finances

As stress mounts for students filing individual tax returns by the April 15 deadline, the lack of financial guidance available to University undergraduates is painfully evident. The complexity of the income-tax system, coupled with such dangers as identity theft, warrants a program to prepare students for the financial hurdles of the real world.

Student Governing Board’s release of financial figures on Saturday brought what many hope will kick off a period of greater transparency and solve what many have pointed to as a long-standing concern. The report was released on the heels of the Activities Board at Columbia’s mid-February decision to publish its student group allocations.