As adults, we all kind of have at least a vague peripheral sense that the devices and software we use are probably up to some kind of shenanigans with our personal data. Kids, however, are probably not thinking as closely about what they tell the devices they use, and what data those devices then share — especially if they’re school-owned tools. And yet, a new report finds, some of the learning technology schoolchildren are required to use every day are some of the worst when it comes to explaining and protecting users’ privacy. [More]
education
Education Secretary DeVos Withdraws Protections For Student Loan Borrowers
By 4.11.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Relatively new federal guidelines intended to to make the student loan repayment process more accurate and transparent have all been rescinded today by Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos — a move that consumer advocates says removes accountability for debt collectors and loan servicers. [More]
New York To Offer Free Tuition At Four-Year Public Universities
By 4.10.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Hundreds of thousands of New York residents mulling the idea of going to college at a public university could soon enroll for free, as the state’s lawmakers passed a budget over the weekend that included a program that would allow students from middle- and low-income families to attend college for free. [More]
18 Attorneys General Ask Education Secretary DeVos To Not Go Soft On For-Profit Colleges
By 2.22.17 — Updated: 2.23.17
A number of high-profile for-profit educators shut down or scaled back operations in recent years, among accusations of overcharging and under-educating students, and new rules intended to hold schools accountable. However, these companies’ fortunes began to turn after the election of Donald Trump and his naming of pro-industry Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. That’s why a group of 18 state attorneys general is calling on the administration to not ease up on these controversial schools. [More]
Cosmetology Schools Don’t Want To Be Held Accountable For Students’ Success
By 2.10.17 — Updated: 2.12.17
The Gainful Employment Rule, which requires that for-profit educators demonstrate that their graduates can pay their bills, has thus far weathered industry’s attempts to gut the rule. Now we’ll see if new Education Secretary Betsy DeVos will defend this rule against a legal challenge brought by a beauty school trade group. [More]
Former ITT Tech Students Sue To Be Included In Bankruptcy Proceedings
By 1.3.17
When a retailer goes bankrupt, little thought is given to the store’s customers, but what happens when a for-profit educator goes bust? Do its customers — the former students — have any right to be involved in the bankruptcy proceedings? [More]
Many For-Profit Colleges Get More Than 90% Of Funding From Federal Government
By 12.21.16
For-profit colleges operate under the so-called “90/10 Rule,” which states that a school can’t receive more than 90% of its revenue from the federal government. However, there’s a loophole that does not count certain military-related education funds — like the GI Bill — against that 90%, meaning these schools can go over that 90% threshold without violating the 90/10 Rule. And according to a new report, hundreds of for-profit schools are indeed getting nearly every dollar of their funding from taxpayers. [More]
For-Profit College Industry Eyes Resurgence Under Trump Administration
By 12.2.16
At its height, the for-profit college industry represented about 25% of all federal student aid, even though these schools only accounted for about 8% of U.S. college students. Meanwhile, these schools were spending the large majority of their money on advertising instead of education, and their students were defaulting on loans at double the rate of other borrowers. Since then, several education chains have shuttered due in no small part to federal investigations and regulations, but investors are seeing sunnier days ahead under a business-friendly Trump White House. [More]
Xerox Pays $2.4M To Settle Allegations It Overcharged Student Loan Borrowers
By 11.23.16
Xerox does a lot more than make huge copy machines for your office. For more than a year, the company’s student loan servicing division has been under state and federal investigation for allegations that it violated debt collection laws and overcharged borrowers. Now Xerox has agreed to pay $2.4 million to close the book on one such investigation in Massachusetts. [More]
Study: Students “Easily Duped” By Fake News, Sponsored Content
By 11.22.16
You might assume that a child raised on online content may be better positioned to tell when news and information is coming from legitimate sources and when that source is a fake or an ad. However, the results of a new study appear to indicate that this always-connected generation is no better equipped to sort fact from fiction online. [More]
DeVry Education Group Will Limit How Much Federal Aid Its Schools Accept
By 9.20.16
The so-called 90/10 rule says that for-profit colleges can’t derive more than 90% of their revenue from federal financial aid. In the wake of the collapse of ITT Tech, which had to shutter after the government clamped down on its access to federal funds, the DeVry chain of for-profit schools says it will cap the amount of federal aid it receives at levels below what the rules require. [More]
Nearly 200 Former ITT Students Refusing To Pay Student Loans, But Is That A Good Idea?
By 9.14.16
The abrupt closure of ITT Educational Services’ 130 ITT Tech campuses left tens of thousand of current students sitting in limbo with regard to both their education and all the student loan debt they had amassed. Likewise, a number of recent ITT grads are holding degrees they believe are now worthless. A group of nearly 200 stranded ITT students and graduates are the latest to join the ongoing “debt strike” started after the collapse of Corinthian Colleges.
[More]
Office Depot Rewarding College Students Who Resist Their Smartphones During Class
By 9.9.16
While no one on the Consumerist staff has been in college in, uh, some time, we can imagine it must be tough to focus on education when you’ve got a smartphone in your pocket, just begging you to play KandyKaboozle or text your friend a few seats away. There are some out there who can resist, however, and for those strong-willed folks, Office Depot has a new rewards program that lets students earn points toward discounts. [More]
Now That ITT Tech Is Closed, What Options Do Students Have?
By 9.6.16
Nearly 40,000 students have been left in educational limbo following the sudden closure of all 130 ITT Tech campuses. What options are available to these stranded students who have invested their time and money in a shuttered school?
Would You Learn To Code At Your Local 7-Eleven?
By 8.29.16
For better or worse, I’ve spent an awful lot of hours inside of various 7-Eleven stores, but I’ve never learned much outside of how to get the right mix of beverages from the Big Gulp dispenser and how to tell if a hot dog has been on the rollers for too long. Yet elsewhere in the world, people are heading to 7-Eleven to hone their coding skills. [More]
California Bars ITT Tech From Enrolling New Students
By 8.29.16
A day after federal regulators barred ITT Education Services from enrolling new students using financial aid at its ITT Technical campuses, a California regulator prohibited the education operator from enrolling all new students at its 15 schools in the state. [More]
There’s A High School Opening Inside Oracle Headquarters In Silicon Valley
By 8.24.16
Schools come in all shapes and sizes: private schools, small rural schools, charter schools, and online schools. That list will grow by one soon, as the first public charter school prepares to open inside a corporate campus of tech giant Oracle. [More]
Wells Fargo Must Pay $4M Over Allegedly Illegal Student Loan Servicing
By 8.22.16
For the last 10 months, it’s been one of the banking industry’s worst-kept secrets that Wells Fargo’s student loan servicing business was being investigated by federal regulators. Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau confirmed these rumors and ordered Wells to pay more than $4 million in refunds and penalties over allegedly illegal loan servicing practices that increased costs and unfairly penalized certain borrowers. [More]
