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Friday, October 29, 2010

120. 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. Not So Need-Blind - Inside Higher Ed

‎"Bishop pointed to economic data showing that, since 1985, the cost of attending a private college has risen at more than double the rate of household income. Put another way, the share of a median household's income that was devoted to paying for higher education went from 22 percent in 1988 to more than 50 percent today. Those increases continue, with tuition and fee hikes this year ranging from 4.5 percent to nearly 8 percent over last year. "Families are more stressed than they ever have been before," said Bishop...."As I look out over the next 10 years, I'm deeply concerned," said Rick Bischoff, vice president for enrollment at Case Western Reserve University. "Would it be better to have a smaller percentage of high-need students and not 'gap' them?" he asked, referring to the practice of admitting some applicants without offering them sizable enough aid packages to realistically make it possible for them to enroll. "

2. Need Blind, but 'Gapping' -

"That's because only a small subset of colleges pledges to meet the full need of all students they admit. That means that for most institutions, "gapping" has become the norm. That's when a college admits a student, tells her that she probably needs $X to afford to enroll, and then provides a package that is less than $X -- sometimes considerably so. On need-blind status, the study found that 93 percent of public institutions and 81 percent of private institutions say that they are entirely need blind. An additional 6 percent of private colleges report that they are need blind until May 1, and then consider economic circumstances when evaluating students on the waiting list or who apply late. But the numbers change dramatically when colleges are asked if they meet the full financial need of accepted students. Only 32 percent of public institutions and 18 percent of private institutions say that they make such a commitment, the report says."

3. Nearly All Graduates of a Texas High School Earn College Credit, in Inside Higher Ed

"A new report by Jobs for the Future outlines how the Hidalgo Independent School District, which serves an economically depressed area along the Texas-Mexico border, was able to graduate more than 95 percent of its most recent high school graduating class with college credit. About two-thirds of its graduating seniors earned at least a full semester of college credit. The school district opened the Hidalgo Early College High School in 2005 with help from the University of Texas System and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Unlike many early college high schools that serve less than 400 students, the Hidalgo model serves all of the 900+ high-schoolers in the district. The high school has strong partnerships with South Texas College and Texas State Technical College, so that students can transfer onward to earn a postsecondary credential. John Fitzpatrick, executive director of the Texas High School Project, said of the project, “Hidalgo [Independent School District] shows that obstacles impeding high school and postsecondary success can be overcome. The success of early college high schools is being replicated in districts throughout Texas. We need to create more Hidalgos in our country, more districts where the lessons of early college are spread to all students.”

4. Top 10 benefits of a college degree, by Elizabeth Fuller -

Please, read this list!

5. For athletes, concussions impact class: After 5th hit, ex-Penn FB player grappled with school, by Calder Silcox

"However, ending his collegiate football career didn’t halt the effects of his concussion. For weeks after the hit, Donnelly struggled with schoolwork — a challenging hurdle for a Wharton sophomore.“Doing work was hard,” he said. “I would get headaches when I would focus, when I would read. Class was pretty much the same thing.”Colin added that in the weeks after his concussion, he had trouble recalling what he’d just read or heard in class. At the advice of his doctors, he avoided school for an entire week, watching as the work piled up.“My short term memory was just foggy until I recovered,” he said. According to Kathy Lawler, director of neuropsychological resources at Penn, Donnelly’s situation is typical of most individuals who suffer head trauma.“You’ll be fine if you don’t do anything, but the minute you go to do something like read for an hour . . . ."

6. For-Profit Colleges Clean Up Their Acts ... Sort Of -

"Faced with mounting criticism, two of the largest for-profit colleges have announced reforms. Starting in September the 470,000-student-strong University of Phoenix stopped paying its admissions officers based on the number of students they sign up, eliminating an incentive some see for those officers to mislead applicants or pressure them to sign paperwork. The school will also put all prospective new students through a three-week, tuition-free “orientation” course designed to help them decide whether they’re ready for the commitments that come with their studies. In the past there have been reports of cash-strapped students talked into signing up when they may not have been ready—many may be behind financially or educationally, but they still end up on the hook for making school payments they can’t really afford. “The orientation program enables incoming students to make an informed decision about attending University of Phoenix and experience the rigors of the college classroom. . . ."

7. College Tuition: What Students Are Paying Today, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy -

‎"Bottom Line: If you are evaluating colleges, price tags are meaningless. It’s important to find out kind of price cuts individual colleges will offer your child. You’re more apt to find these schools if you cast a wider net. There are tons of price discounts out there and the best way for a child to snag them is to do well at school and take challenging courses. Grade point averages and the strength of a teen’s academic record are typically what colleges care about the most. In the meantime, if you want to see what college costs have been doing at individual schools, I’d suggest that you take a look at this nifty college cost tool from The Chronicle of Higher Education that shows the yearly tuition and fees for more than 3,300 individual colleges and universities since 1999."

8. Education Leaders Weigh in on Preparing Students for College Success, by Caralee Adams -

"The United States has slipped from the No. 1 spot in producing college graduates to 12th, in part, because the country was not paying attention, not working hard enough, not setting high enough goals, not getting teachers in the right places, and not having the right leadership, Caperton said. There should be a stronger partnership between K-12 and higher education. Too often, colleges have stood back and said, "Send me your students and we'll take them and expect them to be at a certain level," Caperton said. If colleges want better performance, there needs to be more collaboration with public schools and higher demands on students in teacher colleges, he said. Caperton pointed to College Board programs starting in the 6th grade that build students' skills in English and math so they are ready for the PSAT in 9th grade and Advanced Placement courses in high school."

9. For-Profit Colleges to Get New Federal Rules, by Tamar Lewin -

"The final regulations on these for-profit colleges cover 13 of the 14 program-integrity questions the department has plans to address. The one that remains is the “gainful employment” regulation that would cut off federal student aid to programs whose graduates borrow too much and earn too little to repay their debts. The department will hold hearings next week on the topic, and will meet with interested parties to discuss that regulation, which will be finalized next year, and go into effect in 2012."

10. Life After Test-Optional, by Eric Hoover

"At the College Board’s annual conference here, several admissions officers at “test-optional” colleges have shared some answers. Melissa Falk, associate dean of admission and financial aid at Muhlenberg College, said reading the files of a non-submitter requires more time than reading the files of other applicants. That’s because Muhlenberg requires applicants who don’t send their scores to submit a copy of a graded paper, and to participate in an interview, either in person or by telephone. “It adds another level of subjectivity,” Ms. Falk said. Typically, colleges that go test-optional must do a lot of explaining, to faculty members, alumni, high-school counselors, prospective applicants, and—last, but not least—campus tour guides. The message? “This doesn’t mean standards are diminished,” Ms. Falk said."

11. Who Needs Harvard? by Nancy Gibbs and Nathan Thornburgh

‎"You're the college counselor at a public school in a hothouse ZIP code, and you wish you could grab the students, grab the parents by the shoulders and shake them. Twenty thousand dollars for a college consultant? They're paying for help getting into a school where the kid probably doesn't belong. Do they really think there are only 10 great colleges in the country? There are scores of them, hundreds even, honors colleges embedded inside public universities that offer an Ivy education at state-school prices; small liberal-arts colleges that exalt the undergraduate experience in a way that the big schools can't rival. And if they hope to go on to grad school? Getting good grades at a small school looks better than floundering at a famous one. Think they need to be able to tap into the old-boy network to get a job? Chances are, the kid is going to be doing a job that doesn't even exist now, so connections won't do much good. The rules have changed. The world has changed."

12. Read The Joe Rottenborn Daily for today's top stories on college admissions & financial aid in newsletter form -




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