CUNY Students and Hurricane Sandy – New Research Brief from CUNY’s Office of Policy Research!

Dear Commons Community,

Colin Chellman,  Associate Dean, of CUNY’s Office of  Institutional and Policy Research, has passed along information  on a policy brief his office completed on Hurricane Sandy and its impact on CUNY and its students.  Entitled, In the Eye of the Storm: CUNY Students and Hurricane Sandy, the brief comments:

“Nearly one in ten CUNY students resided within reach of Sandy’s flood waters in New York City. Every CUNY campus was affected by the storm’s surge, albeit some more than others. Identifying which students were impacted by the hurricane constituted an important part of CUNY’s response to Sandy. Final counts indicate that over 17,000 CUNY students were affected. Future research will focus on the storm’s effect on enrollment and academic performance.”

Well worth a read!

Tony

 

 

Democrats Scold the Obama Administration and the U.S. Dept of Education over $51 Billion Profit in Student Loans!

Dear Commons Community,

Following a report from the Congressional Budget Office, Democrats in Washington scolded the Obama administration and the U.S. Department of Education for establishing policies that will result in a $51 billion profit from students and their families.  As reported in The Huffington Post:

“Congressional Democrats have pounced on a nonpartisan government report showing the Department of Education this year is forecast to earn a record $51 billion profit off student borrowers, denouncing the Obama administration and urging for structural reforms.

Members of the House of Representatives including George Miller (D-Calif.), John Tierney (D-Mass.) and John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) cited news reports that highlighted the Tuesday estimate by the Congressional Budget Office, which showed that the Education Department was forecast to report higher earnings this year than Exxon Mobil and nearly as high as those of the four biggest U.S. banks by assets combined.

“We don’t see students or their parents as profit centers, and we don’t think it’s an appropriate concept to be acting like a market-driven bank here,” Tierney said.

Miller criticized a policy that is leading to “immense profit being extracted from students and families that are struggling.”

The critical comments have alarmed policymakers in the Obama administration, who along with lawmakers are racing to avert a scheduled doubling of interest rates on some new federal student loans that is set to occur on July 1.”

This is a shame and a serious breach of trust with President Obama and especially the leaders of the U.S. Department of Education who have talked the talk of helping students enroll and succeed in college while implementing policies that have added significantly to their debt.

Tony