Finance & Policy News

Hardwick-Day searches for and posts stories here from (mostly) outside the higher-education media. The focus is on angles specific to college finance, family finances, public policy, and other issues of interest to the firm’s clients and friends. The firm also fishes for stories in the popular media that are likely to grab the attention of our clients' potential students and their parents.

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Many nations passing US in education, OECD expert says (NYT)
1 day 8 hours ago

The blame for America’s sagging academic achievement does not lie solely with public schools, but also with dysfunctional families and a culture that undervalues education. “Schools are inheriting an overentertained, distracted student."
How Colleges Are Buying Respect (Business Week)
6 days 8 hours ago

By exploiting loopholes in government regulation and an accreditation system that wasn't designed to evaluate for-profit takeovers, they're acquiring struggling nonprofit and religious colleges—and their coveted accreditation. Often their goal is to transform the schools into taxpayer-funded behemoths by dramatically expanding enrollment with online-only programs; most of those new students will receive federally backed financial aid, which is only available at accredited colleges.
Tufts, please pick me (NYT)
2 weeks 3 days ago

For the first time this year, Tufts University in Medford, Mass., invited aspiring students to submit short YouTube videos to supplement their applications. About 1,000 of the 15,000 applicants did so, and their videos range from slick to, well, earnest. Here, browse a selection.


American frustration with college costs reaches all-time high (Christian Science Monitor)
3 weeks 1 day ago

Millions of Americans hope to boost their education level, especially in today’s troubled economy – but their frustration with the seemingly out-of-control costs of college is reaching new heights.  Sixty-nine percent say that many who are qualified to attend college don’t have the opportunity to do so, the highest number since the question was first tracked in 1993 in a series of reports by Public Agenda, a policy research group in New York.
More Latino students are going away to college
3 weeks 3 days agoMany find it difficult to break from cultural traditions, but they and their families can see benefits.

It took months for her homesickness to ease and the benefits of life in a new city to become apparent. But Jeanny Fuentes said she now has few regrets about leaving Los Angeles and her close-knit family to attend college nearly 3,000 miles away.



Private colleges aim to rein in loan-free financial aid
4 weeks 1 hour agoIn the last year, the nation's private colleges have laid off staff, shelved construction projects, slashed sports teams and turned down thermostats ...

As college costs rise, sticker shock eased by student aid (Washington Post)
4 weeks 1 day ago

If the $50,000-a-year price of a prestigious private college looks unreal to most families, well, it's not real. At least, not for most students. 

The sticker price of private college has soared in the past five years, feeding a common perception that the most expensive schools are beyond the reach of most families. But net price -- the amount the average student actually pays -- has declined.
The College Admissions Wave: Will the Number of Students Keep Rising Forever? (Benzinga.com)
6 weeks 3 days ago

 

In 1967: 23.4M college aged * 21.7% attendance rate = 5.1M students
In 2008: 23.4M (assuming zero population growth) * 42.4% attendance rate = 9.9M students
Top public universities faulted on financial aid (Washington Post)
8 weeks 3 hours ago

Many of the nation's top public universities are giving millions of dollars in financial aid to students from relatively wealthy families instead of to those who urgently need it, resulting in campuses that are often less diverse than those at elite private schools, a new report says.
Amid recession, some college admissions policies look at students' wealth (Washington Post)
8 weeks 3 days ago

But while about two dozen of the country's top-tier colleges and universities -- schools such as Harvard and Princeton, Williams and Amherst -- are maintaining these policies and, in a few cases, expanding their financial commitments to low- and moderate-income students, at schools just below this tier, admissions are becoming more "need aware." These schools are now making some admissions decisions with an eye to an applicant's ability to pay, and some are unofficially reserving new seats for those who can pay full freight.