A recent College Board report shows that the rate of college tuition growth exceeded twice the rate of inflation this year, according to The New York Times. Public universities had the most significant tuition growth, and the cost increase has led to a dramatic increase in borrowing among families with college-bound students. Student debt increased by 8 percent from 2005 to 2006. Public four-year colleges saw an increase of $6,815, or 6.6 percent, while tuition and fees at public two-year colleges increased by 4.2 percent. The tuition at private universities increased on an average by 6.3 percent to $23,712. "The average price of college is continuing to rise more rapidly than the consumer price index, more rapidly than prices in the economy," Sandy Baum, an author of the report, said in an interview with the Associated Press. Baum also said that the increase does not take into account students who are paying less because of financial aid or scholarship money.
Dr. Peter Jensen filed a lawsuit against Columbia University for wrongful termination last week, according to The New York Times. Jensen, a psychiatrist that Columbia hired in 1999 to direct the Ruane Center for the Advancement of Children's Mental Health, alleged that fellow psychiatrist Dr. David Shaffer, who is in charge of Columbia's child psychiatry division, prevented board members from renewing his contract by unfairly criticizing his work. Colleagues of the two professors in the psychiatry department told The New York Times that the two psychiatrists had very different personalities and had frequent disagreements over research and professional issues. Jensen also alleges in his lawsuit that Columbia owes him three years worth of salary.
William Robertson and other heirs to A&P supermarket fortune are using funds from the nonprofit Banbury Fund to pay for legal expenses in their lawsuit against Princeton University, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. Robertson and his siblings are suing Princeton for alledgedly using the $35 million their parents donated to the University in 1961 improperly. The money was originally donated for the purpose of creating the Robertson Foundation, which would encourage graduate students to go into government work. The Banbury Fund was also established by Robertson's parents, and has spent $7.7 million dollars on legal fees and other expenses, including a $158,400 annual salary for Robertson. Victoria Bjorklund, an attorney representing Princeton, told the Associated Press that the use of the Banbury Fund goes to show Robertson as untrustworthy with the money, which Robertson will gain control of if he and his family win the lawsuit.
