November 30, 2009 – 12:58 pm
The Washington Post’s Daniel de Vise brings us the story of Kira Cassels, a smart kid who got into 11– count ‘em– 11 colleges including such so-called public ivies like the University of Virginia. Where did she choose? Howard Community College! Why? Cash. The honors program there looks just as good to her and the [...]
November 29, 2009 – 7:17 pm
First, let squeeze some of the hot air out of articles like this one from the Baltimore Sun claiming that only 15% are ready for college math. The tone seems to suggest that we’re supposed to shake our heads, get upset about the school district and maybe find the energy to change something. Change is [...]
November 23, 2009 – 1:24 pm
The Washington Post’s Eli Saslow brings us the story of Melissa Meyer, a once bright young high school student with infinite promise who is now an even smarter but unemployed college graduate. Her parents spent $200k at George Washington University and now Melissa is moving back home to her old room. Melissa says with trenchant [...]
November 22, 2009 – 12:52 pm
How do I pick the side to support? Pittsburgh wants to tax the tuition of those meddling kids going to college in town. They use the buses, the parks, the sidewalks, and the streets, but they don’t make any money. So they pay little income tax. To make matters worse, the high taxes are driving [...]
November 20, 2009 – 2:40 pm
When you speak with the baby boomers, they often get teary eyed talking about massive protests against the Vietnam war. Perhaps it’s just some weird autonomic reaction as they recall the tear gas grenades. Maybe it’s because they miss the idealism of their youth. But it all comes back to them as they try to [...]
November 18, 2009 – 12:35 pm
C Cryn Johannsen pointed out a great piece by Mark Kantrowitz about the hidden dangers lurking in the loan documents: Declaring bankruptcy to escape unsecured credit card debt can make things worse. Why? Some companies note the bankruptcy and place private student loans in default forcing you to pay them immediately. With what, you ask? [...]
November 18, 2009 – 12:14 pm
Let me just praise the Chronicle of Higher Education, a wonderful publication that seems to be both deeply immersed in the college industrial complex while able to see through their fog of self-promotion. From time to time, they publish well-written screeds that point out the real problems in the career paths of academics. I like [...]
November 15, 2009 – 2:34 pm
Mark Yudof, the president of the University of California in Oakland, says he’s in the business of opening doors and providing opportunity. He doesn’t mention that he’s jacking up the toll booth in front of the doors. When the financial crisis hit the California schools he could have cut back gold plated programs and forced [...]
November 15, 2009 – 2:27 pm
Just think youngsters. If you work really hard in college, you might be able to get a job at Time Magazine and spend your life coming up with inane lists like “The Ten Best College Presidents.” Oh really? Based on which criteria? They don’t tell us and they probably don’t know themselves. They just ask [...]
November 5, 2009 – 1:22 pm
Scott Waldman from the Albany Times-Union delivers the sobering truth: six years ago, there were only two colleges that cost more than $40k for tuition, room and board. This year, there are 58– that’s right a five followed by an eight– schools that charge more than $50k per year. Notice how I bumped the baseline [...]
November 3, 2009 – 12:13 pm
C. Cryn Johannsen over at All Education Matters has started profiling some of the worst stories of student debt. The first interviewee, Jennifer, got kicked out of art college for having bad credit. What does that mean? Oh yes, I understand, The banks finally said that more than $100k in debt is too much. I [...]
November 2, 2009 – 12:21 pm
The economy is tanking. The government is pouring cash on the fire to keep it from going out. People are frantic and looking to universities for a new direction. What’s a college president to do? Why jack up tuition some more and take a bigger pay check of course.The Chronicle of Higher Education weighs in with [...]
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