NAICU News Room

Harvard pres.: School has tough choices in decline (Associated Press)

Drew Gilpin Faust started as Harvard's president when the university's prosperity seemed limitless. With its ballooning wealth, Harvard planned almost frenzied growth, from a building boom into Boston to vast increases in student financial aid. Billions of lost endowment dollars later, though, Faust faces a much different reality. "We can't have chocolate and vanilla and strawberry. We have to decide which one," she said. It's a question few at Harvard expected Faust to be forced to answer in the infancy of her presidency.

Trends in global higher education (University World News, U.K.)

Key drivers of a 21st century academic "revolution" are identified in a trend report produced for this week's UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education. The drivers are the massification of tertiary systems everywhere, the 'public good' versus 'private good' debate, the impacts of information and communications technology, and the rise of the knowledge economy and globalisation.

Stormy summer at Greensboro College - Editorial (Greensboro, N.C., News Record)

President Craven Williams bristled last week that some of the coverage of his school's financial problems had been inaccurate and misleading. But the story's headline remained unmistakably clear: the venerable little school is in serious trouble. Its endowment has dropped from $19 million to $12 million. It is in arrears with a variety of creditors, with debts totaling $974,508, and is struggling to make ends meet. Even so, Williams said he remained confident that the institution will weather the storm.

On vacation -- at a college campus (Los Angeles Times)

The grand campus tour has long been a ritual of the American college admissions cycle. Any fears the recession would change that were dispelled as schools -- including UCLA, Pomona College and Columbia University -- report a strong start to this summer's campus visits.

Were They Just Paper Airplanes? (New York Times)

Looking back, students of the Tab Express flight school could see the danger signs. Their experience also sheds light on the risks of borrowing large sums to pursue an education in one part of the trade school world: institutions that operate outside of federal loan programs. If a school is not in those programs and collapses, students who took out loans to pay tuition may be left with poor job prospects and big debts.

Webster University president flashes energy, and Twitter updates, on first day (St. Louis Post Dispatch)

Throughout Elizabeth Stroble's first day on the job, Patrick Powers, the "interactive media manager" for Webster University. followed closely on her heels to post Twitter updates and take photos. Not far behind, racing and tripping to keep up with her brisk pace, were two other Webster employees - a videographer and a photographer - as well as a Post-Dispatch reporter and photographer.

Rebirth of college rare occurrence (Dayton, Ohio, Daily News)

An agreement was announced Tuesday, June 30, to create an independent Antioch College. The school closed in June 2008 because of declining enrollment and other problems. The college actually has returned from the dead twice before. Founded in 1852, the liberal arts college closed in 1862 because of financial problems and reopened in 1865. The college closed again from 1881-1882 because of insufficient endowment funds.

U.S. News college rankings problematic - Editorial (Athens, Ga., Banner-Herald)

While U.S. News & World Report doesn't release the data it receives from colleges, it's probably a safe bet that any number of other university and college presidents did just as University of Georgia's Adams and University of Florida's Machen did, or even might have taken steps as questionable as Clemson. While such gaming of the system probably doesn't do much to skew results of the annual U.S. News & World Report rankings, it does point to the problematic nature of those rankings.

Small college survival lessons (Boston Globe)

While none of the presidents of local colleges on the US Department of Education watch list said their schools are on the brink of closure, one school - Daniel Webster College in Nashua - was acquired by a for-profit company in June. The rest, meanwhile, are scrambling to cut costs and come up with entrepreneurial ventures to right themselves.

Field-To-Plate: Vermont College Students Try Farming (Associated Press)

While other college students are in stuffy classrooms, about a dozen are earning credit tending a Vermont farm. For 13 weeks, 12 credits and about $12,500, the Green Mountain College students plow fields with oxen or horses, milk cows, weed crops and grow and make their own food, part of an intensive course in sustainable agriculture using the least amount of fossil fuels.

How High is Too High for the Cost of Higher Education? (Huffington Post Blog)

For years the subliminal messaging most of us received was that "no price tag is too high for a quality higher education." As we rethink virtually everything in this post-AIG, post-Madoff, post-housing bubble world, it may be time to ask if that graduation cap tassel is really worth the financial hassle.

Another Divide Between Public and Private Universities: Sunshine (Chronicle of Higher Education)

Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) has argued that all that government support should result in more transparency.And the Internal Revenue Service is working to raise reporting standards for nonprofit colleges and universities."We receive tax benefits that total millions of dollars," says Colin S. Diver, president of Reed College. "The old days, when even the elite private institutions could say, 'We're a private club" and shut the doors, are gone."

As More Colleges Sign Up to Offer Veterans Aid, Some Veterans Criticize Application Process (Chronicle of Higher Education)

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs had said it would announce on Tuesday the number of colleges participating in the Yellow Ribbon program, but a final tally has yet to be released. (An updated chart on the VA Web site lists more than 2,500 agreements, but many institutions have multiple agreements.) Earlier in the week, advocates for student veterans criticized the way some participating colleges plan to distribute the program's benefits.

New College-Loan Plan: Pay Back Based on What You Earn (Time Magazine)

The goal of the income-based repayment plan is to prevent payments on federal student loans from exceeding 15% of a borrower's disposable income above 150% of the poverty level. Borrowers who earn below that threshold wouldn't have to make any monthly payments at all. These changes, alongside a $619 increase in the maximum Pell Grant and a reduction in the interest rate on new federal loans, arrive at a moment of seemingly runaway college costs and dismal economic outlook.

Colleges Focus On Veterans As GI Bill Ups Numbers (Associated Press)

Vets already in school have run into problems including campus bureaucracy, and fellow students who don't understand their battlefield experiences. In response, colleges across the country are offering veterans-only classes, adding counselors and streamlining the application and financial aid process. Under the new GI Bill, the number of military veterans in college this fall is expected to grow, and many of them will encounter a classroom culture shock that can leave them agitated.

7 Reasons Why College Is So Expensive (U.S. News and World Report - Professors Guide Blog)

Luckily, a quality education can be had at many price points if you shop wisely for the right education at the right price. Still, it's true that higher education costs have grown faster than the rate of inflation. Here are the seven main reasons.

Binge Drinking on Campus - Editorial (New York Times)

Last year, more than 100 college presidents and chancellors called for reconsidering the legal drinking age, which was raised to 21 by all states during the 1980s. Whatever the causes, the solutions almost certainly lie mostly within the colleges - perhaps with better counseling or stronger bans on under-age drinking - not by lowering the legal drinking age.

Financial woes, alumni issues await Kim (The Dartmouth)

In an interview with The Dartmouth, College President Jim Yong Kim said that tackling the College's budget problems - and handling any further financial woes - will be one of his main priorities as president. "My greatest worry is that the financial situation in the world will get worse and our financial situation will get worse," he said. "It may force us to think about work reductions again."

Recession reduces private college endowments (Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Times Leader)

The economic downturn wreaked havoc on the portfolios of King's College and Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre and Misericordia University in Dallas Township. From July 1, 2008, through May 31, 2009, the schools reported the worst depreciation of endowment accounts in at least a decade. (Regional emphasis)

GI Bill upgrade explained (Burlington, Vt., Free Press)

At private colleges with higher tuitions, the balance can be covered by private dollars matched by enhanced federal aid under the "Yellow Ribbon Program," an initiative to which all private colleges in Vermont are committed. That means, for example, that a qualified veteran could attend Middlebury College - the state's most expensive institution, where the comprehensive annual fee is about $50,000 - with the full cost underwritten.