371. 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. Read The Joe Rottenborn Daily ▸ today's top stories on college access and success via @rottenbornj ▸ http://paper.li/rottenbornj

2. Part 6: Answers to Your Questions on Student Loans and Scholarships, by Mark Kantrowitz: http://nyti.ms/smnRyj - "How do you pay for college when you don’t qualify for need-based aid, all in-state schools have rejected your student, and the only opening is an out-of-state public school with $30,000-plus/year in expenses? Are loans the only option?"

3. Last of 7 Parts: Answers to Your Questions on Student Loans and Scholarships, by Mark Kantrowitz: http://nyti.ms/voeFJ9 - "There are several billion dollars of scholarships that are based primarily on merit. A few of these scholarships have a financial need component, but most do not. However, these scholarships are very competitive, with only about one in eight students in bachelor’s degree programs using scholarships to pay for their education. Scholarships are part of the plan for paying for college, but not the entire plan. Very few students win enough money each year to cover all college costs."

4. Report from higher education research group's annual meeting, by Doug Lederman Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/uWYNOp via AddThis - "Jez told that story with data, showing that for-profit colleges enroll more Californians than all sectors other than community colleges (at 380,000 students, far less than the California Community Colleges’ 970,000 but more than third-place California State University at 332,000), greater proportions of black and Latino students than any other sector, and greater proportions of Pell Grant-eligible students than any sector but (surprisingly) private nonprofit colleges."

5. Business majors: College's worst slackers? by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505145_162-57326939/business-majors-colleges-worst-slackers/?tag=mncol;lst;8 - "Business majors, according to the survey, studied the least among college students. The average business student studied just 14 hours a week. In contrast, engineering students, the hardest workers on college campuses, studied 19 hours a week."

6. Let’s Get Ready Offers Help for College Admissions, by Michael Winerip: http://nyti.ms/uWw5XV - "So Nathaly found a free program that helps low-income teenagers throughout the Northeast work the system too, called Let’s Get Ready. Students are given help filling out college applications, writing essays, practicing interviews and preparing for the SAT."

7. How About Better Parents? by Thomas L. Friedman: http://nyti.ms/rpSy63 - "There’s no question that a great teacher can make a huge difference in a student’s achievement, and we need to recruit, train and reward more such teachers. But here’s what some new studies are also showing: We need better parents. Parents more focused on their children’s education can also make a huge difference in a student’s achievement."

8. PISA In Focus 10: What can parents do to help their children succeed in school? - http://www.pisa.oecd.org/dataoecd/4/1/49012097.pdf - "Students whose parents reported that they had read a book with their child “every day or almost every day” or “once or twice a week” during the first year of primary school have markedly higher scores in PISA 2009 than students whose parents reported that they had read a book with their child “never or almost never” or only “once or twice a month”.

9. Colleges' Data on Student Learning Remain Largely Inaccessible, Report Says,by Collin Eaton - http://chronicle.com/article/Colleges-Data-on-Student/129853/ - "Often, the report says, colleges and universities don't provide easily digestible information about student learning that prospective students and parents can understand and use to make their college choices. Student learning measures might consist of course grades, course evaluations, surveys, and interviews, says the report."

10. College graduation rates: Income really matters, by Tami Luhby - http://money.cnn.com/2011/11/21/news/economy/income_college/ via CNNMoney.com - "Some 54% of students from wealthy families obtained bachelor's degrees, said Martha Bailey, an assistant economics professor at the University of Michigan. But only 9% of low-income students got college diplomas."