College officials and financial aid experts are raising questions about U.S. President Barack Obama's proposals regarding the affordability of college education, first outlined in last Tuesday's State of the Union address, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. The proposals include a "Race to the Top" program for higher education that ties a proposed $10 billion of federal campus-based aid to colleges keeping tuition costs steady and the "enrollment and graduation of low-income students" high, The Chronicle reported. Experts have raised concerns about how this program would affect public institutions, which have been increasing tuition costs to balance cuts in state funding. Other proposals include keeping the interest rate of subsidized Stafford loans at 3.4 percent, doubling the number of available work-study jobs, and making the American Opportunity Tax Credit permanent, according to The Chronicle.
The U.S. Appeals Court for the Sixth Circuit revived the lawsuit of Julea Ward, a former psychology graduate student at Eastern Michigan University who refused to counsel gay students, according to Inside Higher Ed. Ward was dismissed from a master's program for declining to counsel gay students and instead referring them to other counselors. Ward claimed that EMU denied her the right to observe her faith, while EMU said that a counselor who refers all members of a group to another counselor violates the code of conduct, Inside Higher Ed reported. The appeals ruling overturned a federal district judge's 2010 decision that EMU was entitled to expel Ward from the program. In a unanimous decision, the court concluded that a jury could reasonably find that the university was using its policies as a pretext for discriminating against Ward for her religious beliefs, according to Inside Higher Ed.
At approximately 4 p.m. on Friday, many early decision applicants to Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., were incorrectly informed of their acceptance, The New York Times reported. Jeff Kosmacher, a Vassar spokesman, explained on Saturday that a "test letter" intended as a placeholder for the real admissions decision was not replaced before applicants viewed their decisions online. The error was discovered at around 4:30 p.m., according to The Times. A total of 254 students applied for this round of early decision, and 122 saw the test letter, 76 of whom were not actually accepted, The Times reported. The college sent a letter to all 254 students between 6:30 and 7 p.m. on Friday citing a "system error" and apologizing for the mistake. They were also informed that the correct decisions were now available online, according to The Times. While some parents have called for a refund of their application fees, Kosmacher said "no other step is in the works," The Times reported.
