News Archive
- DC Digest Special Edition: Debt Ceilling and Deficit Reduction Deal
- August 02, 2011
After months of intense deficit reduction negotiations, Congress passed the Budget Control Act of 2011 just hours before the Aug. 2 debt ceiling deadline. The House passed the bill with a 269-to-161 vote, the Senate passed it 74-26, and President Obama signed the deal this afternoon.The package represents a bipartisan compromise between congressional leaders that will reduce the nation's debt through a two-stage process, while simultaneously raising the debt limit so that the U.S. does not default on its current obligations. The agreement also includes a new version of sequestration – across-the-board spending cuts – established to impose discipline.
Click "read more" for details. Read More - Short-Term Stability, But...
- August 01, 2011
Congressional leaders appeared late Sunday to have reached a deal on increasing the nation’s debt limit that would avoid many of higher education’s worst-case scenarios: cuts to Pell Grants, the end of subsidized student loans, or a government default that would leave student financial aid and other funding for colleges in limbo going into the fall semester.But as details about the deal began to emerge Sunday evening, it became clear that the plan leaves colleges and universities with plenty of long-term uncertainty. Read More - Duke Alums Appointed to White House Transparency and Accountability Board
- July 29, 2011
On Thursday, the Obama Administration announced the launch of the Government Accountability and Transparency Board. The Board, first announced by the President and Vice President in June as part of the Campaign to Cut Waste, will focus on rooting out misspent tax dollars and making government spending more accessible and transparent for the American people. Yesterday, the President named several of the nation’s top watchdogs and leaders on government accountability to the board, which will be led by interim chairman Earl Devaney.Daniel I. Werfel, Controller at the Office of Management and Budget, and Calvin L. Scovel III, Inspector General at the Department of Transportation, are two Duke alums whom President Obama appointed to the board. Read More - NSF Awards $3 Million to Triangle Scientists to Improve Federal Data
- July 22, 2011
NSF AWARDS $3 MILLION TO TRIANGLE SCIENTISTS TO IMPROVE FEDERAL DATAA team of statisticians, economists and political scientists from Duke University and the National Institute of Statistical Sciences has received a $3 million grant from the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Census Bureau to improve how federal statistical agencies share government data with the public.U.S. Census Bureau data is protected under confidentiality laws and cannot be released without being modified to maintain individuals' and businesses' privacy. The Triangle Census Research Network will develop statistical methods for making more of the bureau’s data available to researchers, policy makers and the public, while preserving anonymity. Read More - Court Strikes Down Part of State Authorization Rule
- July 15, 2011
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia struck down on Wednesday a portion of the Department of Education's controversial new rule which requires distance education programs to get authorization in every state where they have students. The rule—known as "state authorization"—is part of a package of new regulations that went into effect July 1. Read More - Colleges Replacing Loans with No-Pay Grants (Duke mentioned)
- July 11, 2011
Megan Tuck is living that pleasant lull between college and career, traveling from her Suitland home to a different Starbucks each day with her laptop to look for a job.Tuck has no urgent need for a paycheck because she attended Duke University on a full ride. She is among the first beneficiaries of “no-loan” financial aid, a movement to eliminate the student loan as a fact of life at dozens of the most expensive U.S. colleges. Read More - Students Least Likely to Persist Benefit Most from Extra Financial Aid, Study Finds
- July 08, 2011
A research study released Thursday concludes that the at-risk student considered likely to drop out will benefit more -- and that the extra money might make the "most likely to succeed" student more prone to leave without finishing a degree. For needy students overall, the study found, the extra financial aid had little statistically significant impact on whether students stayed enrolled in college and persisted toward graduation. In some cases, the money even appeared to have a negative effect. But on the most disadvantaged students, it had a positive impact, making them more likely to continue toward a degree. Read More - Senate Version of H.R. 2117 Would Rescind Education Department Regulations
- July 06, 2011
Sens. Richard Burr (R-NC) and Ben Nelson (D-NE) last week introduced
the Senate version of the Protecting Academic Freedom in Higher
Education Act (H.R. 2117), the House bill to rescind the Department
of Education’s credit hour and state authorization regulations
that went into effect Friday. Duke has been actively engaged in the issue - in fact, President Brodhead and Senator Burr discussed the matter during Brodhead's recent DC trip. Read More - New Graduate Fellowships for International Study
- June 28, 2011
The Institute of International Education (IIE) will administer IIE Graduate Fellowships for International Study beginning July 1, to provide support for PhD dissertation research to approximately 80 doctoral students in the humanities whose funding has been lost due to recent significant reductions in federal spending. A special one-time only grant of $3.16 million from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has enabled IIE to create these fellowships so that talented emerging scholars can conduct research overseas for six to 12 months, with the goal of advancing knowledge, research and teaching in non-western languages and area studies. Read More - Brodhead Highlights Duke Research, Visits with Alumni in Washington
- June 17, 2011
Duke President Richard H. Brodhead traveled to Washington, D.C., on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week to discuss university priorities with policymakers, administration officials, alumni, and other friends of Duke.The discussions focused on Congressional issues of particular importance to the university, including continued support of research funding and of Department of Education student aid programs.Brodhead also attended the Duke Club of Washington's annual DCW Congressional Breakfast. This year's event, held in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on Wednesday morning, featured remarks by Duke Medical School alumnus Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) and drew a record number of Duke alumni living in the Washington area. Read More