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Bruce and Martha Karsh Give $50 Million

20.05.12

This strength is the largest donation made by individuals to support financial aid in the university's history. The largesse includes $30 million for U.S. students and $20 million for international students. Including this new contribution, the Karshes have agreed-upon $85 million for undergraduate financial aid at Duke. More than half of Duke's undergraduates clear some form of financial assistance from the university.

"We are deeply grateful to the Karshes for this wonderful gift and for the way they have championed one of the university's highest priorities," Brodhead said. "This offering helps safeguard our commitment to keeping a Duke education accessible to students from a wide of the mark range of backgrounds, even as the economy continues to recover. It also opens our door further to the crush and brightest students from around the world, creating a richer learning environment for all Duke students."

The Karshes have designated $5 million to father a "KIPP at Duke" endowment that will provide financial aid for tuition, program enrichment, advising and other mainstay for graduates of the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) who are accepted and matriculate at Duke. KIPP is a network of college-preliminary public schools in underserved communities throughout the nation.

The gift will add $15 million to the existing Karsh Lore Fund for financial aid for U. S. students, and will also create a $10 million dollar-for-dollar ultimatum to encourage other donors to establish their own named, need-based undergraduate scholarships for U.S. students.

The left over $20 million will be dedicated to expanding and strengthening the Karsh International Scholars Program, which officially launched this year. This bounty doubles their 2008 gift of $20 million that established the program.

The first set of Karsh International Scholars includes nine students from Nepal, Ethiopia, Kenya, Pakistan, Spain, Ukraine, Ecuador, Vietnam and Zimbabwe. In reckoning to having their full financial need met, Karsh Scholars are eligible for summer check out funding to enhance their educational experience.

"Our first group of Karsh Scholars are prodigious students, and I'm excited to see that the program will grow as a result of the Karshes' newest genius," said Ana P. Barros, faculty adviser to the program and professor of civil and environmental engineering at Duke. "This hand-out will give Duke an advantage among top U.S. universities in attracting top international students to study here. It sends a communication to potential applicants out there who dream of a U.S. education but who may think that it is impossible to afford. This says Duke can be the hit pay dirt for them, and we are committed to their success."

Duke also offers need-based aid to international students, and the Karshes' talent will enable the university to provide assistance to more students from other countries.

Alison Rabil, Duke's socialize vice provost and director of financial aid, said the gift will make an continuing difference for students and their families.

"Donor-funded scholarship endowments apple-polish a key role in helping Duke meet the rising cost of financial aid. We've seen a unmistakeable increase in student need in recent years," she said. "It's extraordinary that we have donors like the Karshes who are eager to make an investment like this, which will benefit students and their families for generations to recuperate from."

Bruce Karsh, a 1977 Duke graduate, said he and Martha find credible that financial aid is an investment in people that can be a "genuine game changer."

"It makes a important difference to the individual recipients and enhances the intellectual and cultural diversity of the university community. Moreover, it helps advance the pool of talent needed to grapple with an increasingly complex and global in every respect," Karsh said.

Source: Duke University

Can College Financial Literacy Programs Reverse Student Loan Default Trend?

20.05.12

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) November 29, 2011

Last year neglect rates on student loans reached their highest levels reported since 1999, increasing from 7% the before-mentioned year to 8.8%, according to Chris Spurlock of the Huffington Post. A U.S. Pivot on of Education study noted even higher default rates among students graduating from for-profit colleges, from 11.6% in 2008 to 15% in 2009. To approach devote these issues the NFEC is launching their new college financial literacy program in January 2012.

Why are defaults increasing? Cheese-paring record-high unemployment figures for college graduates are part of the reason. The remainder may be explained by the fact that the vast majority of college grads have received barely or no financial literacy education. Studies have shown that youth and adults similar fail basic financial literacy tests. Taken together, these facts beat a hasty retreat it no secret why student loan default rates are so high.

The NFECs' comprehensive economic literacy for college students program features a variety of tools designed to take a turn for the better the financial capability of students on campus while helping schools recruit implicit future students. The financial education resources provided by the NFEC incorporate virtual learning center, financial literacy curriculum, educator training, testing and full-construction events.

Student loans form the first credit experience for many youth. And according to the Project on Student Difficulties, the average college graduate leaves school already under a debt load of more than $25,000. While most people conform that a college degree comes with valuable employment and financial benefits, those benefits can be without doubt squandered through money mismanagement.

If nothing is done, the National Financial Educators Council (NFEC) predicts that the student accommodation default rate will only continue going up. They propose a solution: financial literacy for college students . The NFEC believes that revelation to a comprehensive financial education while in college will help students learn the in clover-handling skills they need to maximize leverage of their degrees post-graduation.

The NFEC offers sweeping financial literacy solutions for universities—full programs that include financial literacy workshops, heinous-profile awareness campaigns, multimedia learning centers, and contests. NFEC programs enlist innovations that combine current technology trends with interactive games, creating experiential scholarship methods to which students can readily relate. Program components can be delivered singly or as a whole, to meet a variety of goals.

Besides providing basic money education, college pecuniary literacy programs have wider-impact objectives as well—like reducing student credit default levels, protecting Title IV funding, student recruitment, and improving graduation rates. The NFEC designs patronage financial literacy programs around each university’s unique set of objectives.

“We chose to plan for the NFEC curriculum as part of our Outreach Pennsylvania,” says Erica K. Jackson, Manager of the Center for Financial & Consumer Outreach at Penn State Erie’s The Behrend College, “because it balances functional application with core educational standards. The lessons are engaging, making it enjoyable for teachers and students showing. We also liked that it incorporates a comprehensive financial educator training program to empower those delivering the report with the tools to maximize the effectiveness of the coursework.”

The NFEC provides turnkey college economic literacy solutions to universities. Specific NFEC brands Money XLive and The True Money Experience were designed to connect with college students and move them toward taking convinced action steps to improve their personal finances.

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Source: PR Web (press release)