The Kept-Up Academic Librarian

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

Senate Report On For-Profit Higher Education Finds Fault With Many Industry Practices

Wrapping up a two-year investigation of for-profit colleges, SenatorTom Harkin will issue a final report on Monday — a voluminous, hard-hitting indictment of almost every aspect of the industry, filled with troubling statistics and anecdotes drawn from internal documents of the 30 companies investigated. According to the report, which was posted online in advance, taxpayers spent $32 billion in the most recent year on companies that operate for-profit colleges, but the majority of students they enroll leave without a degree, half of those within four months. Read more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/30/education/harkin-report-condemns-for-profit-colleges.html?_r=1

President Obama Hints At A New Initiative To Improve Educational Opportunities For African American Students

The president told the largely African American crowd of roughly 3,700 people that the executive order will seek to improve educational achievement for African Americans at all levels “so every child has greater access to a complete and competitive education from the time they’re born to the time, all through the time they get a career” the president said to cheers. An administration official tells NBC News the order will create a new White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African-Americans that will “work across Federal agencies and with partners and communities nationwide to produce a more effective continuum of education programs for African American students.” Read more at:http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/25/12955941-obama-announces-new-education-program-focused-on-african-americans

U.S. Education Secretary Will Urge Colleges To Use New Consumer Financial Sheet

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan is urging colleges and universities to adopt an easy-to-understand financial aid form to help students make smarter decisions on where to study, how to pay and determine what they'll owe. The one-page document also is designed to help students figure out how much they would receive in grants and scholarships and what options are available for loans. Colleges and universities will not be required to use the form. Read more at:
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Feds-urge-colleges-to-adopt-new-student-aid-form-3729369.php

Arkansas Now Requires All State Colleges To Make Expenditure Data Public

The University of Arkansas today launched OpenUA, its expenditure transparency website, to provide online documentation of public expenses paid by all university offices, departments and divisions. The Arkansas legislature passed Act 1163 during the 2011 session, requiring all state institutions of higher education to provide "expenditure data on a website operated by the state-supported institution" beginning with the 2013 fiscal year, and eventually showing at least 10 years of information. Read more at:
http://www.todaysthv.com/news/article/216749/2/University-expenditures-now-available-online

Even With Loan Interest Deal College Students Will Pay More

College students are facing a roughly $20 billion increase in the cost of their federal loans, despite a much-heralded deal in Washington to contain the expense of higher education. Starting Sunday, students hoping to earn the graduate degrees that have become mandatory for many white-collar jobs will become responsible for paying the interest on their federal loans while they are in school and immediately after they graduate. That means they’ll have to pay an extra $18 billion out of pocket over the next decade. Meanwhile, the government will no longer cover the interest on undergraduate loans during the six months after students finish school. That’s expected to cost them more than $2 billion. Read more at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/some-student-loans-to-become-more-expensive-despite-deal/2012/06/27/gJQAltw46V_story.html

American Universities Benefit From Foreign-Born Researchers Who Are Then Forced To Leave

Arguing against immigration policies that force foreign-born innovators to leave the United States, a new study to be released on Tuesday shows that immigrants played a role in more than three out of four patents at the nation’s top research universities. while many of the world’s top foreign-born innovators are trained at United States universities, after graduation they face “daunting or insurmountable immigration hurdles that force them to leave and bring their talents elsewhere.” Read more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/26/business/immigrants-played-role-in-majority-of-us-technical-patents-study-finds.html?src=recg

California Legislators Offer Extra Funding If Colleges Freeze Tuition

California's public universities could lose out on an extra $125 million in state funds if they hike tuition in the fall under a budget agreement that legislative leaders have reached with Gov. Jerry Brown. Lawmakers and the governor have no authority over tuition. The deal represents a bold attempt to use the state budget in their ongoing effort to force the University of California and California State University systems to keep the price of higher education in check. Read more at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-state-budget-20120626,0,1925801.story

Romney's Grand Plans For HIgher Education In Massachusetts Went Nowhere

A review of Romney’s record on higher education as governor reveals several sweeping plans - a wholesale reform of the public system, steep budget cuts followed by dramatic funding proposals - that all ran into a buzz saw in the Democratic-controlled Legislature. Many were overshadowed by a high-profile battle with William Bulger, the former state Senate fixture who was then UMass president. Supporters say Romney’s plans were ahead of their time. Read more at:
http://articles.boston.com/2012-06-20/news/32337842_1_higher-education-mitt-romney-umass

New Jersey May Finally Have A Plan For Its Higher Ed Restructuring

After a long and stormy session, state legislators cobbled together a new version of a higher education reorganization plan Monday night that supporters hope to get the through the state Legislature despite unanswered questions about its cost. The new version of the plan will delay the reshuffling of Rutgers University, the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and Rowan University by a year, until July 2013. In South Jersey, Rowan University in Glassboro would take over UMDNJ’s School of Osteopathic Medicine. Rowan would also partner with Rutgers-Camden, which would cut financial ties from the university while keeping some academic ties with Rutgers’ main campus in New Brunswick. Read more at:
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/06/legislators_compose_latest_ver.html