68. Who Graduates in Four Years?

To determine the impact of advising by the Mahoning Valley College Access Program (MVCAP), names from its electronic database (in the software Prep HQ) of former advisees in the Class of 2004—the first loaded online—were submitted to the Ohio College Access Network (OCAN) to check matriculation and graduation rates with the National College Clearinghouse data. Of the 568 advisees in that class, 389 (68.49%) matriculated.

From the total number of advisees, 78 (13.73%) had already graduated college in 4 years: 73 had earned 4-year degrees, while 5 completed two-year degrees. The largest number of advisees had graduated from Youngstown State University (20), with 14 others receiving degrees from The Ohio State University and 8 from Kent State.

Other statistical analyses examined certain high school data (including grade-point average and ACT composite score) for both the college graduates and the non-degreed former MVCAP advisees from the Class of 2004 who were still enrolled in college during 2008. For those 78 students who had already earned their two- or four-year degree in 2008, the average GPA was 3.58; the average ACT composite score was 23.47. (Indeed, for these graduates, only 5 had GPAs lower than 3.0 and but 9 had ACT composites lower than 20.) For those students who had not yet earned their two- or four year degree in 2008, but who were still enrolled in college, the average GPA was 3.08; the average ACT composite score was 20.68.

These findings seem to suggest what might be viewed as a “common-sense” hypothesis: those high school graduates who matriculate and continue in pursuit of their degree will have been “good students” in high school; those who graduate from college in four years will have been even stronger students in high school.

To read the article "College students take longer to graduate," by Cliff Peale in The Cincinnati Enquirer on May 3, 2010, which lists cohort graduation rates of Cincinnati-area colleges and universities, click this link:

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20100503/NEWS0102/5030326/College+students+take+longer+to+graduate

67. College-Going Rates

The U.S. Department of Labor indicated on April 27, 2010, that the percentage of high-school graduates going on to college is rising. In 1999, 62.9% matriculated to higher education, while 68.6% did so in 2008. By 2009, 70.1% of U.S. graduates (ages 16-24) opted for postsecondary education.

Rates varied by gender, with 66% of males matriculating compared to 73.8% of females from the high school Class of 2009.

To read Sara Murphy's article, "Grads Head to College In Record Numbers," from The Wall Street Journal of April 28, 2010, click this link:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703832204575210244203411342.html?mod=e2tw

66. Transfer Admissions

Many students--approximately 1/3--will transfer from one college to another before graduating. The criteria used for transfer admissions can be different from those employed for high school seniors and can vary from private to public institutions. So, too, can admissions rates differ. A report by the National Association for College Admission Counseling discusses these topics; you can read an article from Inside HigherEd on this report at the following link:

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/04/27/transfer

65. Graduation Rates in Ohio

As the cost of college increases, more attention is being paid to the percentage of students who graduate from particular schools. A report entitled "Diplomas and Dropouts: Which Colleges Actually Graduate Their Students (and Which Don’t)," dated June 2009, was written by Frederick M. Hess, Mark Schneider, Kevin Carey, and Andrew P. Kelly as A Project of the American Enterprise Institute.

Using 6-year percentages reported by the colleges and universities to the U. S. Department of Education for the student cohort enrolling in 2001, the authors compared graduation rates by various levels of schools' selectivity, according to groupings in Barron’s Profiles of American Colleges. The 6-year graduation rates for colleges and universities in Ohio from this report (pp. 59-61) have been copied and pasted below:

College/Univ Grad % Tuition Enr Carnegie Class Type
Antioch College 34 28,573 225 Baccalaureate Private
Ashland University 59 23,006 4,988 Master’s Private
Baldwin-Wallace College 67 22,404 3,796 Master’s Private
Bluffton University 56 21,780 1,046 Baccalaureate Private
Bowling Green State University, Main Campus 57 9,060 17,043 Research Public
Capital University 57 26,360 3,252 Master’s Private
Case Western Reserve University 81 33,538 8,454 Research Private
Cedarville University 69 19,680 2,947 Baccalaureate Private
Central State University 21 5,294 1,900 Baccalaureate Public
Cleveland State University 31 7,945 11,303 Research Public
College of Mount St. Joseph 51 21,200 1,819 Master’s Private
College of Wooster 73 31,870 1,771 Baccalaureate Private
David N. Myers University 23 10,950 379 Baccalaureate Private
Defiance College 51 20,630 827 Baccalaureate Private
Denison University 79 33,010 2,223 Baccalaureate Private
DeVry University, Ohio 32 13,220 2,587 Master’s Private
Franciscan University of Steubenville 69 18,180 2,224 Master’s Private
Heidelberg College 59 18,618 1,360 Master’s Private
Hiram College 61 24,885 1,130 Baccalaureate Private
John Carroll University 74 26,434 3,397 Master’s Private
Kent State University, Kent Campus 49 8,430 20,025 Research Public
Kenyon College 84 38,140 1,657 Baccalaureate Private
Lake Erie College 50 23,886 809 Baccalaureate Private
Lourdes College 53 11,232 1,490 Baccalaureate Private
Malone College 56 18,870 2,030 Master’s Private
Marietta College 56 24,842 1,534 Baccalaureate Private
Miami University, Oxford 80 10,554 15,531 Research Public
Mount Union College 65 22,050 2,092 Baccalaureate Private
Mount Vernon Nazarene University 51 18,064 2,377 Baccalaureate Private
Muskingum College 61 17,970 1,822 Master’s Private
Notre Dame College 51 21,090 1,118 Baccalaureate Private
Oberlin College 82 36,282 2,747 Baccalaureate Private
Ohio Dominican University 44 21,700 2,489 Master’s Private
Ohio Northern University 69 29,685 3,526 Baccalaureate Private
Ohio State University, Lima Campus 36 5,664 1,196 Associates Public
Ohio State University, Main Campus 71 8,676 48,583 Research Public
Ohio State University, Newark Campus 36 5,664 2,270 Associates Public
Ohio University, Main Campus 71 8,907 19,805 Research Public
Ohio Wesleyan University 68 31,930 1,975 Baccalaureate Private
Otterbein College 63 25,065 2,648 Master’s Private
Shawnee State University 29 5,832 3,292 Baccalaureate Public
Tiffin University 34 16,800 2,001 Master’s Private
University of Akron, Main Campus 36 8,382 19,179 Research Public
University of Cincinnati, Main Campus 43 9,399 24,986 Research Public
University of Dayton 76 25,950 9,219 Research Private
University of Findlay 57 23,890 4,077 Master’s Private
University of Rio Grande 41 16,400 1,886 Master’s Private
University of Toledo, Main Campus 44 7,982 17,098 Research Public
Urbana University 35 17,704 1,132 Baccalaureate Private
Ursuline College 49 22,910 1,117 Master’s Private
Walsh University 55 18,960 2,072 Master’s Private
Wilberforce University 32 11,560 825 Baccalaureate Private
Wilmington College 54 22,078 1,446 Baccalaureate Private
Wittenberg University 61 31,400 1,996 Baccalaureate Private
Wright State University, Main Campus 43 7,018 14,100 Research Public
Xavier University 80 25,270 5,201 Master’s Private
Youngstown State University 36 6,721 11,486 Master’s Public

State Average 54.5%

The entire report can be accessed at this link:

http://www.reducemycollegecosts.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/graduation-rates-for-all-states-6-091.pdf

64. Who Borrows the Most?

Borrowing for college is an important issue today, as student loan-debt increases--sometimes to scary levels. To read a report by Sandy Baum and Patricia Steele for The College Board entitled "Who Borrows Most? Bachelor's Degree Recipients with High Levels of Student Debt," click this link:

http://advocacy.collegeboard.org/sites/default/files/Trends-Who-Borrows-Most-Brief.pdf

To read Lynn O'Shaughnessy's highlights of this report, check out her blog-post:

http://moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-money/blog/college-solution/college-debt-12-facts-about-student-loan-borrowers/1961/?tag=col1;blog-river

63. Unusual Scholarships

From time to time, you'll hear someone say this: "There are lots of scholarships out there!" Unfortunately, many of them stay out there--rather than in some student's pocket. Nonetheless, there do exist scholarships that are, in fact, awarded for unusual reasons--sometimes, unrelated to academics. Jilian Mincer wrote in The Wall Street Journal of April 16, 2010, about such scholarships in an article entitled "If You're a Tall Vegan Named Zolp, Your Tuition Worries Are Over." You can read her account at this link:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304198004575172073856320424.html?KEYWORDS=If+you%27re+a+tall+vegan+named+zolp

62. Discounts for College Tuition

Many private colleges and universities give students a cut in the price they must pay to attend. This practice, called "discounting," comes through the financial-aid package granted--which may amount to several thousand dollars and can enable a student to afford that school. The extent of these discounts and reasons for them are addressed by Lynn O'Shaughnessy in her blog-post "College Tuition: Schools Cutting Prices at Historic Levels" at this link:

http://moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-money/blog/college-solution/college-tuition-schools-cutting-prices-at-historic-levels/1905/?tag=col1;blog-river

61. Do Many Students Take Out College Loans?

Borrowing to pay college expenses is becoming a necessity for more students. The percentage of students who have college loans is growing, as Lynn O'Shaughnessy discusses in her blog-post "The Soaring Popularity of College Student Loans" at this link:

http://moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-money/blog/college-solution/the-soaring-popularity-of-college-student-loans/545/?tag=col1;blog-river

60. How Much Should Parents Borrow for College?

Even after considering all elements a student may receive in his/her financial-aid package, they may still need more money to pay for a particular college or university. In that case, parents often consider taking out loans to assist their child. However, how much parents should borrow is often not addressed. Lynn O'Shaughnessy confronts this issue in her blog-post "College Loans: How Much Should Parents Borrow?" at this link:

http://moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-money/blog/college-solution/college-loans-how-much-should-parents-borrow/1510/?tag=col1;blog-river

59. How Much Should a Student Borrow for College?

A question students ask in regard to college loans is "How much should I borrow?" With the hazards of loan-debt so publicized today, this is an important question to ponder. Lynn O'Shaughnessy addresses this issue in her blog-post "College Debt: Don’t Borrow More Than $27,000" at this link:

http://moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-money/blog/college-solution/college-debt-dont-borrow-more-than-27000/1521/?tag=col1;blog-river

58. Shopping for Student Loans

Before a student takes out loans to pay for college, he or she and their family should investigate available options. Specifically, they should consider the kinds of loans offered as well as interest rates and repayment obligations. To become aware of these possibilities, read the blog-post by Lynn O'Shaughnessy entitled "Find the Right Student Loan" at this link:

http://moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-money/blog/college-solution/find-the-right-student-loan/371/?tag=col1;blog-river

57. College Loans

Today, many students--and their parents--will likely consider loans to pay for college. Indeed, some may come to regard a loan as the "four-letter word" of financial aid! To learn more about borrowing for college, Lynn O'Shaughnessy has compiled several of her blog-posts on loans, "Best College Loan Advice: 9 Tips for Borrowing for College," at this link:

http://moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-money/blog/college-solution/best-college-loan-advice-9-tips-for-borrowing-for-college/1864/?tag=col1;blog-river

56. Wait-List

Sometimes, a college or university won't either accept or reject a student's application for admission--rather, it will put them on its "wait-list." These lists can range in size from hundreds to thousands of students who still await a decision on their application's acceptance or rejection. Many students will opt not to keep a place on the wait-list and, instead, decide to accept another school's offer of admission. Other applicants, however, decide to remain on the wait-list until they hear, one way or the other, if they will be asked to enroll.

To read Lynn O'Shaughnessy's blog-post "Getting Off a College Wait List: 5 Things to Do Now," click this link:

http://moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-money/blog/college-solution/getting-off-a-college-wait-list-things-to-do-now/1846/?tag=col1;blog-river

To read "The Early Line on Admission Yields (and Wait-List Offers)," by Jacques Steinberg in his blog of May 12, 2010, for The New York Times, click this link: http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/12/yield-3/#more-20099

55. How Do Elite Schools Determine Prices?

For one opinion on why elite colleges and universities are expensive, see the opinion piece by Andrew Manshel, "Why Top Colleges Squeeze You Dry," in The Wall Street Journal on April 9, 2010, at this link:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304017404575165730979629178.html?KEYWORDS=andrew+manshel

54. College Scholarships

Many students--and their parents--want to know how to get a college scholarship. The simple answer is "Be an attractive candidate for one"--that is, have a high grade-point average (GPA) in a rigorous course of study, earn a top class-rank, and score well on the ACT or SAT. In other words, be the type of student any college would love to have enroll--and might offer a scholarship to facilitate that. But there are other ways as well. For some ideas, check out the following links to these blog-posts by Lynn O'Shaughnessy:

1. "4 Ways to Win A Scholarship"--http://moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-money/blog/college-solution/college-scholarships-4-ways-to-win-a-scholarship/1761/

2. "The Best Places to Find College Cash"--http://moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-money/blog/college-solution/the-best-places-to-find-college-cash/442/?tag=content;col1

3. "The Myth About College Scholarships"--http://moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-money/blog/college-solution/the-myth-about-college-scholarships/312/?tag=content;col1

Good luck!

53. Proprietary Educational Institutions

For information on the sector of higher education alternatively referred to as "for-profit/private sector/corporate," access data released by the U.S. Education Department on April 6, 2010, at this link from Inside Higher Ed:

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/04/07/enroll

To access the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) report entitled "FOR-PROFIT COLLEGES:
Undercover Testing Finds Colleges Encouraged
Fraud and Engaged in Deceptive and Questionable Marketing Practices," dated August 4, 2010, click the following link:

http://pervegalit.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/gaomarketing.pdf
According to that GAO report, you can watch video clips of applications by undercover investigators and listen to voicemail messages from proprietary educational institution recruiters at this link:

http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-948T

To see the annual revenue and number of students enrolled by some of the largest for-profit companies/universities, click this link to an article in The Wall Street Journal, dated August 30, 2010:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703418004575455773289209384.html?mod=WSJ_article_related

To read the article by Stephanie Chen, "For-profit college risk: Huge debt, questionable degree," posted on 9/2/10, at CNN online, click this link:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/09/02/for.profit.college.debt/index.html?hpt=C2

52. Tuition at Public Flagship Universities in the U.S.

To see tuitions during 2009-2010 at public flagship universities in the U.S., click the following link to a database in USA TODAY: http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-10-20-college-costs_N.htm

51. College Visits

If you're still trying to decide which college to attend, make a(nother) visit! Generally, you'll "feel" whether the college is a good match for you--that is, somewhere you'll thrive and just not survive. Since the deadline for responding to colleges' offer of admission is May 1, visit now; spend the night in a dorm room and attend a class, if you can, but be sure to call ahead to make arrangements.

For some thoughts on those visits, see the following links:

1) Lynn O'Shaughnessy, CBS moneywatch.com,"The College Visit: Top 7 Things You Must Do"--http://moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-money/blog/college-solution/the-college-visit-top-7-things-you-must-do/1796/?tag=col1;blog-river

2) Caren Osten Gerszberg and Nicole Gerszberg, The Choice, "Advice From Mother and Daughter on Visiting Colleges,"--http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/06/advice-2/?src=twt&twt=NYTimesCollege

50. Ask for a Reconsideration

If you can not afford to attend the college of your choice and hope more financial aid might enable you to enroll, you can ask your financial-aid officer to "reconsider" your financial-aid award. You may be asked to present financial-aid award offer letters from comparable colleges, complete a form on any "special circumstances" important to consider, or provide other information--but take a chance! Be polite, speak for yourself (rather than having a parent make the contact), and avoid using the term "negotiate." Stress that the college is your first choice and you'd like to attend, but your financial-aid award won't let you do that; therefore, can it be "reconsidered"?


For suggestions on how to do this, read the blog posting by Lynn O'Shaughnessy at this link: http://thecollegesolutionblog.com/2010/03/21/student-aid-5-ways-to-negotiate-for-more-financial-aid/

Also, check out the post, "Fight for Financial Aid the Smart Way," by Peter McDougall at this link: http://ow.ly/1vhOM

Finally, Sandra J. Oliveira--Executive Director, Office of Financial Aid at Providence College--offers advice on appealing your finanical-aid award at this link from The New York Times:

http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/29/aid-2/#more-19867

49. "Can We Afford This College?"

In the April 2010 Money, Penelope Wang writes an article entitled "Can We Afford This College?" After students are accepted to a college, have filed their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), and receive their financial-aid award offer letter, they and their parent(s) need to ask this same question. Ask it before the May 1 deadline to indicate to the college they will enroll; don't wait until the first bill arrives in August. If you can't make ends meet without taking on significant loan-debt, now's the time to consider other college possibilities.

Writer Lynn O'Shaughnessy advises students and parent to get a "financial aid pre-read" early in the college-search process. You can see her column "What's This College Really Going To Cost," posted online on 9/9/10, at this link:

http://moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-money/blog/college-solution/whats-this-college-really-going-to-cost/3007/?tag=col1;blog-river

48. 2010 Admission Rates

To see what percentage of all applicants were accepted to a number of public and private universities, click this link to The New York Times:

http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2010-admissions-tally/

To read the comments of Kevin Carey on admission rates, see his blog-post of April 19, 2010, entitled "Real College-Acceptance Rates Are Higher Than You Think," at this link:

http://chronicle.com/blogPost/Real-College-Acceptance-Rates/23231/

To read a summary of the various guides that "rank" colleges, click on the post "Which College Rankings Set Should You Use," by Danielle Wiener-Bronner on The Huffington Post of 9/14/10, at this link:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/danielle-wienerbronner/which-college-rankings-se_b_716526.html

47. Verification

If your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) has been selected for verification, read the post by Doug Schantz of CheapScholar.org at this link:

http://cheapscholar.org/2010/03/30/help-i-have-been-selected-for-financial-aid-verification/