Roundup: Week of October 15 – October 19

MOHELA Audit Uncovers Untamed Spending

Lavish Christmas gifts, expensive board retreats, and inflated severance packages were just a few instances of profligate spending uncovered during an audit of Missouris student loan agency. According to the audit, the agency, known as the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority (MOHELA), spent $11 million on a new headquarters without asking for competitive bids from construction firms, $2.3 million on severance packages for four former board members, and upwards of $688,000 on employee Christmas gifts and bonuses. The audit, which was the first to be conducted since 2000, was required following the adoption of a plan from Missouri’s Republican Governor Matt Blunt, for MOHELA to sell loan assets to private companies and use the proceeds for college construction. The approval of Blunt’s proposal by the state legislature prompted a lawsuit from two former students who received loans from MOHELA, claiming that the plan amounted to an “improper raid on the MOHELA coffers in an illegal and misguided scheme.”

Dual Enrollment Programs Benefit Underserved Populations, Report Finds

Enrolling in college courses while still in high school can have numerous benefits for students, especially for those from low-income families, according to a report released this week by the Community College Research Center at Columbia University. The study, “The Postsecondary Achievement of Participants in Dual Enrollment: An Analysis of Student Outcomes in Two States,” found that students who took part in dual enrollment programs in Florida and New York City were more likely to graduate from high school, enroll in college, and earn higher college grade point averages than those who did not take part in such programs. Given their findings, the researchers suggested that dual enrollment programs be expanded so that more students have the opportunity to enroll. “If traditionally these programs have been for the high-achieving students, the ones who are already going to be successful in college, it seems pretty clear that we should invest in these programs for those who dont necessarily see themselves as college-bound,” Katherine Hughes, one of the study’s authors, told Inside Higher Ed.

Romney: Tie Financial Aid to Postgraduate Career

Speaking at an event in Iowa on Wednesday, former Massachusetts Governor and Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney became the first major Republican candidate to hint at a plan for higher education. Though he offered little in the way of details, Romney did suggest that, if elected, he would tie students’ college financial aid to the types of jobs they pursue after graduation. “I like the idea of linking the level of support that we’re able to provide to young people going to college to the contributions they’re going to make to our society,” Romney said. The Republican candidate did not say which professions would qualify under this approach, but the idea appears to be similar to TEACH Grants, a new program that provides up to $16,000 in scholarship aid for students enrolled in teacher-preparation programs in high-need fields at schools with at least 30 percent poor students.