Admissions

Study Reports Record Congressional Earmarks for Higher Ed

Unforeseen Consequences from Changes in Texas Admissions Policies

Concern about Credit Cards on College Campuses

PHEAA May Pay $15 Million For 9.5% Loan Payments

The Department of Education has asked the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA), one of the country's largest nonprofit student loan providers, to repay as much as $15 million in federal payments it improperly obtained by exploiting a subsidy program that guaranteed loan providers a 9.5 percent rate of return on government-backed student loans. The request comes two months after an audit by the Department’s own Inspector General found that PHEAA had improperly obtained $34 million in subsidy payments. The Department rejected these findings and suggested the $15 million price tag but is ultimately letting PHEAA decide how much it has to repay. A PHEAA spokesman suggested to The New York Times that the lender may end up with "zero liability." PHEAA is the first party in the 9.5 scandal to be held financialy accountable for its actions. In 2006 another lender, Nelnet, was caught with $278 in improperly obtained Department funds.

Diversity and minority recruitment are hot button words in most four year college admissions offices. There's congratulations when enrollment demographics show greater racial diversity and consternation when minority numbers drop.

But are college admissions office recruitment efforts working? Colleges will, in a knee-jerk fashion, say: yes, look at our racial and ethnic percentages! College access for minorities is a reality here! But how much is minority recruitment in admissions offices really contributing to the diversity of college campuses?

Unfortunately, at some Division I schools, not much. The black-white diversity on many campuses is not always the result of better minority recruitment. It’s often the result of athletics, and in particular, football.

Inside Higher Ed analyzed data from the NCAA and found that at 46 colleges (of the almost 330 colleges that participate in Division I athletics) athletes comprise at least a third of the black male student population. At 96 schools, athletes comprise at least 20 percent. Compare that to the percentage of all male students who are athletes: 3 percent.

In August, the College Board announced that for the first time since the early 1990s average SAT scores in reading and math had declined two years in a row. The announcement caused hand wringing in the news media and among pundits. Have students' scores dropped because…

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Last week, we discussed the paucity of low-income students at the country's wealthiest colleges and universities. We offered a proposal that would require the richest private colleges to devote a portion of their yearly endowment income to help increase the socioeconomic diversity of their students. Some might argue that there aren't enough qualified underprivileged students…

Note: This post pre-dates Higher Ed Watch's shift to a new publishing system. For the complete original post, including any comments, please click here.

Financing a college education isn't easy for anybody these days, but it's an especially Herculean task if you're a working-class student living paycheck to paycheck. The obstacles to attending college are high, and the more you have to work to support yourself and your family, the less help…

Note: This post pre-dates Higher Ed Watch's shift to a new publishing system. For the complete original post, including any comments, please click here.

Two years ago, officials with the Apollo Group, the parent company of the giant for-profit chain the University of Phoenix, scored a coup. Someone at the U.S. Education Department sent them a set of documents that outlined the entire legal strategy of a pair of whistleblowers who were…

Note: This post pre-dates Higher Ed Watch's shift to a new publishing system. For the complete original post, including any comments, please click here.

Financial Aid Directors & Education Dept Official Placed on Administrative Leave

All three financial aid directors under investigation regarding student loan company stock ownership, as identified by the New America Foundation, have been placed…

Note: This post pre-dates Higher Ed Watch's shift to a new publishing system. For the complete original post, including any comments, please click here.

Limited Impact of Merit Scholarships on Enrollment

A new study conducted by James Monk at the Cornell Higher Education Research Institute found the correlation between merit scholarships and higher yields of targeted students at private colleges may be

Note: This post pre-dates Higher Ed Watch's shift to a new publishing system. For the complete original post, including any comments, please click here.

Goodbye, Affirmative Action. Hello, ____?

According to a new report, many state programs in Michigan may be in conflict with the recently enacted Proposal 2, which eliminated affirmative action practices in higher education and business. The Michigan…

Note: This post pre-dates Higher Ed Watch's shift to a new publishing system. For the complete original post, including any comments, please click here.