Accountability Against Colleges

Wednesday March 6th, 2023

This week in Ryan's Weekly Wave Newsletter: A lawmaker proposes that colleges should pay for outstanding student loan debt, job candidates and recruiters both “ghost” each other, and sleep deprived people curse more.

In the News

Ethics, Schmethics: Americans are increasingly pessimistic lately when they are asked to rate the ethics of various occupations. (Gallup)

• Labor union leaders were the only profession that saw a recent increase, but it was just 1%.

An AI Industry Probe: An investigation into whether OpenAI misled investors has been launched by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). (Quartz)

• A separate investigation by the European Union is also underway regarding possible anti-competitive behavior by the company. (Quartz)

SATs still Optional: Widely-circulated headlines about several Ivy League schools’ decisions to reinstitute testing requirements as a criteria for entry have not been predictive of other colleges' behavior. (Vox)

Other News

Ghosts that We Know: People hate when recruiters from companies “ghost” them but data suggest that 78% of job candidates do it and 62% plan to. (CNBC)

A Deeper Dive - One Way to Control College Costs

The Higher Education Act is up for renewal by Congress and it has been for quite some time. The 1965 legislation was last updated over a decade ago but there is a widespread sentiment that it is outdated and in need of reform.

A proposal known as HR 6951, or ‘The College Cost Reduction Act’ has been advanced by Republican Congresswoman Virginia Foxx, who is the Chairwoman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

The Contents of the Proposed Legislation

The American Council on Education put together an easy-to-follow summary of what is in the Bill:

• The maximum Pell Grant award for juniors and seniors would double in certain bachelor’s programs that are considered to be viable for career advancement.
• Students would only be required to pay back what they would have owed on a standard 10-year repayment plan.
• Prevents interest from capitalizing on student loans and simplifies repayment processes.
• Repeals Department of Education (DOE) regulations, including gainful employment and financial value transparency.
• Terminates PLUS loans for graduate students.
• Imposes stricter limits on different forms of student borrowing.
• Limits needs analysis and the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant program.

Opponents argue that the bill would harm minority and low income people. Proponents argue that the burgeoning student loan debt has already harmed these groups and that reigning in escalating costs is of paramount importance.

Perhaps most interestingly, the bill imposes a form of risk-sharing on the part of colleges. Under the College Cost Reduction Act, colleges would join students as bearing some of the risk if enough students who attend a college are unable to pay off their loans.

What I’m Listening To

We’re seeing a fundamental reorganization of work in America - Plain English with Derek Thompson (Podcast Episode)

This was a fun exploration of the fascinating recent disconnect between the positive economic numbers that we have seen recently and the lagging consumer economic sentiment scores. (YCharts)

In 2020, median wages increased significantly. However, a closer look at the data reveals that the reason for the higher median wage was not higher wages. Instead, their was widespread unemployment in lower income sectors.

This skewed the median income for reported wages because many lower income earners were excluded from the data.?

Other topics that were discussed include the decreasing ‘college wage premium’ and promise of recent increases in real wages.

Quote of the Week

“Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.”?

- Denis Waitley

Articles of the Week

Friends appreciate you for who you are, rather than for who they want you to be. (Marc and Angel)

Too bored or too busy at work? Change your day to day for a better life. (Breakfast Leadership)

Hobbies make life worthwhile but what we say “no” to is just as important as what we say “yes” to. (Get Rich Slowly)

From Deep Dive Careers: An Enriching Life Requires Responsible Thinking, Not Extremism

• Is extremist thinking on the rise? It sure seems so.

Other Fun Stuff

A study suggests that people who are sleep deprived are more prone to cursing. (Current Psychology)

Dad Joke of the Week

"Dad, I saw a deer on the way to school this morning."

"How do you know it was on its way to school?!"

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