University Business - April 2012 - (Page 45)

CAmpus FINANCE Interest Clock Is Ticking Time is running out for Congress to take action to stop a scheduled interest rate increase on Stafford loans this summer. In July, interest rates are set to double for almost 8 million students. The average subsidized Stafford loan borrower will pay an extra $2,800 on their loans, and students borrowing the maximum $23,000 in subsidized loans starting next year would pay almost $5,000 more over a 10year repayment period. Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.) joined dozens of students in March to deliver more than 130,000 letters to Congress to plead for action. The two back legislation to keep the lower rate, but acknowledged that the challenge will be to act before the July deadline. Reed and Courtney say it doesn’t make sense for student loan recipients to face a higher interest rate than homeowners are getting on mortgages or that banks are able to get. Several studies show that student loan debt now surpasses credit card debt, and many students graduate from school already owing an average of $25,000 in loans. In a weak economy, this has led to more loan defaults than ever, with cases of defaulted federal student loans surging by 58 percent, according to the report, “Judicial Business of the United States Courts” (available here: http://goo.gl/28MbI). Tuition Trends Mount Holyoke College (Mass.) announced that it will not raise tuition or room and board for the 2012-2013 academic year, holding prices at the 2011-2012 rate—and making next year the first since 1968 that Mount Holyoke has not experienced an increase in the cost of attendance. That tuition decision is based on college officials’ belief that the current higher education model of increasing tuition in excess of inflation is unsustainable. “If we hope to retain our nation’s historic commitment to educating for democracy, colleges and universities cannot continue to threaten access and add to already burgeoning loan burdens for students,” MHC President Lynn Pasquerella said in a statement. Meanwhile, Kettering University (Mich.) has announced it will offer a fixed-tuition guarantee for all undergraduate students beginning in 2012-13, becoming the first Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) university in the state and one of only a handful in the nation to offer the cost-saving guarantee. Kettering has also eliminated all academically related fees in its allinclusive tuition package. “I am delighted to confirm that the Board of Trustees has approved our recommendation for a fixed-rate tuition plan that also eliminates all academically related fees, like the thesis fee, for all full-time undergraduate students,” said Kettering President Robert K. McMahan in a press release. It’s Official: Students Need Financial Aid A new analysis of U.S. Department of Education data by the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities quantifies the reliance on federal student aid by students in every state and congressional district. NAICU analyzed the most recently available Education Department data to determine the distribution of federal student aid in every area of the United States in the 2011-12 academic year. For each state and congressional district, NAICU calculated the number of awards and total dollar amounts distributed through Pell Grants, the campus-based programs (SEOG, Federal Work-Study, and Perkins Loans), and federal loans. Data are for students at all institutions of higher education (public, private, nonprofit, for-profit; four-year, two-year, and less than two-year) that participate in the federal student aid programs. More information on the NAICU study is available at http://goo.gl/N9eAA. Industry Briefs Washington and Lee University (Va.) and Unimarket, an eProcurement and eSourcing solutions provider, have signed an agreement to implement the complete Unimarket solution from eSourcing through eProcurement and eInvoicing. Higher One, a technology and payment services company focused on higher education, said that as of Q4 2011, it added more than 25 new OneDisburse Refund Management funds disbursement universitybusiness.com clients, and clients who will be using various modules of the CASHNet suite of payment services. Higher One now serves more than 800 college and university campuses across the United States. Sallie Mae has revised the $50 loan forbearance fee it imposed, after more than 78,000 people petitioned the company. The fee was $50 per loan for a maximum of $150 per three-month reprieve on payments. April 2012 | 45 http://www.goo.gl/28MbI http://www.goo.gl/N9eAA http://www.universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - April 2012

University Business - April 2012
Editor’s Note
College Index
Ad Index
Behind the News
Financial Aid
Viewpoint
Independent Outlook
Models of Efficiency
Guns on Campus
Campus Finance
Internet Technology
End Note
Contents

University Business - April 2012