Posts Categorized: Economy

Into Thin Air? NEBHE Would Expand Access to Broadband with AIR.U Consortium

The New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) seeks institutions that are interested in serving as pilot sites for using unused television channels (TV band “white spaces” referred to as Super Wi-Fi), to expand the coverage and capacity of high-speed wireless connectivity both on and off campus.NEBHE recently hosted a webinar on AIR.U (Advanced Internet Regions), a consortium of hi...

NE Legislatures Adjourn After a Tough Fiscal Year

Though New England state revenues have rebounded slightly during FY 2012, the states held the line on new spending for FY 2013 and, in some cases, made further cuts. The outlook for future state spending is uncertain as the economy continues to grow at a sluggish pace, and national and state elections signal new challenges. CONNECTICUT The Connecticut General Assembly adjourned on May 9 afte...

DC Shuttle: On For-Profits, a Cry from HELP

On Monday, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee released a report on the for-profit college sector. The report, entitled "For Profit Higher Education: The Failure to Safeguard the Federal Investment and Ensure Student Success" is critical of industry practices and details marketing and recruiting strategies as well as graduation rates and debt burdens. According t...

DC Shuttle: Cracking Down on Visa Fraud

On Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees and Border Security held a hearing on preventing student visa fraud and addressing "sham" institutions that commit fraud to attain visas and enroll foreign students. The hearing was held in response to a report released last month by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) criticizing U.S. Immigration and Cu...

DC Shuttle: House Spending Bill Calls for Deep Ed Cuts; New Reports Question “Private” Loans, Student Visa Oversight

The FY 2013 Labor-HHS-Education spending bill adopted by a House Appropriations subcommittee panel on Wednesday would reduce funding for the U.S. Department of Education by $1.1 billion from 2012 levels and eliminate funding for the Obama administration's Race to the Top Program. It would also rescind $400 million in unspent appropriations for the Race to the Top program in 2012. In other ar...

DC Shuttle: Lawmakers Agree to Hold Down Loan Rates, Penalize For-Profits Where Repayment Lags; Officials Mark Land Grants at 150

With time ticking down, lawmakers voted to keep student loan interest rate for federally subsidized Stafford loans at 3.4% for another year, attaching the compromise language, formerly H.R. 4628, to the highway bill (H.R. 4348). The measure passed the House and Senate on Friday. Had Congress not acted, the current authorization subsidizing student loan rates was set to expire June 30. and th...

A New White Noise? NEBHE Partners With AIR.U to Deploy Super Wi-Fi Networks in College Communities

A consortium of higher education associations, public interest groups and high-tech companies today announced a new partnership called AIR.U (Advanced Internet Regions) to deploy Super Wi-Fi networks in university communities by taking advantage of unused television channels, known as white spaces.Home to 291 two- and four-year postsecondary institutions that enrolled more than 990,000 students in...

DC Shuttle: Parties Tangle Over Student Loan Rates as Deadline Nears

With a June 30 deadline quickly approaching, lawmakers are running out of time to prevent student loan rates from doubling. Leadership from both parties has said that a compromise will be coming before the deadline and suggested on Friday that they are close to a deal. In 2007, Congress approved PL 110-84, which gradually reduced loan interest rates over four years. but expires July 1. The is...

OECD Invites New England Higher Ed Leaders, Students to Paris for Conference on “Mass Higher Education”

The OECD invites New England higher education leaders to attend its Programme for Institutional Management in Higher Education's 2012 General Conference on “Attaining and Sustaining Mass Higher Education” to be held from Sept. 17 to Sept. 19 in Paris.The conference will examine: Where have we got to in attaining and sustaining mass higher education? What can higher education contribu...

DC Shuttle: STEM’ing Immigration; Measuring Higher Ed Productivity; Funding Upward Bound

Senators Chris Coons (D-DE) and Lamar Alexander (R-TN) introduced legislation Wednesday to create a new category of student visas for those studying in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields. The bill would create a new category of non-immigrant visa for foreign students pursuing a master's degree or doctorate in the STEM fields in the U.S. Those students would have one yea...