Affording College: Top 5 Articles of the Week – May 10, 2013

Welcome to our latest edition of the Top 5 Articles of the Week all about affording college. It was a big week, with major politicians discussing radical changes to student loan rates, in depth articles exploring the financial aid system, and more. Follow along as we bring you the best of the best!

College Cost

• The Fight to Save America’s Best Free College. Did you know there are actually free colleges in America? One such college, Cooper Union, may end up leaving that exclusive free college group if a proposal to start charging students $20,000 a year goes forward in 2014. Molly Crabapple at Vice.com offers an in depth editorial on protestors fighting to keep Cooper Union tuition-free.

Financial Aid

• Our Broken University Financial Aid System. Kevin Drum at Mother Jones writes an article that sheds light on the problems with university financial aid systems. The article contends that increased financial aid doesn’t make college more affordable for poor students, it simply allows universities to charge even higher tuition rates. Couple that with the fact that some schools practice “gapping” or “admit-deny” (a process whereby they give “less-desirable” students terrible financial aid offers in hopes they decide not to enroll), and one can see that there are certainly significant issues that still exist in financial aid.

Student Loans

• National Survey: Half Of U.S. High School Seniors Don’t Understand The Cost And Terms Of College Student Loans. The Credit Union National Association (CUNA) has released a national survey that shows how little many high school seniors know about student loans. These troubling results provide further proof that proper borrower education and post-college career planning are a must for all students going into college.
• Elizabeth Warren finds way to inflate Higher Ed bubble even more. The big student loan news from Washington this week was that Senator Elizabeth Warren has proposed locking student loan interest rates at 0.75 percent, the same rate given to large banks that borrow from the Federal Reserve. This would be a sweeping change from the current rates of 3.4 percent (set to double to 6.8 as of July 1), and not everyone feels it’s a good idea. William A. Jacobson at Legal Insurrection believes this would only grow the education bubble and enable colleges to continue to increase tuition rates.
• What Elizabeth Warren Gets Wrong (and Right) About Student Loans. Danielle Kurtzleben offers a more measured viewpoint on Elizabeth Warren’s student loan interest rate proposal. While acknowledging that something needs to be done, Ms Kurtzleben expresses reservations about the specific interest rate numbers proposed. No matter what side of the debate you fall on, any student loan interest rate changes will have major consequences.

That’s everything we have for this week, have a great weekend!