à bientôt

     There’s a board meeting tomorrow night. I won’t be there, ‘cause I’m headed for Europe for a couple of weeks. I’ll try to post from there, but I suspect you’ll be hearing more from the Reb.
     For the board’s agenda, go here.
     Later!

Default rate jumps

• Default Rate on Federal Student Loans Jumps to 8.9%, a Nearly 2-Point Rise (Chronicle of Higher Education)

     The rate at which students defaulted on their federal loans in the two-year period ending September 30, 2010, was 8.9 percent, an increase of nearly two percentage points over the two-year rate for the previous year, according to draft data released on Friday by the U.S. Department of Education.
. . .
     Students at for-profit colleges, who make up about 10 percent of the nation's college enrollments, accounted for nearly half of all the defaults—47 percent—the draft data show. A year earlier, that proportion was 43 percent.
     The overall two-year default rate for students at for-profit colleges also rose. It was 15.2 percent, up from 11.6 percent in the previous year and 11 percent the year before that.
     The default rate for public colleges was 7.3 percent, and for private, nonprofit colleges it was 4.7 percent, according to the draft data.…
     Officials at for-profit colleges say that their students default at higher rates because a majority of them are poorer to start with and face many more financial challenges. Critics of the colleges say their high default rates show that many of those institutions are loading up their students with unaffordable debt that the students cannot repay once they graduate or drop out….

• New York Joins List of States Known to Be Investigating For-Profit Colleges (Chronicle of Higher Education)
• Textbooks Go the iTunes Route, but Buying by Chapters Might Not Save Students Money (Chronicle of Higher Education)

Lewis at Chapman U

Jerry Lewis speaks at Chapman graduation (OC Weekly)

     …Movie star and comedian Jerry Lewis delivered the commencement speech Saturday morning, switching off between sage and humorous advice for the graduates.
     "There is nothing out there you cannot do if you want to do it badly enough," said Lewis, adding later, "you musn't be afraid of what people say about you, because you should really let them wonder what you think of them. That's a lot easier."
     He finished his speech saying that one should always leave the audience with a quote they will remember forever.
     "A friend in need is a pest," Lewis joked.