282. Summer College News

Here are some links to today's stories

about college access and success.

by

Joe Rottenborn

Executive Director, Mahoning Valley College Access Program (MVCAP)

1. Read The Joe Rottenborn Daily ▸ today's top stories via @rottenbornj ▸ http://t.co/UftEiOc

2. The End of Subsidized Loans? by Libby A. Nelson - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/onGy8i -"During talks Monday, Rep. Eric Cantor, the Republican majority leader, reportedly proposed making students responsible for paying the interest their loans accrue while they’re enrolled in college, a change that would save the government $40 billion over 10 years.The proposal would end the subsidized Stafford loan program, in which the federal government pays the interest that accrues while students are enrolled in school."

3. 'State Authorization' Struck Down, by Doug Lederman - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/qmk46W - "Tuesday's ruling by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia came in a lawsuit that the Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities filed in January on behalf of the for-profit colleges it represents. The career college group had challenged the state authorization regulation and two of the other "program integrity" rules -- those that effectively bar incentive compensation for recruiters, and that hold colleges accountable if they misrepresent their programs and results."

4. Price Points, by Kevin Kiley - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/omVmuz - "These officials prefer to focus on "net tuition revenue" -- the amount of money derived from each student after aid is subtracted from sticker price. They want to shift the conversations away from the discount rate toward a more integrated approach to tuition, literally striking "discount rate" from strategic plans, and make the concepts of net revenue and the actual price of college more apparent to the public, lawmakers, and potential students."

5. Critical Choices: How Colleges Can Help Students and Families Make Better Decisions about Private Loans - http://projectonstudentdebt.org/files/pub/critical_choices.pdf - "There is general consensus that students should exhaust all available federal financial aid, including federal loans, before considering other forms of financing like private student loans. Federal loans are available to students regardless of their or their family’s income. Private student loans are one of the riskiest ways to pay for college, and they are not financial aid any more than a credit card is when used to pay for textbooks or tuition. They typically have uncapped, variable interest rates and cost the most for those who can least afford them, while federal student loans have fixed interest rates that are not affected by the borrower’s income or credit score."

6. 5 Great Ways to Succeed in College, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://t.co/X1T7Ryw via @cbsmoneywatch - "According to the academics who conducted the research, 46% of students don’t improve in their writing skills or critical thinking and reasoning abilities after two years in college. More than a third of students who graduate never improve.How can you avoid that happening to you? Here are five tips to help you succeed in college."

7. Ohio picks interim as state superintendent - The Herald Dispatch: http://bit.ly/re7R4j - "The 15-0 vote to hire interim Superintendent Stan Heffner meant the board passed over Robert Schiller, who became the lone finalist from the board’s top three picks on Sunday after a second contender dropped out. Four board members abstained on the Heffner hiring vote.“A funny thing happened on my way to Texas,” Heffner said after the vote. He had been slated to begin a new job with Educational Testing Service’s office in San Antonio on Aug. 1."

8. A College Education for All, Free and Online, by Kevin Carey - http://chronicle.com/article/A-College-Education-for-All/128162/ - "UoPeople strives to serve the vast numbers of students who have no access to traditional higher education. Some can't afford it, or they live in countries where there are simply no good colleges to attend. Others live in rural areas, or identify with a culture, an ethnicity, or a gender that is excluded from public services.UoPeople students pay an application fee of between $10 and $50 and must have a high-school diploma and be proficient in English. There are also small fees for grading final exams. Otherwise, it's free."

9. Cal State University approves 12% tuition hike - http://usat.ly/ntvN2L via @USATODAY -"With a 13-2 vote, the CSU Board of Trustees passed the annual tuition hike of $588, which comes on top of a previously approved 10 percent increase for 2011-2012."

10. Moving past excuses from the no-excuse reform crowd, by Barnett Berry- The Answer Sheet - http://t.co/iAQRw8V via @washingtonpost - "[Paul] Tough argues that if we are to educate all children to achieve high academic standards, we must tackle the challenges of poverty head-on.He highlights tactics that have repeatedly been proven effective on a small scale: “supplementing classroom strategies with targeted, evidence-based interventions outside the classroom; working intensively with the most disadvantaged families to improve home environments for young children; providing high-quality early-childhood education to children from the neediest families; and, once school begins, providing low-income students with a robust system of emotional and psychological support, as well as academic support.”

11. The FRIENDLIEST Colleges - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/13/the-friendliest-colleges_n_896867.html#s306756&title=Carleton_College - Which college in Ohio made this list?

12. Don't spread these myths about college admissions, by Lee Bierer CharlotteObserver.com: http://bit.ly/niweTO - "Parents who have recently "graduated" from the college admissions process freely dispense advice and sometimes misinformation. To dispel many of these untruths, let's focus on some of the most popular myths about college admissions."

13. ON COLLEGE: The do's and don'ts of helping your high school senior, by Purvi S. Mody - San Jose Mercury News http://t.co/KxyWdL5 - "Don't call colleges on your child's behalf. If you and your child have a question about admissions or anything at all, let your child take the lead. It will develop self-confidence, and colleges like to hear from the students rather than the parents."