Get Ready for July Madness

There are no brackets to guide you through it, but July is the prime month for presidential transitions at private colleges. To keep up on who's going where, visit our Comings and Goings page, with up-to-the-minute news of the many appointments now being made.

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College Affordability & Cost

Education Secretary Addresses Rising College Costs NPR - All Things Considered, Saturday Edition March 13, 2010 College students and educators are protesting major budget cuts and higher tuition at campuses nationwide, while more students are defaulting on their loans.  Secretary of Education Arne Duncan speaks with host Guy Raz about rising college costs and the push for students to get loans directly from the government.

California's College Dreamers Wall Street Journal - Editorial March 10, 2010 Hundreds of University of California students rallied against a 32% tuition hike last week. Let's hope their future employers get a better work product. With just a little research, the students could have discovered that compensation packages won from the state by unions were a big reason for the hike.

College Students Agree With Other Young Adults: The Economy Hurts Chronicle of Higher Education March 9, 2010 More than half of young adults, including college students, are worried about their current economic situation, according to a recent survey.  The poll was conducted online by Knowledge Networks for Harvard University's Institute of Politics.  Over all, 60 percent of those surveyed said they are concerned about meeting their current bills and obligations. About 45 percent of four-year college students said they are concerned about their ability to remain in college because of the strained economy, while almost two-thirds of community-college students said so.

Hamilton College Acts to Disregard Fiscal Need in Admissions New York Times March 8, 2010 At a time when some colleges are favoring applicants who do not require financial aid, Hamilton College in upstate New York has decided to swim against that tide.  Hamilton, a small liberal arts college, is announcing that it is adopting a need-blind admissions policy.  In doing so, it joins a handful of other colleges and universities - including those of the Ivy League - that pledge to consider applicants regardless of their ability to pay.

Why subsidize wealthy college kids? CNN.com - Opinion Piece March 8, 2010 Most individuals assume that UC Berkeley and Stanford are equivalent institutions but the cost this year is roughly $25,000 at Berkeley and $50,000 at Stanford.  Why should someone who can afford the cost of Stanford get a price reduction at Berkeley?  If Californians want a system that effectively subsidizes a free college education for all who qualify, they need a tax structure that pays for it.  If voters are unwilling to raise taxes, then those who can afford to pay for college should, and scarce tax dollars should go to those who would otherwise will be blocked from attending.

Two Philadelphia area colleges to offer three-year degrees Philadelphia Inquirer March 6, 2010 Arcadia University said yesterday that it would offer three-year degrees in five of its 40 or so undergraduate programs, beginning in the fall.  Holy Family University will start more slowly, with one three-year degree program in business administration this fall, officials said.  Arcadia and Holy Family are among a growing number of colleges around the country looking to gain a competitive edge with less costly options for students.

March on Everywhere! Inside Higher Ed March 5, 2010 In an unprecedented day of national protest across all sectors of education, the epicenter proved to be this college town where the seeds of student activism were sown more than 40 years ago.  To hear protesters tell it, this wicked stew of issues has been simmering for some time.  A cycle of budget cuts imposed by the state and tuition hikes approved in response by the university have set the University of California on a path toward privatization, creating more barriers for minority and low-income students, critics say.

College students rally over tuition, education quality USA Today March 4, 2010 College students on more than 100 campuses nationwide plan walkouts, rallies and other actions Thursday to protest budget cuts, layoffs and tuition increases, which they say erode quality of education and limit access.  Students in at least 32 states are expected to join the grass-roots campaign. It has been bubbling up since demonstrations last fall in California, where students, faculty and unions protested plans for a 32% tuition increase amid the state's fiscal crisis.

5 College Admission Facts You Should Know CBS MoneyWatch.com - The College Solution Blog March 4, 2010 Last year, colleges dug deeper and dramatically increased the amount of financial aid they provided students as families struggled through hard economic times.  But what about this year?  I asked Jonathan Epstein, a senior consultant at Maguire Associates, a high-ed consulting firm, to elaborate on his firm's recent paper, The State of the Enrollment Market: Where Are We Now and What Does it Mean?

Rowdy protesters target funding cuts at US campuses Associated Press March 4, 2010 At least 15 protesters were detained by University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee police after as many as 150 students gathered at the student union then moved to an administrative building to deliver petitions to the school chancellor.  The school was among dozens of nationwide campuses hit with marches, strikes, teach-ins and walkouts in what was being billed as the March 4th National Day of Action for Public Education.

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College Financial Health/Management

Bethany College (Kan.) Addressing Ongoing Budget Issues KSAL, Salina, Kan. March 12, 2010 According to the school, officials are dealing with budget pressures, including a deficit in the operating budget.  Bethany will continue to work toward a fundamental restructuring of its economic model to achieve long-term financial equilibrium, which includes a balanced budget and limited used of the endowment to preserve purchasing power.

Why the Endowment-Spending Debate Matters Now More Than Ever Chronicle of Higher Education March 10, 2010 U.S. Sen. Charles E. Grassley hasn't forgotten about college endowments.  And he's not alone.  Despite plunging endowment values, colleges continue to face big questions over whether they spend enough of their endowments for society's benefit to justify the tax exemption they get. The events of the past two years are also raising a crop of provocative new endowment questions that deserve center stage in campus boardrooms and faculty senates.

Stanford University Considers $1.2 Billion of Bond, Note Sales Bloomberg News March 10, 2010 Stanford University, the third-wealthiest school in the U.S., is seeking state approval to sell as much as $1.2 billion of bonds and notes to help pay for a slimmed-down capital plan and refinancing.  Stanford wants to borrow $150 million for new capital projects and plans to sell as much as $768 million of bonds to refinance existing debt and $300 million of commercial paper, according to Odile Disch- Bhadkamkar, the school's treasurer.

Company’s purchase of N.H. college could earn it $1 billion Bloomberg News March 9, 2010 ITT Educational Services, Inc., is the third-biggest higher-education company in the U.S.  Its $3.8 billion market value may increase by 26 percent, or $1 billion, within five years because of the purchase of 1,200-student Daniel Webster in Nashua, N.H., according to an investor who has participated in the acquisitions of four nonprofit colleges.  At least 75 percent of new revenue would come from access to the more than $100 billion a year in financial aid the U.S. hands out to college students, he said.

One-Third of Faculty Members See Dip in Their Salaries Chronicle of Higher Education March 8, 2010 More than a third of all college faculty members took a pay cut during 2009-10, and overall faculty pay showed no salary increase, according to a College and University Professional Association for Human Resources report released this week.  The results are in contrast to those in the recent past, when professors' pay increased nearly 4 percent per year.  CUPA-HR says only faculty members at private doctoral institutions saw a salary increase of any significance, and it was about 1.7 percent, on average.

Colleges find themselves dealing with lean economy Rome, Ga., News-Tribune March 7, 2010 A study conducted by the Georgia Foundation for Independent Colleges reported that in 2009 Berry College provided an economic impact of $110.1 million on the region's economy. Shorter College's impact was $88.5 million.  Through a combination of institutional and student spending, Berry helped support more than 1,300 jobs while Shorter propped up a little more than 1,000 jobs in the local economy.

Edison State University (Fla.) proposes new university Ft. Myers, Fla., News-Press March 6, 2010 Edison State College plans to create a private university offering bachelor's and master's degrees, a spinoff non-profit institution run by a different president and board of trustees.  Students would pay higher tuition rates than at Edison State, but the school would boast advanced liberal arts degrees not featured at Edison State.  Its niche would be low-income and minority students who want a college education, but not necessarily the residential experience or high price tag that accompanies it.

Medical Schools Expand -- and Contract Inside Higher Ed March 4, 2010 The economic realities of a prolonged recession are forcing medical schools across the United States to reduce the number of seats available for new students or to curtail expansion efforts initiated during better economic times, even as demand far outstrips supply in many experts' projections on the size of the future physician work force.

How Colleges Are Buying Respect BusinessWeek March 4, 2010 ITT Educational Services didn't pay $20.8 million for debt-ridden Daniel Webster College in June just to acquire its red-brick campus, 1,200 students, or computer science and aviation training programs.  To ITT, the third-biggest higher-education company in the U.S., the college's "most attractive" feature was its regional accreditation, says an attorney at a Washington firm that has long represented the company. Regional accreditation, the same gold standard of academic quality enjoyed by Harvard, is a way to increase enrollment and tap into the more than $100 billion the federal government pays out annually in financial aid.

Nonprofit Colleges, Hospitals Face Moody’s Liquidity Requests Bloomberg News March 3, 2010 Moody's Investors Service is asking hospitals, private schools, universities and other nonprofit borrowers for more information about how liquid their investments are to ease comparison and fill a gap in disclosure.  Beginning with data reported for fiscal years that ended in 2009, nonprofits will be asked to provide annual figures on how quickly they can turn investments into cash to support operating costs, capital spending and debt service needs.

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Student Financial Aid

Student Loan Chutzpah Wall Street Journal - Editorial March 13, 2010 In a nearby letter ("Congress Is Right on Student Loans"), Republican Congressman Tom Petri writes that we have been "sold a bill of goods on student loans."  Our sin is to oppose a government takeover of college financing, which will take a giant leap forward if Congress jams its pending student-loan changes on to the health-care reconciliation bill.  In fact, Congress has been selling its own bill of goods since 1965, when it created student-loan subsidies, and both parents and taxpayers have found that there is nothing cost-effective about it.

Education Secretary Addresses Rising College Costs NPR - All Things Considered, Saturday Edition March 13, 2010 College students and educators are protesting major budget cuts and higher tuition at campuses nationwide, while more students are defaulting on their loans.  Secretary of Education Arne Duncan speaks with host Guy Raz about rising college costs and the push for students to get loans directly from the government.

Deal Gives New Life to Overhaul of Student Loans New York Times March 12, 2010 The deal would bundle President Obama's proposed overhaul of federal student loan programs into an expedited budget package along with the Democratic health care legislation, which would allow for both measures to be passed by the Senate on a simple majority vote.  Without the deal, the student loan bill would have been unlikely to pass because it lacked the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster.

Student aid cuts will harm state in the long run Watertown, N.Y., Daily Times - Opinion Piece March 12, 2010 As a taxpayer, I am deeply concerned that New York faces difficult financial challenges. Yet, as a university leader advancing economic development for New York, I know investing in education for our current and future work force delivers one the best returns we can make as a society.  Please join me now in becoming part of the New York Student Aid Alliance and reminding our elected officials that creating access to education at the undergraduate and graduate levels is a good investment.

With student loan bill on verge of vote, new priorities in education funding Washington Post March 12, 2010 In the final push to pass a major student aid bill pending in Congress, funding for key elements in President Obama's education agenda is dwindling. A scramble is underway to determine what initiatives will be funded and what will be cut if, as expected, the loan overhaul merges with health-care legislation that appears headed for a final vote soon.

Pell Grant Increase Could Be Cut as Talks Intensify on Student-Aid Bill Chronicle of Higher Education March 12, 2010 After months of waiting for action on a bill that would revamp the federal student-loan system, Congress appears to be moving at an accelerated pace, with possible budget cuts now being identified to reflect savings that are lower than originally expected.

Obama’s Student Loan Overhaul Endangered New York Times March 11, 2010 With Democratic Congressional leaders and the White House struggling on Wednesday to finalize the details of major health care legislation, House Democrats were desperately trying to prevent another of President Obama's top legislative priorities from becoming a casualty of the health care battle.  But Democrats in the Senate, where the private student lending industry has strong allies, predicted on Wednesday night that the education bill would not be part of an expedited budget measure containing the final revisions to the health care legislation.

Flunking banks out of college CNNMoney.com March 11, 2010 The House bill cutting banks out of federally-backed student loans hasn't moved in the Senate, where bills need 60 votes to avoid a filibuster.  So, Democratic lawmakers have been planning to stick student loans and health care together in a procedural move called "reconciliation," which avoids filibusters with a simple 51-vote majority.  Sallie Mae has some powerful friends in the Senate, but many Congressional watchers expect President Obama to win this round.

Health and Student-Loan Bills Clash Wall Street Journal March 11, 2010 The package of fixes that Democrats hope to squeeze through Congress as a companion to the larger health-care bill could jeopardize the contentious effort to alter how the government gives out loans to millions of college students.  The student-loan plan, a cornerstone of the administration's push to boost aid to needy students, comes freighted with its own accusations of government encroachment into the private sector.  Republicans oppose it en masse, and at least 10 Democratic senators are warning they may vote against it.

Democrats, Under Pressure, Look to Cut Benefits From Student-Loan Bill Chronicle of Higher Education March 11, 2010 Congressional Democrats have begun private discussions on cutting down their $87-billion student-loan bill, largely accepting the political reality forced by new estimates of the legislation's cost and savings.  The prospect of such cuts has been recognized by higher-education lobbyists as a steadily growing possibility for months, as Senate leaders refused to act on the bill out of concern that they could not overcome worries among fellow Democrats under pressure from loan-industry lobbying.

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