Wednesday Linkpile compiles, for your information and delight, links to noteworthy news articles pertaining to all things online and higher-educational.

• Budgetary woes reach well beyond The Beltway. "Debt Debate Hits Students," a September 20, 2011 Stanford Review article reports. "The summer’s debt ceiling and deficit reduction debate cut over a trillion dollars in government spending and increased scrutiny of nearly every aspect of the federal government. One such target was federal support for higher education, which was slashed by nearly $22 billion over the next ten years."
• And a similar problem bedevils the U.S.'s northern neighbor. A September 21, 2011 opinion piece in The Brunswickian observes, "Government hinders accessibility to post-secondary education." "The question then becomes how do these students finance their education? If their parents cannot, or if they refuse to contribute, one option students have is to go to the banks to get student lines of credit or rely on credit-card debt. With both options interest begins accruing immediately, as opposed to student loans where interest is only charged after graduation. Other benefits to student loans are the Timely Completion Benefit, where debt is capped at $26,000 if you finish your degree in the specified time and the Repayment Assistant Program, which limits your monthly loan payments to 20 per cent of your income if you qualify for the program. These options do not exist with private financing."
• Of course, these changes do not come without certain consequences. "Student loan defaults surging," reports a September 20, 2011 DelawareOnline.com article. "The default rate for students entering repayment between October 2008 and September 2009 hit 8.8 percent, the highest level in 12 years and a big jump from the 7 percent rate a year earlier. Tuition increases have exceeded the rate of inflation in recent years and some experts see the default increase as a warning sign of a growing tuition bubble, much like the home mortgage bubble of last decade. Others blame the increase on the growth of for-profit colleges, such as Kaplan University and the University of Phoenix."
• A September 21, 2011 Inside Higher Ed article presents "Clashes of Money and Values: A Survey of Admissions Directors."Admissions counselors like to talk about finding the right 'fit' for applicants – a great match between a student's educational and other goals and an institution's programs. But a new survey of the senior admissions officials at colleges nationwide finds that this 'fit' is, from many colleges' point of view, increasingly about money."
• All the bad news concerning financial aid hasn't prevented certain parties from wanting to expand its accessibility. "Students Urge Brown to Make Dream Act Reality," reports a September 20, 2011 article in the Daily Nexus (the student newspaper of UC Santa Barbara). "Introduced last January by Assemblymember Gilbert Cedillo, the California DREAM Act consists of two parts, the first of which was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown in late July and gives undocumented students access to institutional financial aid. The Act’s second portion was passed by the State Assembly on August 31 and currently awaits Brown’s approval. The state of California allocated over $700 million in Cal Grants last year and is expected to expand on this figure in upcoming years as more students seek access to higher education."
• Meanwhile, others are seeking alternatives to the prevailing residential education model as a means of controlling costs. "Techs and the City: Online Education Sweeps Manhattan." "The student body at New York University is swelling in numbers, but you’d never know it by glancing around campus. 'With online programs available at all NYU undergraduate and graduate schools, distance learning has become a convenient alternative for those who can’t physically attend classes,' reports a September 20, 2011 Washington Square News article. 'NYU has offered undergraduate and graduate courses online for years, with the School of Continuing and Professional Studies offering the most courses.'"
• "The Internet Is Changing the Way We Learn, announces a September 21, 2011 Jakarta Globe article. "Nonetheless, since the advent of the Internet, more universities have emerged, offering online degrees. These online degrees appeal to a group of people who are strapped to full-time jobs and committed to other activities such as raising a family, but at the same time still want a legitimate college degree. Education itself is important, but it seems that so is proving to prospective employers, or perhaps family and friends, that you have an education. This seems to be a very important trend, as free quality information may be accessed from a variety of new Web sites."
• What about a debt jubilee for financial aid borrowers? "Forgiving Student Loans: Worst Stimulus Idea Ever?", asks a September 20, 2011 Wall street Journal blog post. "College grads with debt are unlikely to spend more than a tiny fraction of the money they save by debt forgiveness, making this, in economic terms, 'the worst macro policy I’ve ever heard of,' Wolfers continues. Nor would loan forgiveness encourage more people to go to college and get the skills they need to succeed, because forgiveness, by definition, retroactive. ('Want to increase access to education? Make loans more widely available, or subsidize those who are yet to choose whether to go to school.')"
• In the absence of forgiveness, there prevails only unremitting punishment. "Money Pit: The Tough Consequences of Student Loan Default." "The case is clear: Student loan default is something to be avoided at all costs. No matter whether they study marketing or criminal justice, graduates who fund their postsecondary education with borrowed money must find some way to keep servicing their debt, because the alternative is almost too horrible to contemplate."
• "Colleges Try to Unlock Secrets to Student Retention, reports a recent EdWeek article (gated). "Record numbers of students flocked to college campuses this fall with high hopes of obtaining what many say is the new prerequisite for a middle-class life: a college degree. But the harsh reality is that little more than half those bright-eyed college freshmen, on average, will actually finish."