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College prices up again as states slash budgets
Chart shows average college tuition and fees for four-year public colleges from 1981-2011.
Chart shows average college tuition and fees for four-year public colleges from 1981-2011.
As President Obama prepared to announce new measures Wednesday to help ease the burden of student loan debt, new figures painted a demoralizing picture of college costs for students and parents: Average in-state tuition and fees at four-year public colleges rose an additional $631 this fall, or 8.3 percent, compared with a year ago.
Nationally, the cost of a full credit load has passed $8,000, an all-time high. Throw in room and board, and the average list price for a state school now runs more than $17,000 a year, according to the twin annual reports on college costs and student aid published Wednesday by the College Board.
The large increase in federal grants and tax credits for students, on top of stimulus dollars that prevented greater state cuts, helped keep the average tuition-and-fees that families actually pay much lower: about $2,490, or just $170 more than five years ago. But the days of states and families relying on budget relief from Washington appear numbered. And some argue that while Washington's largesse may have helped some students, it did little to hold down prices.
"The states cut budgets, the price goes up, and the (federal) money goes to that," said Patrick Callan, president of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. "For 25 years we've been putting more and more money into financial aid, and tuition keeps going up. We're on a national treadmill."
Nonetheless, President Obama planned to announce a series of steps to help with one of the consequences of rising college prices: student debt. This year total outstanding student loan debt has passed $1 trillion, now exceeding credit card debt. And concerns about student loan debt have been front and center with many of the Occupy Wall Street protesters.
Obama will use executive authority for two loan-relief measures. First, he will move up the start date ? from 2014 to 2012 ? of a plan Congress already passed that reduces the maximum repayment on federal student loans from 15 percent of discretionary incomes to 10 percent. The White House says about 1.6 million borrowers could be affected, and that remaining debt would be forgiven after 20 years, instead of 25.
The administration also will allow 5.8 million borrowers with outstanding loans from two federal programs ? direct lending the Family Education Loan Program ? to consolidate into a direct loan, potentially saving some borrowers hundreds of dollars per month.
Those changes may not help new borrowers much, but they could put cash in the pockets of millions still paying back their loans. They also could encourage more borrowers to take advantage of the income repayment options that are already in place, but not widely known. Finally, by consolidating into direct lending, more could qualify for that program's public service loan forgiveness, which can forgive debts after just 10 years of repayments for people working in nonprofit or public service jobs.
In the College Board's latest price report, some of the increase was driven by huge increases at public universities in California, which enrolls 10 percent of public four-year college students and whose 21 percent tuition increase this year was the largest of any state.
But even without California, prices would have increased 7 percent on average nationally ? an exceptional burden at a time of high unemployment and stagnant family incomes.
Terry Hartle, senior vice president at the American Council on Education, which represents colleges in Washington, said the cause of the price increases for the 80 percent of college students who attend public institutions is clear. State appropriations to higher education declined 18 percent per student over the last three years, the College Board found, the sharpest fall on record.
"To see increases of 20 percent, as we saw in California, to see gains of 15 percent in other states, is simply unprecedented," Hartle said. "Tuition is simply being used as a revenue substitute in many states."
The College Board reports roughly 56 percent of 2009-2010 bachelor's degree recipients at public four-years graduated with debt, averaging about $22,000. At private nonprofit universities, the figures were higher ? 65 percent and around $28,000. Those figures are likely to rise, though private borrowing ? usually more dangerous than government loans ? has been falling.
"Psychologically, practically, it's a big number, and it will inform important choices, like when and whether you buy a home, start a family, save for retirement or take the risk of starting a new business," said Lauren Asher, president of The Institute for College Access and Success, who also applauded the Obama announcement.
And Asher and other experts emphasize that the types of loans students take out can be as important as the amount. In general, a college degree remains a good investment.
Other slivers of what passes for good news: While several states had double-digit percentage increases, there were wide variations, and Connecticut and South Carolina held under 3 percent. Roughly half of students are enrolled in nonprofit colleges attend institutions charging under $10,000, and fewer than 1 in 10 attend institutions listing prices over $36,000.
Meanwhile, both community colleges and private four-year colleges reported lower tuition inflation than public universities.
At nonprofit private four-year colleges, tuition and fees were up 4.5 percent to $28,500. Factoring in aid, the average total net cost, including room and board, was about $22,970 ? lower than five years ago. At community colleges, where list prices rose 8.7 percent nationally to just under $3,000, net costs also are lower than five years ago, and aid generally covers the whole price.
Still, while net costs are important to note, they don't tell the whole story. They don't cover living costs, which for many students are a higher obstacle than tuition, especially if they can't work as much while enrolled.
And the aid dollars that help lower the average net price don't always go to the neediest students.
Colleges award merit scholarships. Federal Pell Grants do support the neediest, and spending on them has nearly doubled in the last two years to around $35 billion (9.1 million students got grants averaging $3,828).
But the latest College Board figures highlight a rapid recent increase in indirect government support through tuition and other tax credits, which have reached almost $15 billion. Around 12 million people are now taking advantage of tax benefits averaging more than $1,200. And while recent changes make low-income families better able to take advantage of those credits, a growing proportion of the benefit goes to families earning more than $100,000.
The tax credit program, dramatically expanded in 2009, "really changes the story of how the federal government subsidizes students," said Sandy Baum, the economist who directs the College Board's reports. The credit is "not so much a middle-income benefit as we're used to thinking about it."
Some states are not only cutting their appropriations but not even paying what they've promised. Illinois is late on payments worth $500 million to nine campuses this year.
The percentage increases in California, once widely considered to have the best-value public universities in the world, are so high in part because the base prices of past years were low. Prices there still aren't high by national standards, but this year for the first time, California's tuition and fee rates were above the national average. That in 2011 California's public universities would be cost more than the national average would have been unimaginable to most experts a decade ago.
Hartle and others say this year's sharp increases came despite the last chunks of stimulus dollars from Washington used to plug holes in education spending. Looking forward, state budgets remain broken and there's little indication Washington will come riding to the rescue.
"I'm not exactly sure where higher education in the United States is going," he said. "But I have a feeling California is going to get there first."
Also, on Tuesday, an Education Department official testified to a House subcommittee that personal details of as many as 5,000 college students were temporarily visible to other students on the departments' direct loan web site earlier this month.
The episode lasted six or seven minutes on Oct. 12 and happened during a reconfiguration of data on 11.5 million borrowers to improve website performance times, said James Runcie, the Education Department's federal student aid chief operating officer. Students who logged on during that window saw other students' personal details. Those who were exposed were notified and offered credit monitoring services. The department said it had no reason to believe any students' information was misused.
___
On the Net:
www.collegeboard.org
___
Justin Pope covers higher education for The Associated Press. You can reach him at twitter.com/jnn_pope9. AP Education Writer Kimberly Hefling contributed to this report from Washington, D.C.
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Nintendo DSi XL bundles land on November 6th, just time for the holidays
Continue reading Nintendo DSi XL bundles land on November 6th, just time for the holidays
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Nevada moves caucus to Feb. 4 after backlash (AP)
MANCHESTER, N.H. ? Nevada Republicans have shifted their presidential caucuses to early February, a move that ends an increasingly bitter standoff among rival states and for the first time clarifies the path to the Republican presidential nomination.
There will be no voting before Christmas. That's despite warnings from New Hampshire's top election official that Nevada's initial insistence to host its contest in mid-January could force the Granite State to schedule the nation's first Republican primary election in roughly six weeks.
But facing boycott threats from campaigns, incentive offers from the Republican National Committee, and the private blessing of the Mitt Romney campaign, Nevada Republicans voted Saturday to set their caucuses for Feb. 4. It will be the West's first stop in the race for the Republican presidential nomination and the fifth contest overall, after Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida.
"The candidates are anxious to come here and campaign and don't want to have the heat put on them by New Hampshire to stay away," former Nevada Gov. Bob List, a national Republican committeeman, said before Saturday's vote. "We have to eat a little crow perhaps in some people's minds, but I think in the end it's a win-win."
The calendar scramble had consumed Republican officials in early voting states and complicated candidates' decisions about travel, the timing of television advertisements and the distribution of limited resources. But with New Hampshire now free to settle on its preferred date of Jan. 10, the final puzzle pieces appear to have fallen into place.
Iowa will keep its Jan. 3 caucus date despite Nevada's move, Iowa GOP chairman Matt Strawn said Saturday.
The Republican presidential contenders are free to shift their campaigns into high gear with the first stop on the road to the GOP nomination set for Iowa in just 10 weeks.
"Now you'll see the campaigns ramp up very quickly," said Michael Dennehy, a New Hampshire Republican operative who led Sen. John McCain's political operation four years ago and was a central player in the Granite State's boycott push in recent weeks.
Nevada's shift ensures the state won't suffer penalties expected for states that violated national party rules by skipping ahead to boost their political influence. Nevada Republicans also stand to earn some perks at the party's national convention in Florida next August. As part of negotiations in recent days, the Republican National Committee promised Nevada delegates they could sit on the floor "in the best positions," and would have prime hotel space if they made the change, according to Nevada GOP Chairwoman Amy Tarkanian.
"This will be well worth it," she said. "We will be the good guys in the end because we don't need to be New Hampshire's pinata."
Republican Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval endorsed the move, saying it would allow the state GOP to focus on its principal goal ? winning elections.
"The move preserves Nevada's first-in-the-West standing and creates a scenario where all candidates will likely compete here," he said in a statement.
The RNC would not comment on its specific role in the discussions, but Chairman Reince Priebus, who had called for a compromise, praised Nevada's decision.
"Nevadans should be proud of their Republican leaders," he said. "They have restored their state's key role in the nomination process and in the 2012 presidential election."
The Romney campaign also played an active, but private, role in the flap.
Campaign officials initially encouraged Nevada to schedule its caucuses before Florida, hoping that Romney's popularity in Nevada would fuel a victory there and create momentum heading into the critical Florida contest. But sensing a political backlash in New Hampshire, Romney representatives in recent days encouraged key Nevada Republicans to settle on a later date.
The Romney campaign would not discuss its actions publicly when asked Saturday, but did not dispute its role.
New Hampshire officials were clearly happy.
"It's a win for the process and it's certainly a win for New Hampshire," said Phyllis Woods, a RNC member from the Granite State. "Going forward, we really want to have Nevada as an ally. We really don't want to have enemies as we go into the next primary calendar."
Also Saturday, Nevada Democrats said they would hold their caucuses on Jan. 21.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who helped obtain the state's third-in-the nation status in 2008, decried the GOP's move.
"I'm deeply disappointed that the Nevada Republican Party has caved to the will of the Republican National Committee and New Hampshire," he said in a statement.
___
Silva reported from Las Vegas. Associated Press writer Tom Beaumont contributed to this story from Iowa.
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Iraqis fret about security after U.S. withdrawal
BAGHDAD?? Iraqis fretted about the ability of their armed forces to protect them from violence after U.S. President Barack Obama said on Friday all U.S. troops would withdraw by the end of the year.
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Washington and Baghdad failed to agree on the issue of immunity for U.S. forces after months of talks over whether American soldiers would stay on as trainers more than eight years after the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
Obama's announcement prompted worries among Iraqis over the stability of their country and a possible slide back into sectarian violence.
"Our forces are still not capable of facing our security challenges. I'm afraid this withdrawal will allow al-Qaida and the militias to return," said Baghdad shoe shop owner Ziyad Jabari.
Live vote: Was Iraq war worth the human, financial costs?A stubborn Sunni insurgency tied to al-Qaida and Shi'ite militia still carry out lethal attacks in Iraq, where bombings and killings happen daily even though violence has dropped from the height of sectarian fighting in 2006-2007.
At least 70 people were killed last week as a series of attacks rocked the capital Baghdad.
In September, 42 Iraqi police and 33 soldiers were killed, according to government figures.
Iraqi security forces have been the prime target of attacks this year as insurgents seek to undermine security in the country ahead of the scheduled U.S. withdrawal by year-end.
"As an Iraqi citizen, I say to Mr. Obama, you will leave Iraq without accomplishing your mission," said Munaf Hameed, a 47-year-old account manager at a private bank.
"No security, an unstable political regime, sectarian tensions and weak security forces, that's what America will leave behind," he said.
Political stability
Some Iraqi leaders say in private they would like a U.S. troop presence as a guarantee to ward off sectarian troubles and keep the peace between Iraqi Arabs and Kurds in a dispute over who controls oil-rich areas in the north.
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Iraqi and U.S. forces have said Iraq needs trainers beyond 2011 to develop its military capabilities, particularly its air and naval defenses.
Republicans criticize Obama over Iraq withdrawalThe country's power-sharing coalition made up of Sunni, Shi'ite and Kurdish blocs is also caught in a political stalemate many Iraqis fear could worsen without a U.S. buffer.
"I think the fighting between the political blocs will increase because the U.S. presence was a safety valve for security and political issues," said Muntadhir Abdel Wahab, 44, a Baghdad merchant.
But some Iraqis applauded the decision by Obama and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and said the withdrawal of U.S. troops would help stabilize the country's fragile political situation and quell sectarian tensions.
Obama keeps campaign promise with IraqMany Iraqis still have memories of abuses committed by U.S. troops and contractors during the more violent years of Iraq's conflict. That made securing immunity tricky for Maliki.
Iraqi lawmakers backing anti-American Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, whose political bloc is a key part of Maliki's coalition government, said they would disrupt the power-sharing government if he agreed to keep U.S. forces.
"Iraq's people will realize the necessity of living together in one country despite differences in religion, sect and nationality," said engineer Mahdi Salim, who was visiting family in Kirkuk. "America tried to drag us into civil war."
Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44994341/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/
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ASUS Zenbook gets taken apart, finds the peace within
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Hundreds rally in support of Iranian opposition (AP)
WASHINGTON ? Hundreds of people rallied outside the White House on Saturday, calling on President Barack Obama to remove an Iranian opposition group once allied with Saddam Hussein's Iraqi regime from the U.S. list of terrorist organizations.
Former Pennsylvania Govs. Tom Ridge and Ed Rendell were among speakers urging the U.S. to take the Mujahedin-e Khalq off the State Department's list. Ridge, a Republican, was the nation's first homeland security secretary. Rendell is a top Democrat who helped elect Obama.
"The only group that should be on the list is the country of Iran itself, under the rule of the mullahs," Ridge said, noting recent U.S. allegations of a foiled Iranian plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia's ambassador in Washington.
The U.S. added MEK to its terrorist list in 1997. But last year a federal court ordered the State Department to reconsider and meanwhile the group has rallied 97 members of Congress as well as many former high-ranking U.S. officials to its cause.
Delisting would allow the Paris-based group to raise money and operate in the U.S., which it is currently prohibited from doing.
The MEK carried out a series of bombings and assassinations against Iran's clerical regime in the 1980s and fought alongside Saddam's forces in the Iran-Iraq war. But the group says it renounced violence in 2001.
Ridge and Rendell said the MEK has not been linked to any terrorist attacks since that time. They pointed out that the European Union and the United Kingdom have concluded that the MEK is not a terrorist organization and called on Obama to reach the same decision.
Critics of the MEK say it has cult-like characteristics and that delisting it would be seen even by moderate Iranians as an endorsement by the U.S. of terrorism. A 2010 State Department report on the MEK said: "The group's worldwide campaign against the Iranian government uses propaganda and terrorism to achieve its objectives."
MEK spokesman Ali Safavi called the State Department's description "a political statement and not a factual one." He said the group would not have such broad Congressional support if it was engaged in terrorist activities.
Saturday's noisy protest took place outside the wrought iron gates of the White House.
"We want President Obama to hear us," said Rendell, a former Democratic Party chairman.
Obama left the White House for the drive to Andrews Air Force Base in suburban Maryland to play golf as the demonstration began, and it's not clear if he heard any of it.
During the rally, the mostly Iranian-American crowd broke into regular chants of "MEK, yes. Mullahs, no. They are terrorists. They must go," and "President Obama, listen to us. MEK listing is unjust."
The event was organized by the Iranian American Professionals and Scholars of Maryland.
Organizers say the MEK was put on the terror list to appease Iranian leaders, but has only given the regime an excuse to arrest and kill dissidents in Iran and Iraq. They contend that delisting would strengthen a major Iranian opposition group.
The MEK has revealed the existence of several important Iranian nuclear facilities.
U.S. officials say that Iran is laying the groundwork for a nuclear weapons program, although its leaders may not have decided to build a bomb. Iran says its nuclear ambitions are entirely peaceful.
Speakers at the protest also urged the U.S. to continue supporting more than 3,000 former MEK fighters and others living at Camp Ashraf near Iraq's border with Iran. The Iraqi government wants to close the camp and Iraqi security forces have twice raided Ashraf, most recently in April. The U.N. said at least 34 people were killed in that incident.
The U.S. has pledged to protect camp residents from violence, but those rallying outside the White House said Obama's announcement of a complete pullout of Iraq by the end of the year could make that promise difficult to keep.
___
Associated Press writer Douglas Birch contributed to this report.
___
Darlene Superville can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/dsupervilleap
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