Posts Tagged ‘College’
According to research conducted by Francine Blau and Lawrence Kahn of Cornell University:
30 to 35 percent of men graduated from a four-year college by the time they turned 35 years old, in the 1960’s. This statistic has remained constant for close to 40 years, (Excluding the Vietnam war).
Women on the other hand, fared much worse in the 1960’s with 25 percent receiving a college degree. As of today, almost 40 percent will graduate from a four-year college.
Equal or Above Equal Graduation means Equal Pay….Right?
Inflation-adjusted average hourly wages for young college graduates in 2007 were $21.09 for men and $18.17 for women in 2007. (According to the Economic Policy Institute)
These wage statistics are a bit dissapointing to hear, yet I wonder how factors such as graduates with a degree in teaching degree affect the results? It’s no secret that a teaching degree pays less money than most other degrees. Women still occupy a high percentage of jobs in education, in fact, a recent story on MSN cited statistics released by the National Education Association (NEA), that men made up just 24.4 percent of the total number of teachers in 2006.
The main reason? Status and Pay.
So if men aren’t taking teaching positions because of status and pay, what kind of role does that play in skewing the wage gap?
Source: Washington Post
A recent Washing Post article talks about how the process of applying to college can be a stressful and problematic time in a high school senior’s life. Especially with current rejection rates at all time highs.
Side Effects of Applying to College?
Lack of sleep, headaches, stomach pain, and stress are just a few symptoms that can go along with the joys of college admissions. Most of these may seem harmless, but doctors warn, that stress can lead to depression eating disorders and other mental health problems.
Unfortunately, extreme circumstances of stress can lead to far worse circumstances. A recent clip from NBC’s, The Today Show discusses college suicide rates which are at an all time high.
Rejection, or Redemption?
A particular story of interest within the Washington Post article; one high school senior was devastated by rejections from Stanford and Princeton after ranking third in his class and scoring perfect SAT scores.
“I realize I didn’t found a company or discover a new insect. I feel like it’s coming to a point where you have to do something like that to get into schools like Princeton or Stanford.”
Today, he is a pre-med student at Notre Dame, says he has new outlook on being “rejected” by those Ivy League schools.
“At the time, it felt like it was the biggest deal in the world that I didn’t get into those schools, but I love it here. Looking back on it now, this is definitely the right place for me.”
How Can Students Cope?
The University of Iowa recommends different stress easing techniques such as assessing and adjusting diet, exercising regularly, and getting 7-8 hours of sleep each night. Seeking advice from friends, family, and or those who have been through the whole process of college admissions can prove beneficial as well.
Just remember, getting into school is the easy part. It’s the 4-7 years of hard work that follows which will be quite challenging at times.
Rising Costs of College (Texas)
Source: chron.com
Tuition and fees at public universities have risen 40 percent in Texas since 2003. This article centers around the turmoil forced by the credit markets and has created fears that private student loans will be fewer and more costly for those who can get them.
Community college grows
Community colleges in Texas report a surge of new students, while four-year schools say the cost and uncertainty have had little impact on enrollement. Close to 50% of Texas college students attend a community college.
Interest rates may be on the rise
Those that do qualify may have to pay higher interest rates. Students generally don’t apply for those loans until summer, so, again as posted before, it’ll be atleast June or July until consumers can see what kind of effect the credit crunch has had on student lending.
Congress passes student lending bill
Source: CNBC.com
The House voted on 4/18/08 in favor of an college lending bill 383-27 after tensions mounting that the tightening credit markets, triggered from the subprime mortgage crisis, could limit financial aid for students.
Statistic: 13 percent of companies in the lending market have recently stopped making loans under the federal student loan program.
The legislation gives the Education Department the ability to buy loans from student lenders which in turn helps lenders have more cash available for lending.
College Lending Under scrutiny
Sallie Mae and other CEO’s from lending institutions across the U.S. seem to think there’s a big problem with the collegiate loan industry, in part because they can’t bundle their loans into securities to sell to institutional investors. Why? Demand has dried up for these type of investments due to investor fear and a downward trend in investor liquidity. On Wednesday, Citigroup Inc. said it will temporarily stop issuing loans to students at schools where profits have not been satisfactory.
The fact is, no one will know just how bad the situation is until data will become available in June or July as mentioned in my April 17th post.
Help on the Way?
Congressional leaders and the Bush administration are in a bit of a bind when it comes to helping free up more dollars to lend to College students. Why? It would mean a bail out for the lending institutions who created the mess in the first place. Does this sound familiar? (Search Mortgage lending companies and credit crunch in Google )
What to Look for in the Months Ahead
Some areas of interest in the coming months.
College Enrollment/Attendance Statistics (Has student lending affected enrollment rates)
Student Loan Company Earnings Reports (Are publically traded companies earnings reflected upon the lack of money available?)
College Tuition adjustment (If enrollment starts to cool down, will institutions lower tuition rates?)
Employment Data (If the employment rate starts increasing, that will mean less money for the larger more prestigious Colleges)
The CEO of Sallie Mae warned of a “train wreck” coming in the $85 billion education financing market without urgent government intervention according to an article on MSNBC.
Chief Executive Al Lord told investors on a conference call Thursday, that a market hit by a credit crunch and cuts last year in federal subsidies to student lenders is cause for concern. Conveiently, his remarks about the the state of the college loan industry came hours ahead of an expected vote on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives on a bill which could help bail out the lending institutions.
A statistic to note in the conference call from Mr. Lord:
Demand for student loans at Sallie was running at $3 billion a month, while the company has only been able to access funding of about $1 billion a month.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24167304/
John McCain’s speech at a campaign stop in Pittsburgh spoke of wanting the federal government to free people from paying gasoline taxes this summer and also reaffirmed that college students should be able to secure loans this fall.
With nearly two dozen lenders having dropped out of the federally backed student loan program, lawmakers and congressional leaders are beginning to examine what kind of effect this may have on students and lending for college education.
Source: http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/apr/15/mccain-proposes-break-gas-taxes/?news-politics
Incoming Freshman students at the following campuses will pay more tuition fee’s for 2008:
University of Georgia
Georgia Institute of Technology
Georgia State University
Medical College of Georgia.
Officials approved the tuition rates to go towards the state’s overall university $2.3 billion budget. This increases the budget by a total of $165 million in state appropriations over last year.
Fewer Options Open to Pay for College
Student loan companies are in dire times and banks are tightening their lending standards by raising rates on borrowing, according to a story on the New York Times website.
As the economy worsens, the traditional ways in which to finance College will become less accessible. This proves especially difficult for families already who are already extended with debt.
Although the New York Times gives several examples of families hit hard by tightening lending standards in the banking industry, statistcs won’t be available on how bad the actual lending situation is, until mid- to late June or July.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/12/business/12loan.html?_r=1&ref=education&oref=slogin