College Dropouts Face Debt Debacle; A Fraternity at UC Plans a Racially Insensitive Party

College Dropouts Have High Debt, But No Degree to Show for It As the nation faces a $1 trillion student debt conundrum, experts have sounded the alarm over the recent rise in student loan debt held by a less talked about segment of borrowers: college dropouts. According to a survey conducted by the think tank Education Sector, nearly 30 percent of all college students who took out loans later dropped out—up from 23 percent in 2001. Some experts say students without a clear post-graduation career plan, and a way to pay off acquired loans is a “recipe for disaster.” “They have the economic burden of the debt but they do not get the benefit of higher income and higher levels of employment that one gets with a college degree,” said Jack Remondi, Chief Operating Officer at the nation’s largest student loan lender, Sallie Mae. “Access and success are not linking up,” he added. The Obama administration has tried to address the issue by putting in place new targets for college graduation aimed at ensuring that all high school students are ready and prepared for the challenges of college. However, work and lack of funds—not college readiness—were credited as the main reasons for the increasing rates in student withdrawal. According to a 2009 study by Public Agenda nearly half of the students said they dropped out because of financial reasons while only 25 percent attributed their leaving to socializing and other reasons. “In the end, it’s about money and time,” said Anthony Carne-vale, director of the Center on Education and the Workforce at Georgetown University. “There’s almost a synergy between the two that will knock you out of school” [Washington Post]

Fraternity’s Offensive  ‘Conquistadors and Aztec Hoes’ Party Gets Shutdown Before it Gets Started The Delta Upsilon fraternity at the University of Chicago received sharp criticism last week for posting a flier for a party with a “Conquistadors and Aztec Hoes” theme that encouraged attendees to bring “an unlimited need to conquer, spread disease and enslave natives.” The party’s planned activities, according to the school’s newspaper, included wearing sombreros, and mowing lawns to the tune of Latin music. The school’s dean of students Kimberly Goff-Crews said, “[The institution’s] core values of rigorous and open inquiry is threatened when comments degrade others based on their identity,” she continued. “I am troubled by the impact such incidents have on the wider student community, as they conflict with our values as an intellectual community and harm our ability to fulfill our educational mission.” In a response to an inquiry for an interview from The Chicago Sun-Times, the fraternity wrote in an email that they were “Deeply regretful that our initial event title and description offended members of the university community...[the fraternity] is taking steps to mend our relationship with the individuals and organizations that we have harmed.” [Chicago Sun-Times]

San Antonio Schools Implement Scanner to Track Students in School Schools inside the city limits of San Antonio will enroll in a controversial scanner plan to track student’s geographical location using a chip placed inside the student’s IDs. School officials who have supported the idea argue that the chip is just another tool to safeguard students– and to capitalize on federal grants given out to schools with high attendance numbers. “We want to harness the power of technology to make schools safer, know where our students are at all times in a school, and increase revenues,” said district spokesman Pascual Gonzalez. “Parents expect that we always know where their children are, and this technology will help us do that.” According to the assistant superintendent for the school district, the pilot program will cost around $525,065 to implement fully – and could net around $1.7 million in Medicaid reimbursements thanks to higher attendance, and busing special education students. The technology, called Radio Frequency Identification System (RFID), will not track the students once they depart school grounds. In a statement on the American Civil Liberties Union’s website, the group criticized the system, saying, “RFID is an item-tagging technology with profound societal implications,” they continued. “Used improperly, RFID has the potential to jeopardize consumer privacy, reduce or eliminate purchasing anonymity, and threaten civil liberties.”  Parents who oppose the proposal say they feel teachers should be in charge of attendance, and not the schools themselves. “I would hope teachers can help motivate students to be in their seats instead of the district having to do this,” said Margaret Luna, to the San Antonio News-Express. “But I guess this is what happens when you don’t have enough money.” [Los Angeles Times ]

Christopher Boan is a journalism intern with Campus Progress.

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