Sallie Mae, the country's biggest student loan provider, settled with the New York attorney general's office Wednesday, the Associated Press reported, as Attorney General Andrew Cuomo continues his broad investigation into what he termed "deceptive and illegal" arrangements between loan providers and college financial aid offices. Sallie Mae, or SLM Corp., agreed to adopt a code of conduct and pay $2 million to fund education on the financial aid industry as part of the settlement. Cuomo subpoenaed Columbia University last week and sent letters to the University of Southern California and the University of Texas about their affairs with another lender, CIT Group, Inc.
Columbia University announced a $400 million gift from alum and billionaire media entrepreneur John W. Kluge Wednesday. The donation is the largest ever made by an individual to an institution of higher education, and will be used towards Columbia's goal of raising $4 billion for financial aid and endowed faculty. The university has already raised $2.2 billion. Kluge, a German immigrant who attended Columbia on scholarship, intends the funds to be used towards undergraduate and graduate financial aid. Kluge's past donations to Columbia include a $60 million gift in 1993 used towards financial aid for minority students and two gifts of $25 million.
Laura Myers '08 has received national recognition for her achievement in engineering and the natural sciences by the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program. Meghan Feely '08 and Kristen Lurie '08 were recognized with honorable mentions. Myers is also a Rufus Choate Scholar at Dartmouth and her research has concentrated largely stem cell biology. Feely is double majoring in biophysical chemistry and history and has focused her research on an immunological approach to oncology. Lurie is an engineering major and mathematics minor, and is also co-president of the Dartmouth Society of Women Engineers. The Goldwater Foundation was established in 1986 by Congress to honor the late Arizona senator by encouraging outstanding students who are pursuing careers in engineering, mathematics, or science. Over 300 scholarships were awarded to sophomores and juniors by the Foundation this year.
