Congress Falls Short In Effort to Curb Sweetheart Student Loan Deals

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Thursday August 07, 2008 · 6:17 AM PDT

2008/08/07 · 06:17

It's hard to decide what to make of the sections in the Higher Education Act reauthorization that target "pay for play" conflicts of interest in the student loan programs.

blmiller

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Tuesday August 05, 2008 · 6:16 AM PDT

2008/08/05 · 06:16

Yesterday's post highlighted some of the best provisions in the final version of legislation to reauthorize the Higher Education Act. With the bill waiting for President Bush's signature, here is a critical look at the parts of the legislation that fail to close loopholes, open new areas for potential exploitation, and weaken existing accountability frameworks.

blmiller

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Monday August 04, 2008 · 6:32 AM PDT

2008/08/04 · 06:32

A decade after its last reauthorization and five years since an updated version was due, a new version of the Higher Education Act has finally passed Congress. Here is what to like in the final higher ed bill.

blmiller

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Wednesday July 30, 2008 · 6:21 AM PDT

2008/07/30 · 06:21

Big-time college sports teams are not only skilled on the field, they are also talented at keeping their off-the-field activities in the dark. Athletics programs, for example, are experts at keeping their budgets under wraps. As spending on college sports soars to towering new heights, faculty members, students, taxpayers, and policymakers are often clueless about how the money is being spent.

blmiller

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Monday July 28, 2008 · 6:24 AM PDT

2008/07/28 · 06:24

As individuals on the "‘front lines" of the financial aid process, financial aid administrators offer an important perspective on the credit crunch's daily effects on student loan availability. As such, the results of a recent survey that the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators conducted of its members provide some interesting ground-level impressions of the credit crunch. Unfortunately, this viewpoint is almost entirely clouded by the 30,000-foot spin the organization's leadership has put on it. Needless to say, the association's close ties to the student loan industry remain firmly evident.

blmiller

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Friday July 25, 2008 · 7:10 AM PDT

2008/07/25 · 07:10

Is the U.S. Department of Education deliberately trying to undermine a new program created by Congress to encourage students to pursue careers in the public service?

blmiller

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Thursday July 24, 2008 · 10:02 AM PDT

2008/07/24 · 10:02

It is a sad reality that many colleges do not treat their athletes as students, but rather as semi-professionals, for four years before dropping them into the real world without a meaningful degree or workforce-ready skills. Particularly at Division I basketball and football schools, colleges use their athletes to win championships and gain national prominence but too often leave them woefully unprepared for life away from the gridiron and hoops.

blmiller

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Thursday July 17, 2008 · 6:38 AM PDT

2008/07/17 · 06:38

What do an appendix, plica semilunaris, and student-loan guaranty agency all have in common? They're all vestigial structures whose original purpose is no longer necessary. But unlike the first two examples, guaranty agencies are desperate to show -- despite all evidence to the contrary -- that they are still relevant.

blmiller

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Thursday July 10, 2008 · 6:39 AM PDT

2008/07/10 · 06:39

On Monday, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) unveiled plans to rewrite federal bankruptcy laws to make it easier for financially-strapped senior citizens, military families, and individuals suffering medical emergencies to get relief from debilitating debts. While it is good that the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee is proposing to overhaul the 2005 bankruptcy bill, which was a glaring example of politicians putting corporate interests over regular people, he should not forget another group who desperately needs help -- borrowers who have taken on unmanageable levels of private student debt and now find themselves in severe financial distress.

blmiller

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Wednesday June 25, 2008 · 6:21 AM PDT

2008/06/25 · 06:21

Student loan industry officials have been pushing Congress to revisit cuts it made last fall to subsidies lenders receive for participating in the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program. They cite job losses in the industry as one reason to boost subsidies.

blmiller

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Thursday June 19, 2008 · 6:46 AM PDT

2008/06/19 · 06:46

"Bring on the data," was the message echoed loudly by representatives of for-profit colleges at a recent event on the sector hosted by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a conservative think tank. That same day, the University of Phoenix, the largest chain of for-profit trade schools in the country, took its own step in that direction by releasing the first of what it promises to be an annual self-assessment of academic outcomes.

At first glance, it appears that the for-profit sector is prepared to usher in a new age of accountability in higher education. But just how ready are these schools to let the sunshine in on their actual performance?

blmiller

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday June 18, 2008 · 7:39 AM PDT

2008/06/18 · 07:39

For a long time it's been known that KeyBank has played a leading role in aiding and abetting the efforts of sham for-profit trade schools to scam vulnerable students. What was unknown realize, however, was the integral role that KeyBank played in fueling the growth of Silver State Helicopters, an unlicensed and unaccredited Nevada-based flight-school chain that left its 2,500 students in the lurch when it shut its doors without warning on Super Bowl Sunday and filed for bankruptcy liquidation. Most of these students are now stuck having to repay nearly $70,000 in high-cost private loan debt for training they did not receive.

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Congress Falls Short In Effort to Curb Sweetheart Student Loan Deals

Some Big Disappointments (With Final Higher Ed Bill)

A Few of the Best Things (From Final Higher Ed Bill)

College Sports Reform: Opening Up the Budget Books

NASFAA's Clouded View

Undermining a New Effort to Promote Public Service

College Sports Reform: Putting More Focus on Academics

Guaranty Agencies: A Middleman in College Access Clothing

Obama's Disappointing Omission

Lender Subsidies and Red Herrings

Shining a Light on the University of Phoenix

A "Key" Development in the Case of Silver State Helicopters