This Week in CQ Researcher

Student Debt by Marcia Clemmitt, Oct. 21, 2011

Is the college-loan system fair?

As Congress tries to reduce the federal debt, it is forcing federal loan and grant programs for higher education to fight for scarce dollars. In negotiations this summer over the debt ceiling, lawmakers shifted money from loan programs for students who borrow for graduate and professional school and students who pay back loans on time to Pell Grants for low-income students. The government has implemented several new programs to make the loan system fairer, including making payments easier for lower-wage earners and providing federal loans directly to borrowers rather than through banks, to avoid subsidizing commercial institutions.

However, some consumer advocates say unless education debt can be forgiven through bankruptcy proceedings, as most other debt can, the system will never be fair to student borrowers. Meanwhile, tuition continues to rise, and total higher-education debt has surpassed credit-card debt for the first time, rising to $830 billion in mid-2010 and continuing to climb.

• Are students incurring too much education debt?
  
• Does rising college debt limit who attends and completes college?
  
• Has the increasing availability of education loans driven up college costs?
  

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This Week in CQ Researcher

Crime on Campus by Peter Katel,
February 4, 2011

Are colleges doing enough to keep students safe?

A federal law requires colleges and universities to report the number of major crimes that occur on their campuses each year, but critics say the data fail to give a complete picture of offenses committed by or against students, particularly sexual assaults. On the whole, college students are safer than their nonstudent counterparts. Still, the annual data don’t include many off-campus crimes and others not reported by victims. What’s more, the law, known as the Clery Act, exempts campus counselors from having to report the number of alleged sexual assaults and other possible crimes students tell them about.

Critics argue that some administrators resist disclosing the extent of campus crimes to protect the image of their institutions. But some college officials are acknowledging the perils of campus crime and putting new emphasis on teaching students to head off potential danger. They are focusing in part on binge drinking, which has been shown to have a strong link to sexual assaults.

• Has the Clery Act increased campus safety?
  
• Should campus women’s centers be required to report statistics on sexual violence?
  
• Are laws and lawsuits forcing schools to become more protective of students?
  

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