprietary ID numbers many colleges assign to students, fall into the "directory information" category. The proposed changes specifically bar both numbers from that designation, which many officials have called a commonsense step but that may also result in unintended effects.


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