The Department of Education's Inspector General has identified and prosecuted 17 cases where borrowers received large amounts in student loans by claiming falsely to be pursuing studies at foreign institutions. Officials see serious statutory, regulatory, and program deficiencies that may expose programs to more fraud and abuse. Critics feel the…

A federal court decision overturning federal regulations requiring research institutions to present plans for care and use of laboratory animals has renewed debate over laboratory animal welfare. University scientists fear new, stricter Department of Agriculture regulations will result. (MSE)

The National Commission on the Cost of Higher Education has rejected calls for federal intervention to reduce college costs, but warned that if institutions do not control costs, the government will be forced to intervene, which could destroy academic quality. While colleges appreciate the panel's sensitivity to college autonomy, some observers…

Lynne V. Cheney, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, has charged liberal scholars with using college classrooms to advance their political agendas and indoctrinate students, blaming feminists in particular. She urges trustees and alumni groups to become more involved in protecting academic freedom. Some critics are alarmed. (MSE)

Since its creation in 1992, the Public Health Service's Office of Research Integrity has not won a single case against a scientist accused of research misconduct. Cases are adjudicated by a panel of lawyers. Scientists and critics agree that the government's failure will have serious consequences for the research community. (MSE)

Under President Clinton's budget plan for fiscal 1995, the rise in federal funding for research and development at universities, although modest, compares well with cuts made in many federal programs. Data for proposed spending in the Department of Education and other federal agencies are presented and compared with fiscal 1993 and 1994. (MSE)

In a case concerning the National Institutes of Health and Stanford University (California), a federal judge has ruled that government agencies cannot require researchers receiving federal funds to submit research results for review before release to the public. Such a preview is seen as threatening academic freedom. (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…

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…

The Clinton Administration's proposed overhaul of the guaranteed student loan program would pay banks the amount of unpaid federal student loans, making the government the sole insurer of the loans. Guarantee agencies feel this action would strip them of their primary tasks of reimbursing lenders for unpaid loans. The initiative is intended to…