Total Pageviews

Monday, January 31, 2011

181. MVCAP fyi: TJRD


MVCAP posts free daily newsletter - http://paper.li/rottenbornj
The Mahoning Valley College Access Program (MVCAP) is now posting a free online newsletter for students, parents, and school personnel on college admissions, financial aid, and related topics, according to the nonprofit organization’s executive director, Joe Rottenborn.

Drawn from his tweets for those who prefer Twitter as a newspaper, The Joe Rottenborn Daily provides headlines and full-text links to various college news articles. This MVCAP newsletter is available free around mid-morning seven days a week at this address: http://paper.li/rottenbornj

Online sites combed daily for college articles include CNN, USA Today, The New York Times, Inside Higher Ed, The Huffington Post, The College Solution of CBS MoneyWatch, Education Week, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Wall Street Journal, Time, and Newsweek.

The MVCAP online newsletter was developed through a $20,000 Great Lakes College Access Investment Grant from the Ohio College Access Network (OCAN).

Anyone can e-mail MVCAP (jrottenb@kent.edu) with questions about college admissions and financial aid. All information is provided free.

Founded in 2001, the MVCAP has provided free services to over 8,500 students, parents, and educators in the Mahoning Valley. It has raised more than $1 million dollars in grants and charitable contributions and awarded 160 Last-Dollar Scholarships, most for $1,000. MVCAP has office space provided gratis in its three-county service area (Columbiana, Mahoning, and Trumbull) at Kent State Salem, Youngstown State, and KSU Trumbull.

Please e-mail Joe Rottenborn at jrottenb@kent.edu or phone him at 330-675-7602 for more information on the Mahoning Valley College Access Program.



Friday, January 28, 2011

180. MVCAP fyi: Top 10 benefits

The following 2010 online article, "Top 10 benefits of a college degree," by correspondent Elizabeth Fuller in The Christian Science Monitor, was both interesting and important--which is why it is featured and re-posted verbatim here.

1. Increased earning potential

Everyone knows the price of a college degree, but fewer know the price of not getting one: $22K a year. In 2008, median earnings of college graduates were $55,700, which was $21,900 more than the median earnings of high school graduates who hadn’t attended college.

2. More benefits, higher pensions

Only half of high school graduates have employer-provided health insurance or pension plans, but almost 70 percent of college graduates do. Also, while 93 percent of college grads participate in employer-matching pension plans if they're available, only 3 in 4 of those who didn’t complete high school do, meaning that 1 in 4 pass up essentially free money from their employer.

3. Better recession protection

College graduates’ employment rose 2 percent between the first quarter of 2007 and the first quarter of 2010, despite the great recession. Every group with lower education levels saw employment numbers decline. Those hardest hit were those who hadn’t finished high school. One in 5 for them has lost a job, compared with 1 in 100 for high school graduates and those with some college education.

4. Higher job satisfaction

In 2008, about 60 percent of people who had attended college – whether or not they’d completed a degree – reported that they were very satisfied with their jobs. Only 50 percent of high school graduates and 40 percent of high school dropouts could say the same. People with job satisfaction were three times as likely to say that they were very happy.

5. More exercise, less fat

Those with more education are more likely to exercise than those with less education. College-educated adults are also less likely than others to be obese or have obese children. These results hold for all age groups.

6. Fewer smokers

Between 1998 and 2008, the smoking rate declined from 14 percent to 9 percent among college grads, while the rate for high school grads barely dropped, from 29 percent to 27 percent.
Of people with advanced degrees, 70 percent never smoked, only 3 percent choose to keep smoking, and the rest have quit or are trying to. Of people who didn’t finish high school, half have never smoked, a third have quit or are trying to, and 15 percent choose to maintain the habit.

7. More volunteering and voting

The share of people who donate their time to organizations and the number of hours that they spend in volunteer activities are higher among individuals with higher levels of education. Most volunteer for religious organizations (34 percent) or youth-related services (26 percent).
At every age group, the more educated someone is, the more likely she is to vote. It’s most dramatic among 18- to 24-year-olds, where college graduates are 2-1/2 times as likely to vote as those who haven’t finished high school.

8. More tax revenue

Higher salaries for college means more money for the government, which matters to policymakers. “The typical college graduate pays, on average, 80 percent more in taxes each year than the typical high school graduate,” according to the College Board report. For those with advanced degrees, the tax benefits to the government are even better. Doctors and lawyers might grouse that they pay 3-1/2 times as much in taxes as high school graduates do. Then again, they earn three times as much. And on the flip side:

9. Fewer social costs

High school graduates are three times more likely to live in poverty than college graduates, and eight times more likely to depend on public assistance programs
For every female high school student who goes on to attend college, society saves $48,600 over her lifetime. For every African-American male who goes on to finish college instead of dropping out of high school, society saves $294,000.

10. Better-prepared kids

Parents with advanced degrees are three times more likely to read to their kids every day than parents who haven’t finished high school, and twice as likely to participate in other educational activities like visiting museums and libraries. The payoff? Children of highly educated parents are three times more likely to start school already knowing their alphabet and how to count to 20.


Thursday, January 27, 2011

179. 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. After Tucson, schools seek aid to track trouble - USATODAY.com - http://t.co/QO6zSHK

"College mental health workers report greater concern about disruptive students since the mass shooting in Tucson, resulting in more calls from faculty, requests for special training and reassessments of campus procedures."

2. The President as College Counselor, by Jacques Steinberg - http://nyti.ms/ijx2Qq

"While the law automatically pegs increases in the popular Pell Grant program to the rate of inflation, my colleagues David M. Herszenhorn and Tamar Lewin wrote at the time that "for individual students, the increase in the maximum Pell grant — to $5,900 in 2019-20, from $5,550 for the 2010-11 school year — is minuscule, compared with the steep, inexorable rise in tuition for public and private colleges alike."

3. Pressures of High School and Economy Weigh on College Freshmen, by Jacques Steinberg - http://nyti.ms/ftTrmJ

"In Today’s Times, my colleague Tamar Lewin reports that “the emotional health of college freshmen — who feel buffeted by the recession and stressed by the pressures of high school — has declined to the lowest level since an annual survey of incoming students started collecting data 25 years ago.” The survey is called “The American Freshman: National Norms,” and it involves more than 200,000 incoming, full-time students."

4. Stressed, Yet Hopeful, by Allie Grasgreen - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/hZxIjU

"And schoolwork isn’t the only thing dragging students down: incoming freshmen are also still feeling the impact of the recession, reporting higher use of loans and financial aid, and limits on where they could opt to attend college. But despite all that, they’re more optimistic about their college educations – in terms of success, experience and satisfaction – than they’ve been in nearly 30 years."


"Consumer and Minority Groups Urge Tough Rule on For-Profit Colleges"

6. Everyone's Battle: Confronting College Depression, by Julia Lurie - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/julia-lurie/everyones-battle-confront_b_813685.html

"Those girls are me. I came to Yale University with a history of insomnia, anxiety, and mild depression, but optimistic about my ability to move beyond it. During freshman and sophomore years the problem persisted in waves, but at most to a degree of severe discomfort--not disability. I decided to take a leave of absence during the fall semester of my junior year to confront these issues, hoping to come back to Yale headed in the right direction."

7. 10 Most Prestigious Scholarships In America, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://t.co/JPMUxo3

"While there are billions of dollars available through college scholarships, only a select few offer prestige along with the college bucks. Mark Kantrowitz, the publisher of FastWeb and the author of a new book, Secrets To Winning a Scholarship, has compiled a list of the most prestigious scholarships in the country. Here are the top 10:"

8. Linking After-School Learning to College, by Mary-Ellen Phelps Deily - http://t.co/RlssO3S

"The brief explores how after-school learning can open students' eyes to their college potential, as well as easing them away from more risky paths. The report calls middle school a "critical time" to engage students and says after-school programs can offer crucial supports through apprenticeships, guest speakers, and "project-based activities."

9. Record Level of Stress Found in College Freshmen, by Tamar Lewin - http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/27/education/27colleges.html?_r=1&hp

“Brian Van Brunt: . . . “More students are arriving on campus with problems, needing support, and today’s economic factors are putting a lot of extra stress on college students, as they look at their loans and wonder if there will be a career waiting for them on the other side.”

10. A Profile of This Year's Freshmen - http://chronicle.com/article/A-Profile-of-This-Years/126067/

"Who they are, what they think, and what they hope to achieve"

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

178. 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. Recent grads finding jobs - in their living rooms, by Jessica Dickler -http://t.co/dMEGo9a via @CNNMoney

"She's one of a growing number of young professionals choosing to work from home as telecommuting opportunities have jumped nearly 400% in the past three years, according to job-search site FlexJobs.com."

2. Oversigning offenders won't be curbed by NCAA's toothless rule, by Andy Staples - http://bit.ly/g6iYgS /via @SI_24Seven

"When Football Bowl Subdivision schools across the nation begin signing football players on Feb. 2, they'll have to adhere for the first time to an NCAA bylaw that limits them to 28 signees between Signing Day and May 31. Unchanged is the rule that declares schools can bring in only 25 new scholarship players each academic year."

3. On education reform, safe is for losers, by Richard Whitmire - http://usat.ly/eD79K7 - RT @USATODAY

"On this round of the trusted National Assessment of Educational Progress, only one in five high school seniors scored proficient in science. Worse, only a handful scored at the advanced level — not an encouraging sign as the nation faces international economic competition based more on brains than brawn."

4. A January Deadline Met, but the Applications Continue, by Uyanga Tamir - http://nyti.ms/gwqYWP

"So here I am, a second semester senior still filling out applications and writing good old essays. Since the bigger wave of applications has passed, I also have started my scholarship search. Most of the scholarships that are available have deadlines in the second semester, which is convenient for all students. To those other students who believe that second semester of senior year is going to be a breeze, it really will not be if you are serious about your future. Life does not get easier, only more challenging – something that I anticipate with enthusiasm and readiness."

5. Shielding Education and Research, by Doug Lederman - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/fhRsZM

‎"The president's speech was relatively short on details about programs he would seek to shield from the overall five-year freeze on domestic spending he proposes; it made no mention of Pell Grants or other financial aid (which many college leaders fear could face cutbacks if Republicans stick to their goal of slashing domestic spending) . . . ."

6. The Same Boxes to Check, by Scott Jaschik - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/fitseI

"The Common Application has rejected a proposal that it add optional questions on sexual orientation and gender identity. The board of the organization issued a statement suggesting that colleges have other ways to indicate support for applicants who are gay or who don't identify with traditional gender categories, and that adding the questions could pose problems."

7. Deal Stopped in Its Tracks, by David Moltz - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/fDrCtZ

"Though Cuyahoga would keep all tuition from in-county students in this program, it would have to give 70 percent of tuition from out-of-county students to Academic Partnerships. Ross noted that the college would pilot two course offerings of 30 students to see if the model made financial sense, then expand it if deemed appropriate."

8. Enrollment Management, Inc.: External Influences on Our Practice -http://www.usc.edu/programs/cerpp/docs/EnrollmentManagementInc.ReportFINAL_002.pdf

A report on the enrollment management industry, by Scott Andrew Schulz and Jerome A. Lucido, both of the University of Southern California


‎"This year, the ten University of California campuses all attracted large volumes of applicants, with UCLA topping the list with a record 61,498 applications. Among private schools, Columbia University saw a massive 32 percent increase in applicants from last year, for a total of 34,587 applications."

10. Is College Tuition Too Low? by David Leonhardt - http://nyti.ms/fBBp08

‎"In essence, Mr. Becker and Mr. Posner are calling for a higher list price for public colleges. Well-off families would be able to pay this higher list price. Their children would still go to college, graduate and, far more often than not, earn enough of a wage premium to make college a fabulously good deal. Middle- and lower-income families, on the other hand, would not have to pay more than they’re now paying."

11. Census Data Show Rise in College Degrees, but Racial Gaps in Education, by Alex Richards-http://chronicle.com/article/Census-Data-Reveal-Rise-in/126026/

"For instance, the census estimates that in 2009, 28 percent of Americans 25 and older had at least four-year degrees. But the rate for black Americans was just 17 percent, and for Hispanic Americans only 13 percent."

12. Proficiency Eludes U.S. Students on Science NAEP, by Erik W. Robelen - http://t.co/2J5jeSL via @educationweek

‎"Only one in five high school seniors scored at least proficient on the exam. Meanwhile, 34 percent of 4th graders and 30 percent of 8th graders were deemed proficient or better in science on the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as “the nation’s report card.”

13. Application Boom Begets a New Strategy, by Eric Hoover - http://chronicle.com/blogs/headcount/the-application-boom-begets-a-new-strategy/27800

"So Rutgers decided to allow applicants to submit their academic information—courses, grades, grade-point averages, and class rank—via an online form called the Self-Reported Academic Record. Students who decide to enroll must then ask their high schools to send an official copy of their transcript by July 15, so the admissions staff can verify the information they had submitted. In other words, the university must process transcripts only for those students who enroll."







Tuesday, January 25, 2011

177. 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. For Late Filers to Georgia Universities, Snow Is a Gift, by Eric Platt - http://nyti.ms/ghOsph

"In response to the snow- and ice-covered roads, the three Georgia colleges extended their regular-decision admission deadlines past Jan. 15. Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia stopped accepting applications on Friday, while Emory’s new deadline is Feb. 1."

2. What Degrees Should Mean, by Doug Lederman - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/fXU9Iz

"To try to provide a shared understanding of what degrees mean -- but without, its designers insist, turning that into a government or other mandate -- the Lumina Foundation for Education is today releasing a draft of its Degree Qualifications Profile, created by four leading higher education researchers and policy experts (more on them later)."

3. Lumina Foundation: The Degree Qualifications Profile - http://www.luminafoundation.org/publications/The_Degree_Qualifications_Profile.pdf

". . .what the recipients of associate, bachelor's and master's degrees (regardless of discipline) should know and be able to do."


‎"To determine the most popular colleges, U.S. News looked at the fall 2009 yield rates, or percent of those accepted who enroll, of the liberal arts colleges and national universities included in their overall rankings. Below, check out the top ten most popular schools and their yield rates. U.S. News has the top 20 liberal arts colleges and national universities. Do you spot your school? Let us know in the comments section below."

5. How Rare Are Full-Ride Scholarships? by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://t.co/mu0LlXT

‎"According to author Mark Kantrowitz, who is publisher of FastWeb and FinAid, less than 20,000 students a year receive a completely free ride to college. Among full-time college students enrolled at four-year colleges, just .3% received enough grants and scholarships to cover the full cost of college. . . .The odds of receiving a full-ride private scholarship is even more remote."

6. Data Show Two-year Colleges Improve Retention Rate, by Caralee Adams - http://t.co/i1et01B

"At two-year public colleges, about 56% of students returned to school after their freshman year, up from 54% last year and 53% in 2005. This is the highest retention rate at two-year colleges in the 27 years of research by ACT. At four-year private colleges, the retention rate is 72%, down from 73% last year and 75% in 2005. At four-year public colleges, about 74% of freshman returned, compared to 73% last year and 73 percent in 2005."

7. Does College Make You Smarter? - Room for Debate - http://nyti.ms/gdaki0

‎"Have colleges, in their efforts to keep graduation rates high and students happy, dumbed down their curriculums? If they have, who is to blame? What should parents and federal taxpayers do?"

8. Products of Rote Learning - Room for Debate, by Leon Botstein - http://nyti.ms/g8InAN

‎"Why is anyone surprised to find that standards and expectations in our colleges are too low? High school graduates — a rapidly dwindling elite — come to college entirely unaccustomed to close reading, habits of disciplined analysis, skills in writing reasoned arguments and a basic grasp of the conduct, methods and purposes of science. All many of them know is rote learning, and fear of mediocre standardized tests and grades."

9. No Work, All Play, Equals a Job? - Room for Debate, by George Leef - http://nyti.ms/hrV22g

"Owing to the generally weak state of K-12 schooling, most high school graduates are not accustomed to serious academic work. They enroll in college with the expectation that it will be a continuation of K-12, that is, undemanding. What most of them want is just a credential attesting to their employability, accompanied by as much fun as possible."

10. An F in Student Effort - Room for Debate, by Philip Babcock - http://nyti.ms/e2fgha

‎"Full-time college students in the 1960s studied 24 hours per week, on average, whereas their counterparts today study 14 hours per week. The 10-hour decline is visible for students from all demographic groups and of all cognitive abilities, in every major and at every type of college."

11. Adults With College Degrees in the United States, by County - http://chronicle.com/article/Adults-With-College-Degrees-in/125995/

‎"Percentage of bachelor's degrees for everyone": Columbiana County 11.83%; Mahoning County 19.59%; and Trumbull County 15.84%. The rate for Ohio is 23.57%, while the National rate is 27.53%.

12. California is failing its students - http://t.co/3r3tMb7 via @sfgate

‎"Yudof noted that UC has already shrunk the size of each entering class for the past three years. About 9,000 qualified California high school graduates have been denied the opportunity to enter UC, he said - and it didn't have to be this way."



Monday, January 24, 2011

176. 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. The Sinking States, by Scott Jaschik - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/fCFyHE

"Thirty-two states reported declines in state support for higher education for the year, with drops ranging from 0.3 percent to 13.5 percent. Another 16 states saw gains, from 0.2 percent to 24.7 percent. (Two states saw no change.)"

2. For-Profit Colleges Open Another Front, by Doug Lederman - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/fu87wi

"On Friday, the colleges formally unveiled the third part of their strategy: asking the courts to block several of the administration's regulations. . . . The three disputed rules relate to state authorization of colleges, incentive compensation for recruiters, and misrepresentation of colleges' programs and results."

3. The Flaw of Overall Rankings, by Robert J. Sternberg - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/gRVSNd

‎"But such global assessments miss the qualities that make institutional differences, like individual differences, interesting. They actually can fool people into missing what is most important in distinguishing entities, whether individuals or institutions."

4. Would JFK Get Into Harvard Today? by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://t.co/xlRmA34

"I looked at the college application that JFK sent to Harvard in the 1930s, which the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum recently released. JFK’s college application was dreadful."

5. Public Universities Relying More on Tuition Than State Money, by Tamar Lewin - http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/24/education/24tuition.html?_r=1&hpw

"But tuition bargains are fading as the nation’s public universities undergo a profound shift, accelerated by the recession. In most states, it is now tuition payments, not state appropriations, that cover most of the budget."

6. State Spending on Higher Education Edges Down, as Deficits Loom, by Eric Kelderman - http://chronicle.com/article/State-Spending-on-Colleges/126020/

‎"But the stimulus package, which allocated nearly $40-billion to states to prop up spending for public schools and higher education, will run out at the end of this fiscal year, leaving state and college leaders wondering how they will fill the budget gaps looming in more than two-thirds of the states. Nearly $9-billion of the federal stimulus money went directly to higher-education budgets from the 2009 to 2011 fiscal years, accounting for 4 percent of total state support for colleges during that period."

7. As the Web Goes Mobile, Colleges Fail to Keep Up, by Josh Keller - http://chronicle.com/article/Colleges-Search-for-Their/126016/

‎"Hand-held devices like smartphones and tablets are fast becoming the primary way many people use the Internet. Half of all college students used mobile gear to get on the Internet every day last year, compared with 10 percent of students in 2008, according to Educause, the educational-technology consortium. But many colleges still treat their mobile Web sites as low-stakes experiments."

8. These Kids are Better Than Yours: Tennessee School Requires iPads for All Students, by Nick Carbone - http://t.co/up2EWhw via @TIMENewsFeed

‎"The Webb School in Knoxville, Tenn. is looking to harness the power of Apple's latest gadget in the classroom. All students from 4th to 12th grades will be required – not suggested, or recommended, or even encouraged – but required to have an iPad. And if the price is too prohibitive, students can lease the device from the school."

9. Top 10 Most Loved Schools, by Katy Hopkins - US News and World Report: http://t.co/Oim1xqU

"Alumni school spirit can manifest itself in many ways—from sideline support at athletic events to networking with current students—but a more objective gauge of enthusiasm is the percent of graduates who give money back to their school."

10. An Ailing Mother Eases Her Daughter's Pain, and Conscience, by Sophia Gimenez - http://nyti.ms/h2pMPn

"Last month, the thrill of my acceptance to Knox College and Mills College was cut short by my mother’s diagnosis of multiple sclerosis."

11. University of Notre Dame: Reports on Experiment to Replace Texts with iPads - http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/notre-dame-u-reports-on-experiment-to-replace-textbooks-with-ipads/29192

"Mr. Angst’s class was the first of several at the university to replace traditional textbooks with iPads as part of a yearlong study by the university’s e-publishing working group into the use of e-readers. Many colleges and universities are in the midst of similar experiments, but Notre Dame is one of the first to report results from its effort.
The professor said students were more connected in and out of the classroom because of their use of the tablet device."

Friday, January 21, 2011

175. 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. More Students Seek Avenues to Gay-Friendly Colleges, by Sergio N. Candido - http://nyti.ms/elZ0Ft

"One website that rates whether universities are gay friendly, the LGBT-Friendly Campus Climate Index, has gained popularity over the past year.The Index looks at policies, programs and practices each institution provides to its gay community and grades the university. Shane L. Windmeyer, co-founder of Campus Pride, the national nonprofit that runs Climate Index, said the increase in numbers of people going to the site is dramatic.
Visits have almost doubled from 6,850 a month in 2007, when the website was launched, to 13,580 a month in 2010, Windmeyer said."

2. Massage Therapists or R.N.s, by David Moltz - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/fKCq42

“For-profit colleges tend to focus on health care ‘support’ occupations like medical assisting, massage therapy, and dental assisting rather than ‘practitioner’ or ‘technical’ health occupations like registered nursing, medicine, or diagnostic technologist fields,” Morgan said."

3. The States of Online Regulation, by Steve Kolowich - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/hJz6tC

"Online education seems to be winning the battle against the initial skepticism about its legitimacy. Online enrollments have grown at nine times the rate of classroom-based education since 2002, according to the Sloan Consortium (with major buy-in in the public sector)."

4. College Retention Rates Improving at Two-Year Schools, Declining at Four-Year Schools -http://www.act.org/news/2011/01/20/college-retention/

"The percentage of students at two-year colleges who returned to the same institution for their second year of school has been trending up, from 53 percent in 2005 to a record high of 56 percent currently. The retention rate at four-year private colleges, in contrast, has been trending down, from 75 percent in 2005 to 72 percent currently."

5. 25 Highest Application Fees, by Brian Burnsed - US News and World Report: http://t.co/JQZN7LG

"Among national universities, which are typically the largest schools that receive the most applications, the average application fee was higher than the national average: $46.78. Only three schools—the Illinois Institute of Technology, Loyola University Chicago, and St. Louis University—reported they have no fee (8 of the 260 national universities surveyed didn't respond to the question)."

6. 8 Reasons Not to Get a Business Degree, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://t.co/nk5R6t8

"Thinking about getting a business degree? Business degrees are hot, but you might want to reconsider your decision. Here are eight reasons why you should not major in business:"

7. Success of College-Readiness Intervention Hard to Gauge, by Catherine Gewertz - http://t.co/N24rrXW via @educationweek

‎"They created a test that sends rising high school seniors an early signal about their readiness in mathematics and literacy, and allows those who meet the mark to go right into credit-bearing coursework as college freshmen, skipping remedial classes. To complete the picture, they crafted a suite of courses to bring lagging 12th graders up to college-level snuff and added training for preservice and in-service teachers."

8. To Really Learn, Quit Studying and Take a Test, by Pam Belluck - http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/21/science/21memory.html?_r=1&hpw

"The research, published online Thursday in the journal Science, found that students who read a passage, then took a test asking them to recall what they had read, retained about 50 percent more of the information a week later than students who used two other methods."

9. 2-Year Colleges Get Details of $2-Billion Grant Program, by Jennifer Gonzalez - http://chronicle.com/article/2-Year-Colleges-Get-Details-of/126006/

"President Obama wants every American to have at least one year of postsecondary education and wants the United States, by 2020, to once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world."

10. In a tough economy, new focus on job-oriented certificates, by Joanne Jacobs - Hechinger Report: http://t.co/GuXyIhW

"Labor economists and some educators believe career-driven degrees should become an increasingly common choice and are advising students to pursue skills-oriented fields of study they feel offer better job opportunities."



Thursday, January 20, 2011

174. 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. Book Review of Donna Y. Ford, Reversing Underachievement Among Gifted Black Students, 2nd Ed, by Dick Kantenberger - http://exm.nr/fhLds7

“Blacks represent some 20% of public school enrollment, [yet] they constitute only 4% of students who perform at the 95th percentile or above on standardized tests,” says Dr. Donna Y. Ford in her recently released 2nd edition of Reversing Underachievement Among Gifted Blacks, published by Prufrock Press, Inc."
2. For Many, College Isn't Worth It, by Richard Vedder - Inside Higher Ed http://t.co/gXu3iBA

"An even-handed interpretation of the data is that college is “worth it” for some significant number of young people, but is a far more problematic investment for others. The call by President Obama, the Lumina and Gates Foundations, and many higher education advocates to rapidly and radically increase the number of college graduates is fundamentally off-base."

3. 7 Ways to Improve SAT and ACT Scores, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - The College Solution (usnews.com): http://t.co/ZpG7ooI

‎"Here are seven ways for teenagers to improve their SAT and ACT scores or limit the damage of mediocre results:"

4. 'Apocalyptic' Budget Sends Waves of Fear Across Texas Higher Education, by Katherine Mangan - http://chronicle.com/article/Apocalyptic-Budget-Plan/125997/

"No new applicants would be accepted for the state's largest financial-aid program for low-income students, the Texas Grant program. It served 87,000 students this year with grants of up to $6,780 per year, but it would serve only 27,000 students in 2013 under the House plan. Joseph P. Pettibon, associate vice president for academic services at Texas A&M, said he worried that low-income students either would not be able to attend four-year colleges or would take on too much debt if lawmakers approved the proposed cuts."

5. Texas Inks $300-Million Deal With ESPN for New TV Network, by Libby Sander - http://chronicle.com/article/Texas-Inks-300-Million-Deal/126000/

"The timing of the announcement was sobering: Also on Wednesday, Texas lawmakers wrestled with proposed cutbacks of nearly $772-million in the state's two-year budget, including nearly $100-million for the Austin campus."

6. Harvard’s unofficial early admission process, by Valerie Strauss - http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/harvards-unofficial-early-admi.html

"Sometimes students will approach Harvard and ask for some indication of whether they will be accepted. They are given one of three responses, he said: likely, possible or unlikely to be admitted. Likely responses essentially means a student will be admitted, assuming they don’t flunk out of senior year in high school. Last year, he said, Harvard issued about 300 “likely” notifications."

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

173. 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. Help with Financial Aid as Reimagined by the MTV Generation, by Jacques Steinberg - http://nyti.ms/gN8U5r

‎"Those three ideas are the finalists in the “Get Schooled Affordability Challenge.” It is a national competition staged by MTV and the College Board, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, in which current and aspiring college students were asked to devise better ways to administer and award financial aid."

2. New Research Examines Parent and Student Experiences with the Federal Financial Aid Process - http://advocacy.collegeboard.org/college-affordability-financial-aid/rethinking-student-aid/news/cracking-the-code

"Based on extensive focus-group and survey research with parents & students, the study found that nearly half of the parent respondents did not know the cost of attending a public college in their home state, & only 44% of Latino parent respondents were aware of the Pell Grant."

3. So, Students Don't Learn -- Now What? by Allie Grasgreen - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/eAoleW

‎"The book and its corresponding report document the findings of research that followed 2,300 undergraduates through four years of college, at 24 unidentified but academically representative institutions, to measure progress in their critical thinking and analytic reasoning skills. The measurement tool was the Collegiate Learning Assessment, which the students took during their freshman, sophomore and senior years."

4. The Financial Aid Information Gap, by Sam Petulla - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/dHUt1C

"The report from the College Board's Advocacy and Policy Center, "Cracking the Student Aid Code," finds that many parents have little understanding of how much it costs to attend college and of financial aid options -- and that the knowledge deficit is biggest for those who already have the least access to higher education: students from Latino families and from low-income backgrounds."

5. Texas budget draft cuts $13.7 billion in spending, by April Castro - http://t.co/sUAUhbO via @washingtonpost

"The budget draft . . . would cut funding entirely to four community colleges and would generally eliminate financial aid for incoming freshmen and new students. The Texas Grants scholarship program would drop by more than 70,000 students over the next two years."

6. Paying for College With a Duffle Bag Stuffed With Cash, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://t.co/Zgl9dmU

"Do you feel sorry for Ramos? I don’t. And here’s why: If Ramos — or his parents - didn’t want to pay top dollar to attend a public university, the Sacramento resident should have stayed in California where he would have qualified for in-state tuition. Out-of-state flagships like CU are eager to admit students like Ramos, who hail from elsewhere, because they can gouge them. The tuition for Colorado residents is $8,511. For non-residents it’s $29,493."

7. College Board: Families Need Earlier Education About Costs, by Caralee Adams - http://t.co/T0zCYfg

"Knowing about the Pell Grant program depended on level of education and ethnicity. While 82 percent of African-Americans and 81 percent of Caucasians said they knew about the program, just 44 percent of Latino parents did. About 91 percent of parents with a bachelor's degree were aware of Pell Grants, 85 percent of parents with an associate's degree, and 62 percent of parents with a high school education or less, the survey found."

8. Breaking the 'Cruel Cycle of Selectivity' in Admissions, by Jerome A. Lucido - http://chronicle.com/article/Breaking-the-Cruel-Cycle-of/125935/

"For colleges, the cycle is a relentless drive for status, prestige, and revenue, in which the metrics are unequivocal: Applications must increase, test scores must rise, acceptance rates must fall, and enough full payers must attend to finance the institution's goals and aspirations."


"30 Large Urban School Districts Show Better Relative Academic Performance Than Their States for African-American, Hispanic, or Low-Income Students."

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

172. 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. Report: First two years of college show small gains, by Mary Beth Marklein - http://usat.ly/eajgcx - RT @USATODAY

"After two years in college, 45% of students showed no significant gains in learning; after four years, 36% showed little change. Students also spent 50% less time studying compared with students a few decades ago, the research shows."

2. Can college students learn as well on iPads, e-books? by Mary Beth Marklein - http://usat.ly/cWw5WH - RT @USATODAY

"Compared with traditional textbooks, the iPad and other devices for reading digital bookshave the potential to save on textbook costs in the long term, to provide students with more and better information faster, and — no small matter — to lighten the typical college student's backpack."

3. Part 5: Answers to Readers' Questions on Financial Aid, by Mark Kantrowitz - http://nyti.ms/gCr1LA

"Most parent assets are sheltered by the need analysis formula, and the worst-case impact is a reduction of up to 5.64 percent of the asset. Money in the student’s name, on the other hand, reduces aid eligibility by 20 percent of the asset value."

4. Part 6: Answers to Readers’ Questions on Financial Aid, by Mark Kantrowitz - http://nyti.ms/eViPpM

"The asterisk next to your EFC means that your Fafsa has been selected for verification. The college will ask you for copies of the documents corresponding to the information submitted on the Fafsa, such as a copy of your federal income tax return and W-2 and 1099 statements. The purpose of verification is to ensure the accuracy of the information provided on the Fafsa. It is not the same as an audit."

5. Last of 7 Parts: Answers to Readers’ Questions on Financial Aid, by Mark Kantrowitz - http://nyti.ms/fZRh0O

"If a dependent student’s parent fails to file a required federal income tax return, the Fafsa will be rejected and the student will be ineligible for federal student aid until the parents file their tax returns. Likewise, if the parents provide some income figures on the Fafsa but are unable to supply a federal income tax return when the Fafsa is selected for verification, the student will be ineligible for federal student aid if their income is above the threshold at which a federal income tax return is required."

6. How Much Do College Students Learn, and Study? by Jacques Steinberg - http://nyti.ms/ieTUIA

"They note, for example, that students “who spent more hours studying alone” had greater gains on the standardized exam being used as a benchmark, as did students who took courses requiring “significant” reading and writing."

7. The Growth of For-Profits, by Scott Jaschik - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/evB8sW

"The rise in the for-profit sector is not the only notable shift. Within the category of "undergraduate instructional program," the new edition shows the shift among institutions toward a greater pre-professional focus. There was an increase of 115 institutions -- or 17 percent -- in the grouping of institutions that (while having some liberal arts offerings) awarded more than 60 percent of their bachelor’s degrees in professional fields."

8. 'Academically Adrift,' by Scott Jaschik - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/f8Kc4j

‎"Students majoring in liberal arts fields see "significantly higher gains in critical thinking, complex reasoning, and writing skills over time than students in other fields of study." Students majoring in business, education, social work and communications showed the smallest gains."

9. 4 Hints to Avoid Missing Scholarship Deadlines, by Matt Konrad - The Scholarship Coach (usnews.com): http://t.co/63SymAr

"Virtually every scholarship has its own deadline, and it can seem like there's no rhyme or reason to when they fall—all of which makes keeping track of them turn into more work than applying. Fortunately, there are some good tools and useful rules of thumb that can help keep you on track:"


‎"There are ways to avoid the insanely expensive textbook trap. . . . here are nine things you can do to save money . . . ."

11. Study Suggests U.S. Colleges Fail to Challenge Undergrads, by Caralee Adams - http://t.co/cW8qr8E

"When freshman were interviewed for the study, they often said they were were surprised at how easy college was. They also were often driven more by getting a degree than by obtaining knowledge. "Students have become increasingly obsessed with the idea of a credential that can be traded for labor market success," Arum said. "They are finding ways to navigate the system with minimal effort."

12. Carnegie Class Update Shows Boom in For-Profit and Professional Ed, by Scott Carlson -http://chronicle.com/article/Carnegie-Classification-Update/125982/

"Since 2005, when the foundation last made major revisions in its classification system and updated its list, it has added 483 institutions, for a total of 4,633. Of those new institutions, 77 percent were private, for-profit entities, while 4 percent were public and 19 percent were private, nonprofit. (The vast majority of the new for-profit institutions were two-year colleges.)"

13. 'Trust Us' Won't Cut It Anymore, by Kevin Carey - http://chronicle.com/article/Trust-Us-Wont-Cut-It/125978/

"The results for black students were particularly sobering. It turns out that the racial achievement gaps that shock the conscience in K-12 education get worse when students go to college."



Monday, January 17, 2011

171. MVCAP fyi: M L King Day

On this Martin Luther King Day, these pertinent articles from past blogs are cited:

1. A Lesson on Urban Identity, by Matthew Amaral - http://www.educationnews.org/blogs/105853.html

“Can you be Ghetto and successful?” I tell them they can’t talk about drug-dealers, rappers, athletes, or other entertainers--we’re talking about real careers. . . . This is something that will really come into focus on a college campus when a majority of the students are NOT like them."

2. Achievement gap slow to close, by Diana Lambert - http://www.sacbee.com/2011/01/10/3311645/achievement-gap-slow-to-close.html

"In 2009 there was a gap of 27% points between fourth-grade white students and African American students, and a gap of 22% points between white and Latino students in math. There also was a 28% gap between white and African American fourth-graders in reading."

3. Minorities are now the majority at UT-Austin, by Jon Marcus and Reeve Hamilton - Hechinger Report http://t.co/7JnZQJJ

"Whites are in the minority this year for the first time in the history of the flagship Texas school, which was segregated until the 1950s. Fifty-two percent of the Class of 2014 is nonwhite. Black and Hispanic students represent about 5 percent and 23 percent, respectively. Asians account for 17 percent of freshmen. The demographic shift at U.T. is a bellwether of what is about to happen—and, with little notice, already has, at other universities in Texas, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois and New York—in a country where new Census figures confirm that nonwhites are by far the fastest-growing proportion of traditional-age university students."

4. Proficiency of Black Students is Found to Be Far Lower Than Expected, by Trip Gabriel -http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/09/education/09gap.html?_r=2&hpw

“What this clearly shows is that black males who are not eligible for free and reduced-price lunch are doing no better than white males who are poor,” said Michael Casserly, executive director of the council. The report shows that black boys on average fall behind from their earliest years. Black mothers have a higher infant mortality rate and black children are twice as likely as whites to live in a home where no parent has a job. In high school, African-American boys drop out at nearly twice the rate of white boys, and their SAT scores are on average 104 points lower. In college, black men represented just 5 percent of students in 2008."

5. Black Male Achievement in a 'State of Crisis,' Study Says, by Dakarai Aarons - http://t.co/1wmZtp2 via @educationweek"

"As a study this summer by the Schott Foundation for Public Education pointed out, fewer than half of black males graduate from high school on time. "At almost every juncture, the odds are stacked against these young men in ways that result in too much unfulfilled potential and too many fractured lives," writes Michael Casserly, the council's executive director. The council's report suggests that the underperformance of black male youths is nothing short of a national emergency, and it calls for the convening of a White House conference."The previous efforts to ring the alarm bell have too often fallen on deaf ears, and we thought that a White House conference would help both raise the visibility of the issues and aide in attempting to martial the public will to tackle it," Casserly said in an interview."

6. This Raging Fire, by Bob Herbert, The New York Times, November 15, 2010 - http://nyti.ms/9Jjsc2

"The first and most important step would be a major effort to begin knitting the black family back together. There is no way to overstate the myriad risks faced by children whose parents have effectively abandoned them. It’s the family that protects the child against ignorance and physical harm, that offers emotional security and the foundation for a strong sense of self, that enables a child to believe — truly — that wonderful things are possible. All of that is missing in the lives of too many black children."

7. Financial Aid: A Broken Bridge to College Access? by Bridget Terry Long and Erin Riley - http://www.hepg.org/document/19/

"Although there are many barriers to college access and success for low-income and minority students, most can be grouped into three major categories. The first set of major barriers relates to cost. . . . A second major set of barriers to college enrollment and persistence is academic preparation. . . . The third major impediment to higher education for many students, particularly those from low-income families, is the complexity of the college admissions process and financial aid systems, as well as a lack of accurate information about higher education costs. College attendance is the culmination of a series of steps and benchmarks, and this current landscape is too complex and difficult for many families to decipher and navigate."

8. Failure to educate, by Junia Yearwood - http://b.globe.com/dz8Hmo

"I knew that most of my students who walked across the stage, amidst the cheers, whistles, camera flashes, and shout-outs from parents, family, and friends, were not functionally literate. They were unable to perform the minimum skills necessary to negotiate society: reading the local newspapers, filling out a job application, or following basic written instructions; even fewer had achieved empowering literacy enabling them to closely read, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate text. However, they were all college bound — the ultimate goal of our school’s vision statement — clutching knapsacks stuffed with our symbols of academic success: multiple college acceptances, a high school diploma; an official transcript indicating they had passed the MCAS test and had met all graduation requirements; several glowing letters of recommendation from teachers and guidance counselors; and one compelling personal statement, their college essay."

9. Unready and Unsuccessful, by Joanne Jacobs - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joanne-jacobs/unready-and-unsuccessful_b_775668.html

"Seventy percent of California's degree-seeking community college students failed to earn a credential or degree -- or to transfer to four-year universities -- within six years, concludes a new study. Most students drop out quickly, reports the Institute for Higher Education Leadership & Policy and the Campaign for College Opportunity. Between 2003 and 2009, only 40 percent of students earned at least 30 college credits, which is considered "the minimum needed to provide an economic boost in jobs that require some college experience," reports the LA Times. Blacks and Latinos did worse: Only 26% of black students and 22% of Latino students had completed a degree or certificate or transferred after six years, compared to 37% of whites and 35% of Asian Pacific Islanders. Students fail because they're not prepared for college-level reading, writing and math. Many are juggling jobs and family responsibilities too, of course, but college readiness is the make-or-break issue."

10. A Call for Change - http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/opinion/A-Call-For-Change.pdf

"The Social and Educational Factors Contributing to the Outcomes of Black Males in Urban Schools”

Friday, January 14, 2011

170. 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. Students' rights weighed as colleges try to assess threats, by Mary Beth Marklein - http://usat.ly/fwBHh2 - RT @USATODAY

‎"Two states — Virginia and Illinois — now legally require such teams and 80% of colleges nationwide have started them since the 2007 massacre at Virginia Tech that left 32 people dead. . . . Since April 2007, news reports show that at least 67 people have been killed and 69 others injured in attacks by U.S. college students."

2. High School Juniors, Start Your Engines, by Lee A. Culbertson - http://nyti.ms/hkyUJb

"Juniors are already itching and beginning to ask, “What should I be doing now?” First, breathe. Remember, “College is a match to be made, not a prize to be won” (Frank Sachs, the Blake School). When you make a list of colleges that you’d like to explore, consider investigating what is most important to you, and then begin to draft your preliminary list."

3. Part 3: Answers to Readers' Questions on Financial Aid, by Mark Kantrowitz - http://nyti.ms/fBS7IH

‎"Money in retirement plans, the family home and small businesses owned and controlled by the family have no impact on federal aid. As a result, parent assets affect the EFC of less than 4% of dependent students. You should, however, save money in the parent’s name, not the child’s. Child assets have a much more severe impact on the EFC."

4. College Is Still Worth It, by Anthony Carnevale - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/gWNYhv

"The most persuasive evidence that the BLS numbers are wrong are earnings data, which show that employers across the country pay a "wage premium" to college graduates, even in occupations that BLS does not consider "college" jobs. This simply means that businesses pay more money to workers with degrees than to those without because employers believe that postsecondary educated workers are more valuable."

5. Second GOALS study emphasizes coach influence, by Gary Brown - http://t.co/4Q8FYQ2 - Latest News - NCAA.org

"Athletics participation was the most-often reported reason for choosing a college (at least 75 percent of the time in all sport cohorts). Academics generally was a close second, followed by the institution’s proximity to home."

6. Five Reasons to Apply for Financial Aid, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://t.co/2cGUgxs

‎"Parents grumble about applying for financial aid, but there are excellent reasons why most families should take the time to fill out the cumbersome financial aid applications. If you are on the fence about filling out the FAFSA, here are five reasons to apply for financial aid."

7. NCAA Rejects Plan to Block Early Scholarships - http://t.co/245Bnxi via @educationweek

"The NCAA squashed a proposal Thursday that would have stopped college coaches from offering scholarships to students as young as middle-schoolers. . . . The legislative council also voted down tougher academic restrictions for incoming basketball players at the NCAA's annual convention."

8. High Achievers Scarce in Math, Science in U.S., by Erik W. Robelen - http://t.co/XKGAuOb via @educationweek

"Only about 10 percent of U.S. students scored in the two highest achievement categories in math on the Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA, well short of the figures for a host of other nations, from South Korea and Japan to France, Germany, and New Zealand
. . . . In science, the U.S. position was more favorable, but not dramatically so."

9. Researcher Finds Easy Solution for Test Anxiety - http://t.co/APRTEDK via @educationweek

‎"The report in Friday's edition of the journal Science says students who spend 10 minutes before an exam writing about their thoughts and feelings can free up brainpower previously occupied by testing worries and do their best work."

10. Facing New Cuts, California's Colleges Are Shrinking Their Enrollments, by Josh Keller - http://chronicle.com/article/Facing-New-Cuts-Californias/125945/

"I'll tell students in my presentations that if you want to leave the state, good for you," Ms. Ponce says. "We have too many people in the state of California. We need someone to leave right now."Many of the students are in denial, she adds. Their parents don't understand how the landscape has shifted. "I will break out the numbers, and they kind of look at me in complete confusion," she says. "They have no idea."

11. A Lesson on Urban Identity, by Matthew Amaral - http://www.educationnews.org/blogs/105853.html

“Can you be Ghetto and successful?” I tell them they can’t talk about drug-dealers, rappers, athletes, or other entertainers--we’re talking about real careers. . . . This is something that will really come into focus on a college campus when a majority of the students are NOT like them."