A joint study of an "anonymous elite American university" by researchers from Cornell University and Hebrew University of Jerusalem found substantial differences in grading between Democratic and Republican professors, according to Inside Higher Ed. The study concludes that Democratic professors were more likely to award more grades in the middle of the grade spectrum, while Republicans tended to award either very high or very low grades, Inside Higher Ed reported. The study concluded that the disparity between grades awarded to white students and black students was larger in classes taught by Republican professors. The researchers used party registrations to identify political leanings and SAT scores to measure the preparedness of students and rule out patterns in which certain professors had better students overall, according to Inside Higher Ed.
The default rate on federal student loans for the two-year period ending September 30, 2010 jumped almost two percentage points from 7 percent for the previous year to the current rate of 8.9 percent according to preliminary U.S. Department of Education data, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported. This change equates to 90,000 more students in default than in the previous two-year period, according to The Chronicle. Students attending for-profit institutions made up 47 percent of the defaults, an increase from 43 percent in the previous year. Overall default rates which were higher among both public and private institutions were 15.2 percent at for-profit colleges, 4.7 percent at nonprofit colleges and 7.3 percent at public colleges, according to the Chronicle. For-profit institutions attribute this increase to the lower incomes and greater financial challenges of their students, while critics blame these colleges for burdening students with too much debt, The Chronicle reported.
The National Association for College Admission Counseling recently drafted a revised policy calling for a ban on commission payments to anyone recruiting international students for enrollment at United States institutions, according to Inside Higher Ed. A ban on commission payments to American recruiters already exists, but the NACAC's belief in serving "the student interest" during the move from high school to college requires it to extend the ban to recruiters working abroad, Inside Higher Ed reported. Companies that pay recruiters based on the number of students they enroll disagree, stating that although many "disreputable" agents operate abroad, commission payments can be effective. The American International Recruitment Council, which has created a certification process for recruitment agents and their employers, has called for a review of the NACAC's ban, according to Inside Higher Ed.
