6A - Wednesday, September 14, 2011 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
LOAN
From Page 1A
In the fiscal year 2008, the
default rate of University stu-
dents was t.4, and in 2007 it was
1.2 percent, according to data
from the National Student Loan
Data System for Students.
The rates announced in a U.S.
Department of Education press
release issued Monday repre-
sent a cohort of borrowers whose
first loan repayment was due
between Oct. 1, 2008 and Sept.
30, 2009 and who defaulted on
their payments before Sept. 30,
2010. Between the 2008-2009
and 2009-2010 academic years,
the University's Board of Regents
raised tuition 5.6 percent but
committed $118 million to finan-
cial aid initiatives for undergrad-
uates.
The highest loan default rates
typically occur in states with
high unemployment rates such
as Indiana and Michigan, which
ranked as the top states with
default rates at for-profit institu-
tions, according to DesJardins.
But he said the qualifications
of many University graduates,
together with the generous finan-
cial aid program offered by the
University the past several years,
have kept default rates at the Uni-
versity low.
"Because people like to hire
folks from Michigan, those peo-
ple who have loans are likely to
pay them back," he said.
The University's default rate
was slightly less than some of
its peer institutions, such as the
University of California-Berkeley
and the University of Virginia.
Michigan State University's rate
rose slightly - to 3 percent from
1.7 percent in the 2008 fiscal year
- but the rates for universities
in Michigan and the state's rates
stayed far below national aver-
ages, as DesJardins and Michael
Boulus, executive director of the
Presidents Council, State Univer-
sities of Michigan, expected.
"I would hope that the default
rate would be lower - I mean U
of M and (Michigan State Univer-
sity), those are our most highly
competitive admissions universi-
ties," Boulus said.
The jump in the national rate
sparked concern across the coun-
try. Mark Kantrowitz, founder
of the financial aid and student
loan information website Finaid.
org, said he doesn't expect unem-
ployment rates to improve in the
next four years. This would likely
cause an uptick in the default
rates since unemployed gradu-
ates are often unable to repay
their loans, he said.
Richard Williams, a higher
education associate at the U.S.
Public Interest Research Group,
wrote ina press release yesterday
that student defaults are "just the
tip of the iceberg."
"It is extremely troubling that
defaults have doubled in just the
last six years since we are looking
at just a snap shot in time which
does not capture the full magni-
tude of those borrowers default-
ing through the lifetime of their
student loans," Williams wrote.
0
LAWSUIT
From Page 1A
library in order to read it.
"We're not using these books
in any way that competes with
the use of the marketplace," Cou-
rant said.
The process of digitization
is a way to preserve deteriorat-
ing books, Courant said. The
HathiTrust Digital Library began
in 2008 and now has 52 partners
worldwide.
"Mostly what we have these
(digital copies) for isto preserve
the physical books that are falling
apart," Courant said. "So, basical-
ly what we have is a backup copy
of our library."
Paul Aiken, executive director
of the Authors Guild - the lead
plaintiff in the lawsuit - said he
thinks the University's digitiza-
tion process is illegal.
The digitization is "a clear vio-
lation of (authors') copyright,"
Aiken said.
The Authors Guild and the
other plaintiffs filed a lawsuit
in order "to secure the rights of
authors and their works," Aiken
said.
The lawsuit also targets an
aspect of the digitization project
that would permit the download-
ing of books the University labels
as "orphans." According to Cou-
rant, "orphans" are books with
no copyright information avail-
able.
"We don't know who has the
copyright," Courant said. "If we
can't- find the copyright holder
after months of searching, then
we're going to allow you ... to
read that book from your laptop
at home."
Of these orphans, 27 are sched-
uled to be available for download
on Oct. 13, with another 140 to be
made available in November.
"I think that is an immedi-
ate threat," Aiken said. "The
first works are supposed to be
released under this orphan pro-
gram in a month from now, so it
gives immediacy and urgency to
the lawsuit."
But Aiken said he is equally,
if not more concerned, about
the University's ongoing digi-
tization of books. Even though
full versions of the books won't
be available online, he still has
apprehensions.
"Security is a top concern,"
Aiken said. "These works do not
belong to the universities."
According to Aiken, the plain-
tiffs are seeking an injunction
that would take the copyrighted
works off the Internet until Con-
gress addresses the issue of digi-
tal libraries. There's a proposed
settlement to the lawsuit that
would ensure the security of dig-
ital libraries at the universities,
but Aiken said he doesn't want
the books online at all.
However, Courant said he does
not think the plaintiffs will be
successful in this case.
"It's a little hard to see how
(the plaintiffs are) going to object
to (the digitization)," he said.
GRE
From Page 1A
provided. Additionally, some
questions now have multiple
correct answers, and there is no
partial credit.
Before the most recent revi-
sion, the GRE was last changed
in 2002, Lee Weiss, director of
graduate programs at Kaplan,
Inc.in Ann Arbor and a GRE
instructor. The Educational
Testing Service, which admin-
isters the test, announced in
December 2009 that it was plan-
ning to update the test again
because of feedback from gradu-
ate and business schools.
"Essentially, what (graduate
programs and business schools)
were saying was the old test was
not the most accurate represen-
tation of the skill set necessary
to succeed in graduate school,"
Weiss said.
A newly released Kaplan sur-
vey stated that because of the
new revisions, more than half of
the nation's top business school
programs are now accepting the
new GRE as an alternative to the
Graduate Management Admis-
sion Test.
With the changes, students
have expressed concern about
the extended test length, which
Weiss said he believes was
designed to test endurance and
mental stamina.
Weiss -said students should
not be too worried about the new
GRE despite the many -altera-
tions.
"From all indications, the ETS
is doing a good job of educating
graduate programs, and stu-
dents should feel very comfort-
able taking this test," he said.
University alum Jesse Song,
who graduated in April, plans
to take the GRE this year. Song
said he likes the new version of
the test a lot better because it
focuses on understanding rather
than memorization.
"As someone who has a lim-
ited lexicon but reads frequently,
the new GRE is a lot easier," he
said. "It's based more on reading
comprehension rather than just
memorizing vocabulary."
Jonathon Hung, a 2009 Uni-
versity graduate, plans to take
the GRE this year and also said
he prefers it to the old version.
"It does take some adjustment
to get used to the new question
style," Hung said. "But I think
grad schools will have a better
idea of how their applicants will
handle higher-level education."
However, University alum
Brittney Miller, who graduated
this spring, said she thinks the
revised GRE still may not be
the best test to efficiently assess
the academic abilities of future
graduate students. Miller said
she knew a few people who did
not "perform optimally" on the
GRE yet still succeeded in grad-
uate school as well as in their
careers.
"Then again, maybe those
people are outliers," Miller said.
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0
4i
RANKS
From Page1A
tution'sfuture rankings will be.
"What we've seen as well
is that sometimes what gets
emphasized from year to year
can change, so it can actually
change the methodology of the
rankings and it can affect the
rank given to any university,"
he said. "So it's just really, really
unpredictable."
Fitzgerald said he is pleased
to see the University rank highly
among the nation's public uni-
versities. However, he also said
he doesn't believe rankings are
the best guidelines for students
to use when selecting a univer-
sity.
The rankings vary from year
to year, and there are various
rankings published each year,
with each emphasizing unique
factors, Fitzgerald said.
"Where you go to school or
where one of your friends goes
to school can be wildly differ-
ent than just the absolute rank
place," he said. "It's a very indi-
vidual-based decision."
Fitzgerald added that the Uni-
versity does not consider its rank
in a publication to be a priority.
"It's not something that we
focus on at all," he said. "We
think the most important factor
for the quality of a university is
the quality of its faculty, of its
teaching and of the research that
happens here - that's where we
put our emphasis."
According to the report, the
University ranks third among
the nation's undergraduate
business programs and sixth in
undergraduate engineering pro-
grams.
Among graduate programs,
the Ross School of Business
ranks 14th in the country and the
School of Education and College
of Engineering rank ninth. The
Law School has moved up two
places this year to number seven
in the nation, while the Medical
School ranks 20th for primary
care and 10th for research.
I
RESEARCH
From Page 1A
their perceptions of their teens'
alcohol and drug use as well as
the habits of teens in the general
population.
The full report, available on the
University Health System web-
site, states that one in four par-
ents were unsure of the extent of
their teen's alcohol and drug use.
Additionally, parents with older
teens were more likely to believe
that their children had consumed
alcohol or marijuana in the past
year.
The findings also indicated
that parents are far more likely to
believe that teenagers other than
their own have used alcohol and
drugs. According to the study,
the parents believed that at least
40 percent of 10th graders used
marijuana in the last year and that
60 percent of 10th graders drank
alcohol during the time period.
Biermann said the poll's results
were interesting but not com-
pletely surprising, as there tends
to be a lack of communication
between parents and their chil-
dren about these issues.
"Kids may have experimented
a time or two and wouldn't have
told their parents," Biermann
said. "This doesn't necessarily
suggest that all of those kids are
abusing alcohol or drugs."
According to the latest Moni-
toring the Future survey con-
ducted by the National Institute
of Drug Abuse, about 52 percent
of 10th graders reported drink-
ing alcohol in the last year and 28
percent of 10th graders report-
ed using marijuana in the past
year. This reveals a discrepancy
between parents' perceptions and
reality, Biermann said. He added
that he isn't sure what the reason
for this discrepancy is, but he sug-
gested that honest dialogue may
help parents better understand
their teens' behavior.
"Parents should talk with their
children about substance use,
safety and being responsible,"
Biermann said.
Though Biermann's study did
not account for alcohol and drug
use among college students, he
hypothesized that if surveyed,
parents would indicate more
realistic perceptions of their col-
legians' use of alcohol and mari-
juana.
"These kids have more expo-
sure to substances, and they're
certainly more at risk," he said.
"(However), colleges are provid-
ing alcohol awareness education
and really reaching out to stu-
dents to combat the problem."
LSA junior Donald Henry said
he and his parents tend to shy
away from talking about drink-
ing.
"They realize that most col-
lege-aged kids do (drink), butthey
don't want to think that I do," he
said.
Another student, who request-
ed to remain anonymous, said she
has discussed drinking with her
parents but noted that they're not
overly concerned about her hab-
its.
"(My mom) will say, just be
careful about where you put your
drink and where you get it from,"
the student said.
- Daily Staff Reporter Adam
Rubenfire contributed to this report.
,p
41
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