The New York Democrat announced Sunday the Federal Student Loan Refinancing Act, a bill that would lower interest rates for many student borrowers currently repaying their federal student loans.

“More city graduates and middle class families are burdened by student loans than ever before and are struggling to repay a higher amount of debt than ever before,” Gillibrand said in a statement. “Our young people should be able to refinance in the same way that our businesses and homeowners do.”

The refinancing bill would enable students and graduates who have an interest rate above 4 percent to refinance their federal loans at a lower, fixed rate of 4 percent. Gillibrand said she will introduce the bill in the Senate this week.

Most federal student debt is set at an interest rate higher than 6 percent, Gillibrand said. There are 2.7 million borrowers in New York and 37 million nationwide.

Gillibrand said her bill would lower interest rates for nearly nine in 10 federal student loans nationwide.

There is an estimated $1 trillion in student debt nationwide.

In addition to her legislation, Gillibrand said Sunday she would push to stop interest rate hikes set to go into effect in July for federal Stafford loans. Those rates are set to double to 6.8 percent in July.

In New York, more than 422,000 students have borrowed through Stafford loans, Gillibrand said.

She said she would propose closing tax loopholes, including corporate offshore tax loopholes, to fully pay for a Senate bill that could freeze need-based Stafford loans at 3.4 percent for two years.

College Board President Bob Owens named five board members Thursday, led by Shane Hooper of Saltillo, to seek a new leader for Mississippi’s smallest public university.

Valley has been without a president since October, when the College Board declined to renew Donna Oliver’s contract after four years.

Alfred Rankins Jr., the College Board’s associate commissioner for academic and student affairs, has been acting president since October. The board tried to hire an interim president in January, but the candidate backed out. After that, board members said they were in no hurry to name a permanent president at Valley, saying the school needed administrative reforms.

Higher Education Commissioner Hank Bounds said Saturday that improvements have been made to the school’s athletics program, student recruitment and data and financial processes. He said that a new president is unlikely to arrive until January at the earliest and that there would be more time to bolster Valley.

“We’ve done a number of things to put the university on the right course,” Bounds said.

Still, he acknowledged that the search was unlikely to attract a large number of qualified candidates, unlike posts at Mississippi’s largest universities.

“I’m under no illusion that we’re going to have 50 or 60 candidates apply like we do for some other jobs,” Bounds said. “Finding the right president is going to be difficult.”

The board hired search firm Ayers & Associates of Arlington, Va., to lead the effort. Other College Board trustees on the committee besides Hooper are Hal Parker, Robin Robinson, C.D. Smith and Dr. Ford Dye.

A new leader at Valley will be under pressure to increase enrollment at the same time that population in the Delta region is decreasing. The College Board has focused on raising enrollment as a way to increase revenue when state support has been crimped.

Bounds said he doesn’t expect enrollment to rise at Valley next fall, although he said past record-keeping has been so poor that it’s hard to predict.

“We’re not there yet,” Bounds said. “Our hope is to arrest the decline.”

Valley has also struggled with discord among alumni and a tiny endowment. The commissioner said he expected that College Board staff would continue to play a role in aiding Valley even after a new president is chosen.

“I do anticipate more intensive involvement by my office and my staff than you would see on our other campuses,” Bounds said.

Valley could be the third of Mississippi’s eight public universities to get a new president in the last year. Rodney Bennett was named to lead the University of Southern Mississippi, while Bill LaForge was tapped as president at Delta State University.

Lorrin Crawford, left, and Tam Quach met as freshmen, later became friends and then roommates by their senior year. (Photo by: Horace Henry)

Despite being outnumbered 3 to 1 by their female counterparts, valedictorian Lorrin Crawford and his roommate salutatorian Tam Quach earned the highest grade point average among all students—a rarity the school claims is the first time in recent history. Their academic excellence shatters some common statistics and stereotypes about the gender gap in college.

Reports indicate that men enter college at lower rates than women and are more likely to drop out. Nationally, female enrollment hovers near 60 percent and 61.5 percent at the nation’s 100 accredited Black colleges and universities, according to the Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics.

Statistics enthusiast Crawford did not set out to smash any; he simply wanted to perform his best.

“I just wanted to learn as much as I possibly could and make straight A’s,” said the mathematics major, who finished with a perfect 4.0 GPA. “A lot of men see life as now; they live in the moment, and that’s where a lot of mistakes happen.”

To avoid the trappings of freshman freedom, Crawford, a Chino Hills, Calif., native, eliminated distractions—even declining to have a television in his dorm room—to focus on his studies. He took a lot of notes during class and rewrote them before studying to better retain the material. He practiced extra homework problems, read ahead and met often with his professors.

Crawford met Quach during their freshman year in 2009 following above average, but not outstanding, high school careers. The two became friends a year later during an honors program retreat after discovering they shared a thirst for knowledge and a strong desire to achieve academically and professionally.

By their senior year, the honors program “brothers” decided to become roommates.

“I feel like he’s been a huge part of my success because you are the company you keep,” Crawford said of his on-campus housing mate. “Being around someone who is trying to achieve their best pushes you to do your best. Our relationship will extend way past CAU.”

Quach agreed.

“Sometimes in school you can get overloaded and stressed out,” said Quach, a criminal justice major who finished with a 3.92 GPA. “The people at CAU really care about you and make themselves available to you. That’s one of the biggest factors that have helped me to stay in school and stay focused.”

Quach moved from Vietnam about 11 years ago with his family, and, although he grew up just outside Atlanta in Morrow, Ga., he was unaware of CAU. In fact, he had not heard of HBCUs until his favorite high school teacher—a CAU alum—suggested he apply.

Immediately, Quach said he felt welcomed and embraced by his fellow students. When he did not understand a lesson, he sought guidance from his teachers and mentors, prioritized his responsibilities and asked questions relentlessly. He also took advantage of campus resources for help.

“It’s like a family that cares for you, and they really show me that they care,” he said. “They did everything they could for me, so I needed to do everything I could to not let them down.”

One of his most challenging and proudest moments came during a world literature honors class. Exhausted and feeling defeated by the writing assignment, Quach had almost given up when other students encouraged him. His teacher also helped him develop the theme before he submitted the final paper toward a B in the class.

“That B felt like an A because I really earned that grade,” said a very proud Quach. “When she told me that I’d written a nice paper, I felt a real sense of accomplishment like I’m the man!”

The mentoring and accountability did not occur by happenstance, said school president Carlton Brown.

After observing dwindling male enrollment rates about three years ago, Brown led efforts to attract and retain male students. Peer mentoring groups were organized, and Brown resurrected the Man of the Year program to promote academic excellence.

Society has perpetuated the belief that men can only show excellence in athletics or arts, he said. Colleges and organizations such as 100 Black Men are making efforts to turn the tide around.

“We’ve got to support these achievements,” said Brown, president for six years. “It’s about improving the quality of life for all of our people to get out of the desperation we see in our professional and personal relationships to lead a fulfilling life.”

The efforts are paying off at CAU as the last two Student Government Association presidents have been men. Crawford and Quach are in good company, he said.

In addition to their peers and professors, the scholarly standouts credit their parents for being positive role models and inspirations. They plan to continue making them proud.

“We have a plan,” said Crawford, who will pursue a Ph.D. in physical science at Duke University this fall and explore quantitative research to predict stock market trends.

Quach will pursue a master’s degree in criminology at Georgia State University. “We may not have all the details worked out, but we want to be successful.”

UA System President Donald Bobbitt declined to say what he’d recommend to his board.

At least nine colleges and universities have voted to opt out of the new law, which allows schools to determine whether to allow the weapons on all or parts of their campuses. More could be on the way, with the state’s two largest university systems prepared to vote this week on whether to allow the handguns on campus.

The boards of trustees for the University of Arkansas and Arkansas State University systems on Thursday are scheduled to vote on whether to opt out of the law, which was signed into law in March. A spokesman for ASU said chancellors from the system’s four campuses have all recommended against allowing the concealed weapons.

UA System President Donald Bobbitt declined to say what he’d recommend to his board, but indicated that the consensus among campus leaders is leaning against allowing firearms.

“The licensed professionals that we’ve involved on public safety and that we consult with do not feel this would add to public safety and in fact would confuse a crisis situation by making them decide between a number of armed individuals,” Bobbitt said.

The response Bobbitt’s received is similar to other campuses around the state that say they believe their own security officials should be the only ones carrying firearms on campus.

“The only person I want armed on this campus are my guards,” said Jack Matlock, director of security for Philander Smith College, a historically Black school located near downtown Little Rock that has opted out of the new law.

Twenty-nine states allow concealed handguns on campus, but all but a handful leave the decision up to individual colleges and universities. Rep. Charlie Collins, the author of Arkansas’ guns on campus law, originally proposed requiring all public colleges and universities to allow concealed handguns but changed the proposal after facing opposition from campus officials from around the state.

Collins, however, said he’s not disappointed with the number of schools opting out of the guns measure. He noted that, under the new law, public colleges and universities will have to revisit their policy annually. The law includes an opt-out provision for private schools, but does not require them to vote annually on the policy.

“I think three years, five years, seven years, we’ll be in a very different point,” Collins, R-Fayetteville, said. “Whenever you talk about changing things, it takes time. It’s an evolutionary process. It’s not a revolutionary process.”

The law also allows schools to adopt specific policies on concealed handguns for specific campuses, areas of a campus or individual buildings. Bobbitt, however, said he planned on recommending the same policy for all 11 UA system schools.

“If a certain policy, whether it’s allowing them or not allowing them, makes sense on any one of our campuses it should make sense for all of our campuses,” Bobbitt said.

Many of the schools that have opted out of allowing concealed weapons have cited opposition from various faculty, staff and student groups as well as local law enforcement.

“I think it’s just very redundant,” said Steve Hilterbran, president of Southeast Arkansas College in Pine Bluff, which voted to opt out of the law. “If you have armed security on campus or an armed police force, I don’t think there is a need for others to be carrying those weapons.”

Other schools that have voted to opt out of the law include the University of Central Arkansas, Harding University in Searcy and Henderson State University in Arkadelphia. Even more may be on the way. A spokesman for Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia said administrators there plan to recommend to its board that the school opt out of the handgun law.

David Rankin, president of Southern Arkansas University, said he’s leaning toward recommending that his school’s campuses in Magnolia and Camden opt out when its board meets June 30.

Collins said he’s not surprised with the reaction from most of the schools, but said he believed the policies would change over time.

“It’s prompting a whole broader discussion about safety in our college campuses,” Collins said.

Doug Gross, a recipient of the controversial fellowship in 1976, says he supports Columbia’s decision to petition to do away with the Whites-only requirement.

But as it turns out, Lydia C. Chamberlain, an Iowa native who donated her $500,000 estate to Columbia University shortly before she died in 1920, insisted that her funds be used to endow graduate and traveling fellowships for recipients born in Iowa who were exclusively “of the Caucasian race.”

“I had no idea,” says Gross, in an interview with Diverse. “If I had known, I never would have accepted it.”

Gross, a prominent Iowa attorney and former Republican gubernatorial candidate who faced off against then Governor Tom Vilsack in 2002, says that he fully supports Columbia’s decision to petition a Manhattan Supreme Court to do away with the outdated requirement that only Whites should receive the fellowship.

“I think they ought to change it,” he says. “It’s ridiculous to have this kind of provision in place, and it should be eliminated right away.”

Although Gross received the fellowship, he did not graduate from Columbia. He took a leave of absence and eventually dropped out, opting to earn a law degree from Drake University in 1985. For years, he served as the chief of staff to former Governor Terry Branstad before launching a failed bid against Vilsack.

In an affidavit submitted several weeks ago to the Supreme Court, Lucy Drotning, Columbia’s associate provost for planning and institutional research, lent her support to the request made by the fund’s administrator, JPMorgan Chase Bank, to do away with the Whites-only clause.

“Circumstances have so changed from the time when the Trust was established, that complying with the restrictions are impossible,” according to Drotning’s affidavit. “Columbia University is now prohibited by law and University policy from discriminating on the basis of race.”

Other parameters for Chamberlain’s scholarship included a stipulation that the recipient would not study law, medicine, dentistry, veterinary surgery or theology and a promise to relocate to Iowa for at least two years once they completed their studies from Columbia.

Roger Clegg, president and general counsel of the Center for Equal Opportunity, a conservative think tank headquartered in Virginia that opposes affirmative action and racial preferences, lauded Columbia’s decision but says that the time is ripe for all colleges and universities across the nation to take steps to eliminate all race-based scholarships, including those set aside exclusively for racial minorities.

“In my view, racially exclusive scholarships of all kind are illegal, and I think that the overwhelming majority of schools agree,” says Clegg.

In recent years, he says that he is encouraged by the steady increase of colleges and universities that have taken steps to do away with these restrictions.

“Almost always, they have agreed afterward to give consideration to members of all racial groups,” he says. “That, by the way, is all we seek. We don’t try to end the scholarship opportunity, but just make it available to all students regardless of race.”

When a scholarship or trust is established by a private individual, it’s unclear whether a university has the authority to change the guidelines. Since 1997, the Ivy League school has simply opted not to award the fellowship at all.

“Columbia long ago ceased awarding the fellowships in question and does not follow gift conditions that violate anti-discrimination laws,” the university said in a statement. “It should go without saying that a university rightly known for the great diversity of its student body is as offended as anyone by the requirements of these fellowships.”

The trust is currently valued at about $840,000.

The department informed Yale of the fine in an April letter, saying the omissions posed a threat to the Yale community.

“These failures endangered Yale’s students and employees who must be able to rely on the disclosures of campus crime statistics, policies and statements, and the accurate reporting of crime statistics to take precautions for their safety,” the letter states.

The school also was cited for failing to properly define its campus and failing to include required policy statements in its reports under the Clery Act, which requires schools to provide crime statistics.

The department fined Yale $27,500, the maximum allowed, for each of the four forcible sex offenses in 2001 and 2002; $27,500 for the failure to accurately detail its campus; and $27,500 for a failure to include seven required policy statements in its 2004 security report.

Yale is appealing the fine. The school acknowledged the violation in 2004 and says it has taken corrective action.

“The university is fully committed to maintaining a robust program of campus security policies and campus crime statistics reporting that contains all of the elements prescribed by the Clery Act,” the school said in a written statement. “However, the university believes that the department’s imposition of maximum fines is not warranted based on the particular situations that resulted in findings of violations and, as a result, does not meaningfully advance the goals of the Clery Act.”

Republicans in the House have included the provision in the state budget now being considered in the Senate. They say they’re trying to streamline the system.

Universities often provide documents to serve as students’ proof of residency when they register to vote. The provision would require universities continuing to provide that documentation to charge those students the lower tuition offered to Ohio residents.

According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, critics are saying it’s really designed to prevent universities from making voting easy in the key electoral college battleground state for out-of-state students, who mostly vote Democratic.

Universities say it would cost them hundreds of millions of dollars in lost tuition revenue.

Truth be told, the final weeks of a semester (or quarter) depending on the sort of academic institution where one works, can be a frantic and harrowing time for individuals, students, professors and administrators alike. This fact in and of itself is nothing new. That being said, I was slapped into a degree of mental soberness last fall after speaking with a few students who informed me that they had been and were suffering from an acute level of anxiety and depression. In fact, a couple of stories were so riveting that I almost became overwhelmed just listening. In fact, I encouraged and arranged for two of these students to seek personal help.

The fact is that more than a few college students suffer from anxiety and depression. In a 2012 column written by Michael Kerr and confirmed by Dr. George Krudk reported the following statistics:

· One out of every four college students suffers from a form of mental illness, including depression;

· 44 percent of American college students report having symptoms of depression;

· 75 percent of college students do not seek help for mental health problems;

· Suicide is the third leading cause of death among college students;

· Young people diagnosed with depression are five times more likely to attempt suicide than adults;

· Four out of every five college students who either contemplate or attempt suicide show clear warning signs.

The reason for such behavior varies. Intrusive thoughts, varied distractions, sleep deprivation, friendships that turn sour, a sudden or bad breakup with a boyfriend or girlfriend, academic, social or financial difficulties and feelings of hopelessness are among the reasons.

Other risk and often undiagnosed factors include:

· substance abuse;

· a family history of depression and mental illness;

· a prior suicide attempt;

· access to guns;

· exposure to other students who have committed suicide;

· self-harming behaviors, such as burning or cutting.

College is supposed to be a time of learning, growth and self-discovery for young people — and for many people it is. College can be and is frequently a very stressful environment for a notable number of young adults. This is even more likely the case today, given the lethargic economy and the less-than-fulfilled feelings that more than a few people of all age groups have about the current state of national and international affairs.

The times are indeed a sobering reminder.

Given the social stigma that has been associated with depression, mental illness and suicide, many students are reluctant to seek or even admit that they have a problem. The perceived level of potential embarrassment and shame is often too overwhelming. Others may not even be aware of their predicament or are living in denial. Predicaments and circumstances notwithstanding, it is important that all of us, regardless of our station in life, make an effort to aid and assist any young person who is at risk for such personal and potential destruction in the hopes of preventing such a tragedy.

Graduates

“The pool of students leaving with a bachelor’s degree is less diverse than the pool entering or remaining in college,” says the report, titled With College Degree in Hand: Analysis of Racial Minority Graduates and Their Lives After College, by Mikyung Ryu of the Center for Policy Analysis at the American Council on Education.

The report delineates a range of disparities that impact minority college students as they matriculate through college, from taking longer periods of time to earn a degree to borrowing more frequently and larger amounts in order to finance their college education.

“Without eradicating barriers for those minorities, traditional students will continue to dominate the new college graduate pool while other students will remain on the sidelines
by not graduating or not seeking education beyond sub-baccalaureate credentials,” says the report, which indicates that most graduates were “unmarried, childless, White young adults in their early 20s who were financially dependent on their parents for their college education and who seamlessly moved along the path toward degree attainment — characteristics typically associated with traditional college graduates.”

“With postsecondary student demographics increasingly diverging from the traditional profile,” it continues, “the future of higher education essentially depends on its ability to resolve the chronic gap between the incoming and the graduating cohort of students.”

The report relies on data from a nationally representative sample of 1.5 million first-time baccalaureate degree earners in the 2007-2008 academic year. It delves into variations that exist along racial and ethnic lines on a variety of subjects that range from early labor market outcomes and post-baccalaureate education enrollment at the time of the survey, which was administered in spring of 2009.

Much of the report deals with matters of money. For instance, it found that many bachelor’s degree earners came from middle- or upper-class family backgrounds, and that 56 percent had a college-educated parent or came from families that earn more than $60,000 annually.

While they were in college, nearly two in three college graduates — or 64 percent — were financially dependent on their parents, the report states.

“However, such advantageous backgrounds were more common among White and Asian-American graduates than others,” the report states. “Only 36 percent of African-American or Hispanic graduates had a parent who was a college graduate, a percentage far lower than for other minorities.”

Students who were financially independent generally earned less across racial lines. African-Americans had the highest income among independent students at $28,554, followed by Whites at $27,497, Hispanics at $22,902, and Asian-Americans at $13,093.

“However, given
the fact that African-American and Hispanic graduates were far more likely to be financially independent with low incomes (52 percent and 49 percent, respectively) than Whites (32 percent)
or Asian-Americans (27 percent), many more African-Americans and Hispanics would have faced financial obstacles
on their path to the bachelor’s degree,” the report states.

The report also deals with time to degree.

While most graduates from all groups completed a bachelor’s degree within five years, Whites and Asian-Americans took shorter than other groups — at 4.3 years — while African-Americans and Hispanics typically took 4.8 years and American Indians and Alaska Natives took five years.

Within those groups, African-Americans showed the most variation, the report said, with time to degree ranging from less than four years to more than 20.

The report states that while two out of three bachelor’s degree earners took out federal or other loans, African-American graduates were “more likely to borrow, and to borrow more than their peers.”

“Nearly one in four African-American borrowers (23 percent) had more than $40,000 in debt by the time they graduated, an amount that was almost equivalent to the average yearly salary of 25- to 34-year old workers with a bachelor’s degree in 2009 ($45,700),” the report states.

The report found that the average salary for 2007-2008 bachelor’s degree earners was $35,000.

“However, as
research has indicated, the median earnings data mask disparities by race/ethnicity, gender, and college major (or occupation),” the report states. “For example, over the course of their lifetimes, African-Americans and Hispanics with bachelor’s degrees make 20 percent
less than their White peers, and women as a whole earn 25 percent less than men.”

The report also notes that women baccalaureate degree holders as a whole earn 17 percent less than men at the beginning of their careers.

“Consistent with this, our analysis found the gender pay gap in every racial/ethnic category, but it also revealed pay gaps among women from different racial/ethnic backgrounds,” the report states. “As measured by average annual income, the 2007–08 bachelor’s degree recipients who were minority women working full time in STEM
or business occupations faced some significant pay gaps.

“In particular, between Asian American and Hispanic women in STEM occupations, there was an annual wage gap of $7,992, which is statistically significant.”

A proposal had called for St. Augustine’s to assume operations at Saint Paul’s while it explored the feasibility of acquiring the Saint Paul’s campus as a branch of St. Augustine’s.

Last November, St. Augustine’s University in Raleigh, N.C. announced that it was stepping up to support struggling St. Paul’s and proposed acquiring the college, which has been mired in debt and working to regain its accreditation. But “after careful due diligence and much deliberation, Saint Augustine’s University has decided that to pursue the acquisition is not a fiscally responsible option,” said St. Augustine’s President Diane Boardley Suber.

The proposal had called for St. Augustine’s to assume operations at Saint Paul’s while it explored the feasibility of acquiring the Saint Paul’s campus as a branch of St. Augustine’s. Both institutions are affiliated with the Episcopal Church.

Apparently, this week, the news blindsided St. Paul’s officials.

“The Board of Trustees and Administration of Saint Paul’s College were surprised after receiving the correspondence from Saint Augustine’s University on last week,” wrote acting President Oliver W. Spencer Jr., Ph.D., in a May 13 statement.

“We had anticipated that, as a result of all our discussions and planning, we would be moving forward with the possible merger/acquisition process,” added Spencer. But even with an uncertain future and without a deal in hand, St. Paul’s went forward with its May 11 commencement for fewer than 100 graduates and its annual celebration of Alumni Day earlier in the week.

There is no sign yet that St. Paul’s has given up the fight even with a May 31 deadline looming large. On its homepage, the college pleads for help in raising $608,500 by that date. In the same space on the website, the college also lets visitors know that it hasn’t given up yet and is still on a mission: “The Time is Now: Together We Can Open the Doors to the Future.”

In a prepared statement, Suber called the University’s decision not to pursue the proposed merger “very difficult.”

“We explored several options in an effort to make the acquisition viable,” Suber added. “However, we concluded that the acquisition of Saint Paul’s College, at this time, would significantly challenge the fiscal stability of St. Augustine’s University.”

According to Spencer, St. Augustine’s board of trustees agreed to permit officials at Saint Paul’s to make a presentation on May 31 in an effort to sway the board to reverse its decision not to proceed with the acquisition. In the meantime, he said, “the Board of Trustees of Saint Paul’s College will continue to pursue all options available including continuing discussions with the Saint Augustine’s University Board of Trustees.”