Roundup: News You Need to Know, Tues., Dec. 12th

Indiana University Will Cover Full Tuition for Pell Grant Recipients

Indiana University (IU) has announced a new merit-based aid program for needy students. IU will assume the remainder of tuition and fee costs not covered by the Pell grant on two conditions: the student scores 1150 or higher on the SAT and maintains a 3.0 grade point average. At its current maximum level of $4,050, the Pell grant offsets only about 60 percent of IU tuition and fees. Now Pell grant-eligible students will only have to pay for books and living expenses. IU has already announced four other new financial aid initiatives this month, and plans to increase its financial aid spending by more than $10 million.

Texas Continues to Discuss Statewide Truth-in-Tuition Policy

Truth-in-tuition continues to garner support from state officials and higher education leaders in Texas. The University of Texas at El Paso started a guaranteed tuition rate plan this fall, and university administrators at Texas other public universities are taking note. Truth-in-tuition requires that universities set the cost of a four-year education at the beginning of a students freshman yeareither by locking in the same tuition rate for four years or by creating a set schedule of tuition increases. The Chancellor of the University of Texas system supports the idea, but has expressed concern about what would happen in the case of a recession.

Wisconsin Commission Floats Idea of Free Tuition for Vow to Work in State

A state commission assembled to reform Wisconsins two-year community colleges has come up with a big idea for increasing access to the entire University of Wisconsin system. They appear ready to recommend that the state give free tuition to all Wisconsin students who remain and work in the state for 10 years after graduation. Wisconsin is looking for a solution to both the college affordability crisis and a "brain drain" of its students who move to more attractive job markets in other states.

Newspaper Investigates Arizona States Revenue Arrangement with Private Preferred Lender

A local newspaper in Arizona conducted an investigation of Arizona State Universitys (ASU) ties to its preferred private student loan lender, Education Finance Partners. It found that ASU receives a cut of the revenue that Education Finance Partners makes from private ASU student loans. The maximum payout is quite small$40,000but some other schools, such as the University of Oregon, and lenders, such as MyRichUncle, have criticized such arrangements for producing conflicts of interest. Financial aid officials at ASU said that they accepted the contract with Education Finance Partners with the plan of funneling the endorsement revenue to increased financial aid. The contract, however, does not secure low interest rates or place any customer service requirements on Education Finance Partners, raising the question: was the arrangement actually made in the best interest of students?