The Kept-Up Academic Librarian

Not The First Mayor To Seek Tax On Tuition

Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl plans to propose a 1 percent college-education privilege tax to council today, in a move that's likely to set off a fight with the city's schools of higher learning. College and university representatives met with the mayor on Wednesday and argued against the tax, which would be assessed on a college student's tuition. It technically would not be a levy on the students or their schools, but rather on the privilege of getting a higher education in Pittsburgh.Formulas like Mr. Ravenstahl's have met with vigorous opposition in other cities, like Providence, R.I., where a mayor's bid to tack a $150-per-semester fee on to tuition bills at four universities ended in stalemate. Read more at:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09313/1011971-53.stm

Legislature's Indecision On Gambling Hurts State-Related IHEs

Pennsylvania State, Temple, and two other state-related universities said yesterday that the delay in approving table-games legislation in Harrisburg could affect tuition rates, starting in January. The schools are waiting for $688.4 million that was left off the budget signed by Gov. Rendell on Oct. 9. That money is contingent upon the legislature and the governor reaching agreement on a table-games bill. Tuition bills for the second semester are to be mailed next week to more than 158,000 students.  Read more at:
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/education/20091104_Universities_say_table-games_lag_may_impact_tuition.html

New York State Poised For Further Cuts In Higher Education

New York is poised for another round of midyear cuts in both public university systems and in financial aid under the Tuition Assistance Program, which affect hundreds of thousands of families. The cuts will shift more costs to students and their families, force higher tuition and fees, hurt on-time graduation because fewer classes will be offered, and result in fewer full-time professors. “It will have a chilling effect on CUNY’s plans,” CUNY Chancellor Matthew Goldstein told an Assembly hearing Friday. He noted CUNY’s senior colleges took a $68.3 million cut last year. “We must prevent the damage that will result from a sustained period of reductions.”  Read more at:
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20091026/NEWS12/91026003/NY-fiscal-crisis-strikes-hard-at-higher-education

White House Representative Works To Increase Hispanic Enrollment

The question to Miami educators was straight forward: If we want more Hispanics students attending college, what do we need to do? ``We want to hear from you directly and ask you what would you tell the president if you could,'' Juan Sepulveda, director of the White House's Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans, asked during a visit to Miami Dade College's Wolfson Campus. College affordability for Hispanic students is crucial and Pell grants can help. Read more at:
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/southflorida/story/1245086.html

Helping Veterans Move Back Into The College Classroom

As more veterans such as Day return to school, drawn by a new GI Bill that offers more-generous benefits than its predecessor, colleges and universities in the Washington region and across the nation are launching efforts to ease the daunting social, psychological and logistical transition from combat to classroom. Student veterans are a singular population: They are older and more likely to be married than traditional students, and they are more likely, as reserve members, to be called up for deployment in the middle of the semester. Some return from combat needing help dealing with the emotional aftermath of war; many, like Day, feel isolated. Read more at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/17/AR2009091704680.html

Duncan Says Out Of Whack Private IHE Tuition Needs Attention

Private colleges may price themselves out of the market if they don’t hold down tuition increases, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said. Parents and students will choose among universities offering “no-frill campuses” and three-year degree programs over those whose prices “get out of whack with reality,” Duncan said in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital With Al Hunt,” airing today. Duncan, 44, the former head of Chicago’s public schools, is using $100 billion in stimulus funds as leverage to reshape U.S. education. Read more at:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601110&sid=a7F1HfrTe6Ms

State Budget Impasse Endangers Student Grants

Tens of thousands of Pennsylvania college students and their parents, already pressed by the recession, face a new worry as the fall semester approaches with no state budget in sight: What happens if state grants from the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency do not arrive? Officials with the college-aid agency estimate that about 172,000 state residents are eligible for need-based grants of varying sizes for the 2009-10 academic year. However, PHEAA can neither finalize the award amounts nor disburse money to campuses on students' behalf until the state budget impasse is resolved and the agency's funding level is set. Read more at:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09223/990027-454.stm

Education Secretary Duncan Says Marketplace Will Keep Costs Down

Education Secretary Arne Duncan says the "marketplace" will work to keep university costs down. And he seems intrigued with the notion of developing "no-frills" campus options for financially strapped students. Duncan said he wants to use some of the federal money as an incentive to "change behavior" when it comes to college expenses. Read more at:
http://www.suntimes.com/news/sweet/1621084,CST-NWS-sweet14.article

President's Proposals Could Transform Higher Financial Aid

President Obama's health-care goals may be garnering attention, but his higher-education proposals are no less ambitious.If adopted, they could transform the financial aid landscape for millions of students while expanding federal authority to a degree that even Democrats concede is controversial. At stake is a plan to expand the Pell Grant program, making it an entitlement akin to Medicare and Social Security. The president has said he wants the United States to lead the world by 2010 in the proportion of college graduates. Read more at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/03/AR2009050302251.html

You Attend College Here So You May As Well Pay Taxes

Students attending the city’s four private colleges and universities may have to pay a $300-a-year tax, under a proposal floated by Mayor David N. Cicilline to generate revenue for the cash-strapped capital city. Cicilline has been quietly meeting with student-government representatives and university presidents from Brown University, the Rhode Island School of Design, Johnson & Wales University and Providence College to garner support for the proposal, which has generated considerable debate on college campuses. Three of the four institutions have made their opposition known to Cicilline. Read more at:
http://www.projo.com/news/content/STUDENT_TAX_05-03-09_U5E75IG_v53.34233cd.html