Changes in college Financial Aid programs


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1) the title of the news article (in quotation marks);

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"Study Finds Little Benefit in New SAT"

By TAMAR LEWIN

The New York Times Online

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/18/education/18sat.html

Published: June 18, 2008

Read: October 1, 2008

Writing portion of the SAT proves to have little effect in making the SAT more of a predictive test of student performance than the old way. College board says these results are “important and positive” in reinforcing that the test is equally as effective has looking at all four years of a student’s high school career. Robert Schaeffer, the public education director at FairTest, a group that is critical of much standardized testing, mentions that the newer version is unfair to those who are not strong in English, and why even have a test when it is clearly not working either way. Since being established, 41 colleges have dropped the SAT requirement from their admission requirement. While college board representatives still argue that the new test better predicts the college success of females and minorities, many colleges refuse to accept the new format until more valid studies are produced.

Diego Scerbo

 

 

"Pell Grants Said to Face a Shortfall of $6 Billion"

By SAM DILLON and TAMAR LEWIN

New York Times Online

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/18/education/18grant.html

Published: September 17, 2008

Read: October 2, 2008

     Bush administration gives a heads up to Congress that 6 billion in tax payer dollars have to go Pell Grant. Dept of Education says new president will have a problem dealing with the fact that aid will have to be cut nationwide for students. This is due in large because of more students attending college and qualifying for aid. Many people, since its inception in 1972 have relied on Pell Grants to supplement their financial needs for college. With rising tuition and the threat of aid being cut, along with a not-what-it-used-to-be economy, many low wage families are having trouble sending their children to college. Subsequently, this has also lead to a rise in the enrollment of community colleges, because families cannot afford four year colleges.

Diego Scerbo

 

"College Panel Calls for Less Focus on SATs"

By SARA RIMER

The New York Times online

 

Published: September 21, 2008

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/22/education/22admissions.html?ref=education

September 21, 2008 read September 22, 2008

 

A panel of college admissions professionals came together to discuss how greatly colleges should weigh SAT/ACT scores in admissions. William R. Fitzsimmons, the dean of admissions and financial aid at Harvard University argues that students should focus more on their courses than trying to outwit the SATs. The panel finds that SAT prep courses help very little, increasing scores only marginally, for those who can afford it. However others argue that it is the only media that colleges can use to evaluate a student’s capacity without the help of others. The main problem is whether these tests are valid at predictability. 

Diego Scerbo

 

"College Presidents Defend Rising Tuition, but Lawmakers Sound Skeptical"

By TAMAR LEWIN

New York Times online

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/09/education/09college.html?fta=y

Published: September 8, 2008 read Sept 20 2008

 College Tuitions are raising at an incredible rate since 1980, however most college presidents do not want to spend their endowments by lowering tuition. Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, and Representative Peter Welch, Democrat of Vermont opened up a discussion to try and encourage universities to use their endowments rather than raise tuition. They argued that universities with high endowments should spend at least 5% of it each year. The argument against this is that it is more expensive now to educate. New programs and institutes cost a lot of money.  Molly Corbett Broad, president of the American Council on Education, also pointed out that most colleges do not even have a very high endowment, less than $25,000. Most high tuition schools feel that the large endowment, and therefore high tuition, is a cushion they may fall back on when financially in trouble in the future.

Diego

"Don’t Buy That Textbook, Download It Free"

By, Noam Cohen

The New York Times Online

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/15/technology/15link.html?ref=education

Sept 14, 2008. Read Sept 24, 2008

Over priced books have taken a toll on many a student, however one professor decided to place his textbook free online, to his students. Professor R. Preston McAfee, has his textbook on economics online and also in bonded copies. The idea of online textbooks is also being used into other colleges. Where teachers can edit the module and give the student a part text book, part teachers preference to learn from. For classes with cutting edge information being updated at a rapid pace, online text books allow for professors to update their works quickly to aid students.

Diego Scerbo

"House Acts to Overhaul College Loan Regulations" 

By TAMAR LEWIN

The New York Times online

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/01/education/01education.html?fta=y

Published: August 1, 2008 Read Sept 20th 2008

 

Congress swoops to the aid of low income student families, adding requirements to help families of college students. The bill is forcing most colleges to come clean with their expenses, by having them outline why prices increased to the Education Department. The bill will also make the FASFA easier to fill out, going from seven to two pages, and for colleges to make known any relationship they have with private lenders. Congressman working on this bill, and bills for education found increasingly frustrating that while they achieve in raising the amount given in grants, tuition also rises. The new law would also try to help students save on books.

Diego

"Marketing Code for Student Lenders"

By JONATHAN D. GLATER

New York Times online

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/10/business/10loan.html?fta=y

Published: September 9, 2008, read Sept 9th 2008 

Some college loan companies have been accused of misleading college students, which has led to a code of conduct whereby all loan companies must follow. This investigation was led by Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo. The companies accused where Campus Door, EduCap, GMAC Bank, Graduate Loan Associates, Nelnet, NextStudent and Xanthus Financial Services. The companies are accused of sending out loans which were not at the students’ best interest. Companies also mislead students, and used similar logos that of federal governments. 

Diego

"Panel Proposes Broad Changes in Federal Financial Aid for College"

By TAMAR LEWIN

New York Times online

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/19/education/19college.html?_r=1&ref=us&oref=slogin

Published Sept 18th 2008, read Sept 19th 2008

Last Thursday, discussion to change policies for financial aid for college students, and to begin federal saving accounts for colleges for low income families where started. Their plans are to do away with FASFA, and use families size and annual gross income to determine eligibility for grants, such as the Pell Grant. This also includes using the familes IRS papers to determine eligbility. The panel is also calling for a type of savings account for low income families that the government will open and finance. Starting as young as the age of seven, an account can be opened for a student so that he may pay for college. However this is not a guarantee that this idea will get through congress.

"Study of Standardized Admissions Tests Is Big Draw at College Conference"

By SARA RIMER

New York Times online

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/29/education/29admissions.html?pagewanted=1&ref=education

Published: September 28, 2008 viewed 8/1/08

Mr. Fitzsimmons, the dean of admissions at Harvard, led a commission in Seattle for college admissions to rethink how they use SAT and ACT scores. Fitzsimmons restated what many have been saying for years, which is, that the SAT/ACT tests are “incredibly imprecise”. He furthermore argued that test prep classes are often too expensive, and have not shown significant data that suggests these tests produce considerable difference. Fitzsimmons called for a more high school curriculum guided test instead of the SAT. Fitzsimmons also suggested eliminating “cut scores” which can cause underprivileged students to not receive scholarships. The insufficiencies in the standardized test system, is causing many colleges to begin to run on an SAT optional basis.

Diego Scerbo