The Kept-Up Academic Librarian

College Student Debt Will Eventually Lower The Birth Rate And Hurt The Economy

Exponentially growing student loans are driving up tuition and creating a demographic time bomb as well as a higher-education bubble that could explode in taxpayers' faces.As college costs and student loan debt soar (partly due to opulent university spending) and unemployment rises, young college graduates, crushed by student loan debt, are deciding not to have kids, resulting in demographic decline among the educated in America.  In recent years, student loan debt has skyrocketed from $100 billion to nearly $1 trillion, creating a potential debt bomb for the American economy. France and England now have higher birth rates than America. Read more at:
http://www.mindingthecampus.com/originals/2012/08/another_college_cost_lower_bir.html

Parents Have Unrealist Expectations For College Costs And Career Potential

Parents saving for their children’s college expenses may be in need of a reality check. While Massachusetts families expect to pay most of their children’s college costs, the typical family comes up well short of they money they need by the time college rolls around. To make matters worse, most parents also have wildly unrealistic ideas of what their graduates will earn after college, especially those who nudge their children toward a particular major in hopes of a big paycheck that can help work off school debts. Read more at:
http://bostonglobe.com/business/2012/08/28/massachusetts-parents-saving-for-college-behind-pace-study-says/9OzaxpAQuB7Y98OOxawWdO/story.html

Students Find Scholarship Opportunities From Their Parents' Employers

Ahna Sweeney, an intensely focused 19-year-old from Virginia Beach, started classes last week at Tidewater Community College. Neither she nor her family will have to pay a cent this year. Ahna's benefactor: her father's employer. Seventeen percent of employers offer scholarships to children of workers, according to a survey this year by the Society for Human Resources Management. Read more at:
http://hamptonroads.com/2012/08/companies-tout-scholarships-big-morale-boosters

Using Student Debt Relief To Attract New Residents And Consumers

After working for Kraft Foods (KFT) in Wichita, Horinek accepted a lower-paying job in nearby Cheyenne County partly because of a new state program that offers as much as $15,000 toward student loan repayment for people who relocate to areas hurt by population declines. State and local governments nationwide are joining some private and nonprofit companies in offering student debt relief to attract residents, talent, and consumer dollars. Read more at:
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-08-23/student-debt-relief-helps-kansas-boost-rural-population

Consumer Protections For College Students On The Rise

Consumer protection rules for those attending colleges and universities in West Virginia appear on their way to passage by state lawmakers next year. The rules would give the state Higher Education Policy Commission more authority to review the operations of colleges and universities here, even those private schools that are outside the state system. West Virginia Higher Education Chancellor Dr. Paul Hill says it's a growing trend across the nation for those boards that oversee higher education in their states to closer looks at how all schools are operating including the private ones that are either not-for-profit or for profit. Read more at::

http://www.wvmetronews.com/news.cfm?func=displayfullstory&storyid=54391

Higher Ed's One Percenters Are The Students With More Than $100K Debt

They're the new 1 percenters. Keep that figure in mind the next time you read or hear stories about students who graduated from college with six-figure debt. Those borrowers who have loaded up on $100,000 or more in college-related debt represent extreme situations, according to research from Mark Kantrowitz, represent less than 1 percent of students who graduate from college withdebt exceeding $100,000. The average undergrad actually leaves college with a more affordable amount of debt, about $27,000. Read more at:
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-08-13/features/sns-201208131600--tms--kidmoneyctnsr-a20120813-20120813_1_student-loan-debt-college-financial-aid-mark-kantrowitz

No Easy Fix To The Rising Cost Of Higher Education

The primary factors driving the cost of education have to do with an increase in the cost of basic, essential operations. Everyone has been struggling with rising health-care costs over the last decade or two. For a while, the cost of energy was going up double digits every year, but we’ve taken steps to reduce it with conservation and green initiatives. But I think the biggest piece of all is financial aid. Financial aid has become even more challenging in recent years, with the recession driving more requests for assistance. Read more at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/college-inc/post/no-magic-solution-to-college-affordability/2012/07/25/gJQA3d0G9W_blog.html?wprss=rss_college-inc 

 

Higher Ed Financing Needs Rethinking

This U.S. zeal for schooling has been so vigorous that it has blurred the distinction between education (the development of the mind and the thinking process) and training (the preparation for a job or career). Today, a person studying for a doctorate, a pursuit that traditionally drew those with a thirst for pure learning, may well be aiming for a career in business in the same way as a candidate for a medical degree or a master’s in business administration. Middle-class American parents have long believed that the more degrees their offspring collect, the higher they will end up on the social and economic scale. Read more at:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-23/higher-education-needs-a-financing-overhaul.html

Middle-Aged Americans Having Most Trouble With Student Debt

Student debt is rising sharply among all age groups, but middle-aged Americans appear to be struggling the most with payments, according to new data released Tuesday by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The delinquency rate—or the percentage of debt on which no payment has been made for 90 days—was 11.9% for debt held by borrowers aged 40 to 49 as of March. That compares with a rate of 8.7% for borrowers of all ages. Read more at:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303612804577533332860797886.html

Middle-Income Families Grow More Dependent On Merit Aid To Afford College

Middle-income parents are being squeezed more than ever these days — higher property taxes and cost of living, lower home equity, frozen salaries. Many no longer have enough savings and borrowing power to keep up with rising education costs. Rather than lose bright students to less-expensive public colleges, universities like Tulane offer sizable amounts of aid based mainly on academic promise. Even public universities, despite state budget cuts, continue to offer merit aid to try to build an accomplished student body. Read more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/22/education/edlife/a-rise-in-students-receiving-merit-awards.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss