Higher Ed Watch: Latest Articles

A new Education Department report could have dramatic implications for the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Authority (PHEAA).

The report, from the department’s inspector general’s office, calls on the National Education Loan Network, known as Nelnet, to give up $278 million in improperly claimed taxpayer subsidies. An additional $882 million could still be counted as overpayment, according to the report. Nelnet disagrees with the findings, and it’s now up to the Department of Education secretary to accept or reject the report.

About two-thirds… more

Missouri’s pending plan to sell its student loan non-profit’s assets in order to pay for $350 million in college construction is doomed to fail. What seems like a great arrangement for everyone has two major problems:

First, the deal depends on an illegal bribe. Second, it’s actually not that great for either students or taxpayers. Even so, there are ways to turn it into a good deal, if Washington and Jefferson City work together.

The plan calls for Missouri’s Higher… more

In all the talk about education reform, school counselors seldom come up. Maybe that’s because adults tend to do the talking.

A privately funded after-school program in Oakland called Kids First has spent the last couple of years coordinating youth-led research projects to figure out why kids in their city believe that dropout rates are so high and college admissions so rare. To the surprise of the group’s adult organizers, the No. 1 issue that kids identified was bad or nonexistent… more

Michael Dannenberg: YES -- It does more harm than good

Let’s face it: Early decision exists to help colleges manage their enrollment. Its secondary purpose is to provide students with advance certainty as to their college plans. But early decision discriminates structurally against low-income students. It has a disparate impact that harms minority students. And it contributes to the college application frenzy. Its most vocal proponents are private college admission counselors who charge families up to $30,000 each for advice on… more

I just paid off the last of my student loans. Today, I start saving for my children's college education, and I'm already behind. Like millions of Americans, by the time I retire, I will have spent over 75% of my life either paying or saving for college. It shouldn't be this hard.

The College Board recently reported that tuition and fees at public four-year colleges are up more than 37% in non-inflation-adjusted terms just since this year's senior class… more