Why more colleges are offering free tuition

Summary

Apple News Today: Why More Colleges Are Offering Free Tuition
Release Date: December 19, 2024
Host: Shemitah Basu

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1. TikTok's Looming Ban and Legal Battle

Overview:
The episode opens with a pressing issue concerning TikTok, which faces a critical deadline to either sell to an approved buyer and divest from its China-based parent company ByteDance or face a ban in the United States. This decision could mark a significant turning point for the app, which has captivated millions of American users with its highly personalized content.

Key Points:

• Algorithm's Appeal:
  Lauren Feiner from The Verge highlights TikTok's unique algorithm:
  "[00:59] A lot of people feel like the algorithm knows what they want to see, has like just the right amount of randomness to keep them interested and that's really powerful."

• National Security Concerns:
  Lawmakers argue that TikTok poses national security risks due to China's policies that may allow government access to user data. Despite TikTok's claims to the contrary, Forbes reported instances where the app improperly accessed journalists' IP addresses and user data, leading to a covert surveillance campaign. ByteDance acknowledged the breach and terminated the responsible employees.

• Public Confusion and Legal Proceedings:
  Feiner addresses the public's confusion over the ban:
  "[02:00] Lawmakers got to see all of this classified information, but the general public really hasn't seen the same information. And I think that's really made a lot of people question, well, you know, how dangerous is this app and why can't the government explain to us why this bill needs to be in place to protect us."

  The appellate court upheld the law, prioritizing national security over other concerns. However, the Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments on the bill's constitutionality, specifically regarding the First Amendment, with arguments scheduled for January 10th.

• Political Uncertainty:
  The impending presidency of Donald Trump adds another layer of uncertainty. Despite previously attempting to ban TikTok, Trump has recently shown a "warm spot" for the app, hosting its CEO at Mar-a-Lago. Feiner speculates on Trump's potential influence:
  "[03:29] Does he mean he'll just try to facilitate a sale of TikTok, or does he mean he would literally try to stop the law, perhaps by telling his Department of Justice not to enforce it?"

• Immediate Impact of a Ban:
  Should the ban proceed, TikTok would be blocked from internet service providers and app stores in the US. Feiner notes the future decline of the app's quality as updates cease:
  "[04:06] It's really going to fall to companies like Apple and Google that run app Store marketplaces to stop updating the app. So you might be able to use it in the short term, but over time it will increasingly decrease in quality."

2. The Rise of Free Tuition in Higher Education

Overview:
Shifting focus to higher education, Shemitah Basu discusses the emerging trend of colleges offering free tuition to a broader range of students, including those from middle-income families. Institutions like the University of Pennsylvania and MIT have set the precedent by providing free tuition to students from families earning up to $200,000 annually.

Key Points:

• Expanding Financial Aid:
  Danielle Douglas Gabriel from The Washington Post explains:
  "[04:59] What we're really seeing is colleges signaling to people a little further up the income stream that are not what you'd consider low income and therefore would not necessarily qualify for a lot of the federal and state need-based aid policies, saying to them that, hey, you can go here and you can afford this."

• Addressing Student Debt and Enrollment Declines:
  The move towards free tuition is a strategic response to mounting student debt and a decline in high school graduates enrolling in colleges.
  "[05:18] Against the backdrop of crushing student debt and fewer high school graduates enrolling in college, these new announcements are a play for colleges to stand out."

• Demographic Challenges:
  Gabriel highlights the "demographic cliff," indicating a future shortage of high school graduates to fill college seats:
  "[05:28] We have what's known as the demographic cliff, what essentially means that there are just going to be fewer high school grads to fill the seats of the many colleges that we have in this country, over 4,000."

• Financial Aid Accessibility:
  Many students receive financial aid, but the complexity of applications can deter prospective students. The new free tuition offers simpler, more transparent messaging:
  "[06:07] If you really pare into the kind of financial aid policies at many of these schools, they were already doing this... But that wasn't clear to everybody. So I think these schools are trying to say, hey, apply, see what you can get."

• Funding and Competitive Edge:
  Financial aid for free tuition typically derives from endowments and targeted fundraising, allowing colleges to attract a diverse socioeconomic student body. Gabriel notes that even smaller institutions are adopting these strategies to remain competitive:
  "[06:48] One of the schools I spoke to, which was a small private school in Maine... they're saying, hey, actually we're cheaper."

• Future Implications:
  Gabriel predicts the continuation of the free tuition trend but remains uncertain about its long-term impact on higher education affordability for the average American:
  "[07:19] The free tuition trend is likely to continue, though it's a little too early to tell what that means for higher education down the road."

3. Navigating the Modern Breakup Industry

Overview:
The podcast delves into the evolving landscape of breakup support, exploring how modern resources like breakup coaches and retreats have emerged to help individuals cope with the end of romantic relationships.

Key Points:

• Personal Experience:
  Jennifer Wilson, a New Yorker reporter, shares her journey after a sudden breakup and her discovery of the myriad resources available:
  "[08:10] One click leads to another, and the next thing I knew, I saw this whole universe of resources that did not exist 10 years ago."

• Historical Context vs. Modern Solutions:
  From ancient remedies like enemas for heartache to today's sophisticated offerings, the approach to healing from breakups has significantly diversified:
  "[08:29] Last time I was single... they just, just sat on the couch, watched sad movies, ate a pint of ice cream."

• Professional Guidance:
  Wilson met Elena Son, founder of the Heartbreak Agency in Berlin, who emphasizes the rigorous training required to become a certified breakup coach:
  "[09:13] ...she had to go through 18 months of training to become certified as kind of an alternative psychological practitioner."

• Challenges in the Industry:
  The burgeoning "breakup mitigation" industry is fraught with unqualified practitioners, making it difficult for individuals to discern effective support from ineffective or misleading services:
  "[09:34] ...full of people who are just making things up. Some claim to be coaches, but really just paid for a certificate."

• Effective Therapies:
  Wilson found solace in a structured three-day retreat that incorporated scientifically backed therapeutic elements such as meditation, yoga, and writing exercises:
  "[10:10] ...a doctor of psychiatry at Columbia who studies these methods told her it's probably because the retreat included therapeutic elements that have been backed by science for a long time, like ritual and structure."

  Wilson underscores the importance of structured healing time:
  "[10:36] Structure is incredibly healing. Having kind of a designated time where you know where you're going to be, where you know what you have to do, that can really free your mind to focus on the hurt that you're going through."

• Psychological Insights:
  Experts advise against rushing the healing process, emphasizing that breakups are pivotal in making personal meaning and growth:
  "[10:51] ...they're a big part of how we make meaning out of our lives before we let you go."

4. Additional News Highlights

Government Shutdown and Political Tensions:

• President-elect Donald Trump opposed a bipartisan stopgap spending bill to prevent a government shutdown, effectively stalling its progress.
• Speaker Mike Johnson faces challenges in garnering support, especially from Democrats, as the shutdown deadline approaches on Friday midnight.
• Trump has demanded the retention of certain measures like farm and disaster aid while criticizing other provisions, including funds for infrastructure and healthcare administration.
• He has threatened political repercussions for Republicans opposing his stance, indicating he may influence the legislative process from the White House.

Congressional Ethics and Investigations:

• The House Ethics Committee has discreetly voted to release a report on former Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz, stemming from a long-term investigation into serious allegations.
• The report's release is anticipated to shed light on accusations including sexual misconduct, drug use, and bribery, which have compelled Gaetz to withdraw his nomination for Attorney General.

Correction on Health Risks of Black Plastics:

• A recent study initially suggested that household items made from recycled black plastics contain dangerous levels of toxic flame retardants. However, researchers have corrected their findings, admitting an error in the reported safe consumption limits.
• Despite the correction, experts maintain that it is prudent to avoid black plastics in kitchen environments to mitigate potential health risks.

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Conclusion:
In this episode of Apple News Today, Shemitah Basu navigates through intricate issues ranging from the potential ban of TikTok and its broader implications, the innovative trend of free tuition in higher education amidst demographic shifts, to the burgeoning industry of breakup support services. Additionally, listeners are briefed on significant political developments and recent corrections in health studies related to household plastics. The episode underscores the dynamic nature of current events and societal trends, providing listeners with comprehensive insights and expert viewpoints.

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For more in-depth stories and updates, download the Apple News app and follow Apple News Plus narrated.

Transcript

[Shemitah Basu]

Good morning. It's Thursday, December 19th. I'm Shemitah Basu. This is Apple News Today. On today's show, why some colleges are offering free tuition to a broader swath of students. Trump comes out strongly against a bipartisan bill to prevent a government shutdown at the end of the week and the messy, lucrative business of breakups. But first, TikTok has just one month left to respond to an ultimatum from either sell to an approved buyer and divest from its China based parent company ByteDance, or be banned in the US for the tens of millions of American users. It could be the end of an era for the app, which has built a reputation for curating seemingly tailor made content just for you here. Here's how Lauren Feiner at the Verge put it.

[Lauren Feiner]

A lot of people feel like the algorithm knows what they want to see, has like just the right amount of randomness to keep them interested and that's really powerful.

[Shemitah Basu]

Lawmakers have warned for a long time that the app poses national security risks, citing policies in China that allow the government to secretly request data from companies and citizens, which TikTok claims has never happened to them. Forbes says they experienced TikTok's far reaching ability to spy on users firsthand when the app improperly gained access to some of their journalists, IP addresses and user data. Those reporters were tracked as part of a covert surveillance campaign. ByteDance confirmed that it happened and fired the employees responsible. It was a real life example of what lawmakers have warned against. But Feiner told us despite that, a lot of TikTok users are confused about why a law banning the app is necessary, in part because U.S. officials never publicly provided evidence to support their concerns.

[Lauren Feiner]

Lawmakers got to see all of this classified information, but the general public really hasn't seen the same information. And I think that's really made a lot of people question, well, you know, how dangerous is this app and why can't the government explain to us why this bill needs to be in place to protect us?

[Shemitah Basu]

TikTok's battle to defend itself hasn't gone well so far. An appellate court earlier this month upheld the law, basically saying national security trumps all other issues. But they were thrown a lifeline yesterday by the Supreme Court, which announced it will hear arguments over the constitutionality of the law next month.

[Lauren Feiner]

Specifically, they want to know whether the bill violates the First Amendment.

[Shemitah Basu]

Legal experts told NPR forcing a shutdown over unspecified threats in their opinion would violate the First Amendment. The Supreme Court will hear TikTok's argument on January 10th. January 19th is the deadline for TikTok to sell. And one day later on January 20th, adding another layer of complication to this story, President elect Donald Trump will take office. What'll happen to TikTok under the Trump presidency is a little unknown lately. He told reporters he has a, quote, warm spot for the app. He hosted the app's CEO at Mar a Lago this week. That's quite the turnaround from his first term. When Trump tried unsuccessfully to ban TikTok through an executive order, Feiner told us he might try to influence what happens next with the app.

[Lauren Feiner]

Does he mean he'll just try to facilitate a sale of TikTok, or does he mean he would literally try to stop the law, perhaps by telling his Department of Justice not to enforce it? I think we don't totally know what he's thinking right now, but there's kind of a limited amount that Trump can do given that this bill passed into law and so far has been upheld by the courts.

[Shemitah Basu]

If TikTok is banned, the impact will be noticeable right away. For one, Internet service providers in the US will be required to block TikTok from web browsers, also app stores.

[Lauren Feiner]

It's really going to fall to companies like Apple and Google that run app Store marketplaces to stop updating the app. So you might be able to use it in the short term, but over time it will increasingly decrease in quality.

[Shemitah Basu]

Now to a trend in higher education. This fall, the University of Pennsylvania and MIT announced that they're offering free tuition to students from families making up to $200,000 a year. Colleges have been offering tuition breaks for low income families for decades, but now more and more schools are aiming at a broader group, the middle class. Washington Post higher ed reporter Danielle Douglas Gabriel told us. Why?

[Danielle Douglas Gabriel]

What we're really seeing is colleges signaling to people a little further up the income stream that are not what you'd consider low income and therefore would not necessarily qualify for a lot of the federal and state need based aid policies, saying to them that, hey, you can go here and you can afford this, she says.

[Shemitah Basu]

Against the backdrop of crushing student debt and fewer high school graduates enrolling in college, these new announcements are a play for colleges to stand out.

[Danielle Douglas Gabriel]

We have what's known as the demographic cliff, what essentially means that there are just going to be fewer high school grads to fill the seats of the many colleges that we have in this country, over 4,000. Right. So if you're trying to be competitive for those students, you have to let them know that they can afford to go here.

[Shemitah Basu]

Douglas Gabriel also points out most students don't end up paying the full tuition price for college anyway. Lots of people qualify for some amount of financial aid. Now, applying for that aid can be tricky to navigate and possibly discourage to some prospective students. That's why she says the real news here isn't the expansion of the aid bracket, it's the messaging.

[Danielle Douglas Gabriel]

If you really pare into the kind of financial aid policies at many of these schools, they were already doing this. Middle income students who could get in had a good chance of not having to take on a lot of debt to complete their education because of how generous the institutional aid is. But that wasn't clear to everybody. You wouldn't find out unless you apply. So I think these schools are trying to say, hey, apply, see what you can get.

[Shemitah Basu]

The money for financial aid typically comes from endowments and targeted fundraising. And whether it's a competitive school like MIT that wants to diversify the socioeconomic profile of its student body, or a small school that needs to stay competitive, they're all looking to get an edge.

[Danielle Douglas Gabriel]

One of the schools I spoke to, which was a small private school in Maine, they weren't paying attention to what Princeton was doing. They were paying attention to what UMass was doing and trying to get the student that would think, well, it's far less expensive for me to go to a public institution like UMass rather than go to your small private liberal. But they're saying, hey, actually we're cheaper.

[Shemitah Basu]

Douglas Gabriel told us her prediction. The free tuition trend is likely to continue, though it's a little too early to tell what that means for higher education down the road.

[Danielle Douglas Gabriel]

Keep in mind, a lot of these schools admit small numbers of people. So I think the big question is how much impact will these decisions have? Or will they just be at the margins? Or will we see like a total sea change in how the average American is able to afford and pay for college?

[Shemitah Basu]

When a romantic relationship ends, it can be pretty earth shattering. For New Yorker reporter Jennifer Wilson, it was a blindside via text, followed soon after by a question from a friend who wanted to know, do you have a breakup plan? What's that? Wilson wondered. She'd just gotten back into the dating pool after her marriage ended, and she told us that question sent her down a rabbit hole.

[Jennifer Wilson]

One click leads to another, and the next thing I knew, I saw this whole universe of resources that did not exist 10 years ago. Last time I was single. Back then, if you were going through a breakup, you just, just sat on the couch, watched sad movies, ate a pint of ice cream.

[Shemitah Basu]

For centuries, since the days of Aristotle, experts have tried to understand what exactly heartache is, how it manifests in the mind and body, and how to best help people going through it. In 1610, the recommendation from a physician in France was to give people enemas for heartbreak. Today, Wilson says, it looks like every.

[Jennifer Wilson]

Manner of breakup coach, lots of breakup retreats, breakup getaways. I found this hotel in Mexico that would that offered a kind of exfoliating treatment where you could scrub away the past.

[Shemitah Basu]

If you're wondering what a breakup coach does or what happens on a breakup retreat, Wilson says it can vary pretty widely.

[Jennifer Wilson]

When I traveled to Berlin, I met with a woman named Elena Son, who runs something called the Heartbreak Agency, and she had to go through 18 months of training to become certified as kind of an alternative psychological practitioner. And then she passed a test through the German health department.

[Shemitah Basu]

The breakup mitigation industry, which is a phrase I just made up, is, as you can imagine, full of people who are just making things up. Some claim to be coaches, but really just paid for a certificate. Others come from a vaguely self helpy background, which is why Wilson says it can be hard to know the quality of a program.

[Jennifer Wilson]

People who are going through breakups are looking for anything that is going to alleviate the pain, and there are lots of people out there willing to offer that kind of quote unquote help. But not all of them are actually helping.

[Shemitah Basu]

Wilson decided to try a three day retreat in the Berkshires run by a psychotherapy expert. She and dozens of other women going through heartbreak meditated, did yoga, went kayaking and did writing exercises. And she said she felt better after a doctor of psychiatry at Columbia who studies these methods told her it's probably because the retreat included therapeutic elements that have been backed by science for a long time, like ritual and structure.

[Jennifer Wilson]

Structure is incredibly healing. Having kind of a designated time where you know where you're going to be, where you know what you have to do, that can really free your mind to focus on the hurt that you're going through.

[Shemitah Basu]

One psychology expert who runs healing retreats told Wilson it's just as important not to treat a breakup as something that needs to be rushed past or quickly gotten over. After all, she said, they're a big part of how we make meaning out of our lives before we let you go. A few other stories being featured in the Apple News app With a looming government shutdown deadline at the end of the week, President Elect Trump came out strongly against a bipartisan stopgap spending bill, effectively killing it before it could reach a vote. Speaker Mike Johnson has to start over now, and the Washington Post reports he has not indicated he has a backup plan. Trump has asked to keep certain measures Johnson supports, like farm and disaster aid, but criticized other provisions negotiated by Democrats, like funds to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge that collapsed in Baltimore and new rules for health plan administrators. Trump also threatened the political futures of Republicans who don't support his stance on the bill, saying they will be primaried. Johnson will likely need Democratic support to pass any bill. The shutdown deadline is midnight on Friday. In other congressional news, the House Ethics Committee secretly voted to release a report on former Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz. The report is the result of a years long investigation. The allegations against him, which Gates has denied, include having sex with underage girls, using illicit drugs and taking bribes, among others. The Ethics Committee has released investigations into former members before, but that hasn't always been the case. The Wall Street Journal's Molly Ball explained on cbs, it's been relatively rare in.

[Danielle Douglas Gabriel]

The past, so we don't know what is behind this decision, what's behind this vote that has apparently been taken. But if it results in the release of the report, we will soon know what these allegations were that were considered damaging, that they forced Gaetz to withdraw his nomination as Attorney General.

[Shemitah Basu]

Gates resigned from Congress after being nominated to be AG by Trump, but later withdrew his name from consideration, saying his nomination had become a distraction. And finally, an update on the story about the dangers of black plastic spatulas and other household items. We talked about this on the show pretty recently. The study said items made with recycled black plastics contained toxic flame retardants linked to health risks like cancer. Now, the authors of that study have issued a correction saying some of their numbers were off. USA Today reports the researchers misstated the limit set by the EPA for what's a safe level of these chemicals to consume. Their initial study made it sound like tested products were a lot closer to the limit than they really are. Still, even with the error, these researchers say they stand by their conclusion that you're better off getting rid of black plastics, especially in your kitchen. You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. And if you're already listening in the News app right now, we've queued up that New Yorker piece on the many ways to deal with breakups to play for you next. If you're listening in the podcast app, follow Apple News plus narrated to find that story and I'll be back with the news tomorrow.