Jun 28, 2007

Thursday, June 28 , 2007 Senators Urge Spellings to Refrain from Imposing New Accreditation Regulations By Amit Agarwal Senator Edward M. Kennedy and members of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee have asked U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings to refrain from imposing new accreditation regulations on colleges and universities until Congress reauthorizes the Higher Education Act. In a letter written to Spellings, 18 of the 21 senators on the HELP Committee stated that Congress is considering changes to current accreditation provisions. The letter says these changes would strengthen the nation's accreditation system by clearly defining the responsibilities of the Department of Education regarding recognition of organizations and accreditation agencies.  read more Northern Illinois University Students Face Tuition Hike By Surajit Sen Sharma According to members of the board of trustees of Northern Illinois University (NIU), the disparity between the rates of inflation and state funding can be made up for only by raising tuition fees. In a meeting held in May, the finance committee of the NIU board of trustees approved a proposal to raise tuition fees by 10.8%. The hike would raise tuition for graduate students from $204 to $226 per credit hour. For law students, the tuition rate would increase from $398 per credit hour to $441 per credit hour.  read more Higher Education Act reauthorization bill would increase financial aid A bipartisan Higher Education Act (HEA) reauthorization bill cosponsored by Senators Edward M. Kennedy and Mike Enzi includes increases in the maximum Pell Grant and other student financial aid for 2008-2009. If passed, the bill would also place a cap on borrowers' monthly loan payments. Funding for these measures would be generated by cutting subsidies to lenders that participate in the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program. The bill would create a code of conduct for schools, lenders, and guaranty agencies to ensure that lender-college agreements benefit students. It also proposes a pilot program for auctioning PLUS Loans and expands eligibility for National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent (SMART) Grants. Cuomo and McCollum urge Senate to pass Student Loan Sunshine Act New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo and Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, along with about 30 other attorneys general, have urged the Senate to pass the Student Loan Sunshine Act as soon as possible. The act protects students and families from deceptive practices in the college lending industry. The senators made the request in a bipartisan letter to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. According to Cuomo, the U.S. needs a federal law that will augment states' investigations of inappropriate and illegal activities in the lending industry. New York already has a law that protects students from such activities.  read more To ensure that the Graduate School Loans Newswire is delivered to your Inbox, please add registration@graduateschoolloans.com to your address book. © 2007 Graduate School Loans. All rights reserved. Office: 175 South Lake Avenue, Suite 200, Pasadena, CA 91101