109. MVCAP fyi

See free MVCAP e-books on college admissions and financial aid for sharing, printing, and downloading at our online resource library: http://issuu.com/mvcap

1. Boomerang kids: 85% of college grads move home http://t.co/r4s0RRz

‎"Stubbornly high unemployment -- nearly 15% for those ages 20-24 -- has made finding a job nearly impossible. And without a job, there's nowhere for these young adults to go but back to their old bedrooms, curfews and chore charts. Meet the boomerangers. "This recession has hit young adults particularly hard," according to Rich Morin, senior editor at the Pew Research Center in DC. So hard that a whopping 85% of college seniors planned to move back home with their parents after graduation last May, according to a poll by Twentysomething Inc., a marketing and research firm based in Philadelphia. That rate has steadily risen from 67% in 2006."

2. Trade schools flunk key test: Helping students http://t.co/Ubp9Kq3

‎"The default rate at for-profit schools is the highest, compared to other types of schools. It climbed to 11.6% in 2009, from 11% the year before, according to a study released Monday by the U.S. Department of Education. The rate is higher than the 6% for public schools and the 4% rate for private institutions.Tuition at for-profit schools runs significantly higher compared to public institutions, according to the Department of Education. The department said the average cost for a degree of less than two years is $11,480 at a for-profit compared to $2,451 at a public school. For programs longer than two years, the for-profit schools charge $12,026 compared to $7,077 for a four-year degree at a public school."

3. Is What’s Ailing For-Profit Colleges Evident Throughout Higher Education? - http://nyti.ms/ccVSsN

"First, Mr. Bousquet acknowledges the fundamental shortcomings of some for-profit universities: They fail to graduate students and the students they graduate are often un-, under- and mis-educated. The students go into debt to pay outrageous tuition for the attention of underqualified faculty, and then fail to find the employment for which they were putatively prepared. And from all of this underregulated misery and failure, the shareholders are racking up massive capital accumulation. He then goes on to make a similar argument about many of the nation’s nonprofit colleges and universities. “The problem is that the for-profits did not invent any of this,” he writes. “All of these tactics – what I’ve called the tuition gold rush – were pioneered by the nonprofit sector.”

4. The 10 Hardest Law Schools To Get Into http://huff.to/aJz7ac Huffpost

"If you're not into those in the Toughest 10, check out the Review's other law school rankings lists, including Best Career Prospects, Best Professors and more. What are your thoughts on these schools? Weigh in below."

5. Obama Highlights Benefits Of College Tax Credit http://huff.to/bUprxd Huffpost

‎"Obama earlier this year asked Congress to make the American Opportunity Tax Credit permanent. The request was part of the budget plan Obama sent to Capitol Hill, but lawmakers took no action on it.Obama said Wednesday that this new tax credit – it was part of the $814 billion economic stimulus bill he signed shortly after taking office in 2009 – would help middle-class families afford to invest in their children's future. "I am calling on Congress to make this tax credit permanent so it's worth up to $10,000 for four years of college because we've got to make sure that in good times or bad, our families can invest in their children's future and in the future of our country," Obama said in the White House Rose Garden."

6. Why America’s Most Expensive Colleges Could Hurt Your Wallet http://t.co/ThohFEj

"But here is what I do get angry about: It’s not possible for Sarah Lawrence to routinely raise its prices in a vacuum. College students who live hundreds or thousands of miles away could get hurt by the price increases at this liberal arts paradise in Bronxville, NY.Why? Because the higher-ed world is full of copy cats. When Sarah Lawrence, Bard College, Trinity College, Bates College and Ivy League institutions that rank among the most expensive schools raise their prices it causes reverberations among thousands of other schools. Schools lower on the academic pecking order judge themselves by what the country’s most prestigious and expensive schools are doing. If the elites continue to construct amazing facilities, shrink class sizes and maybe even offer maid service, the wannabes won’t want to be left behind. The wannabes know they can’t catch up to the college superstars, but they are terrified of losing ground. So they will raise their prices too."

7. Net Colleges & States Vie re: Quality http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/online-colleges-and-states-at-odds-over-quality-standards/27586

"But state officials said they are still concerned that self-imposed standards are not good enough and that online programs are not consistent in providing students with high-quality education. Echoing federal government concerns about the quality of online institutions (reflected in the “gainful employment” rule debated by the U.S. Department of Education earlier this year), a panel of education officials from four states and the Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education—which represents 15 states—said it was their responsibility to ensure that all students of online colleges received a good education, and they are skeptical that the institutions consistently deliver."