Student Loan Blog : Stanford University

Note to College Donors: Make the Check Out to Students

Student Loan Girl — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 23:28:00 GMT

As the economic downturn continues to impact families’ ability to pay for college, schools are redirecting their fundraising efforts to focus on financial aid, reports The Wall Street Journal (“Colleges Shift Donor Appeals Toward Student Aid,” Nov. 19, 2008).

In order to help meet the increased demand for financial aid, some schools are urging donors to contribute money directly to a school’s general fund, which universities reserve for their most pressing needs, or to a school’s scholarship program, rather than to new building construction.

Bobbi Mark, vice president of institutional advancement at Barnard College in New York, said it makes more sense for colleges to delay the construction of a new building than to “say to the entire sophomore class: Why don’t you take a year off?

“Certain things have to be priorities,” Mark added, “and financial aid is one of them.”

What Some Schools Are Doing To Boost Financial Aid

To help students get the financial aid they need, some schools are giving their priorities a makeover:

Barnard College is asking donors to participate in its endowed scholarship giving program to make up for a reduction in family contributions and to meet an anticipated $1.2 million increase in demand for aid. The program’s donors agree to pledge $100,000 to help a particular student meet his or her tuition costs.

With its families taking a big hit from the mortgage crisis and unemployment, Stanford University has seen an “increase in demand for aid above and beyond our expanded aid commitment,” said Karen Cooper, director of financial aid. The school plans to delay certain building projects and cut its $800 million general funds budget — which pays for faculty and staff salaries, administrative costs, and non-research-related expenses — by 10 to 12 percent over the next few years.

The University of Texas at Austin, which has seen its state funding decrease, recently announced a new $3 billion fundraising campaign with a “primary focus” on making school affordable, said Carolyn Connerat, the school’s campaign director. Giving toward scholarships is up by $4 million this year compared to last year.

Share this post: email this | del.icio.us | reddit

College Employees’ Donations to Obama Far Outweigh Contributions to McCain

Student Loan Girl — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 17:38:00 GMT

College employees have given eight times as much money to Barack Obama’s presidential campaign — $12.2 million — as they have to John McCain’s — just over $1.5 million, making it the widest gap in donations by academics in the past five presidential elections, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics.

Obama, who taught constitutional law as a lecturer at the University of Chicago, has received donations from dozens of college presidents, from professors from a variety of liberal arts disciplines, and from faculty members at business, law, and medical schools, reports The Chronicle of Higher Education (“Donors From Academe Favor Obama by a Wide Margin,” Oct. 24, 2008).

A large amount of McCain’s donations from academic sources also came from a handful of college presidents and from faculty members at business, law, and medical schools. McCain also received donations from the head football and basketball coaches at the University of Arizona, a school in his home state.

Among the top 10 academic institutions to make donations to Obama’s campaign were the University of Chicago, Columbia University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in political science, and Harvard University, where he earned a law degree.

Top 10 Colleges With Donors Giving to Obama Campaign

University of California: $778,000
Harvard University: $496,000
Stanford University: $342,000
University of Chicago: $285,000
Columbia University: $267,000
Northwestern University: $179,000
Georgetown University: $179,000
University of Washington: $165,000
University of Pennsylvania: $162,000
New York University: $158,000

Top 10 Colleges With Donors Giving to McCain Campaign

University of California: $40,000
Harvard University: $39,000
Columbia University: $35,000
University of Texas: $33,000
University of Pennsylvania: $28,000
Northwestern University: $21,000
Stanford University: $19,000
University of Minnesota: $18,000
George Washington University: $17,000
Washington University in St. Louis: $16,000

Share this post: email this | del.icio.us | reddit

MBA Cheating Scandal Ends With Almost 100 GMAT Scores Cancelled

Student Loan Girl — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 20:46:00 GMT

In June, 6,000 MBA hopefuls saw their aspirations come crashing down when it came to light that their GMAT scores could be cancelled due to a cheating scandal that involved the illegal posting of live GMAT test questions on Scoretop.com. Most of those students named in the controversy can now breathe a sigh of relief.

The Graduate Management Admission Council, the company that administers the GMAT test, announced that only 84 test takers, not the several hundred or thousand students as many originally feared, would have their test scores voided, according to a Business Week article (“Nearly 100 Would-Be MBAs Nailed in GMAT Scandal,” Sept. 9, 2008).

Of the 84 students whose scores were cancelled, 72 posted messages on Scoretop.com saying that they recognized test-prep questions from the site on their GMAT exam. These individuals will not be allowed to retest and, as a result, may not be able to qualify for a MBA program that requires the GMAT as an admissions prerequisite.

The remaining 12 individuals who had their scores cancelled, but who didn’t post test question information on the Scoretop site, will be eligible to retest after three years. Some 500 score reports sent to colleges and universities by the 84 test takers were also cancelled by GMAC, which notified all affected schools of the cancelled scores.

GMAC President David Wilson said that the decision to cancel scores was based on extensive analysis of data from the Scoretop Web site as well as GMAT registration and examination information.

“We take the action of canceling scores very seriously, with a full understanding of our ethical responsibility to both students and schools to protect the integrity of the test and the application process,” Wilson stated in a recent press release (“Graduate Management Admission Council Completes Investigation of GMAT Test Takers Who Used Scoretop.com; Scores Canceled,” Sept. 9, 2008).

Colleges to Handle Students With Cancelled Scores Differently

At the number-one ranked University of Chicago business school, two students enrolled this fall had their scores cancelled, leaving administrators only two weeks after GMAC’s score-cancellation announcement to figure out what to do prior to the start of the new semester.

Derrick Bolton, MBA admissions director at Stanford University, was notified of 20 cancelled scores, including one from a student who already graduated and 10 from applicants who were denied admission. If any of these 10 applicants re-apply in the future, Bolton said, they will be required to provide detailed explanations of their involvement with Scoretop before their application is considered. The fate of the student who already graduated has yet to be determined.

University of Michigan’s dean of the Ross School of Business, Robert Dolan, said the school will strictly enforce its honor code, which prohibits cheating, for any Ross students identified by GMAC as part of the scandal on a case-by-case basis.

Share this post: email this | del.icio.us | reddit

University of Washington Plans Largest Environmental College in the World

Student Loan Girl — Thu, 22 May 2008 22:43:00 GMT

Earlier this month, the University of Washington released a report detailing plans to create an environmental college that would rival similar colleges at Duke University, Stanford University, Yale University, and Western Washington University, according to an article in The Seattle Times (“UW Plan Merges Forestry School, 5 Others,” May 15, 2008).

"Certainly, higher education in general has a responsibility to tackle challenges that threaten the well-being of the planet," the UW report states. "The UW is strongly positioned to truly advance the contributions of academia to the very concrete problems of the world around us."

UW’s proposed College of the Environment would be the largest such institution in the world, with a $60 million budget, 97 faculty members and 1,135 students. It would merge six of the school’s existing academic disciplines, including those that focus on the oceans, the atmosphere, and forests.

The college will have the ability to grant degrees at the undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral levels. And, according to the report, no existing environmental program would come close to the scope of the school.

"The UW is better positioned to meet these [environmental] challenges than any other university in the country or the world."

UW regents are set to discuss plans and vote on the proposal for the new college next month. If approved, the environmental college could open its doors as early as fall 2009.

Share this post: email this | del.icio.us | reddit

Millions in Grant Money Go to California Colleges for Stem-Cell Research

Student Loan Girl — Fri, 16 May 2008 22:44:00 GMT

Twelve academic institutions in California recently received approximately $271 million in grant money from a state agency to construct laboratories for stem-cell research, according to an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education (“In California, Millions Are Distributed for Stem-Cell Research,” May 8, 2008).

The funds, divided into 12 grants, represent the largest single chunk of money distributed from a $3 billion bond authorized by Californians in 2004 to help make the state the world leader in stem cell research.

The University of California system is the largest recipient of the grant money, where 9 of its 10 campuses were grantees. Such well-known institutions as Stanford University, The Scripps Research Institute, and the University of Southern California also received funding.

"We're very excited about what has been made possible today," said Arnold Kriegstein, director of the Institute for Regeneration Medicine at the University of California at San Francisco, another grant recipient.

The grants will be used for the construction of approximately 800,000 square feet of research labs, which will be manned by about 2,200 graduate students, faculty members, postdoctoral researchers, and scientists.

Scientists will use the new facilities to study stem cells, the precursors to every type of cell in humans, in an effort to better understand diseases and to develop clinical studies of new therapies and grow replacement tissue for the body, according to the Chronicle.

Share this post: email this | del.icio.us | reddit