329. College Access and Success News

Here are links to recent news on college access and success.
by
Joe Rottenborn
Executive Director, Mahoning Valley College Access Program (MVCAP)

1. More college officials learn about applicants from Facebook, by Mary Beth Marklein – http://usat.ly/rpUwnK via @USATODAY - "Nearly a quarter (24%) of admissions officials at 359 selective colleges say they used Facebook, up from 6% the previous year, and 20% used Google to help evaluate an applicant, says the survey, conducted by Kaplan Test Prep. Kaplan, which did not identify participating colleges, queried 500 colleges listed in U.S. News & World Report rankings and in Barron's Profiles of American Colleges."

2. ‘Pursue your dream’ by Virginia Shank - Tribune Chronicle - Warren, OH - http://bit.ly/mQFLL9 via AddThis - "It makes sense," said Jasmine Wallace, 17, a senior and member of the school's yearbook committee. "It's important to show kids that there's far more to life than being on the streets, than just giving up on yourself and what you can do with your life. These are real people pursuing their careers and working hard at what they do. It gives you something to hold on to. It gives you hope that you can also make something of your own life."

3. Gazing Into Higher Ed's Future, by Doug Lederman - Inside Higher Ed - http://bit.ly/ns4co1 via AddThis - "And the gender gap, already a concern for many in higher education, would widen: with enrollments of women growing by 21 percent and men by just 12 percent, as the department projects, by 2019 women would make up 59 percent of all postsecondary students, up from the current 57.1 percent."

4. College Bound: States Pass New Laws to Encourage College Completion, by Caralee Adams - http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/college_bound/2011/09/states_pass_new_laws_to_encourage_college_completion.html via @educationweek - "Nearly 80 new laws related to college completion have been approved in states so far in 2011, and the range of approaches are chronicled by Boosting College Completion, a two-year initiative by the Education Commission of the States funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation."

5. For-Profit Colleges, Vulnerable G.I.’s, by Hollister K. Petraeus - http://nyti.ms/o9aZzl - "The schools have a strong incentive to enroll service members and veterans, in large part because of the “90-10 rule” created by the 1998 amendments to the Higher Education Act. Put simply, the rule says that a for-profit college must obtain at least 10 percent of its revenue from a source other than Title IV education funds, the primary source of federal student aid. Funds from Tuition Assistance and the G.I. Bill are not defined as Title IV funds, so they count toward the 10 percent requirement, just like private sources of financing.
Therein lies a problem. For every service member or veteran (or spouse or child, in the case of the post-9/11 G.I. Bill) enrolled at a for-profit college and paying with military education funds, that college can enroll nine others who are using nothing but Title IV money."

6. St. Mary’s U. Finds That When It Texts, Students Come, by Alex Campbell - http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/st-marys-u-finds-that-when-it-texts-students-come/33328 - "At St. Mary’s University, potential students are given the option to sign up for updates when they first make contact with the institution. Throughout the application process, they get alerts, and, if they reply, the university writes back to them individually. For the second straight year, students who signed up were more likely to apply than those who didn’t, and, if they got accepted, they were more likely to matriculate."

7. Grading the GOP Candidates on Education, by Andrew J. Rotherham - http://ti.me/nTMHie via Time - "As some start to drop hints about what their education plans might look like, here's a handicapper's guide to the leading contenders and their views — and record — on education."

8. Obama prepares to revamp ‘No Child Left Behind’ by Lyndsey Layton - http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/obama-prepares-to-revamp-no-child-left-behind/2011/09/16/gIQAKUrXlK_story.html via Washingtonpost.com - "Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan are scheduled Friday to detail plans to waive some of the law’s toughest requirements, including the goal that every student be proficient in math and reading by 2014 or else their schools could face escalating sanctions. In exchange for relief, the administration will require a quid pro quo: States must adopt changes that could include the expansion of charter schools, linking teacher evaluation to student performance and upgrading academic standards. As many as 45 states are expected to seek waivers."

9. The problem with Obama’s plan to issue NCLB waivers, by Valerie Strauss - The Answer Sheet - http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/the-problem-with-obamas-plan-to-issue-nclb-waivers/2011/09/21/gIQAdVfQmK_blog.html via Washingtonpost.com - "States have been begging Washington to relieve them of the most onerous of NCLB’s provisions, Adequate Yearly Progress, a measure that requires public schools to ensure that nearly all of their students score as proficient on standardized tests in reading and math by 2014. Failing to reach sub-goals toward that end results in punitive measures that require schools to be restructured in one of several models. As the 2014 goal has approached, the number of schools in danger of failing has shot up."

10. More public universities turn dorms into residential colleges, by Jenna Johnson - Campus Overload - http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/campus-overload/post/more-public-universities-turn-dorms-into-residential-colleges/2011/09/21/gIQA8tjGlK_blog.html via Washingtonpost.com - "The idea of a residential college is not new at schools like Cambridge and Harvard, or small liberal arts colleges. But lately many large public institutions are adopting the model, creating small academically driven communities where students can live all four years . . . . The idea is that by putting these students in a building with lots of gathering spots — movie theaters, fitness rooms, kitchens and gaming rooms — they will learn from each other and share ideas."

11. Read The Joe Rottenborn Daily ▸ today's top stories about college access and success, via @rottenbornj ▸ http://t.co/x7cmxSo