News & Comment
Blogs and Opinion
Don’t Let Them Kill Student Loan Reform by Armand Biroonak, OurFuture.org | March 11, 2010
Something so simple, so easy: end tens of billions of dollars in bank subsidies to the private lending industry and return much of the savings back into the hand of students, with the Department of Education providing loans to students directly. A no-brainer right? Well reform may be a no-go, if six Senate Democrats have their way. read more »Time to Reconcile Student Loan Reform by Armand Biroonak, OurFuture.org | March 9, 2010
If some members of Congress are going to stand with banks, instead of students, then why not pass student loan reform through reconciliation? Just like Americans and health care reform –students need relief now. It is time for Congress to act on behalf of students, and not banks. read more »Bail Out Our Schools by Robert B. Reich, robertreich.org | March 8, 2010
Any day now, the Obama administration will announce $4.35 billion in extra federal funds for under-performing public schools. That’s fine, but relative to the financial squeeze all the nation’s public schools now face it’s a cruel joke. The recession has ravaged state and local budgets, most of which aren’t allowed to run deficits. That’s meant major cuts in public schools and universities, and a giant future deficit in the education of our people. read more »Student Loan Reform, Good for Workers Too by Armand Biroonak, OurFuture.org | February 17, 2010
As Congress returns to Washington, the Campaign for America’s Future calls on the Senate to finish what the House started, and pass Student Loan reform to end billion dollar bank subsidies and invest in students. read more »Students Pinched By Recession by Armand Biroonak, OurFuture.org | January 22, 2010
The effects of the recession have been far reaching –that is no secret of course –but the picture for students in this downturn is only beginning to be painted more clearly. According to the Higher Education Research Institute’s annual survey of college freshman, students are really feeling the financial squeeze unlike ever before. read more »Worker Training in Demand, but in Short Supply by Armand Biroonak, OurFuture.org | December 11, 2009
The U.S. must train workers for the job growth of tomorrow. According to employment projection data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics yesterday, middle-skill jobs will experience the highest growth over the next decade. These jobs pay well, but also require a post-secondary certificate or an associate’s degree. read more »The Higher Education Fiscal Crisis Protects the Wealthy by Peter Phillips, Truthout | December 2, 2009
Our current budget crisis in California and the rest of the country has been artificially created by cutting taxes on the wealthiest people and corporations. The corporate elites in the U.S., the top 1 percent who own close to half the wealth, are the beneficiaries of massive tax cuts over the past few decades, while at the same time working people are paying more through increased sales and use taxes and higher public college tuition. read more »Conservatives Want the Status Quo for Student Loans by Armand Biroonak, OurFuture.org | November 20, 2009
Representative John Kline (R-MN) and Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY) introduced legislation this week that keeps our broken student loan system in status quo, with corrupt private lenders and federal bank subsidies worth billions. read more »Student Loan Industry: We Are NOT Dead Yet by Armand Biroonak, OurFuture.org | November 13, 2009
Recently the Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, advised college financial administrators that with the likely passage of the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA) in the Senate, universities nationwide should prepare to switch over to federal direct le read more »Executive Pay Hits Campuses by Katharine Trendacosta, airamerica.com | November 3, 2009
According to a report published by the Chronicle of Higher Education, 23 private college Presidents make over $1 million, even as the recession and rising tuition costs are squeezing students and recent alumni dry. read more »
The Latest
No Child Left Behind Doomed?, time.com | June 9, 2008
There was always something slightly insane about No Child Left Behind, the ambitious education law often described as the Bush administration's signature domestic achievement. Educators cited its unattainable goals for schools and unrealistic expectations of students. read more »
Student Loans to Bypass 2-Year Colleges, The New York Times | June 2, 2008
Some of the nation's biggest banks have closed their doors to students at community colleges, for-profit universities and other less competitive institutions, even as they continue to extend federally backed loans to students at the nation's top universities. read more »
Government Enters Student Lending, The Washington Post | May 21, 2008
The Department of Education is preparing to exercise broad new powers in the coming weeks that could fundamentally recast how millions of students pay for college. This initiative could transform the federal government from a guarantor of student loans into the dominant provider, replacing the outside lenders to whom students and their families have long turned. read more »
More Schools Failing, MSNBC News | May 20, 2008
The federal No Child Left Behind law says that by the 2013-14 school year all students must pass state tests in these subjects. According to a recent study, about half of the states have steady annual goals for increasing the percentage of students passing, or working at their proper grade level. read more »
Failing Grade for Reading Program, The Washington Post | May 2, 2008
Students enrolled in a $6 billion federal reading program that is at the heart of the No Child Left Behind law are not reading any better than those who don't participate, according to a U.S. government report. read more »
Education Act Reformed, MSNBC News | April 23, 2008
Unable to push education fixes through Congress, the Bush administration is taking its own pen to the No Child Left Behind law. The Education Department plans to make a host of changes to the education law through regulations. Among the biggest changes is a requirement that by the 2012-13 school year, all states must calculate their high school graduation rates in a uniform way.
1 Million Drop Out Annually, news.newamericamedia.org | April 20, 2008
A recent study found urban schools in metropolitan areas surrounding 35 of the nation’s largest cities have lower graduation rates than schools in nearby suburban communities. Approximately 1.2 million students drop out each year–about 7,000 every school day, or one every 26 seconds. read more »
Student Loan Bill Passes House, The Washington Post | April 18, 2008
The House, trying to avert a looming shortage in available student loans, approved a measure allowing the Department of Education to buy federally guaranteed loans that lenders are unable to sell to private investors. read more »
Student Loan "Train Wreck" Predicted, MSNBC News | April 17, 2008
Sallie Mae says it cannot write money-losing student loans indefinitely. Top executives are holding “daily deliberations” about how long the nation’s largest student lender can afford to sacrifice its bottom line for the sake of college-bound Americans, Sallie Mae CEO Albert J. Lord said. read more »
Hedge Funds Eye Student Loans, Politico | April 17, 2008
Some financial prognosticators see the struggling student loan market, hit by the same credit crunch that’s battered Wall Street, as a potential moneymaker. As many as a dozen hedge funds are watching intently to see if Congress cobbles together a rescue package that adds liquidity to the market for student-loan-backed securities.
