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Lenders and Guarantors Offer Alternatives to President's Loan-Overhaul Plan (The Chronicle of Higher Education)
"With Congress poised to take up legislation to overhaul the student-loan system as early as next week, lenders and guarantors are furiously circulating alternatives to President Obama's plan to end bank-based lending," The Chronicle of Higher Education reports. "It is unclear whether lawmakers will incorporate any of the ideas into bills being crafted in education committees in both chambers of Congress, and some lenders and guarantors seem resigned to the end of guaranteed lending. Still, optimists say lawmakers are receptive to the argument that ending bank-based lending would cost states thousands of jobs during an economic downturn, and guarantors say Congress is open to the idea of setting aside a pool of money for 'borrower services,' such as default prevention and financial literacy."

Democrats Gain 60th Seat as Coleman Concedes to Franken (Politico)
"Republican Norm Coleman has conceded to Democrat Al Franken in the Minnesota Senate race, ending one of the longest Senate races in American history and clearing the way for Democrats to hold a 60-seat supermajority in the Senate," Politico reports. "Coleman's concession, given from the front of his St. Paul home, came just a few hours after the Minnesota Supreme Court on Tuesday unanimously ruled Franken the winner of last November's Senate race. In a unanimous 5-0 decision, the court upheld a three-judge panel's April 14 ruling that Franken defeated Coleman in the race by 312 votes out of 2.9 million cast."

Paying College Tuition with Credit Card Gets Costlier (USA Today)
"Across the nation, a growing number of universities are making it harder -- and costlier -- for students to use credit cards," USA Today reports. "The movement comes as colleges face budget shortfalls and look to trim costs wherever they can. When students use a credit card, institutions have to pay an average of 2% to process the transaction, according to Nilson Report, a payment systems newsletter. Traditionally, colleges have borne these costs themselves. But they're increasingly rethinking these policies -- and passing costs along to students -- amid the difficult economy."

Tuition Can't Keep Rising Forever (The Chronicle of Higher Education)
"The college student of the future will be focused more than ever on price, forcing colleges to compete like retailers," according to a new report by The Chronicle of Higher Education. This is the first Chronicle Research Services report in a three-part series on what higher education will look like in the year 2020."

Colleges, Granted Greater Flexibility, Increase Endowment Payouts (Inside Higher Ed)
"Colleges in most states have, since a national change made in 2006, been granted the authority to spend endowment money from individual funds whose value has fallen below what it was when originally made," Inside Higher Ed reports. "A new survey suggests that institutions have taken advantage of that additional flexibility. The study, by the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges, the National Association of College and University Business Officers, and the Commonfund Institute, finds that as of the end of 2008, 38 percent of survey participants' total endowment funds were 'underwater,' or now valued below the value of the original gift."

Audio: How Colleges Can Weather the Economic Storm (The Chronicle of Higher Education)
"Cash-strapped colleges will have to make tough choices in the coming years about staffing, student aid, recruitment, and a host of other fundamental issues," Chronicle of Higher Education reports. "Janice M. Abraham, president of United Educators Insurance, and Peter N. Stearns, provost of George Mason University, describe the courses of action that many institutions will consider."

Assessing Accountability (Inside Higher Ed)
"Education Sector, a think tank promoting education reform, analyzed accountability systems across the nation and found varied results in its report, 'Ready to Assemble: Grading State Higher Education Accountability Systems,'" Inside Higher Ed reports. "The group's survey determined that 38 states have little if any system for measuring learning outcomes, adding that 36 states have yet to develop a method for linking college funding to performance."

Kennedy Touts Student Loan Program (Boston.com)
"Senator Edward M. Kennedy sent a letter today to Massachusetts college leaders, urging them to make sure students know about a new program that makes it less expensive to repay student loans," Boston.com reports. "Under the program that starts Wednesday, monthly payments are capped based on a graduate's income and remaining balances are wiped clean after 25 years. Those who take public service jobs can get their loans forgiven after 10 years." Student Loan Consolidation Good Option (Dow Jones)
"This could be the right time to consolidate student loans," Dow Jones reports. "A number of programs and interest rates change after July 1, offering a chance to lower costs and get better repayment options. That's good news for students, who are graduating with on average about $23,000 in debt, and of course for parents still supporting them. Similar to refinancing, consolidating of student's federal loans can be done for no fee. It's also a good opportunity for advisers to discuss college costs with families. The financial crisis and tighter credit have left even high networth investors less confident about college savings."

More Tips on Student Loans (ABC News)
"To parents and students alike, I have one, simple piece of advice when it comes to borrowing for college: Pay attention," ABC News reports. "It's clear to me from the volume of e-mail I received over the past week that too many college loan borrowers give too little consideration to the implications of signing on the dotted line. ... [W]hat was clear to me in reading more than three dozen e-mails about college-loan debt is that many borrowers - both students and parents - do not pay attention to the details of borrowing to finance a college education. Then a few years down the road they find themselves in a bind."

Tuition at U.S. Colleges Increases 4.3%, Lowest in 37 Years (Bloomberg)
"Tuition and fees at private U.S. colleges and universities for the 2009-2010 school year will rise an average 4.3 percent, the lowest percentage increase in at least 37 years, according to a survey," Bloomberg reports. "The average percentage increase is the same as in the 1972- 1973 school year, when the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities began its annual survey. The Washington-based lobbying group collected data from 350 schools for a final report to be released today."

New Plan Ties Reduced College Loan Payments to Income (New York Times)
"For the first time in years, there is good news for college students who borrow to pay for their education," New York Times reports. "Starting Wednesday, the federal Education Department will begin offering a repayment plan that lets graduates reduce their loan payments, based on their income. Also on Wednesday, the interest rate on new federal Stafford loans, the most widely used federally guaranteed student loan, will drop to 5.6 percent, from 6.8 percent. By 2012, the rate will fall to 3.4 percent, under a schedule mandated by Congress."

The Big Squeeze (Barron's)
"For years, top university endowments at Harvard, Yale and Princeton were the envy of the investment world, thanks to the outsized returns they generated from significant investments in nontraditional assets such as private equity, real estate, hedge funds and commodities, and low exposure to U.S. stocks and bonds," Barron's reports. "Now that widely imitated asset- allocation strategy, dubbed the Yale model because of the enormous success of the Yale endowment under the 24-year leadership of David Swensen, is facing its sternest test amid the bear market of the past 12 months. Harvard and Princeton are assuming their endowments fell about 30% for the fiscal year ending June 30, while Yale is projecting a decline of 25%."

AMA Looks for Ways to Trim Rising Student Debt (Amednews.com)
"The American Medical Association House of Delegates took steps to help address the pressures of rising medical student debt -- an issue doctors said is critical to access to care," Amednews.com reports. "The house directed the AMA to work with medical schools and other stakeholders to increase funding through state and federal scholarship and loan programs, and oppose state efforts to reduce school funding. The AMA also will promote other innovative ways to help students reduce debt -- for example, by shortening the length of training for combined residency or dual-degree programs, easing loan repayment obligations and ensuring equitable tuition increases."

STATE NEWS

    Wisconsin: Some Illegal Immigrants Will Be Able to Get In-State Tuition (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
    "Some illegal immigrant high school graduates will be able to attend Wisconsin state universities by paying in-state tuition, under a provision in the two-year budget Gov. Jim Doyle signed into law Monday. Wisconsin now becomes the 11th state to enact such a law," the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

    Aid Experts Like President's Plan to Streamline FAFSA but Hope for Bigger Changes (The Chronicle of Higher Education)
    "The plan that the White House unveiled on Wednesday for simplifying the form, known as the Fafsa, wouldn't go that far, and its most significant changes would require Congressional approval. Still, financial-aid experts say the president's proposal will greatly simplify the process of applying for student aid, while creating momentum for broader change going forward," The Chronicle of Higher Education reports. "The plan, which Education Secretary Arne Duncan described at his first White House press briefing, would expand the use of 'skip logic' in the online FAFSA, allowing applicants to bypass more questions than they can now. It would also ask Congress to strike from the form dozens of questions about family income and assets and allow some applicants to retrieve tax data to answer many of the remaining questions."

    Scrutiny Grows as U.S. Pays Staffers' Student Loans (The Wall Street Journal)
    "Congress and federal agencies are expected to spend as much as $60 million in fiscal 2009 on a little-known taxpayer-funded perk: repaying government employees' college loans," The Wall Street Journal reports. "Paying off staffers' old student loans is rare in the private sector. And while total spending on the benefit in the federal government remains relatively small, it has multiplied since the program began seven years ago, according to federal records and government officials."

    Foundation Endowments Dipped in 2008, but Giving Rose (The Chronicle of Higher Education)
    "Grant makers' endowments plunged by 26 percent last year as the stock market fell to levels not seen in years, says a new report from the Commonfund Institute," The Chronicle of Higher Education reports. "That was a sharply different picture from the one in 2007, when endowments grew by 9.9 percent. But foundations' returns still compared favorably to the overall performance of the market."

    700 Colleges Tied the Yellow Ribbon (Inside Higher Ed)
    "About 700 colleges signed up for the new Post-9/11 GI Bill's Yellow Ribbon Program, which allows colleges to enter into dollar-for-dollar matching agreements with the federal government to pay veterans' educational costs above those covered by the base GI Bill benefit (which varies by state and is tied to undergraduate, resident public university tuition rates)," Inside Higher Ed reports. "While the Department of Veterans Affairs has not yet released its final list of participating colleges, Keith Wilson, director of the VA's education service, expects the 700 figure to stay pretty stable."

    65 Indicted in Student Loan Fraud at Rio Salado College (The Arizona Republic)
    "A federal grand jury in Arizona has indicted 65 people on charges of defrauding the federal government and Rio Salado College to obtain more than a half million of dollars in student grants and loans," The Arizona Republic reports. "Federal authorities say that from July 2006 to October 2007, a Peoria woman recruited people to act as straw students who applied for federal grants or federally subsidized loans. The straw students, who never participated in classes at the online college, kept the money, and the Peoria woman, 37-year-old Trenda Lynne Halton, charged each enrollee a fee ranging from $500 to $1,050, authorities said. Simplifying in Stages (Inside Higher Ed)
    "Simplifying the aid process has been a central plank of President Obama's aggressive agenda to increase college going and completion, and on Wednesday, Education Secretary Arne Duncan will lay out the administration's plan for doing so in his first appearance before the White House press corps," Inside Higher Ed reports. "A preview of the plan shared with reporters Tuesday suggests that the administration will (as it seems to be doing on many fronts these days) take a moderate path, undertaking significant but not revolutionary changes, and doing so in stages."

    DOD Policy on Transferring GI Bill Benefits (Inside Higher Ed)
    "The U.S. Department of Defense on Tuesday released its policy for transferring educational benefits to spouses and children under the new, Post-9/11 GI Bill," Inside Higher Ed reports. "Intended in part as a retention incentive, service members wishing to transfer their GI Bill benefits must have served at least six years and commit to another four (although there are specific exceptions for those nearing retirement age). The ability for service members to transfer benefits to family members -- rather than use them or lose them, themselves -- has been highly anticipated by many in the military."

    Largest States Should Get the Greatest Share of College-Completion Funds, Group Suggests (The Chronicle of Higher Education)
    "If America is to reach President Obama's goal of having the world's highest proportion of college graduates by 2020, a $2.5-billion grant program he has proposed should focus on vastly expanding degree-attainment rates in the nation's largest states, says a report by the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems," The Chronicle of Higher Education reports. "The nonprofit group's report offers recommendations on how to structure the grant program, which Congressional leaders are expected to debate in the next few weeks."

STATE NEWS
    Michigan: Senate Votes to Eliminate Michigan Promise Scholarship (The Detroit News)
    "The state Senate today passed a bill that would eliminate the Michigan Promise Scholarship and cut funding to an array of college financial aid programs. The measure passed by a vote of 19-17, but the differences with the House and governor's higher education recommendations will have to be reconciled," The Detroit News reports.

    West Virginia: Colleges More Affordable but Students Less Likely to Graduate (West Virginia Public Broadcasting)
    "The newest Southern Regional Educational Board Fact Book on Higher Education shows West Virginia's colleges and universities remain relatively affordable when compared to others in the south, but rank fourth from the bottom in the number of students who graduate. The Fact Book was released at the SREB (http://www.sreb.org/) annual meeting yesterday," West Virginia Public Broadcasting reports.

    California: Mock Graduation Today for Students in Country Illegally (The Orange County Register)
    "It's 'graduation day' for students who are in the country illegally and who say they want a pathway to residency and a chance for a better life. Up to 100 illegal immigrant college students in Orange County will join the expected hundreds of others across the country scheduled to walk in mock graduation ceremonies today, organizers say," The Orange County Register reports.

    Maine: Colleges Sign on to National Initiative to Attract Veterans Maine Public Broadcasting Network)
    "At least 10 college campuses in Maine are trying to attract veterans by signing onto a new national initiative. The Yellow Ribbon Program, designed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, splits the cost of a veteran's education between the school and the government so that veterans pay little to nothing," Maine Public Broadcasting Network reports. Audio: In a Washington Minute -- A Student-Loan Overhaul Takes Shape (The Chronicle of Higher Education)
    "Congress is preparing a plan to make major changes to the federal student-loan system, as President Obama has proposed, but the legislation may exclude his idea to make Pell Grants an entitlement," The Chronicle of Higher Education reports. "Kelly Field and Sara Hebel talk about the proposals legislative aides are crafting behind the scenes."

    Obama's Education Budget Sees Some Pushback on Capitol Hill (U.S. News and World Report)
    "Congressmen are challenging some of the biggest programs in the fiscal 2010 education budget request that Education Secretary Arne Duncan recently outlined to Senate and House appropriations subcommittees," U.S. News and World Report reports. "Duncan's proposals to move the Pell Grant program, which promotes college access for low-income students, from a discretionary program to a mandatory one and to index its maximum award to inflation plus 1 percentage point encountered some resistance."

    Need Help With Financial Aid? Check With Your Congressman (The New York Times)
    "Coming soon to a guidance office near you: your congressman?" The New York Times reports. "Representative Leonard Lance, a New Jersey Republican, will host a free higher education financial aid forum for parents and students from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Raritan Valley Community College in Branchburg, N.J. He is not alone. Politicians across the country have been offering programs to help constituents figure out how to pay for college."

    Gates Foundation Chooses Colleges for New Program (Associated Press)
    "Fifteen community colleges and five states have been chosen for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's new program aimed at improving remedial education at the college level and raising graduation rates of low-income and minority students," the Associated Press reports. "The Seattle-based foundation announced nearly $16.5 million in grants Monday for the developmental education initiative. The foundation is working with MDC Inc., a Chapel Hill, N.C., nonprofit, and Lumina Foundation for Education of Indianapolis, Ind., which pledged $1.5 million toward the effort."

    For-Profit Colleges and Consumer Advocates Weigh In on Potential Rule Changes (The Chronicle of Higher Education)
    "Representatives of the for-profit higher-education sector packed a lecture hall [in Philadelphia] on Monday for the final of three hearings on the U.S. Education Department's plans to revise several rules affecting proprietary institutions," The Chronicle of Higher Education reports. "Some 30 people signed up to testify at the six-hour hearing, which drew industry analysts from New York and lobbyists from Washington, along with consumer advocates and a trio of representatives of foreign universities. But those who came to the hearing looking for clues into the department's intentions got few."

    For Colleges Needing Cash, Summer's No Longer a Quiet Season (The New York Times)
    "in recent years, empty campuses have been recognized as potential cash cows, and colleges have tried to fill those once-sleepy weeks with enrichment workshops, for-credit courses, day camps, conferences, private parties and film shoots. That is especially true this summer, as financially battered schools seek to wring all the value they can from venerable halls and shiny athletic centers," The New York Times reports.

    'A New Deal for Veterans' (Inside Higher Ed)
    "The original, Post-World War II GI Bill has been both idealized as evidence of America as land of opportunity, and criticized for primarily benefiting white men while perpetuating racial and gender discrimination," Inside Higher Ed reports. "So write Glenn C. Altschuler, a professor of American studies and dean of the School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions at Cornell University, and Stuart M. Blumin, professor emeritus of American history at Cornell, in their new book, The GI Bill: A New Deal For Veterans (Oxford). Altschuler and Blumin argue, instead, for a need to 'gain a more dispassionate understanding of the bill's role in the shaping of postwar America' -- even up to the present day, as then-President Bush cited the legacy of the original GI Bill in the 2008 signing of a new, Post-9/11 GI Bill."

STATE NEWS
    Maryland: College Admissions Officers See Little Change (The Baltimore Sun)
    "[College admissions officers] wondered if the recession would drive students toward in-state or public colleges and away from more expensive ones - or committing to any college at all," The Baltimore Sun reports. "Despite evidence that such trends occurred nationally, Maryland admissions officers are generally relieved at how little change they have observed in the state."

    Rhode Island: State Scholarships for College Are Shrinking (Providence Journal)
    "The state's financial crisis means that thousands of Rhode Island students attending public or private colleges will receive smaller state scholarships for the next academic year, even as the cost of higher education continues to climb and families are scrambling to pay tuition bill," the Providence Journal reports.

    Ohio: Scholarship Program Extends Help to Local Students Heading to College (The Plain Dealer)
    "The Cleveland Scholarship Program will help more than 1,750 students this year by giving out $2.5 million in college assistance," The Plain Dealer reports. Kline Seen as Likely to Lead GOP on House Education Panel (Inside Higher Ed)
    "Rep. John Kline of Minnesota is the front runner to be chosen today as the top Republican on the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee, CongressDaily reported," Inside Higher Ed reports. "Kline, whose 2nd Congressional District contains St. Olaf and Carleton Colleges, would succeed Rep. Howard P. (Buck) McKeon, who gave up his spot on the education panel to be the senior Republican on the House Armed Services Committee."

    Getting to the Finish Line (Inside Higher Ed)
    "Following the lead of President Obama, who stressed the importance of college graduation rates in his first address to Congress earlier this year, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on Tuesday announced more than $6.4 million in grants to national policy organizations for efforts to identify why so many young Americans drop out of college," Inside Higher Ed reports.

    10 Tips for Getting More Financial Aid (U.S. News and World Report)
    "During the boom years, the nation's college financial aid officers used to swap tales about trivial, selfish appeals for more aid that students and parents occasionally filed, like the father who wanted more grants for his daughter because he'd just spent $25,000 on another daughter's wedding and the mother who demanded more scholarships for her child so the mother could spend her savings on a cruise," U.S. News and World Report reports. "Not this year. Colleges say they are being flooded with all-too-serious appeals for additional aid."

    Military Academies Say Applications Jump 10-40% (Associated Press)
    "Applications have surged at the nation's three top military academies as tough economic times coincide with stepped-up recruiting efforts by the Army, Navy and Air Force schools, making the prospect of free college and a steady job look sweeter," the Associated Press reports. "The recession has already helped drive higher military recruitment and retention. Stronger student response to recruiting campaigns by the three academies, who want to increase minority ranks in the officer corps, comes as the recession has reduced college scholarships and other financial aid."

    Student Debt, Fool's Gold? (The New York Times)
    "In our discussion about the rising burden of student loans, we received numerous comments from readers who took on a lot of debt to pay for their education," The New York Times reports. "Some found they simply couldn't afford to repay the loans with the jobs they found after college. Others said their debts determined their life choices. Still others wondered if the college experience was worth the financial burden they'll carry for decades afterward."

    Ask Money Builder: Repaying Student Loans Based On Income (Forbes)
    "Judging by the number of e-mails we've received since our recent story, 'Grads May Soon Repay Student Loans Based on Income,' it's clear that many former students are looking for ways to cut their monthly bills," Forbes reports. "In this installment of Ask Money Builder, we'll address three of the most common questions borrowers sent us."

STATE NEWS
    California: Fees Could Rise by 30% at California Community Colleges (The Chronicle of Higher Education)
    "The cost of attending California's community colleges will probably rise by 30 percent in the fall, after a legislative budget committee voted on Tuesday to approve a fee increase to help the state meet its gigantic budget deficit," The Chronicle of Higher Education reports.

    Michigan: State Senate Panel OKs Proposed Promise Grant Cut (Detroit Free Press)
    "The Michigan Promise Grant, which provides up to $4,000 for eligible college students at state public universities, would be eliminated under a budget approved yesterday by the Senate committee on higher education funding," Detroit Free Press reports.

    Connecticut: Student Loan Foundation Can No Longer Act as Lender (Hartford Courant)
    "The financially struggling Connecticut Student Loan Foundation will stop offering new federal loans because of its uncertain future," the Hartford Courant reports.

    Ohio: New System Slows Ohio State Student Aid (Associated Press)
    "A new computer system's technical glitches are holding up financial aid for hundreds of Ohio State University students," the Associated Press reports. U.S. Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Student-Loan Case (The Chronicle of Higher Education)
    "The U.S. Supreme Court agreed today to hear arguments in a case that hinges on whether students can avoid repaying their federally backed student loans without showing that making the payments would cause them financial distress or 'undue hardship,'" The Chronicle of Higher Education reports. "In 1994, Francisco J. Espinosa filed for a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, listing $13,250 in federal student loans as his only debts. He agreed to repay the loans, held by United Student Aid Funds Inc., over four years. The lender was notified of the court-approved plan and did not object even though it had filed a claim for $17,832, which included interest on the borrowed amount. After the repayment plan was finished, however, United Student Aid tried to collect the difference and then filed suit."

    Audio: House Republicans Look for a New Education Leader (The Chronicle of Higher Education)
    "Rep. Howard P. (Buck) McKeon, the top Republican on the U.S. House of Representatives education committee, announced last week that he is decamping for the Armed Services Committee," The Chronicle of Higher Education reports. "Kelly Field and Sara Hebel survey the candidates to replace Mr. McKeon - and check in on a couple of bills dealing with benefits for veterans."

    More Than 500 Colleges Commit to Participate in New Veterans' Program (The Chronicle of Higher Education)
    "Starting this fall, veterans will be able to attend more than 500 private colleges and out-of-state public institutions at a reduced price, thanks to a dollar-for-dollar federal matching program created under last year’s GI bill," The Chronicle of Higher Education reports. "Monday marked the final day for colleges nationwide to commit to the Yellow Ribbon Program, under which the federal government will match any financial aid that participating colleges provide to veterans above the cost of the most expensive public college in their state."

    Veterans Could Be Forced to Return Some Student Aid if Bill Remains Unpassed (The Chronicle of Higher Education)
    "When Congress renewed the Higher Education Act last year, it changed the rules so military benefits would no longer count against veterans' eligibility for unsubsidized loans and campus-based aid. (Previously, the benefits were exempt from consideration only in determining eligibility for Pell Grants and subsidized loans,)" The Chronicle of Higher Education reports. "But lawmakers made the change effective for the 2010-11 academic year, a year after the expanded GI benefit becomes available. The U.S. House of Representatives fixed the glitch in a 'technical corrections' bill that it passed in March, but the Senate still hasn't voted on the measure. Education committee aides have said the chamber plans to take up the measure soon."

    Rates on Stafford, PLUS Loans for College Students Are Falling (USA Today)
    "On July 1, the interest rate for new subsidized Stafford loans for undergraduate students will drop to 5.6% from the current rate of 6%," USA Today reports. "The reduction is part of a series of rate cuts embedded in a $20 billion college aid bill signed into law in 2007. The lower rate won't affect loans issued before July 1, says Bob Murray, spokesman for USA Funds, the USA's largest student loan guarantor."

    Savings Plan Benefits Teens Leaving Foster Care (USA Today)
    "More than 3,000 teens in or recently out of foster care have saved at least $3.1 million, according to a study out today by the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative," USA Today reports. "The program is part of an intensifying push to help the rising number of teens who graduate from foster care without support. They can use their savings to pay for college, housing, health care or a car."

    8 Unusual College Scholarships (mental_floss)
    "Young people just don't appreciate how easy they have it these days. Back when I was in high school, only the smartest or most athletic students were candidates for any type of college scholarship. Not anymore," mental_floss reports. "Today's students don't have to be the best and the brightest to score some scratch - they can parlay a hobby, goofy talent or even a genetic luck of the draw into scholarship money. Take a gander at some of the more unusual opportunities that are available for eight subsets of the population."

STATE NEWS OPINIONS
    Opinion: Fix the FAFSA to Help Middle-Income Families (The Chronicle of Higher Education)
    "At Grinnell College, a quarter of our students come from middle-income families. To better understand their financial circumstances, we recently performed a simple analysis. The results confirmed what we have long believed: The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, the instrument that guides virtually all financial-aid decisions in America, has a fundamental problem," writes Russell Osgood, president of Grinnell College, in The Chronicle of Higher Education. "In a nutshell, the formula that the Fafsa uses unrealistically overstates what many middle-income families can be expected to pay toward a child's college education."

    Opinion: How Much Student Debt Is Too Much? (The New York Times)
    "A new federal program, called Income-Based Repayment, which goes into effect July 1, will allow some federal student loan borrowers to reduce their monthly loan payments, depending on income and family size," The New York Times reports. "How much is too much to carry in student loans? What factors should be weighed? Should a student forgo a top-choice school if it means carrying more debt?" States Consider College Aid Cuts; Student Programs at Risk (USA Today)
    "At a time when many students and parents are struggling to pay for college, several cash-starved states are considering reducing funds for grants and scholarships for thousands of low- and middle-income students," USA Today reports. "In California, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan to close the state's $24 billion deficit includes sharp cuts in the state's Cal Grants program, which provides up to $9,700 a year for eligible college students. Schwarzenegger has proposed eliminating Cal Grants for new students and reducing grants for some existing students."

    House Education Committee Race Down to McMorris-Rodgers, Kline (The Hill.com)
    "House GOP leadership sources say that the three-way race for ranking member of the Education and Labor Committee to be decided on Wednesday will come down to Conference Vice-Chair Cathy McMorris-Rodgers (R-Wash.) and Rep. John Kline (R-Minn.)," The Hill.com reports. "Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) is the third contender for the plum spot that opened last week when the GOP Steering Committee appointed current Education and Labor Ranking Member Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) to take the helm at Armed Services. That spot opened up after President Obama appointed the panel’s previous ranking member, John McHugh (R-N.Y.), to be the next Secretary of the Army."

    I'm Going to Harvard. Will You Sponsor Me? (The New York Times)
    "Unithrive, which made its debut last month, matches alumni lenders and cash-strapped students, who post photographs and biographical information and can request up to $2,000. The loans are interest-free and payable within five years of graduation," The New York Times reports. "The nonprofit site is the brainchild of three recent Harvard graduates, who hope it can help ease the crisis in paying for college, especially if it is one day rolled out to other colleges that cannot afford to be as generous as their alma mater, which already awards scholarships to all students with demonstrated need."

    Many Private Colleges Balk at GI Bill 'Yellow Ribbon' Deals (Stars and Stripes)
    "Days before a June 15 deadline, 521 private colleges had signed modest-to-grand 'Yellow Ribbon' agreements under the new Post-9/11 GI Bill benefit, making these higher-priced schools more affordable to at least some Iraq and Afghanistan war-era veterans who qualify for admission," Stars and Stripes reports. "But more than half of private colleges nationwide apparently will balk at entering Yellow Ribbon deals, at least for the 2009-2010 academic year."

    'Marketplace' Will Help Rein in College Costs: Duncan (Chicago Sun-Times)
    "Education Secretary Arne Duncan, the former Chicago Public Schools chief and basketball buddy of President Obama, says the 'marketplace' will work to keep university costs down," the Chicago Sun-Times reports. "And he seems intrigued with the notion of developing 'no-frills' campus options for financially strapped students."

STATE NEWS




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