Student loan defaults rose to 8.8 percent in the fiscal year ending on Sept. 30, marking a 1.8-percent increase from last year, according to Department of Education data released on Monday. These rates are at their highest point since 1997, when the share of federal student loans was also 8.8 percent. Borrowers at for-profit colleges and universities who defaulted on their student loans in the first two years of repayment also increased to 15 percent, up from 11.6 percent in the previous year. The data released by the Department of Education which also includes information from borrowers at public institutions represents 3.6 million students, more than 320,000 of whom defaulted between October 2008 and September 2010. Higher education experts speculate that the numbers reflect the impact of a poor economic climate, and may forecast greater problems for financial aid in the future, The New York Times reported.
The number of full-time M.B.A. program applications declined for the third year in a row, according to a report released by the Graduate Admission Council on Tuesday. The number of students seeking admission to part-time business school programs are subsequently on the rise, the Graduate Admission Council reported. These trends are likely a result of the economic downturn, as many students elect to continue working while in graduate school to improve their financial situation, Robert Ludwig, a spokesman for the council, said in an interview with The Chronicle of Higher Education. Specialized master's degrees in areas relating to finance, however, were on the rise this year, according to the council's report. Master-of-finance programs, for example, experienced an 83-percent increase in applications, the report said.
Columbia University chemistry professor James Valenti was named the dean of Columbia College and vice president for undergraduate education, Columbia President Lee C. Bollinger wrote in a letter to the campus community on Sept. 9. Valenti's appointment follows the departure of various high-level administrators at the university, The New York Times reported. Former Columbia College Dean Michele Moody-Adams, who was the first female and first black dean of the College, left her post but returned to her position as a philosophy professor in the beginning of September. Former university Provost Claude Steele, Columbia's first black provost, resigned in June, according to The Times.
