Welcome to Did You See This? — the fourth installment of The SUNN Post’s biweekly column spotlighting the recent news stories students need to know about. Stay tuned for future rundowns, and, without further ado, buckle in for this week’s headlines.
The Headline
With the end of the SAVE plan approaching, student loan borrowers will be forced to switch to other payment models.
The Rundown
After settling a lawsuit challenging the legality of the SAVE (Saving on a Valuable Education) plan, the Department of Education is working to eliminate the affordable repayment option. The SAVE plan, introduced under the Biden administration, was an income-based student loan repayment option which generally was the cheapest option available to borrowers. Today, there are approximately 7 million people enrolled in SAVE.
Those people will need to take action sooner rather than later to avoid being shifted automatically into the standard repayment plan, a plan with fixed monthly payments that typically costs borrowers more. Unlike SAVE, it doesn’t adjust payments relative to borrowers’ incomes, and does not include a loan forgiveness option once the payment period has elapsed.
The New York Times, Forbes, and the National Consumer Law Center have published resources for borrowers faced with the task of selecting an alternate plan.
The Student Angle
Choosing a student loan payment plan is a long-term financial commitment, and headlines like this one might prompt students to reinvestigate their finances. Seeing changes to federal loan policies, they may begin to wonder not only what repayment plans will work best for their financial situation, but also whether they can trust their plan’s long-term viability. Plus, it may make them want to take advantage of on-campus resources for navigating far-reaching financial decisions, as some news articles have recommended.
The Headline
Harvard College has set a cap on “A” grades in undergrad classes in a decisive move against grade inflation.
The Rundown
Since December 2023, when the New York Times reported that nearly 80% of grades awarded to Yale undergraduates in the 2022-2023 school year were A’s or A-’s, grade inflation has been a topic of heated debate. The situation isn’t isolated to the nation’s most exclusive schools: Average GPAs at universities across the U.S. have been on the rise for decades.
In a controversial move, Harvard announced last Wednesday that only 20% of the students in a given class will be able to receive A’s starting in fall 2027, with some wiggle room for up to four additional A’s per class. In a class of 100 students, that means up to 24 — 24% — can receive an A. In a class of 10 students, as many as six — 60% — may receive an A, because of that allowance.
The Student Angle
Conversations about grade inflation tend to be divisive: While some stakeholders feel that the increased number of A-range marks awarded has diluted the value of a high grade, others argue that the rise in average grades has kept pace with increasingly stringent admissions criteria, and that artificially deflating scores will increase competition and discourage intellectual risk-taking. Students may be interested in considering where they fall in this philosophical debate, and in keeping an eye on how this attempt at grade standardization plays out — Harvard is one of the nation’s most scrutinized and influential campuses, after all.
The Headline
With the school year winding down and UV levels rising, teenagers flout medical guidance in pursuit of a tan.
The Rundown
For years, dermatologists have fought to educate the public about the risks of sun exposure, particularly in the form of deliberate tanning or the use of tanning beds. A darkened, bronzy skin tone is a classic symbol of teenage and young adult beauty. But recent social media exchanges have shown there’s a new wrinkle in the docs’ awareness campaign: Many Gen Zers understand that unprotected UV exposure causes their risk of developing skin cancer to skyrocket. They just don’t care.
According to a survey from the American Academy of Dermatology discussed in a New York Times article published Monday, 20% of Gen Zers surveyed said getting tan was more important to them than preventing skin cancer. This may result, the Times reported, from an abundance of medical misinformation present online. Possible also is that Gen Z’s perceived uncertainty about the future has changed their cost-benefit calculations.
The Student Angle
Tanning is a pervasive beauty standard for Gen Zers of all ages, and has been for decades. But few teens take the time to consider why an artificially bronze skin tone is an object of cultural fixation — tanning has a rich history, dating back to a time when hours spent outdoors (and the resulting tan) were hallmarks of socioeconomic privilege. Viable alternatives to UV tanning — most notably, the application of at-home or in-salon darkening products — are more available and more widely used than ever, but the question remains: Will young people ever be able to kick their UV addiction?
