A Sea Of Red

Columbia Fires Its Director of Student Aid

By KAREN W. ARENSON
Published: May 22, 2007

Columbia University dismissed its financial aid director yesterday after the release of documents showing he promoted a student loan company in which he had a stake, sending letters to parents and alumni on three occasions praising the lender.

Officials working with New York’s attorney general, Andrew M. Cuomo, who is investigating the $85 billion student loan industry, said that e-mail messages and other documents Columbia turned over in response to a subpoena were evidence that the university had failed to supervise its financial aid program, which was led by the director, David Charlow.

Mr. Cuomo’s office called on Columbia’s president, Lee C. Bollinger, to “immediately overhaul the operation.”