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Drexel under fire or business as usual in academia
The University's involvement in a student loan kickback scheme is only one effect of a much deeper symptom.
Robert Zaller
Issue date: 4/27/07 Section: Ed-Op
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As everyone now knows, Drexel University is now under threat of suit by the Attorney General of New York, Andrew Cuomo, for its part in an alleged kickback scheme involving student loans. According to the allegation, Drexel received 0.75% of more than $16 million in loans from a preferred provider, Education Finance Partners. It's a paltry amount to trade one's reputation for, but, hey, as students trying to pay Drexel's all-but-Harvard scale tuition know, every little bit counts.
For the record, President Papadakis has strenuously denied any impropriety. The appearance of it, though, is sufficiently embarrassing. Education Finance was permitted to masquerade as part of Drexel itself, using the university's name, logo and website to promote its business, and even - heresy of heresies - the ubiquitous dragon itself. It would doubtless have surprised students to discover that Education Finance is actually based in San Francisco.
Drexel isn't alone in the scandal. Education Finance and other lenders had kickback deals-uh, excuse me, revenue sharing arrangements-with some sixty giants of higher education, including our friendly neighbor, Penn. Penn actually got a sweetheart deal, 2 percent from Citibank. It's now in the process of repaying nearly 3,000 of its students an average of $500 under a "voluntary" agreement.
Penn is one of seven schools that have agreed to reimburse their students. Drexel is the only one of the sixty that has denied Cuomo's allegations. It's obvious that the other targeted schools are as eager as sin to put this story to bed. Few scams are as unattractive as universities ripping off the students they're overcharging for an education in the first place.
It should be noted that Drexel has not denied receiving payments from Education Finance. Melissa Englund, Executive Director of Financial Aid, says that the money has been put into a special scholarship fund to help students deal with personal emergencies. That seems to be a worthy cause - worthy enough that the University would proudly and publicly set aside its own funds for it, rather than accepting money under the table, and indirectly charging students for the very benefit it was supposedly conferring.
For the record, President Papadakis has strenuously denied any impropriety. The appearance of it, though, is sufficiently embarrassing. Education Finance was permitted to masquerade as part of Drexel itself, using the university's name, logo and website to promote its business, and even - heresy of heresies - the ubiquitous dragon itself. It would doubtless have surprised students to discover that Education Finance is actually based in San Francisco.
Drexel isn't alone in the scandal. Education Finance and other lenders had kickback deals-uh, excuse me, revenue sharing arrangements-with some sixty giants of higher education, including our friendly neighbor, Penn. Penn actually got a sweetheart deal, 2 percent from Citibank. It's now in the process of repaying nearly 3,000 of its students an average of $500 under a "voluntary" agreement.
Penn is one of seven schools that have agreed to reimburse their students. Drexel is the only one of the sixty that has denied Cuomo's allegations. It's obvious that the other targeted schools are as eager as sin to put this story to bed. Few scams are as unattractive as universities ripping off the students they're overcharging for an education in the first place.
It should be noted that Drexel has not denied receiving payments from Education Finance. Melissa Englund, Executive Director of Financial Aid, says that the money has been put into a special scholarship fund to help students deal with personal emergencies. That seems to be a worthy cause - worthy enough that the University would proudly and publicly set aside its own funds for it, rather than accepting money under the table, and indirectly charging students for the very benefit it was supposedly conferring.
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