Obama proposes market-based interest rates for student loans

President Barack Obama on Wednesday proposed shifting federal student loans to market-based rates rather than the current system in which interest rates are fixed by law and subject to congressional whim, the Chicago Tribune reports. The new interest-rate approach is one of several measures included in President Barack Obama’s fiscal 2014 budget proposal to contain growing student loan debt and make higher education more affordable. The president’s budget stands little chance of being enacted into law, but the proposals could help jumpstart congressional debate about reforming student loans. Obama’s plan also calls for making the rate on new federal student loans a market interest rate that would remain fixed for the life of the loan. The proposal calls for expanding repayment options so borrowers do not have to pay more than 10 percent of their discretionary income on student loan bills.

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Editorial: Increasing fees for international students will hurt UW

Here’s a wild and crazy thought: Before Senate Republicans baked potentially damaging ideas into the state’s higher education budget, maybe they should have talked to the people managing our universities and colleges, the Bellingham Herald reports. The Senate budget proposal released last week included a 20 percent surcharge on the tuition paid by international students. The Republican-controlled Senate said it would raise $60 million in new revenue over two years. But how do they know? They apparently didn’t ask anybody over at the University of Washington, where most of the state’s international students enroll. UW officials immediately reacted, saying the increase would make the university noncompetitive and drive students from Pacific Rim nations to other states. That would result in a loss of revenue, not an increase.

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Should university laws be colorblind? Supreme Court weighs in

The Supreme Court is preparing to tackle two pivotal legal issues with racial implications, with one issue occurring in higher education. It centers on whether race preferences in university admissions undermine equal opportunity more than they promote the benefits of racial diversity.

Just this past week, justices signaled their interest in scrutinizing affirmative action very intensely, expanding their review as well to a Michigan law passed by voters that bars “preferential treatment” to students based on race. Separately in a second case, the court must decide whether race relations — in the South, particularly — have improved to the point that federal laws protecting minority voting rights are no longer warranted.

The questions are apt as the United States closes in on a demographic tipping point, when nonwhites will become a majority of the nation’s population for the first time. That dramatic shift is expected to be reached within the next generation, and how the Supreme Court rules could go a long way in determining what civil rights and equality mean in an America long divided by race.…Read More

New law allows student groups to discriminate, still get funding

Student groups at Virginia colleges can still collect college funding even if they are not all-inclusive, after Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) signed the Student Group Protection Act into law Friday, the Huffington Post reports. Under the new law, Virginia colleges cannot withhold funds from religious or political student groups that don’t accept certain members based on religion, sexual orientation or personal beliefs. For example, a student group could exclude lesbian students by citing religious beliefs or require that all members are of a certain faith, but it would still be eligible for college funding.

“We think that under the bill as it’s crafted, the university would have to fund a white supremacist organization,” Claire Guthrie Gastañaga, executive director of the ACLU of Virginia, told the Commonwealth Times

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Colorado Senate gives first OK to in-state tuition for illegal immigrants

Senators on both sides of the aisle kept the Colorado Senate spellbound Friday with testimonials of support for a bill allowing illegal immigrants to attend public colleges at the in-state tuition rate, reports the Denver Post.
Senate Bill 33 received initial approval in a debate notable for featuring the open support of three Republican senators — the first time any GOP senators had ever spoken in favor of in-state tuition for such students. Only a few years back, attempts to pass similar bills had failed amid the opposition of a few Democrats…

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Major reform of handling sexual violence in college on the line

Colleges could soon have new national standards for how they handle reported sexual assaults on their campuses, thanks to a provision in the latest re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act, the Huffington Post reports. The Campus Sexual Violence Elimination (SaVE) Act was first introduced in 2010 by Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), but now depends on the passage of the Senate version of VAWA, which has incorporated much of its language. It’s the most significant reform of policy on how college sexual assaults are handled since the Jeanne Clery Act of 1990 and the Campus Sexual Assault Victim’s Bill of Rights of 1992. The SaVE Act would require that schools provide victims with contact information for legal assistance and for counseling and health services. Officials handling disciplinary proceedings would be required to receive annual trainings, and campus crime reports would be expanded to include reports of stalking and domestic violence…

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Pa. grad student sues, says C-plus cost her $1.3M

Graduate student Megan Thode wasn’t happy about the C-plus she received for one class, saying the mediocre grade kept her from getting her desired degree and becoming a licensed therapist — and, as a result, cost her $1.3 million in lost earnings, the Associated Press reports. Now Thode is suing her professor and Lehigh University in Bethlehem, claiming monetary damages and seeking a grade change. A judge is hearing testimony in the case this week in Northampton County Court. Lehigh and the professor contend her lawsuit is without merit. Northampton County Judge Emil Giordano declined to dismiss the suit Wednesday, ruling that there was enough evidence for the suit to proceed, according to The (Easton) Express-Times (http://bit.ly/Ye2Aj1). Thode took the class in the fall of 2009. Her instructor, Amanda Eckhardt, testified this week that she stood by the grade, saying Thode failed to behave professionally and thus earned zero out of 25 points in class participation, bumping her down a full letter grade…

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What the election results mean for higher education

President Obama’s reelection has important implications for higher education.

President Obama’s focuses on making college more affordable and accessible to students, improving college completion rates, and improving academic quality and value are expected to continue in the next four years, according to a new report that examines how the 2012 election results will affect higher education.

Particularly focused on fiscal and policy implications, “Higher Education and the 2012 Elections,” from the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), breaks down federal and state election results, and highlights projected changes.

Since 2008, the Obama administration has focused regulatory efforts on increasing the number of secondary degree holders and returning the United States to first-in-world status regarding the number of individuals who hold a postsecondary degree.…Read More

Senate GOP fails to bring up immigration bill

Senate Democrats on Wednesday blocked Republicans from bringing up an immigration bill offering permanent residence visas for foreigners with advanced degrees that passed the House last week despite the opposition of most Democrats, the Associated Press reports. Senate Republican John Cornyn of Texas sought unanimous consent to consider the bill that provides some 55,000 green cards a year to those with masters and doctorate degrees from U.S. colleges in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

“We all know that America’s immigration system is broken, but in particular by driving away highly skilled foreign workers who want to start businesses and create jobs right here in America,” he said…

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Supreme Court: If affirmative action is banned, what happens at colleges?

When universities are barred from using race-based affirmative action, what happens to campus diversity? Asks the Christian Science Monitor. That’s one key question the US Supreme Court may consider as it once again takes up the issue of affirmative action in higher education, in the case of Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin on Wednesday. Depending on how the high court rules, it could lead to public colleges and universities across the country dropping the consideration of race in admissions decisions. The last time the Supreme Court took up the issue, in the 2003 case Grutter v. Bollinger, it ruled that the University of Michigan Law School could use race as one factor in admissions. But the court also noted that with a variety of experiments under way to try to achieve diversity through alternative means, schools should periodically review whether consideration of race was still necessary for reaching a critical mass of minority students on campus…

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