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Monday, February 28, 2011

201. Unstack the Odds--About the Blogger

Unstack the Odds: Help All Kids Access College—and Graduate!
by
Joe Rottenborn
Executive Director, Mahoning Valley College Access Program (MVCAP)

About the Blogger


Joe Rottenborn graduated from Salem (OH) High School in the Class of 1966. He earned an A.B. cum laude in government at Boston University in 1970, and he received the Master of Arts in Teaching from Brown in 1972. He was awarded the Master of Science in Educational Administration in 1990 from Youngstown State University and the Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in educational leadership at YSU in 1998.

Dr. Rottenborn worked for 30 years as a public educator in Ohio. He taught social studies at Boardman High for thirteen years, was an Assistant Principal at Salem High School, Assistant Superintendent of Canfield Local and Chagrin Falls Schools, and became Superintendent at Columbiana Exempted Village in 1994.

Since retiring as Columbiana's Superintendent at the end of December 2001, he has been Executive Director of the Mahoning Valley College Access Program (MVCAP), which provides free advising on college admissions and financial aid to students from Mahoning, Trumbull, and Columbiana Counties in northeast Ohio. In its first ten years after startup, the MVCAP has advised over 9,000 high school students and parents, raised more than $1,100,000, and awarded over 160 Last-Dollar Scholarships—most for $1,000.

Dr. Rottenborn has served on the boards of the Kent State University College Tech Prep Consortium, Salem City Schools, and the Ohio College Access Network (OCAN). He has been married for 39 years to another SHS Class of ’66 graduate, Cindy, a senior library assistant at Kent State University Salem campus; Dr. Rottenborn is also an adjunct instructor at KSU Salem. The couple has two children--Mary (37) and Bo (30), both graduates of the University of Notre Dame. Joe and Cindy also have one grandchild--Luke Michael Kozlowski, born on 11/17/10.

Dr. Rottenborn's publications include the following:
  • with Joseph A. Shivers, "Friends and colleagues," in Sheryl Boris-Schacter, ed. The Changing Relationship Between Principal and Superintendent: Shifting Roles in an Era of Educational Reform, in New Directions for School Leadership, No. 10, Winter 1998, pp. 53-59.
  • Economics lesson plan, in Richard T. Vacca and JoAnne L. Vacca, Content Area Reading (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1986), pp. 357-360.


Joe Rottenborn invites you to access these websites, which he manages:

Friday, February 25, 2011

200. 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. Princeton and Harvard Reinstate Early Admissions, by Catherine Rampell - http://nyti.ms/fnhiRj

". . . Both Princeton and Harvard on Thursday reinstated their early admission programs. (The University of Virginia, which had also ended its early admission program with great fanfare, gave in last year.) . . . And from the 2006 press release in which Princeton announced it was ending the early admissions program: “We agree that early admission ‘advantages the advantaged,’” Tilghman said."

2. Jane Fonda at Vassar: College Tours, Campus Legends, by Michael Kolomatsky - http://nyti.ms/gDaVt2

"College tour season will soon heat up as high school seniors make final visits to schools at which they’ve been accepted. In search of the magic that will tip the scales toward one college or another, they’ll be joined by juniors who typically begin visiting schools about now."

3. Surrender to Early Admissions, by Scott Jaschik - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/gCDaKu

"On Thursday, both Harvard and Princeton announced that they were restoring early admissions options. Significantly, they are restoring nonbinding "early action" options, not early decision -- and many skeptics about early admissions say that the biggest problems arise with binding programs, particularly at colleges that are not as generous with student financial aid as are Harvard and Princeton."

4. CNU: University accidentally sent 2,000 acceptance e-mails, by Samieh Shalash - http://bit.ly/dI7eXP

‎"Christopher Newport University e-mailed acceptance letters to 2,000 students Wednesday afternoon with the subject line "Welcome to CNU!"It was followed about four hours later by an e-mail saying the first e-mail was sent by mistake and apologizing for any confusion."

5. Lawsuit accuses TCU of fraud - http://es.pn/he7WmS

"The records describe how the 300-pound Jones remained in an English class even though the instructor considered him "dangerous," how Taylor was admitted to the university despite graduating 300th in his high school class of 377 and how both remained in good standing on their teams despite repeatedly being cited for misconduct on campus."

6. Using Social Media to Get Into College, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://t.co/988Af8a

‎"A Kaplan survey of admissions counselors from some of the top colleges and universities found that 80 percent visited potential students’ online profiles during their recruiting process. While counselors are checking students out online, they are also trying to engage them on the Internet. According to Tsouvalas, here are ways that high school students can take advantage of Facebook and other social media:"


‎"Despite the fact that nearly all young people now say that they want to go to college and that increasing percentages of high school graduates are in fact enrolling in college, our college completion rate is stuck at about 40 percent. Many organizations are now focused on the challenge of how to increase our college completion rate and have set a very aggressive target of 55 percent by 2025. But even if this very ambitious improvement goal were to be reached, what is our strategy for getting the other 45 percent of young people the skills and credentials they will need to get launched on a career path that can enable them to earn a family-supporting wage and lead a productive life? This is the big question our report raises. . . ."

8. On Science Exams, New York’s Students Fall Short, by Fernanda Santos - http://nyti.ms/g19C6n

"New York was one of 17 large cities that agreed to have their results reported separately. A large majority of those cities scored below the nation as a whole. New York was in the middle among the large cities for its fourth graders and slightly below average for eighth graders. . . . The best of the 17 were Charlotte, N.C., Austin, Tex., and Louisville, Ky.; the worst were Detroit, Baltimore and Cleveland."

9. In the so-called School of Financial Aid, it can pay to get the lowest score, by Alice Murphey - http://nydn.us/i0KvaZ

"Everybody wants to get high marks in college, but in the so-called School of Financial Aid, it can pay to get the lowest score. That's the case with your expected family contribution. Your contribution is determined by the information on your Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. (There's still time to file if you haven't already, but . . .some students are starting to receive their award letters.)"

10. Harvard Tuition Rises to $52,650, by Julie M. Zauzmer - http://bit.ly/edbKMQ

"Harvard College tuition and fees will climb 3.8 percent for the next academic year, reaching a total cost of $52,650. The jump in price will be coupled with a $2 million increase in the financial aid budget, bringing the total cost of financial aid to a record high of more than $160 million.Already, more than 60 percent of Harvard undergraduates receive some financial aid from the College."

11. Panel Discusses Education Gap, by Rediet T. Abebe - http://bit.ly/gCsSJl

‎"Ferguson also noted that the gap develops rapidly as young minority students approach kindergarten. Though there is “not much of a gap” around the first birthday, a divergence in test scores is already apparent by age three, he said."

12. What to Do as Colleges Cut Back on Financial Aid, by Jane J. Kim - http://on.wsj.com/igbgKP via WSJ.com

"Amid greater financial pressures, colleges are scaling back their financial-aid packages to students in ways that are likely to give wealthier families an admissions edge.Some colleges, such as Williams College, Middlebury College and Wake Forest University, are no longer "need blind" when it comes to admitting international or wait-listed students."



Thursday, February 24, 2011

199. 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. College coaches' fat paychecks stir controversy, by Chris Isidore - http://t.co/SJgHnBg via @CNNMoney

"The latest storm is in Lubbock, Texas, where Texas Tech football coach Tommy Tuberville is getting a 33% raise after just one year, to $2 million. The new contract is guaranteed through 2014.The school says it was making good on a verbal agreement made with Tuberville when he was hired. But the raise comes as many faculty members are going without raises, and the school prepares for expected cuts in state support."

2. Collective Bargaining Rights and Higher Education, by Maria Newman - http://nyti.ms/dFYehK

‎"Mr. Jaschik points out that most college faculty members nationally are not unionized. “A Supreme Court ruling has largely blocked faculty union organizing at private colleges, while state governments regulate collective bargaining in the public sector,” he writes. Unions are more prevalent in colleges and universities in the Northeast, Midwest and West, he said."

3. Roadblocks for ROTC? by Dan Berrett - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/epTDUE

"Opponents generally fall into two camps -- one opposing ROTC because of whom it excludes, the other because of what the military does (a third line of criticism arises from faculty concerns over the academic quality of ROTC programs)."

4. Professors in the Crosshairs, by Mary Hoeft - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/dHoim0

‎"Frequently, during class, he would turn to the young woman seated next to him and engage in a conversation. After asking him repeatedly to focus his attention on what I was saying, I finally asked him to switch seats. I made the request three times before he got up and moved. As he slowly walked across the room, I saw on his face what I had seen only one other time in my teaching career: hate."

5. HEARING: Preventing Abuse of the Military's Tuition Assistance Program - http://bit.ly/g9OyeW

"The hearing will examine the state of the Department of Defense's (DOD) Tuition Assistance Program, which provides tuition assistance benefits to active duty military personnel who wish to take classes while concurrently fulfilling their active duty service requirement. In Fiscal Year 2009, 376,759 service members participated in th...e program and DOD spent over $517 million on the benefit."

6. The Top Jobs For 2011: NACE Salary Survey - http://huff.to/dIRjRV

"College seniors studying accounting are in luck -- accounting firms are doling out more offers to members of the class of 2011 than companies in any other area, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers' Winter 2011 Salary Survey. . . ."

7. Value of College-Admissions Test-Prep Classes Unclear, by Caralee J. Adams - http://bit.ly/fGQl1B

‎"Test-prep programs generally include three elements: a review of test content, practice on test questions, and orientation to the format of the test. In 2009, in cooperation with NACAC, Mr. Briggs reviewed three national data sets and found the average effect of commercial coaching is positive, but slight. Test-score bumps were more in the neighborhood of 30 points (on a 1,600-point scale at the time). . . ."

8. Can universities keep the minority students they woo? by Sarah Butrymowicz - Hechinger Report: http://t.co/Q9XFx2A

"But a study released last summer by the Washington D.C.-based Education Trust, which analyzed data from 456 colleges and universities, found a disturbing gap in graduation rates when disaggregated by race. At private institutions, 73.4 percent of white students earned their degrees within six years, while only 54.7 percent of black students and 62.9 percent of Hispanic students made it through the schools they started."

9. FAFSA frustrations? Financial aid expert online Thursday to answer questions, by Jenna Johnson - http://wapo.st/gB5pYC

"Starting at 1 p.m/ Thursday, I will be online to answer questions with Mark Kantrowitz, a leading financial aid expert and the publisher of Fastweb.com and FinAid.org. Mark has written three books about financial aid, including "Secrets to Winning a Scholarship." Please send us your questions now!"


Wednesday, February 23, 2011

198. 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 Inevitable Happens in Ohio, by Doug Lederman - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/gRtKQ4

"Ohio has undergone rapid and significant change in its higher education system since 2007, when the state legislature passed a law allowing Strickland, rather than the Ohio Board of Regents, to appoint the higher education chancellor, streamlining the newly created University System of Ohio and -- as a near-unavoidable consequence -- politicizing its head position."

2. Ohio Chancellor Steps Down, Leaving Strat Plan in Limbo, by Eric Kelderman - http://chronicle.com/article/Ohio-Chancellor-Steps-Down/126480/

"Mr. Fingerhut's departure leaves in doubt to what extent the state will continue with the far-reaching, 10-year strategic plan the chancellor engineered and shepherded through the General Assembly in 2008 with overwhelming bipartisan support."

3. 'Lowering Higher Education' by Scott Jaschik - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/dQRHU6

‎"The corporate university is one that, in the face of declining government funding, is increasingly dependent on corporate sponsorship and funding to carry out its traditional tasks of teaching and research. It literally sells physical space on the campus to corporations, accept[ing] financial donations for building projects and endowments of chairs, replete with the corporate brand."

4. Don't Believe Princeton Review's Best Value College List, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://t.co/2cb6bWj

"Plenty of the top colleges that The Princeton Review singles out for honors could also earn spots on a list of the nation’s most expensive colleges and universities. Many of the students who end up attending these “best value” school will pay more than $200,000 for their degree. Hardly what I call a bargain."

5. Schools tout efforts to keep tuition in check, by Mary Beth Marklein - http://usat.ly/gqMPQr via @USATODAY

"The Education Department began nudging colleges toward greater transparency last July, when it published, at http://www.collegenavigator.gov/, average net prices based on family income for schools that receive federal financial aid. Beginning Oct. 29, colleges will be required to post a "net price calculator" on their websites to help families estimate more precisely what they will be expected to pay."

6. Calculate the cost of college and chance of financial aid, by Terri Gruca - http://t.co/4GbTyC2

‎"There are a few tools that can help you determine the price of college based on your family’s income for schools that receive federal financial aid. The Department of Education created this web site last July to help families make more informed decisions about college. This is a terrific tool because it not only breaks down the cost of tuition, but of books, room and board and even how many students qualified for financial aid as well as the amount they were given."

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

197. 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. Jobs that pay well, no degree required, by Anthony Balderrama - http://bit.ly/eyss8f #cnn

"That's not to say you shouldn't earn a college or graduate degree if you want. However, if college isn't the right option for you or if it's not a plausible option in the short term, consider these 15 professions that don't require a college degree but pay well:"

2. Economy shuffles Princeton Review's Best Value Colleges, by Mary Beth Marklein - http://t.co/7J4vIXM via @USATODAY

‎"Federal stimulus money, which helped many public universities hold tuition down, is about to dry up. Some private schools, including Williams and Dartmouth, are paring financial aid. House Republicans have proposed cutting the maximum Pell Grant given to needy students."

3. Four Questions on How to Cut Tuition, by John M. McCardell Jr. - http://nyti.ms/fvg07r

‎"I would not presume to say what other institutions might be capable of doing. But I WILL say that any institution that has embraced the high tuition/high discount mode of fee-setting is, sooner or later, heading for a fall."

4. Funding Completion, by Hilary Pennington - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/hOtoab

"Today, Complete College America (an effort supported by the Gates Foundation and four other national philanthropies) is inviting all governors to take the Completion Innovation Challenge. The 10 governors with the most innovative and inventive proposals to significantly boost college completion in their states each will receive a $1 million grant."

5. Wanted: A Dependable Backer, by Dan Berrett - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/hzJ1mf

"State governments have proven to be unreliable partners," Robert J. Birgeneau, chancellor of the University of California at Berkeley, said here Saturday morning at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. "The federal government needs to guarantee the fate of our great public institutions."

6. U.S. House Votes to Slash Current-Year Education Funding, by Alyson Klein - http://t.co/wFLnmJj

"The U.S. Department of Education's current-year budget would be slashed by more than $5 billion under a bill approved early this morning by the U.S. House of Representatives on an almost strictly party line vote of 235-189. That sets up a showdown as the legislation heads to the Democratically controlled Senate, where lawmakers are expected to reject the cuts."

7. Generous, but Not So Generous, by Scott Jaschik - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/hNTmL9

"While aid officials almost uniformly want to encourage more colleges to offer more aid, many have been quietly critical of institutions like Yale, Harvard and Stanford for being as generous as they are to families with incomes as high as $200,000 . . . ."I think Yale want too far, farther than anyone else," said one aid director at an elite college who asked not to be identified. . . ."

8. Financial Aid Growing Faster than Tuition - Notre Dame Magazine // University of Notre Dame - http://t.co/vQla4GD

‎"Trustees approved an increase of $1,150 in tuition and $290 in room and board for next fall, bringing the average undergraduate student’s bill to $29,100 a year. The combined increase of $1,440 or 5.2 percent is the smallest, percentage-wise, in two decades. . . . Even with the price increase, Notre Dame continues to cost less than all but two of the other institutions in U.S. News & World Report magazine’s top 20 national universities."



Monday, February 21, 2011

196. 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. Two Ways to Get Kicked Out of College Before You Arrive On Campus - Auburn Journal: http://bit.ly/gZ6scR

‎"According to the 2010 State of College Admission (National Association for College Admission Counseling, September 2010, p. 28), 22 percent of colleges reported they revoked offers of admission during the fall 2009 semester/quarter. The average number of offers revoked increased 230% from 2008 to 2009. Although not stated in the 2010 report, in previous years, colleges reported the most common reason for retracting offers being a sharp decline in final grades followed by disciplinary actions (disciplinary actions most likely to result in retraction of an offer were violence, cheating, drug-related offenses and theft)."

2. Juniors Get an Early Lesson on College Applications, by Colleen Tang - Pelham, NY Patch: http://t.co/qAnuMj0

“We have five colleges coming in tonight and they’ll give their perspectives on everything from SUNY Purchase, applying as an art major to Fordham and Iona,“ said Eugene Farrell, director of counseling services at PMHS. “So we try to provide a range of perspectives on colleges and on college essays and all those other pieces. It’s information that we try to get to parents as best we can.”

3. Financial aid: One of six tools to graduate debt-free, by Husna Haq - http://t.co/NWwV16D

"Here are six ways you, too, can trim or eliminate college debt:"

4. Always worth a try to apply for financial aid, by Terry Savage - Chicago Sun-Times: http://bit.ly/gunvDV

‎"You’ll never know until you try whether you will qualify for financial aid. Unless you have saved all the money you’ll need, it’s worth a try. Some expensive schools might grant an aid package that makes them more affordable than even a local college or state school. The FAFSA — the Free Application for Federal Student Aid — is the basis for almost every financial aid decision that is based on need."

5. Study: IL Student Poverty Rate Rises - Achievement Gap Widens, by Mary Anne Meyers - Public News Service: http://j.mp/gWzyDn

‎"According to the 2011 Kids Count Report released by Voices for Illinois Children, less than half of the low-income students in Illinois are able to read at grade level."

6. Cleveland native Ron Ferguson pushes to close academic achievement gap, by Regina Brett cleveland.com: http://t.co/czSJx8z

"Education has been called the next civil rights issue. Ferguson told me it's bigger than that. We need to re-craft a national identity around new academic aspiration. We can't afford to ignore the race gap, he said. Already, in 10 states the majority of children are non-white."

7. College students must work to solve problems that affect blacks, speaker says, by Paul Garber & John Hinton http://t.co/IhYGOaw

"You need to develop causes that you are willing to die for," Marc Lamont Hill said during a fiery 50-minute speech. "You have the ability to turn the world upside down." Hill, 32, was the keynote speaker for the Seventh Annual Black Male Symposium. More than more than 220 people attended his lecture in Dillard Auditorium in the Anderson Center."

8. 63 Colleges With the Best Financial Aid, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://t.co/GHCuOTx

‎"In fact, according to a new U.S. News & World Report survey, only 63 schools out of 1,700 colleges and universities claim that they meet their students’ full financial need. . . . Here are the schools on US News & World Report’s list in alphabetical order: 63 Most Generous Colleges and Universities."

9. Buying Your Way Into College, by Jane J. Kim - http://on.wsj.com/eZHl4x

"Thanks to the recent recession, more colleges are giving seats to wealthier students—especially international or wait-listed applicants—who are willing to pay full freight."

10. College Parties, Minus the Beer Binges, by Sue Shellenbarger - http://on.wsj.com/ieuC1s

"Surveys at Purdue University, for example, show a sharp drop in binge drinking among students, to 37.3% in 2009 from 48% in 2006, says Tamara Loew, health-advocacy coordinator. She attributes this in part to a boom in late-night, alcohol-free events on or around campus, from poetry slams and dances to carnivals and "cabin-fever" parties."

11. More Students Fail Advanced Placement Tests, by Stephanie Banchero - http://on.wsj.com/ei0Nh4

"Education experts attribute the low scores to the recent national effort to push more students—no matter how ill-prepared—into AP courses, hoping to get them ready for college. They also blame school districts that have watered down the AP curriculum to accommodate lower-performing students, and students who sign up simply to pad their college applications."

12. Stanford Corners the 'Smart' Market, by Darren Everson and Jared Diamond - http://on.wsj.com/gSL4Jl

"What stands out about Stanford's class is something entirely different: what superior students they are."

13. For-Profit Colleges and Foes Await U.S. Rules, by Tamar Lewin - http://nyti.ms/i97XKt

"The data — covering all institutions of higher education — found that among students whose loans came due in 2008, 25 percent of those who attended commercial colleges defaulted within three years, compared with 10.8 percent at public institutions and 7.6 percent at private nonprofit colleges and universities."

14. US students lagging behind, by Anne Michaud - http://t.co/cN3faUU via @vindicator

"Not coincidentally, perhaps, middle school is where American students begin to fall behind their global peers. By high school, among 30 developed nations, U.S. students rank 15th in reading, 21st in science, 25th in math and 24th in problem-solving."

15. Book Chat: Why Does College Cost So Much? by David Leonhardt - http://nyti.ms/hUjPvH

"The biggest problem with our current financial aid programs is their complexity. Families have to make a series of decisions early in the process to help their children to become college material. Well-to-do families usually take care of this quite well. College is expected, and in most cases the expectation is realized. On the other hand, because they think they can never afford college, children from less well-to-do families do not take the steps one has to take to prepare for college."

16. Ethnic diversity ends, and begins, with admissions, by the Editorial Board - The Skidmore News: http://t.co/ctVGW4Z

"Our college admissions, unlike other peer schools like Hamilton College and Vassar College, considers whether a student can afford tuition as a part of his or her admission into the school; our college operates under "need-sensitive" admission, as opposed to "need-blind" admission. For example, when two prospective students with the same racial backgrounds, test scores, grades and extracurriculars apply to Skidmore, the student who requests less financial aid will more likely be accepted."

17. Yale Shifts Aid From Wealthier Families to Help Poor Students, by Oliver Staley and Janet Lorin - http://t.co/A5JoJel via @BloombergNow

‎"Beginning with students who enter this August, parents who earn between $130,000 and $200,000 a year will be asked to pay an average of 15 percent of their income, up from 12 percent for the previous three years, said Caesar Storlazzi, Yale’s chief financial aid officer, in an interview. Yale will also increase the income cap for families who pay nothing to $65,000 from $60,000."

18. The Changed Landscape, by Doug Lederman - Inside Higher Ed: http://t.co/z6x5Afs

‎"But for higher education, the sea change was most evident in the strikingly lopsided vote for an amendment that would block the U.S. Education Department from using any of its fiscal 2011 funds to carry out its proposed regulation requiring for-profit college and other vocational programs to ensure that their students are prepared for "gainful employment."

Friday, February 18, 2011

195. 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. Education funding crisis expected to grow beyond Wisconsin, by Michael Martinez - http://bit.ly/h8GOFT #cnn

‎"What concerns educators is that the quality of education -- and student achievement -- will take staggering hits under budget cuts now being considered in many states, Bryant said."

2. House Poised to Block 'Gainful', by Doug Lederman - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/i4CnUd

"The measure would block the Education Department from using any of its appropriated funds for the rest of the 2011 fiscal year to implement, administer or enforce its controversial plan to assess the quality of vocational programs based largely on the ability of former students to repay their student loans."

3. Duncan Announces Four Community College Regional Summits Aimed at Boosting College Completion, by Jane Glickman -U.S. Department of Education: http://bit.ly/gbR5Wu

"These regional summits are an opportunity to build partnerships that strengthen our community colleges, turn challenges into actions, and produce the best-educated and most-competitive workforce in the world," Duncan said."

4. Do College Athletes Have Time to Be Students? by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://t.co/38doH03

‎"According to the survey, the most demanding sport is Division I and II baseball, which has the longest season of any collegiate sport. Division I baseball players devote 42.1 hours a week to the sport during their season, which is 10.4 hours more than they spend on academics. Division I basketball and football players also spend more time on their sports than they do on their school work."

5. DePaul Becomes Biggest Private University to Go 'Test Optional', by Eric Hoover - http://chronicle.com/article/DePaul-U-Will-Make-SAT-and/126396/

‎"Starting with applicants for the freshman class entering in 2012, students who choose not to submit ACT or SAT scores will write short responses to essay questions designed to measure "noncognitive" traits, such as leadership, commitment to service, and ability to meet long-term goals."

6. Georgia Lawmakers Keep Hope Scholarship Alive, but with Cap on Awards, by Eric Kelderman - http://chronicle.com/article/Georgia-Lawmakers-Keep-Hope/126412/

‎"The scholarship pays all tuition, and a small amount toward books, at the state's public colleges for any resident who graduates from high school with a B average. Private-college students can get $4,000 a year. The program, financed with lottery proceeds, is nearly 20 years old and now pays for about 200,000 Georgia residents to attend college each year."

7. Smart people + big report = dreamy nonsense, by Jay Mathews - http://voices.washingtonpost.com/class-struggle/2011/02/smart_people_big_report_mush.html

"It identifies a major problem in our education system -- that the movement to get high schools to prepare all students for college has not worked. Only about 40 percent of our high school graduates earn college degrees. The ones that don't go to college often have trouble finding jobs."

Thursday, February 17, 2011

194. 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. Snapshot of One College’s Admissions Process, by Jacques Steinberg - http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/16/today-grinnell/

"The segment linked above, which was broadcast this morning on NBC’s “Today” show, takes viewers behind the closed doors of the admissions process at Grinnell College in Iowa. Grinnell, which has received nearly 3,000 applications for an incoming freshman class of about 400, follows an intensive, holistic process similar to those used at dozens of other selective (and in some cases fiercely competitive) colleges."

2. Price Check at Sewanee, by Scott Jaschik - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/fCxruy

"The University of the South on Wednesday announced that it is cutting total student charges (tuition, fees and room and board) by 10 percent -- one of the more dramatic shifts in tuition policy announced by a competitive private college in recent years. Total charges this year at Sewanee are just over $46,000."

3. How Class Dictates Delay, by Allie Grasgreen - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/e9K6Yi

‎"Not only are high school graduates of lower socioeconomic status more likely to delay college, but they also experience longer gaps and are less likely to graduate once they do enroll."

4. Notre Dame sex assault investigation, by Stacy St. Clair and Todd Lighty - chicagotribune.com: http://t.co/0ypEQDv

"I'm involved in this because I love Notre Dame and I don't want to see this happen again," he said. "Notre Dame has done so much good over the years, but I think there's an issue that needs to be corrected."

5. MSU-led study identifies risks for quitting college, by Andy Henion MSU News Michigan State University: http://t.co/uMywWrm

"The critical event with the most influence was depression. Students also were sensitive to being recruited by an employer or another institution; losing financial aid or experiencing a large increase in tuition or living costs; unexpected bad grade; and roommate conflicts.They were less sensitive to critical events such as death in the family; significant injury; inability to enter their intended major; becoming addicted to a substance; coming into a large sum of money; losing a job needed to pay tuition; and becoming engaged or married."

6. House Budget Ammendment Targets Rules Seeking Accountability for For-Profit Colleges - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/16/for-profit-colleges-ammendment_n_823868.html?ir=College

‎"The budget amendment, sponsored by Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., and supported by Democratic Reps. Alcee Hastings of Florida and Carolyn McCarthy of New York, would prevent the department from issuing or enforcing any of the regulations regarding student debt burdens through the end of the fiscal year in September."

7. President Obama Proposes Cut in Aid Programs to Preserve Pell Grants: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-kantrowitz/president-obama-proposes-_b_823236.html

‎"The program's recent growth is partly because of the economy and partly because the maximum grant was increased to compensate for four years of flat funding during the Bush administration. The number of students filing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is up by about a third in the last three years. More of the applicants are qualifying for the Pell Grant."

8. 'Some College Needed to Step Up and Say, Enough', by Jacques Steinberg - http://nyti.ms/i0OjRx

“The university has made a bold and perhaps risky move,” John M. McCardell Jr., vice chanceller of Sewanee (and former president of Middlebury) tells Ms. Lewin. “But given the realities of higher education in the current economy, we believe that some college or university needed to step up and say, ‘Enough.’ ”

9. Bucking Trend, College Will Cut Price, by Tamar Lewin - http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/17/education/edlife/17tuition.html?_r=1

‎"The college, formally Sewanee: The University of the South, is betting that the drop in tuition — which at this point it can afford — will help it compete on two fronts: with the public universities that are siphoning off a growing share of the students it accepts, and with other private colleges where tuition is likely to increase by 4 to 5 percent this year, as it has for the last two years."

10. For-Profit Colleges Show Increasing Dependence on Federal Student Aid, by Goldie Blumenstyk - http://chronicle.com/article/For-Profit-Colleges-Show/126394/

"The 90/10 rule applies only to for-profit colleges. And only federal student-aid money, commonly referred to as Title IV funds (for the section of the Higher Education Act that authorizes them), is counted toward the 90-percent limit. Other sources of federal aid, such as money from the GI Bill or military tuition reimbursements that many students use to pay for college, are not treated as part of the Title IV side of the calculation."

11. Earmark Idiocy, by Joe Klein - http://t.co/HJ4jKp6

"Finally, a Senate staff education expert told me: "In education funding, an earmark is anything that isn't granted by federal formula [like Title I money to poor districts] or a contract determined by competitive bidding. There are about a dozen national programs that are about to be cut from the education appropriations bill this year, including Teach for America, because they are technically considered earmarks."

12. Program to increase college financial aid applications stalls, by Yesenia Robles - http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_17397844

"The project's goal is to provide names of students who have completed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), those who have incorrectly filled it out and those who haven't started it, so that schools can target the help they provide.Canty-Woessner said the goal was to have the information updated weekly. But a delay in compiling and distributing the data at the federal level means districts won't know which of their students have filled out the form until early May — too late to reach the students as they graduate, and too late to get them the maximum amount of money they might be eligible for."


"Cal State Northridge has the highest percentage of underrepresented minorities in the entire state of California,” said Dr. Harry Hellenbrand, CSUN’s provost and Vice President for academic affairs. . . . The report also states that roles have reversed for many CA residents and their children. Parents are increasingly dependent on their children. Some students are using their financial aid to help support their household."

14. Financial aid brings long line - http://shar.es/36pRf

"Though there is usually a long line once each fall and spring, there were twice as many people than usual trying to pick up checks on Tuesday. The snow days prevented students from picking up one round of checks, so the financial aid office was working double-time to get the checks out, said a college spokeswoman."

15. Asheville City Schools' summit to target achievement gap, by Julie Ball - http://t.co/3W7sjG8

‎"Superintendent Allen Johnson has said the system is “declaring war” on the achievement gap. . . .“We've got to start here and make some inroads. We've got to come up with a plan to address it immediately,” said Gene Bell, chairman of the city school board. . . . This issue is not unique to Asheville City Schools — it is a national and statewide problem."


Wednesday, February 16, 2011

193. 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. College students socked by budget cuts, by Anna Spinner - http://t.co/kmwTJGU via @CNNMoney

"Facing declining tax revenues in the wake of the Great Recession, states are slashing funding for higher education, forcing many colleges to eliminate majors and entire departments."

2. Colleges plan Black History events - TribToday.com - Tribune Chronicle - Warren, OH: http://t.co/ixeOuCJ

‎"Black History Month programs and activities with featured guests speakers have been scheduled at both Youngstown State and Kent State universities."

3. Governor, black Ohio lawmakers seek common ground - http://t.co/aXSonKI via @daytondailynews

‎"Black state lawmakers say they believe they can work with Ohio Gov. John Kasich (KAY'-sik) to change sentencing laws, help close the achievement gap among students of different ethnicities and work to promote minority businesses."

4. Class of 2015 follows financial aid pattern, by Felicia Schwartz - http://t.co/Dv2PNs9

‎"If an admitted student informs the College that they have received a better offer from another school, the College will see if there are adjustments that can be made to match offers from other schools that continue to operate under no-loans policies, according to Laskaris. “If it’s an [Ivy League] school, we will match it,” Hazen said. “If it’s a non-Ivy, we probably won’t.”
. . . . Yale University, Harvard University, Princeton University, Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania all offer loan-free financial aid packages, according to their respective websites."

5. Is Completion the Right Goal? by David Moltz - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/eBgCek

"Arthur M. Hauptman, an independent public policy consultant specializing in higher education finance issues, kicked off the event, "Degrees of Difficulty: Can American Higher Education Regain Its Edge?," with his paper arguing that, based on underlying data, the president’s national goal for increasing degree attainment is “almost impossible to achieve in the best of circumstances.”

6. Dealing (With) Drugs at Elite Colleges, by Allie Grasgreen - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/dZ3DPn

"The busts were unusual not only because they occurred at top-tier institutions within a short time frame, but also because of their scope. In late October, police found a drug lab on the top floor of a Georgetown freshman residence hall. A little over a month later at Columbia, a five-month police investigation (dubbed “Operation Ivy League”) ended in the arrest of five students who sold $11,000 worth of various out of dorm rooms and fraternities. And two weeks after that, police arrested a Cornell student off-campus in possession of $150,000 worth of heroin."

7. UNLV president plans for 'state of fiscal collapse', by Anthony Ramirez - http://t.co/wsxenAe via @lasvegassun

"Smatresk told the faculty group that the cuts for UNLV would total $47.5 million and would need to be implemented by July 2012, so a plan for financial exigency would have to be prepared.UNLV has had about $50 million in cuts over the last four years. . . . If the cuts proposed by Gov. Brian Sandoval were approved, Smatresk said, academic cuts could not be avoided."

8. "But For Ohio State:"with $100 million, Class of 1959 alum Les Wexner makes largest philanthropic gift to university - http://www.osu.edu/features/2011/butforohiostate

"Find out what Ohio State means to Wexner--and tell us what it means to you."

9. How Much is Your College President Costing You? by Brian Burnsed - US News and World Report: http://t.co/d2spAbr

"The sitting president of a private nonprofit college received an average of $475,403, in pay, bonuses, and additional benefits according to a U.S. News analysis of 2008 compensation data amassed by the Chronicle of Higher Education. Twenty of the 362 sitting college presidents received more than $1 million in compensation and two cracked the $2 million threshold."

10. What does $659 million in debt really mean? by Arielle Milkman - http://t.co/rByZDj9 via @nyunews

"Tomorrow, NYU Local is partnering with MTV darling and former NYU student Andrew Jenks in an event they've titled Casualties of Debt: An NYU Student Demonstration. Jenks explains it best: we are casualties because after we graduate, we may as well be indentured servants. "Our lifetime is going to be spent trying to pay people back for things," Jenks said . . . ."

11. Where Professors Send Their Children to College, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://t.co/atbJtDl

"The children of professors are far more likely to attend liberal arts colleges than other parents. Children of university faculty are about twice as likely to select liberal arts college than children of parents earning more than $100,000 a year. Why are college professors steering their children to liberal arts colleges, which educate a mere 3% of the nation’s college students?
These insiders understand that liberal arts college focus exclusively on educating undergraduates and offer a boutique education with small classes and personal attention from professors.
In contrast, the main focus for professors at private and public research universities is conducting their own research and training graduate students. Educating undergrads is a lower priority. In fact, at universities graduates students often teach many undergraduate classes."


"The problem with TFA is that it grossly overstates its role in American education. This year, TFA sent 8,000 young people into high-needs schools; they agree to stay for two years; some stay longer, but most will be gone within three years.This is a small number indeed when you consider that our nation has 4 million teachers. And our most compelling problem is attrition. Of those who enter teaching, 50 percent are gone within five years. These are terrible statistics. We need a stable teaching profession, not a revolving door. We need to recruit new teachers who plan to stay in teaching and make a career of it."


"In this episode, we hear from Matt Simpson, a junior at Washington and Lee University, whose visual impairment hasn’t stopped him from working as an RA."


Tuesday, February 15, 2011

192. 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. Too many hours on the job could put high school teens at risk, by Sophie Terbush - USATODAY.com: http://t.co/Z6JboyT

‎"According to the study, students who worked more than 20 hours a week had lower expectations for educational attainment, lower school engagement, higher levels of substance abuse, and other problem behavior. However, these same students also showed more autonomous decision-making and had slightly higher grade point averages than teens without jobs."

2. A College Opts Out of the Admissions Arms Race, by Jacques Steinberg - http://nyti.ms/fXDWPs

“You know as well as I that those numbers aren’t real,” Mr. DiFeliciantonio said by phone from the school’s campus in Collegeville, Pa. “People count anything that moves as an application. Everyone is going up 10 percent every year for 20 years. It’s absurd.” “At some point,” he added, “the credibility of those numbers is questionable.”

3. Maximum Pell, at All Costs, by Doug Lederman - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/eFSFu2

‎"While the GOP measure would slash the maximum Pell Grant by $845, end funding for several other student aid programs (as well as the AmeriCorps national service program), and slice billions of dollars from agencies that support academic research, the Obama budget for 2012 keeps those and other programs largely intact."

4. Where Are the Student Voices? by Tara Watford, Vicki Park, and Mike Rose - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/fwG6QQ

‎"A recent study from the Institute for Higher Education Policy found that about half of low-income young adults in the United States enroll in higher education, but only 11 percent of them earn a postsecondary degree. . . . Low-income students, compared to their middle-class peers, tend to have longer transitions between high school and college and, once there, lower retention."

5. ‘Tiger Mother’ meets reality: Asian-American students struggle, too, by Jennifer Oldham - Hechinger Report: http://t.co/KBMPjh1

‎"Like Lo, about half of the nation’s Asian-American students enroll in community college, where they often struggle to pay for classes and scramble to find room in remedial courses. They get far less attention than overachievers like Chua’s highly micromanaged daughters, whose rigid childhood is described in a book that’s sparking debates about Asian-American student success. . . ."

6. Obama Budget Proposes Significant Increase for Schools, by Sam Dillon and Tamar Lewin - http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/15/us/15education.html?_r=1&hpw

"Last year, the president said that, to remain competitive, the nation must increase the number of college graduates. But forced to make deep cuts in many areas of government, the president now proposes to eliminate some provisions of the Pell program, which has doubled in size over five years, and serves nine million low-income students."

7. President's Budget Protects Pell Grants, but Makes Cuts to Career and Technical Education, by Kelly Field - http://chronicle.com/article/Presidents-Budget-Protects/126370/

‎"To maintain a maximum Pell award of $5,550, the president's fiscal 2012 budget would eliminate the in-school interest subsidy on loans to graduate students and end a policy that allows students to receive two Pell Grants in a single year. It would provide level support for most other student-aid programs, including Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants and Federal Work-Study, while making deep cuts to career and technical education. . . ."

8. Colleges embrace older students, part-timers, by Sandra Block - http://usat.ly/fUa604 via @USATODAY

‎"That means many non-traditional students must pay the entire cost of their education, which is why it often takes them several years to earn their degrees, O'Riley says. That's how Conlan handled her tuition bills. She and her husband took out a home-equity line of credit to help pay for their children's college education, and she didn't want to take on any more debt."


‎"There is no fee to file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). But there are a number of websites that charge you money to do it. Many people try to find application on-line with the wrong terms: fasfa com, fasfa edu, fasfa gov, fasfa gov edu, FASA, fasa com, fasa edu, fasa gov, fasa gov edu. They can wind up on a website that asks you to pay a fee to file the form, and sometimes, to file the wrong form. The correct website is http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/#. If you need help, talk to your school’s financial aid officer or call 1-800-433-3243."


‎"A 2010 study of Chicago students found that fewer than 20 percent of students who were below grade level in third grade attended college, compared to about a third of students who were at grade level, and nearly 60 percent of students who were reading above grade level. It would take some sort of miracle to turn around that cohort of kids. Don’t count on it."

11. Bar education consultants' race to the cash: editorial cleveland.com: http://t.co/AQr5XxK

"Now that the Ohio Department of Education has been promised $194 million and 487 school districts and charter schools are getting $206 million from Race to the Top, contractors and vendors are swarming like bees to honey. And the consultants' cut -- in fees, conference costs, overhead and salary -- could be hefty, Plain Dealer reporter Edith Starzyk found in a special report in collaboration with Andrew Brownstein, a freelance writer with Hechinger Report, a nonprofit news outlet, and the Education Writers Association."

12. Ohio State, Miami universities accused of racial bias in admissions, by Encarnacion Pyle - http://t.co/jZ1PyxA

"The Center for Equal Opportunity released a study this morning that it says shows that the schools treat undergraduate students with similar academic records differently. It says black students were favored at Miami by a ratio of 10-1 over white students with similar ACT scores, and that the ratio at Ohio State was 8-to-1. When comparing students with similar SAT scores, the group found a ratio of 8-1 ratio at Miami and 3-to-1 at Ohio State."

Monday, February 14, 2011

191. 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. YSU tries to protect its image, by vshank@tribtoday - Tribune Chronicle - Warren, OH: http://t.co/OZw3Ehj

‎''It's just to remind people, to let them know once again that YSU is safe, the campus is safe and we stand by that,'' he said. University and Youngstown city officials, including Mayor Jay Williams, have offered several reminders of YSU's safety record since one student was killed and 11 others were shot at a fraternity party near campus Feb. 6. Jamail Johnson, a 25-year-old YSU senior, died. . . ."

2. Bypass the Bookstore: ‘Fiske Guide’ Goes iPad, by Jacques Steinberg - http://nyti.ms/evin8E

‎"My colleague Eric Platt, who is closer in age to the college-going generation than I am, used the arrival of the Fiske app as an opportunity to take a whirl around the Apple store in search of other admissions-related apps. Here are a few that caught his eye, along with his thumbnail impressions:"

3. Spending Showdown, by Doug Lederman - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/h0is6j

"The distance between their positions on spending for higher education and similar debates over many other parts of the government could, at its worst, lead to a shutdown of the federal government between now and March 4, when the current continuing resolution to fund federal operations for 2011 expires. If Congress does not pass and the president does not sign new legislation by then, the government would shut down."

4. The $10,000 Question, by Steve Kolowich - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/eO2J1E

“Today, I’m challenging our institutions of higher education to develop bachelor’s degrees that cost no more than $10,000, including textbooks,” said Perry on Tuesday in his “State of the State” address. “Let’s leverage Web-based instruction, innovative teaching techniques and aggressive efficiency measures to reach that goal,” he said."

5. How Athletes Spend Their Time, by David Moltz - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/i9tanm

‎"The average Division I baseball player missed 2.3 classes per week last year, and the average Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) football player missed 1.7 classes per week last year. In both sports, this is an increase of 0.5 classes missed per week from 2006. The average number of classes missed by athletes in all other sports remained relatively unchanged from 2006."


‎"Perhaps Tulane was hit so hard because the school received the most applications of any U.S. school in 2009, and so they added an additional essay question to their application form in 2010 to weed out uncommitted prospies. (Columbia, conversely, switched to the Common Application and received record applications this year.)"

7. Triplets, Twins, Quadruplets: Your Hidden College Discount, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://t.co/Ep17TRK

‎"Here’s great news for the mom with triplets: Parents with multiple students in college at the same time often enjoy a substantial price break. The more students in college simultaneously - they don’t have to be twins, triplets or Octo Mom’s kids - the greater the ultimate price discount. . . . Here’s why: parents’ Expected Family Contribution will drop with each additional child in college."

8. Facebook Keeps Class In When School Is Out at Ky. School, by Jenna Mink: http://t.co/mMUOlow via @educationweek

‎"It's a way to keep students on schedule, especially high-achieving students who are taking Advanced Placement classes. Thomas Jones, a social studies teacher at Warren East High School, has been communicating with students on Facebook during snow days. Jones, who teaches an AP European history course, posts videos, articles, discussion topics and test reminders. "It's just a way to keep us going. It's a way to communicate," Jones said."

9. Ronald Ferguson Works to Close Educational Achievement Gap, by Michael Winerip - http://nyti.ms/gifcwL

"His research indicates that half the gap can be predicted by economics: even in a typical wealthy suburb, blacks are not as well-to-do; 79 percent are in the bottom 50 percent financially, while 73 percent of whites are in the top 50 percent.
The other half of the gap, he has calculated, is that black parents on average are not as academically oriented in raising their children as whites. In a wealthy suburb he surveyed, 40 percent of blacks owned 100 or more books, compared with 80 percent of whites. In first grade, the percentage of black and white parents reading to their children daily was about the same; by fifth grade, 60 percent to 70 percent of whites still read daily to their children, compared with 30 percent to 40 percent of blacks."

10. Apply early, carefully for college financial aid, by Alyson Cunningham - http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20110213/NEWS01/102130312

‎"Her advice for parents and seniors is simple: Start early. Take your time and don't wing it," she said. "Think ahead and apply early, but make sure it's good, comprehensive, complete and quality applications."


"The cost of a Brown University education will increase by 3.5 percent next year, to $53,156. . . .Brown, which relies on tuition and fees for about 55 percent of its revenue, will next year charge $41,328 for tuition, $6,748 for room and $4,148 for meals."

12. Special Report: Getting That Perfect College Fit, by Natalie Kaplan - http://patch.com/A-c4m6

"According to a New York Times chart, students admitted versus the number of applicants to a particular school in 2010 ranged from a low of 7 percent at the likes of Yale University to a high of 83 percent at University of Colorado, Boulder."

13. College Bound? The Financial Aid Application Period Begins, by Frank Medina - http://patch.com/A-cXDT

"The ONLY way to apply for financial aid is through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). After a student submits their FAFSA, they will receive their Student Aid Report (SAR) either in the mail or through email. The SAR will explain the types of awards the student is eligible for. . . . In order to complete the FAFSA, dependent applicants will need to utilize their parent's tax information."

14. Warning: You May Receive A College Rejection Letter Soon, by Frank Medina - http://patch.com/A-dQTx

‎"In general, Ivy League universities and other high level institutions often reserve admission spots for the children or relatives of famous alumni or donors with deep pockets. They also offer some top notch students the ability to apply through the early admission program. Often, these schools also have sports teams and so they reserve spots for incoming athletes as well as for cheerleaders."

15. Students learn to overcome financial obstacles to college, by Richard O. Jones - http://t.co/4o2UlbH via @oxfordpress

‎"The occasion was Hamilton High’s first FAFSA Day, in which 450 seniors and their parents were invited to the Media Center to meet with Dave Murray from the Indiana-based National Center on College Costs, who walked them through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, the form required to receive federal financial aid, including the federal Pell grant, student loans and need-based state grants."


‎"The Ivy League school says tuition for 2011-12 for undergraduates at Yale College will be $40,500. Students will also pay $12,200 for their room and board. Yale Provost Peter Salovey said the average Yale scholarship will be $36,000 and that students who receive financial aid will get scholarship awards to cover the increased costs...."

17. Minneapolis schools go after the language gap, by Corey Mitchell StarTribune.com: http://t.co/dW5NVDE

"Fewer than 30% of Andersen's students are proficient in reading, state test scores indicate. Scores on math tests, where understanding English also is required, are even lower. That is not surprising at a school where 70% of students are classified as second language learners, educators say."

18. ‘Race to Nowhere’ documentary questions education system, by Jody Feinberg - Brockton, MA - The Enterprise: http://t.co/nUomrIk

"Since its release last year, this film about the harmful effects of stress on students has become must-see viewing in communities where the push for success and pressure to attend top colleges are strong. . . . The film presents a disturbing view of childhood and adolescence: overstressed students who become physically ill and emotionally depressed and cheat or take prescription drugs to get good grades."

19. From China, More Students Pursue Dream of American Education, by Jacques Steinberg - http://nyti.ms/fF4XFB

"At rural Grinnell, nearly one of every 10 applicants being considered for the class of 2015 is from China. Dozens of other American colleges and universities are seeing a surge in applications (and similar brochures) from students in China, where a booming economy means that more families can pursue the dream of an American higher education."