Good article by Sam Frizell in Time magazine. A few excerpts: "At the end of 2003, American students and graduates owed just $253 billion in aggregate debt; by the end of 2013, American students’ debt had ballooned to a total of $1.08 trillion, an increase of over 300%. In the past year alone, aggregate student debt grew 10%. By comparison, overall debt grew just 43% in the last decade and 1.6% over the past year." … [Read more...] about Student Loans Dragging Down the Economy?
Archives for March 2014
Access, Affordability, and Success: Response to the President’s College Ratings Plan
Awilda Rodriguez and Andrew Kelly of the Center on Higher Education Reform at AEI: Last fall, President Obama unveiled a plan to promote college affordability by changing the way the federal government distributes student financial aid. The proposal calls for a federal college ratings system that appraises colleges on measures of access, affordability, and student success.These ratings would then govern the allocation of federal student aid dollars, with schools that perform well receiving larger Pell Grants and more generous student loans. Schools that lag behind would get less.... … [Read more...] about Access, Affordability, and Success: Response to the President’s College Ratings Plan
Have You Ever Had a Pastoral Visit?
Great observations from Michael Horton on an old practice less common in our day. An excerpt: Pastors today aren’t as busy as Luther. Yet Luther said that it was the pastor’s duty to teach the catechism to the people, and he did so. He did it for the young people. And he taught them on personal visits. This view of the pastor was carried over into Reformed practice also. Right down to today, pastors and elders make it a point to visit every family in the congregation—at least once a year. … [Read more...] about Have You Ever Had a Pastoral Visit?
Should We Become a Cashless Society?
Confession: I hate carrying and spending cash. Always have. I like the convenience of putting everything on one credit card, being able to have an instant record of my spending, and (of course) earning 1 percent cash back. I'm not prone to impulse purchases, and I've always paid my bill in full and on time. But Derek Thomas has a provocative article in The Atlantic on the downsides of our becoming a cashless society. Thomas writes: "In the 1970s, fewer than 20 percent of the adult population owned a credit card. Today, between 70 and 80 percent of the adult population does." So what? Thomas … [Read more...] about Should We Become a Cashless Society?
Doug Phillips and Vision Forum: What Happened?
In a forthcoming cover story for World magazine, Jamie Dean explores the background of what appeared to many (myself included) to be the sudden resignation of Doug Phillips. Dean writes that Phillips' confession "didn’t include at least two significant details: The unmarried woman had been a member of his church, and Phillips had continued in his public ministry at VFM for at least eight months after he confessed to church leadership." Phillips' October confession, Dean writes, "came the day after five men arrived at his San Antonio home to ask him about reports they heard concerning his … [Read more...] about Doug Phillips and Vision Forum: What Happened?
Half of College Presidents Lack Long-term Confidence in Their Financial Model
The 2014 survey of college and university presidents, sponsored by Inside Higher Ed, has a few results that feed the narrative that while college has never been more expensive, many institutions are on unsustainable financial path (HT: the reference comes from chapter 4 of Jeff Selingo's groundbreaking book College UnBound.) Here are a few examples from the survey: Nearly two-thirds of presidents are confident about the sustainability of their institution’s financial mode over the next five years -- but that proportion falls to half over 10 years. Asked to rate the financial viability … [Read more...] about Half of College Presidents Lack Long-term Confidence in Their Financial Model