A lawsuit that challenges the policy of Wheaton College, in Massachusetts, to charge its regular tuition to students studying abroad on less-costly independent programs is the latest sign of scrutiny into the finances of overseas education. Wheaton officials say the tuition policy is stated online and in program materials, maintaining that…

The investigations of student-loan programs around the country echo previous scandals in the financial world involving stock offerings and mutual funds. The relationships between lenders and financial-aid officers seem to raise the same questions about impropriety, conflict of interest, and possible fraud. Indeed, lessons from Wall Street can…

Half the endowment of Macalester College (Minnesota) is controlled by the Readers Digest Association, not the college. Macalester can not sell the poorly-performing stocks. Income from the stocks supports a need-blind admissions policy. Some faculty feel the endowment should be used to further enhance the college's distinctiveness. (MSE)

In almost half of the Department of Education's biennial audits of colleges receiving federal financial aid, institutions are found to have made mistakes in aid distribution, and each year the department asks colleges to return $25-million in aid money. Better oversight methods are urged. (MSE)

Proposed National Collegiate Athletic Association rule changes address issues of academic standards, financial aid, program administration, association administration, championships and extra events, athlete eligibility, association membership and institutional classification, playing seasons, and aspects of program deregulation. (MSE)

The 28 institutions currently sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association for violation of association regulations are listed. For each institution, the specific violations and penalties are noted. Violations are largely in recruitment, financial aid, benefits to athletes, and program administration and penalties are in competition,…

Two years into its new life as a private company, the Student Loan Marketing Association (Sallie Mae) is both creating a division to handle the processing and clerical duties of college financial aid offices and backing away from a short-lived move into the business of underwriting college bonds. The agency also originates government-subsidized…

While the National Collegiate Athletic Association made no policy changes in its recent meeting, many presidents, athletics directors, and other sports officials attending may have made substantial progress toward reform through extensive exchange of ideas on the notion of federation within divisions, the legislative process, and financial aid…

The uses the University of Michigan makes of its federal aid dollars, and the sources of that support, are outlined and a general comparison to the situations of other institutions is made. (MSE)

Secretary of Education William J. Bennett has challenged colleges to curb their costs and is considering a federal policy that would reduce financial aid to students whose institutions increase their charges much beyond the inflation rate. He proposes that federal policy has fueled the college cost spiral. (MSE)

A recent Department of Education study, developed with the assistance of the Internal Revenue Service, found that of 2.3 million Pell Grants in 1995-96, 102,000 went to students who failed to report or underreported family income. More than 300 recipients had each underreported income by over $100,000. The report comes when the Clinton…

Louisiana's program of state merit scholarships, inspired by Georgia's HOPE Scholarship program, is over budget in its first year because lawmakers pushed to expand eligibility and data for estimating costs was inadequate. Critics find such programs often provide aid to families with little financial need. The program pays full tuition at state…

Public officials and student aid experts agree that the federal program delivery system is outdated, inefficient, and vulnerable to fraud, but they disagree on how bad the situation is and whether the Education Department has the structure necessary to fix it. A 1995 project to integrate all federal grant and loan programs into one system has not…

Present and former student athletes, program and institutional administrators, and association representatives encourage reform through higher academic standards, increased student responsibility, better program coordination, increased cooperation between coaches and administrators, better enforcement of rules, and closing the gaps between college…

A study on sex equity by the National Collegiate Athletic Association found men's college athletic teams receive 70 percent of athletic scholarship money, 77 percent of operating money, and 83 percent of recruiting money spent by colleges playing big-time sports, despite virtually equal enrollment of men and women. Interpretations of the data…