December 2006 - Posts

• Education Department may issue regulations on preferred lenders and illegal inducements, panel is told

  U.S. Education Department officials have indicated this week that the agency is considering barring colleges from recommending fewer than three lenders to students seeking federal loans, as well as revising its guidance about illegal inducements from... Posted Dec 14 2006, 06:00 PM by Chronicle.com - Today's News

• Report charts growth of private loans, calls for study of effect on needy students

  With private loans fast becoming an essential tool for many students trying to finance a higher education, federal policy makers need to more fully examine the implications that such borrowing is having on financially needy students, the Institute for... Posted Dec 14 2006, 06:00 PM by Chronicle.com - Today's News

• Panel on work-force skills calls for drastic overhaul of America's education system

  A panel of political, business, and higher-education leaders laid out a sweeping proposal for overhauling the nation's education system on Thursday. It calls for squeezing $67-billion from the current system and using that money to prepare some students... Posted Dec 14 2006, 06:00 PM by Chronicle.com - Today's News

• State Digest: Proposals to direct lottery money to higher education, and other news from the states

  Governors in Indiana and Georgia urge legislators to direct lottery money toward higher education. The newly elected governor of Florida says the state needs to build one or two more public universities. For details, and more news from the states, see... Posted Dec 14 2006, 06:00 PM by Chronicle.com - Today's News

• International foundation hopes to offer online courses in Spanish to American students

  An international education foundation is working with American organizations to offer online courses in Spanish to this country's growing Latino population. It joins a number of American course providers with offerings for Spanish speakers. (for subscribers... Posted Dec 14 2006, 06:00 PM by Chronicle.com - Today's News

• Ward Connerly names states that may be his next targets for bans on affirmative-action preferences

  Ward Connerly, who played a key role in campaigns that persuaded voters in three states to prohibit the use of racial preferences by state agencies, announced on Wednesday that he was looking at nine other states as potential sites for similar referenda... Posted Dec 13 2006, 06:00 PM by Chronicle.com - Today's News

• 2 studies in Africa end early in response to strong findings that circumcision reduces HIV risk

  Two large-scale randomized studies of circumcision in Africa will end early because scholars have found that the operation appears to reduce the risk of HIV transmission, an official at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases announced... Posted Dec 13 2006, 06:00 PM by Chronicle.com - Today's News

• College endowments earned 10.7-percent average return in 2006 fiscal year, survey finds

  Endowments earned an average of 10.7-percent in the 2006 fiscal year, according to preliminary data. Diversification of the largest endowments into "alternative" investments paid off. (for subscribers) Read More... Posted Dec 13 2006, 06:00 PM by Chronicle.com - Today's News

• Despite small gains, women and minority-group members still land few jobs in college sports, report says

  Increasing numbers of women and members of minority groups were hired in college sports in the past year, but white men continued to hold an overwhelming majority of positions, according to a report released on Wednesday. (for subscribers) Read More.... Posted Dec 13 2006, 06:00 PM by Chronicle.com - Today's News

• Harvard drops religion requirement from proposed new curriculum

  It looks as if Harvard University students won't have to take a religion course after all. A university committee assigned to revise the curriculum sent a letter to faculty members this month saying it would drop its proposal that all students be required... Posted Dec 13 2006, 06:00 PM by Chronicle.com - Today's News

• Democrats' plan to hold spending at '06 levels will eliminate earmarks, cost academe in other ways

  Federal spending for student aid and scientific research in the 2007 fiscal year will be frozen at last year's levels, and most academic earmarks will be eliminated, under a plan announced on Monday by chairmen of the Congressional appropriations committees... Posted Dec 12 2006, 06:00 PM by Chronicle.com - Today's News

• Rulemaking panel begins debate on how to change federal student-loan programs

  A committee that will recommend changes in the regulations that govern federal student-loan programs met for the first time on Tuesday, in a meeting convened by the Education Department. The group will submit a package of proposed rules to Secretary of... Posted Dec 12 2006, 06:00 PM by Chronicle.com - Today's News

• Accreditor extends American InterContinental U.'s probation

  The accrediting association that oversees American InterContinental University has decided to keep the for-profit institution on probationary status for another year, until December 2007. (for subscribers) Read More... Posted Dec 12 2006, 06:00 PM by Chronicle.com - Today's News

• UCLA warns 800,000 that a hacker may have obtained personal information

  Officials at the University of California at Los Angeles have warned some 800,000 people — including students, alumni, and faculty and staff members — that their personal information was exposed when a computer hacker broke into a mammoth... Posted Dec 12 2006, 06:00 PM by Chronicle.com - Today's News

• Michigan universities ask court to delay enforcement of racial-preference ban

  Michigan State University, the University of Michigan, and Wayne State University jointly filed a motion on Monday asking a federal judge to let them complete their current admissions cycles without complying with the state's new ban on affirmative-action... Posted Dec 11 2006, 06:00 PM by Chronicle.com - Today's News