383. 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. Column: Yes, college is worth the costs, by Rodney K. Smith – http://usat.ly/soYrAn via @USATODAY - "Concerns regarding student indebtedness and educational quality are legitimate, but we are losing our appreciation for education as an investment and stewardship."

3. Number of students attending charter schools soars - Tribune Chronicle - Warren, OH: http://bit.ly/vr0mPY via AddThis - "The growth represents the largest increase in enrollment over a single year since charter schools were founded nearly two decades ago. In all, more than 500 new charter schools were opened in the 2011-12 school year. And about 200,000 more students are enrolled now than a year before, an increase of 13 percent nationwide. . . . But their performance so far has been mixed; a 2009 Stanford University study found only 17 percent performed better than regular public schools while more than twice as many - 37 percent - performed worse. Another 46 percent were about the same."

4. For-profits lag behind other colleges in student outcomes, by Paul Fain Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/vNNUb5 via @AddThis - "The research found that for-profits have some competitive strengths, such as in first-year student retention rates compared to community colleges. But the adjusted data showed for-profits lagging behind other types of colleges in areas such as employment outcomes, student satisfaction with academic offerings, debt levels and loan default rates -- gaps that probably cannot be fully explained, the researchers say, by the greater propensity of students at the colleges to have prior risk factors."

5. “The For-Profit Postsecondary School Sector: Nimble Critters or Agile Predators?” by David J. Deming, et al - http://www.frbatlanta.org/documents/news/conferences/11employment_education_demming.pdf

"In this article, we describe the schools, students, and programs in this sector, its phenomenal growth in the past decade, and its relationship to the federal and state governments. The for-profits seem to have forged a highly successful business model. They appear to be nimble critters that train non-traditional learners for jobs in the fast growing areas, such as health care and information technology. But there is a potential dark side. Default rates on the loans taken out by their students vastly exceed those of other institutions of higher education and audit studies have shown that some for-profits have highly aggressive and even fraudulent recruiting techniques. Are the for-profits “nimble critters” or “agile predators”?"

6. What's the matter with high school counselors? by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505145_162-57332594/whats-the-matter-with-high-school-counselors/?tag=mncol;lst;7 - "The new national survey, which was released by the College Board, detected a huge divide between educational goals and what is actually occurring in the schools. For instance, 85 percent of surveyed counselors agreed that schools should work to ensure that all students complete high school and are ready to succeed in college and careers, but only 30 percent said that this was the mission of their own schools. Among those surveyed, 55 percent believe schools require either a complete overhaul or major changes to improve student success."

7. Dual Enrollment Improves College Going, Under the Right Circumstances, Studies Find - http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/dual-enrollment-improves-college-going-under-the-right-circumstances-studies-find/38887 - "Dual enrollment, in which students take college courses while they’re still in high school, can increase college enrollment and completion, but its effectiveness depends on which classes students take and where they take them, according to two new studies from the National Center for Postsecondary Research. The research, which echoes previous studies, found strong positive effects for students who took the classes on college campuses, but not those who took them at their high schools. It also found similar completion rates between students who took dual-enrollment classes and those who took Advanced Placement ones."

8. Penn State analyzes football program, by Kevin Johnson and Kelly Whiteside – http://usat.ly/rPeYMb via USATODAY - "In his first extensive interview since taking office last month, Penn State President Rodney Erickson said Tuesday that he seeks to transform the university's public face from a football factory to a "world class research institution."

9. Paterno’s Payback? Penn State Football is No. 1 in Academic Bowlsays @kaylawebley - http://ideas.time.com/2011/12/07/paternos-revenge-penn-state-football-is-no-1-in-academic-bowl/ via @TIMEIdeas - "But the more ironic news is that the team that topped the list is Penn State, whose football program coached by the legendary Joe Paterno was recently rocked by a sex-abuse scandal. According to the analysis, Penn State graduates 80% of its football players in six years or less and also shows no achievement gap between its black and white players, which NAF says is extremely rare for Division I football teams. (At LSU, by comparison, the team’s black players are 32% less likely to graduate than their white counterparts.) Winning the top honors in the academic bowl further proves the success of Paterno’s “grand experiment,” which was his idea that major-college athletes could contend for national championships while excelling in the classroom."

10. D.C. schools have largest black-white achievement gap in federal study - by Lyndsey Layton - http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/dc-schools-have-largest-black-white-achievement-gap-in-federal-study/2011/12/06/gIQArNnMcO_story.html?tid=sm_btn_twitter via @washingtonpost - "D.C. public schools have the largest achievement gap between black and white students among the nation’s major urban school systems, a distinction laid bare in a federal study released Wednesday. The District also has the widest achievement gap between white and Hispanic students, the study found, compared with results from other large systems and the national average."

11. Keeping Score When It Counts: Assessing the 2011-12 Bowl-bound College Football Teams - http://tidesport.org/RGRC/2011/2011_FBS_Bowl_Study[FINAL].pdf - "Lapchick said, “Notre Dame and Northwestern would have played for the National Championship if there was a national championship game for Graduation Success Rates among bowl teams. Both teams graduated at least 94 percent of all football student-athletes and at least 92 percent of African-American football student-athletes. Notre Dame graduated 100 percent of their African-American footballstudent-athletes."

379. 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. Young workers getting hired again, by Tami Luhby - http://money.cnn.com/2011/12/01/news/economy/young_workers_employment/ via CNNMoney.com - "Young Americans were hit harder than most other groups during the Great Recession. Dubbed by some as "the lost generation," the unemployment rate for college graduates age 24 and younger hit an all-time high in 2010."

3. Students learn to be better 'digital citizens' by Greg Toppo – http://usat.ly/rClFrM via @USATODAY - "The digital training comes as research shows that Web usage is virtually ubiquitous among kids. Though most students say they generally access the Internet from home, 75% of teens say they go online at school, too. New findings show that even young children spend time online. A national survey released in October by the non-profit Common Sense Media found that 41% of children 8 and younger have access to a smartphone and 13% have spent time on social networking sites and virtual worlds."

4. YSU to offer gas technologies program - Tribune Chronicle - Warren, OH: http://bit.ly/ssn9r9 via AddThis - "The YSU Natural Gas and Water Resources Institute will provide Bachelor's degree-level courses in science and engineering that will lead to an academic minor in gas technologies."

5. Community college association releases voluntary accountability measures, by Paul Fain Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/sMMB2r via AddThis - "To participate, colleges will need to track two different student cohorts, with start dates in 2005 and 2009. Breakout categories within those cohorts include ethnicity, Pell status and whether students require remedial coursework. The standards measure career and technical offerings, as well as noncredit workforce coursework. Participants will also identify students who enroll in adult basic education and GED courses."

6. Congress, Duncan focus on rising college prices, by Libby A. Nelson Inside Higher Ed: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/12/01/congress-duncan-focus-rising-college-prices#.TtdyShu30Go.twitter via AddThis - "The last federal efforts to make colleges more cost-conscious, including publishing a “wall of shame” of colleges with the highest prices and greatest price increases, as well as mandating a net price calculator so that students and families can more easily comparison shop, seem unlikely to have a widespread effect -- with some colleges even turning their “most expensive” label into a point of pride. And previous proposals to more directly constrain tuition in some way have been rebuffed by colleges and derided as "price controls."

7. Top Performers: Kick-Off, by Mark Tucker - http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/top_performers/2011/11/kick-off.html via @educationweek - "We are not the leaders anymore. . . . We are number twelve in the proportion of the population with a high school diploma, fifth in the proportion with the equivalent of a college degree, but have fallen to twelfth in the number of 25-34 year olds with an Associate's degree or higher. Not only are our low-income and minority students doing very poorly, but a growing number of other countries have larger proportions of their students scoring at the highest levels of the international comparative tests than we do. The socio-economic background of students makes more of a difference in academic achievement in the United States than it does in all but a handful of other countries."

8. Florida A&M University Student’s Death Turns Spotlight on Hazing, by LIZETTE ALVAREZ and ROBBIE BROWN: http://nyti.ms/sJLerl - "Punching, paddling, slapping and forcing band members to eat certain things, do certain favors and endure verbal abuse for mistakes is part of the code, carried out by subgroups within each section. . . ."

9. U.S. Education Department Finds Salary Gap in Poor Schools, by Sam Dillon: http://nyti.ms/rDNEMQ - "Its conclusion: Tens of thousands of schools serving low-income students are being shortchanged because districts spend fewer state and local dollars on teacher salaries in those schools than on salaries in schools serving higher-income students."

10. Want to get into college in your state? Might be easier if you move out of state, says @arotherham http://ti.me/tVHM9h via @TIMEIdeas - "It’s about public universities recruiting more and more out-of-state students, who often pay as much as three times what in-state residents do for the privilege of attending the same institution. . . . While admissions officers sometimes dress up their reasons for recruiting out-of-staters (“geographic diversity,” anyone?), the real reason is money. University officials will privately acknowledge the integral role out-of-state tuition plays in making ends meet."

378. 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. Duncan Calls for Urgency in Lowering College Costs, by Tamar Lewin: http://nyti.ms/thZSu2 - “Three in four Americans now say that college is too expensive for most people to afford,” Mr. Duncan said. “That belief is even stronger among young adults — three-fourths of whom believe that graduates today have more debt than they can manage.” College seniors with loans now graduate with an average debt load of more than $25,000."

3. Committee on Measures of Student Success issues final report, by Libby A. Nelson Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/sOdSKW via AddThis -"One of the recommendations, if endorsed by Education Secretary Arne Duncan, would create a combined “graduation and transfer” rate that includes students who graduate from a two-year college as well as those who do not graduate but do go on to a four-year institution. That move would be a victory for community colleges, who have argued that counting only those students who earn degrees makes community colleges appear less successful than they really are."

4. 10 job market trends college grads need to know, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505145_162-57332329/10-job-market-trends-college-grads-need-to-know/?tag=mncol;lst;8 - "Hiring of college graduates is expected to increase 4 percent across all degree levels, according to a survey of more than 3,300 employers. The survey, which is the largest of its kind, has been conducted annually for 41 years by Michigan State University. . . . Hiring will be strong for college majors such as computer science, accounting, agriculture sciences and agriculture business. Other in-demand degrees will include communications, public relations, marketing, finance and economics."

5. Experts Say Social Sciences Are 'Left Behind,' by Sarah D. Sparks - http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2011/11/30/13social.h31.html?cmp=SOC-SHR-TW via @educationweek - "Researchers at an NRC forum on social sciences in Washington this month suggested that the expansion of testing in math and reading under the No Child Left Behind Act has led to a piecemeal approach to social and behavioral science subjects in the states. . . . “No Child Left Behind frankly left us behind, and the common core gave us a footnote,” said S.G. Grant, the education dean at Binghamton University in Binghamton, N.Y. The discussion caps a year of dismal news on the social studies front for U.S. students: National Assessment of Educational Progress reports out this year found mostly mediocre performance for students in geography, civics, and history."

6. Learning the Language: New Study on Hispanic Achievement Paints Stark Picture, by Lesli Maxwell - http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/learning-the-language/2011/11/new_study_on_hispanic_achievem.html via @educationweek - "When it comes to "readiness to learn," Hispanic children face several disadvantages compared with their white peers. Thirty-three percent of Hispanic children in 2008 lived in families where no parent had full-time employment compared with 21 percent of white children. And in 2007, 27 percent of Hispanic children lived in poverty compared with 10 percent of white children. Those factors and others translate to Hispanic children being less likely than their white or black peers to recognize letters of the alphabet, knowing how to write their name, or being able to count to 20 or higher."

7. THE SOCIAL & EDUCATIONAL FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO THE OUTCOMES OF HISPANICS IN URBAN SCHOOLS- http://www.cgcs.org/cms/lib/DC00001581/Centricity/Domain/4/HispanicStudy2011.pdf -"Data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) analyzed for this report show that Hispanic fourth graders read and do math at substantially lower levels than students with greater advantages and students who speak English. The situation is compounded by the fact that large numbers of Hispanic students live below the poverty line, do not have health insurance nor access to pre-school services, are unlikely to have a parent who has graduated from high school, are among the working poor, and face constant suspicions about whether they are in the country legally."

8. Surge in Free School Lunches Reflects Economic Crisis, by Sam Dillon: http://nyti.ms/tmx5jh - "The number of students receiving subsidized lunches rose to 21 million last school year from 18 million in 2006-7, a 17 percent increase, according to an analysis by The New York Times of data from the Department of Agriculture, which administers the meals program."

9. ‘Broader, bolder’ strategy to ending poverty’s influence on education, by Pedro Noguera - http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/broader-bolder-strategy-to-ending-povertys-influence-on-education/2011/11/29/gIQAtTvaAO_blog.html?tid=sm_btn_twitter via Washingtonpost.com - "Over 50 years, numerous studies have documented how poverty and related social conditions — such as lack of access to health care, early childhood education and stable housing — affect child development and student achievement. The research never suggests that poor children are incapable of learning or that poverty itself should be regarded as a learning disability. Rather, research suggests that poor children encounter obstacles that often adversely affect their development and learning outcomes."

10. Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer’s salary: $4 million, by Jenna Johnson - Campus Overload - http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/campus-overload/post/ohio-state-football-coach-urban-meyers-salary-4-million/2011/11/29/gIQAup9K9N_blog.html?tid=sm_btn_twitter via @washingtonpost.com - "Meyer will earn three times more than Ohio State President E. Gordan Gee, the nation’s highest paid university president. On most campuses, coaches top the payroll. And despite the economy, budget cuts and increasing tuition, coach salaries continue to climb."

11. Kevin Carey: The Dissenter The New Republic: http://bit.ly/tyVhGG via AddThis" -"Improbably, at the end of a four-decade-long career as the nation’s most prominent education historian and a vocal advocate for education reform, Ravitch has emerged as reform’s fiercest critic. Her about-face has made her more famous and influential than she has ever been. Now, pundits, scholars, philanthropists, and education leaders are all asking the same question: What happened to Diane Ravitch?"

377. 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. Whatever happened to…Nancy Guarneros, undocumented student, DREAM Act hopeful? By Thelma Gutierrez – http://inamerica.blogs.cnn.com/2011/11/25/whatever-happened-to-nancy-guarneros-undocumented-student-dream-act-hopeful/ via CNN - "Currently, undocumented students cannot apply for student financial aid and they can’t legally work – so unless they can come up with tuition on their own, many are forced to give up their academic aspirations."

3. The Fallout Over Syracuse's Abuse Scandal, by Rebecca R. Ruiz: http://nyti.ms/sbL9lV - "The events again raise the question: What should applicants think? Syracuse’s basketball team and its N.C.A.A. tournament record are points of pride for many students. The school’s strong sports culture has surely served as a draw for some applicants. Will some now see it as a liability?"

4. Report suggests approach to improving graduation rates, by Kaustuv Basu Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/rOwyBk via AddThis - "Only 32.9 percent of men earn a degree in four years, while the percentage for women is 43.8. The gap shrinks to 5.5 percentage points at the end of the sixth year. First-generation college students earn a degree at the rate of 27.4 percent after four years, while students whose parents have college degrees have a graduation rate of 42.1 percent. Asian American and white students had the highest four-year graduation rates, at 44.9 percent and 42.6 percent respectively. Degree-attainment rates remain is the highest at private universities; the lowest numbers come from public four-year colleges."

5. 6 reasons to invest in a 529 plan today, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505145_162-57331762/6-reasons-to-invest-in-a-529-plan-today/?tag=mncol;lst;9 - "Are you wondering whether it's a good time to open up a college 529 savings account? One of the nation's foremost 529 plan experts says the answer is a resounding Y-E-S. Joseph Hurley, the founder of SavingforCollege.com, says there are a number of timely reasons why families shouldn't dawdle in opening a 529 plan. Here are six great reasons to consider acting now."

6. Middle Schoolers Getting Prepped for College, by Nora Fleming - http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2011/11/29/13middle_ep.h31.html?cmp=SOC-SHR-TW via @educationweek - "ACT researchers found in 2008 that the academic level students achieve by 8th grade has a bigger impact on college and career readiness and success than anything that happens academically in high school."

7. College Bound: Report Sheds Light on Factors Influencing College Graduation, by Caralee Adams - http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/college_bound/2011/11/report_sheds_light_on_who_is_graduating_from_college.html via @educationweek - "There are distinct racial disparities in completion. Asian-Americans had the highest four-year graduation rates at 44.9 percent, followed by whites, 42.6 percent; Latinos, 25.8 percent; African-Americans, 21 percent; and American Indians, 16.8 percent."

8. At Top Colleges, Anti-Wall St. Fervor Complicates Recruiting, by Kevin Roose: http://nyti.ms/tvpf3m - "Banks and hedge funds have long wooed undergraduates from elite colleges with lavish dinners, personalized e-mails and free trips to New York for interviews. It’s all part of an annual courtship ritual known as on-campus recruiting. But this fall, the antibank animus of the Occupy Wall Street movement has seeped onto college campuses. At some schools, anger at big banks has turned the on-campus recruiting process into a crucible of controversy."

9. Secretary of Education Urges Colleges to Rein In Costs, by Kelly Field -http://chronicle.com/article/Secretary-of-Education-Urges/129912/ - "The department is billing the speech as the start of a "national conversation" on college costs."

10. Graduation Rates Can Be Predicted More Precisely by Examining Student Characteristics, Report Says, by Jennifer Gonzalez - http://chronicle.com/article/Graduation-Rates-Can-Be/129914/ - "Many colleges now use basic student information such as race and ethnicity, gender, high-school grade-point average, and SAT and ACT scores to project an expected graduation rate. By considering other, more-personal characteristics, such as how students rate their emotional health, whether they are the first in their family to attend college, and whether they anticipate having to work full time while enrolled, an institution can increase the accuracy of its four-year graduation-rate prediction by 66 percent, its five-year rate by 54 percent, and its six-year rate by 53 percent, says the report."

11. It's time to fight unemployment the old-fashioned way, says Elaine Chao http://ti.me/syS2bn via @TIMEIdeas - "One of the lessons all ages should take away from this era — and one which parents and grandparents should drill into children balking at homework or at going back to school — is that education is the best protection against ruin in hard times. Those with higher educations certainly have not been invulnerable to harm in this recession, many are underemployed and unemployed, but they always have been in the best position to survive and thrive."

12. Common Core standards pose dilemmas for early childhood, by Samuel J. Meisels - The Answer Sheet - http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/common-core-standards-pose-dilemmas-for-early-childhood/2011/11/28/gIQAPs1X6N_blog.html?tid=sm_btn_twitter via @washingtonpost - "But early childhood education — concerned with children from birth to the end of third grade — seems nearly an afterthought in the standards. Not only do they end (or begin) at kindergarten, ignoring more than half of the early childhood age range, they simply don’t fit what we know about young children’s learning and development."

274. Review of 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. On Athletes and Aid, by David Moltz - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/iBPqNc - "The report finds that 10 institutions violated the division’s financial aid regulations in 2010-11. Five of those colleges were found to have considered athletics participation in the awarding of leadership grants. The others were revealed to have had an unjustified difference in how they awarded aid to athletes and non-athletes. This is the highest number of violators since 2007-8, when 12 institutions were found to have committed financial aid violations."

3. States Target Early Years to Reach 3rd Grade Reading Goals, by Catherine Gewertz - http://t.co/FuPlF4O via @educationweek - "In drafting laws and designing initiatives, politicians and educators are relying on a growing mound of research that points to 3rd grade reading proficiency as a crucial milestone. One of the latest studies, released in April, found that children who aren’t reading on grade level by 3rd grade are four times less likely to graduate from high school by age 19 than peers who are. If those struggling readers are poor, they’re 13 times likelier to be high school dropouts than their reading-proficient peers."

4. Are Obama's higher education goals enough? - http://t.co/H9zUC2I - "In 1980 for instance, salary for those with a bachelor’s degree was 40 percent larger than those with a high school degree. By 2010 that it was 74 percent larger and if recent trends continue, by 2025 those with a bachelor’s degree will earn 96 percent more than those with a high school diploma."

5. Universities turn to outsourced instructors, by Didi Tang - http://usat.ly/lbvCA6 via @USATODAY - "But the teachers won't be on the university payroll.They work for St. Petersburg-based Poynter Institute, a non-profit journalism training group, which has agreed to supply the university with instructors for the class via the Internet."

6. The Service of Democratic Education, by Linda Darling-Hammond - http://www.thenation.com/article/160850/service-democratic-education - "And remember, as Robert F. Kennedy observed: It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a person stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope."

7. Matthew Lynch: Educating and Nurturing Homeless Students - http://www.educationnews.org/?p=158251 - "Homeless children deserve a quality education just like all students."

8. College Costs You're Not Considering, But Really Should Be - Unigo: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/unigo/extra-costs-college_b_886009.html - "The cost of college is often considered to be some combination of tuition, room & board, textbooks, and a basic food plan. Inevitably though, a coffee here, a new shirt there, a lab fee for some goggles and a tablecloth-white jacket, and students are quickly finding themselves scrounging for some extra cash. Hear some of the under the radar costs that can add up quickly for incoming freshman."

265. Review of 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. Athletic departments see surge financially in down economy, by Steve Berkowitz and Jodi Upton - http://usat.ly/la5yCa via @USATODAY - "Much of the rise in athletics revenue came from an escalation in money generated through multi-media rights deals, donations and ticket receipts, but schools also continued increasing their subsidies from student fees and institutional funds."

3. Rich Get Richer in Athletics, by David Moltz - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/j6Yxv1 - "The median net generated revenue for those FBS programs that reported a surplus was nearly $4.4 million in 2009 but rose to about $7.4 million in 2010. By comparison, the median net deficit for the remaining FBS programs (98 programs lost money in 2010) was nearly $11.3 million in 2009 and increased to around $11.6 million in 2010."

4. Do Majors Matter? by W. Robert Connor - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/m011SC - "When one looks at these data, one thing is immediately clear. The fields that show the greatest gains in critical thinking are not the fields that produce the highest salaries for their graduates. On the contrary, engineers may show only small gains in critical thinking, but they often command salaries of over $100,000."

5. 10 Great Opening Lines from Stanford Admissions Essays, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://t.co/GIhhZ5h via @cbsmoneywatch - "Here are samples from winning college essays courtesy of Stanford University. These are opening lines of admissions essays that the Stanford admission reps especially liked. All of the essay writers were accepted as members of the class of 2012. You can find even more opening lines of sample admission essays in the Stanford Magazine."

6. Experts Call for Early Focus on Black Boys' Nonacademic Skills, by Mary Ann Zehr - http://t.co/XpkuUuz via @educationweek - "The convergence of “maleness, ethnicity, and poverty,” he said, contributes to academic outcomes for black boys, which tend to be more negative than those for black girls."

7. 37% of New York Graduates Meet College-Readiness Standard, by Sharon Otterman - http://nyti.ms/ksSnnR - "The new calculations, part of a statewide push to realign standards with college readiness, also underscored a racial achievement gap: 13 percent of black students and 15 percent of Hispanic students statewide were deemed college-ready after four years of high school, compared with 51 percent of white graduates and 56 percent of Asian-Americans."

8. Syracuse Sends Personalized Video Messages to Admitted Students to Stop ‘Summer Melt,’ by Jie Jenny Zou - http://bit.ly/jyymx5 - "Each video begins with Ms. Brewer or Mr. Crowley saying the first name of the recipient, followed by a brief general message. Recording a personal intro for each of the more than 300 students took some practice, pronunciation keys, and a few hours."

9. The Fathering Gap: Pitfalls of Modern Fatherhood, by Belinda Luscombe - http://t.co/8GqFRwP via @TIMEHealthland" - A new analysis by the Pew Research Center of data from the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) has found that more than a quarter (27%) of all fathers with children under the age of 19 now live apart from at least some of their children. Black fathers (44%) are more than twice as likely to live apart from their kids as white fathers (21%), while just over a third of Hispanic fathers maintain a separate abode. Similarly, 40% of fathers who didn't finish high school are not residing with their children, a living situation shared by only 7% of fathers who graduated college."

10. 3-year college degree programs not catching on, by Daniel de Vise - http://t.co/CxNS2ix via @washingtonpost - "But students have not responded, and most three-year degree programs have flopped — a reminder, college leaders say, that students still regard college as an experience to be savored. Why rush the best four years of your life?"

11. The Most Expensive Public Colleges For In-State Students - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/16/the-most-expensive-public_n_878006.html#s293193&title=Pennsylvania_State_UniversityUniversity - "On Tuesday, US News and World Report compiled their list of the 10 most most expensive public colleges for in-state students. Although these schools are not exactly costly compared with the most expensive private colleges (those top out around 40,000) they still dwarf the public college average."

262. Review of 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. Surging college costs price out middle class, by Annalyn Censky - http://t.co/Rl6BzD9 via @CNNMoney - "As the out-of-pocket costs of a college education go up faster than incomes, it's pricing low and medium income families out of a college education," said Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of financial aid sites FinAid.org and FastWeb.com."

2. The Class of 2011: Commencement Speeches, by Jonathan Corum - http://nyti.ms/kSQ0Ye - "Word usage in 40 speeches given at graduations this year."

3. The True Significance of 'Gainful Employment,' by Doug Lederman - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/lHltJi - "Leaders of for-profit colleges -- and their supporters, mostly Republicans, in Congress -- continued to rattle their swords about the rules’ fundamental unfairness in singling out for-profits for scrutiny. Meanwhile, Wall Street analysts and others who watch the sector -- and were free from worry about maintaining the colleges’ position in a potential lawsuit challenging the regulations -- acknowledged just how much gentler the new rules were than the earlier version."

4. Teach Financial Literacy, by Steven Bahls - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/l1kLFH - "Lately the most common answer from recent graduates as to how we can improve has been surprising — more education about financial literacy and the practical aspects of living in today’s world."

5. How to Get a Rhodes, Fulbright and Other Prestigious Fellowships, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://t.co/AtwE378 via @cbsmoneywatch - "So how do college students increase their chances of getting these fellowships for graduate work? Andrew Roberts, a professor at Northwestern University and the author of an excellent book, The Thinking Student’s Guide to College: 75 Tips for Getting a Better Education, provides some tips."

6. Why a Learning Disability Can Give You A College Admission Edge, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://t.co/qM8tAA0 via @cbsmoneywatch - "Colleges and universities, he says, can treat a learning disability as a plus. And here’s why: colleges look for diversity in their applicants and a learning disability is a form of diversity."

7. Education Secretary May Agree to Waivers on ‘No Child’ Law Requirements, by Sam Dillon - http://nyti.ms/jxh3rH - "The Obama administration has been facing a mounting clamor from state school officials to waive substantial parts of the law, which President Bush signed in 2002, especially its requirement that states bring 100 percent of students to proficiency in reading and math by 2014 or else face sanctions."

8. Lawmakers Talk About Their Degrees—or the Lack of Them - http://chronicle.com/article/Lawmaker-Talk-About-Degrees/127846/ - "I think the biggest gift I could give my children is an education," Ms. Roach says. "But even if I had no children at all, I wouldn't want to make it more difficult for the average family to give their kids a chance at a college degree."

9. Colleges offer graduates help repaying loans, by Mary Beth Marklein - http://usat.ly/jT4sn0 via @USATODAY - "The financial-aid benefit, which targets students who expect to pursue careers in low-paying public-service fields, aims to help colleges attract and retain students who might otherwise enroll somewhere cheaper, or nowhere at all."

10. College group targets incentive payments for international student recruiters, by Daniel de Vise - http://t.co/WaCGg68 via @washingtonpost - "Most colleges have few, if any, employees devoted to international recruiting, and sending workers abroad can get expensive. Many schools have turned instead to agents, who typically set up shop overseas and refer students to U.S. universities for a fee. Many agents charge the student a fee, as well."

253.Unstack the Odds--GO TO COLLEGE: LINKS

Unstack the Odds: Help All Kids Access College—and Graduate!

by
Joe Rottenborn
Executive Director, Mahoning Valley College Access Program (MVCAP)
20. GO TO COLLEGE: LINKS

Here are some more links to articles of interest, drawn from the Mahoning Valley College Access Program (MVCAP) blog, with the original posting number shown.

Cost (continued):

58. Shopping for Student Loans
Before a student takes out loans to pay for college, he or she and their family should investigate available options. Specifically, they should consider the kinds of loans offered as well as interest rates and repayment obligations. To become aware of these possibilities, read the blog-post by Lynn O'Shaughnessy entitled "Find the Right Student Loan" at this link: http://moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-money/blog/college-solution/find-the-right-student-loan/371/?tag=col1;blog-river

59. How Much Should a Student Borrow for College?
A question students ask in regard to college loans is "How much should I borrow?" With the hazards of loan-debt so publicized today, this is an important question to ponder. Lynn O'Shaughnessy addresses this issue in her blog-post "College Debt: Don’t Borrow More Than $27,000" at this link:http://moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-money/blog/college-solution/college-debt-dont-borrow-more-than-27000/1521/?tag=col1;blog-river

60. How Much Should Parents Borrow for College?
Even after considering all elements a student may receive in his/her financial-aid package, they may still need more money to pay for a particular college or university. In that case, parents often consider taking out loans to assist their child. However, how much parents should borrow is often not addressed. Lynn O'Shaughnessy confronts this issue in her blog-post "College Loans: How Much Should Parents Borrow?" at this link: http://moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-money/blog/college-solution/college-loans-how-much-should-parents-borrow/1510/?tag=col1;blog-river

61. Do Many Students Take Out College Loans?
Borrowing to pay college expenses is becoming a necessity for more students. The percentage of students who have college loans is growing, as Lynn O'Shaughnessy discusses in her blog-post "The Soaring Popularity of College Student Loans" at this link: http://moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-money/blog/college-solution/the-soaring-popularity-of-college-student-loans/545/?tag=col1;blog-river

62. Discounts for College Tuition
Many private colleges and universities give students a cut in the price they must pay to attend. This practice, called "discounting," comes through the financial-aid package granted--which may amount to several thousand dollars and can enable a student to afford that school. The extent of these discounts and reasons for them are addressed by Lynn O'Shaughnessy in her blog-post "College Tuition: Schools Cutting Prices at Historic Levels" at this link:http://moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-money/blog/college-solution/college-tuition-schools-cutting-prices-at-historic-levels/1905/?tag=col1;blog-river

63. Unusual Scholarships
From time to time, you'll hear someone say this: "There are lots of scholarships out there!" Unfortunately, many of them stay out there--rather than in some student's pocket. Nonetheless, there do exist scholarships that are, in fact, awarded for unusual reasons--sometimes, unrelated to academics. Jilian Mincer wrote in The Wall Street Journal of April 16, 2010, about such scholarships in an article entitled "If You're a Tall Vegan Named Zolp, Your Tuition Worries Are Over." You can read her account at this link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304198004575172073856320424.html?KEYWORDS=If+you%27re+a+tall+vegan+named+zolp

64. Who Borrows the Most?
Borrowing for college is an important issue today, as student loan-debt increases--sometimes to scary levels. To read a report by Sandy Baum and Patricia Steele for The College Board entitled "Who Borrows Most? Bachelor's Degree Recipients with High Levels of Student Debt," click this link:http://advocacy.collegeboard.org/sites/default/files/Trends-Who-Borrows-Most-Brief.pdf

To read Lynn O'Shaughnessy's highlights of this report, check out her blog-post: http://moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-money/blog/college-solution/college-debt-12-facts-about-student-loan-borrowers/1961/?tag=col1;blog-river

69. Government or Private Loans?
Students and their parents who need to borrow to pay for college should research their options for loans--specifically, whether they are better off taking out federal student loans or private loans. More than simply interest rates and terms of repayment are involved in this consideration. To see some comparisons between government and private loans, read the post by Sandra Block on May 4, 2010, in USA Today at this link:http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/columnist/block/2010-05-04-yourmoney04_ST_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

71. Still Need Money For College?
If you're still seeking money to pay for college, read Kim Clark's "11 Steps to Raise Last-Minute Cash for College," posted April 29, 2010, at the US News & World Report online site; just click this link:http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/paying-for-college/2010/04/29/11-steps-to-raise-last-minute-cash-for-college.html

73. Plan B
Sometimes, a student's college plans fall through--because of finances, an emergency in their family, or other reasons. Then, he or she needs a Plan B--to still attend college, though under different circumstances, perhaps, than they had previously envisioned. If that's your situation, you may be interested in reading the May 6, 2010, post "When college dream derails, time for Plan B," by William Hageman in the Chicago Tribune, at this link: http://www.kansascity.com/2010/05/05/1927547/when-college-dream-derails-time.html#ixzz0nGnv7O3M

78. Interest Rates Vary for Private Student Loans!
Students--and their parents--often have to borrow money to pay for college. Despite taking out all federal student loans for which they qualify, some still consider private student loans. To get the best (lowest) rates of interest on these loans, shop around! In a blog-post, dated 5/14/10, Lynn O'Shaughnessy states: "The interest rates that lenders offer on private student loans are wildly different even for borrowers with the same credit scores." To read her entire post, click this link:http://moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-money/blog/college-solution/private-student-loans-the-good-bad-and-ugly/2078/?tag=col1;blog-river

80. How to Get More Financial Aid
Perhaps the most frequent question students and parents ask about paying for college is "Do you know of any scholarships out there?" What they're really wondering is how can I get more--and pay less--to attend college. Financial aid can help. But to maximize a student's financial-aid package, some tips may be useful. Jane J. Kim wrote an article in The Wall Street Journal on May 22-23, 2010, that offers such advice; you can access it at this link:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703612804575222303415618316.html

81. Athletic Scholarships Can Be Revoked.
What many student-athletes and their parents often don't realize is that Division I "full-ride" scholarships can be revoked after one year. This revocation can cause students to have to "walk on"--or, if they decide to, transfer to another institution. For more information, click this link to an article by Alan Scher Zagier on The Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/24/revoked-scholarships-surp_n_586854.html

83. Paying Off Federal Student Loans

If you accept federal student loans, you're obligated to repay them--whether you graduate from college or not. Consequently, you should limit the amout of loan-debt you acquire. For information on repaying your federal loans, see this article, dated May 25, 2010, by Sandra Block in USA Today, at this link: http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/columnist/block/2010-05-25-yourmoney25_ST_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

84. Sticker Price vs. Net Cost of a College
Often, students and parents are scared off from applying to a particular college or university because it seems high-priced. Rather than focusing on the stated "sticker price," however, a prospective applicant needs to determine their own "net cost"--that is, what they would have to pay after all financial aid for which they are eligible has been deducted from the published cost of attendance (i.e., "sticker price"). To read Lynn O'Shaughnessy's post on this issue, click this link to her blog:http://moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-money/blog/college-solution/biggest-financial-aid-myth-i-cant-afford-this-college/2143/?tag=col1;blog-river

85. Federal Direct Loan Program
The Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, which takes effect July 1, 2010, requires that all federal student loans be offered through direct lending rather than from private lenders. Government fees previously paid to lending banks are to be used to expand the federal Pell Grant program, raising the full grant-award to an estimated $5,975 by 2017. To read an explanatory article, dated May 26, 2010, by Caralee Adams in Education Week, click this link:http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/05/26/33college.h29.html?tkn=UXUFeF%2Bl%2BNo%2BoNZRjwa8Sz4pGgHC6QMrLm8o&cmp=clp-edweek

86. Who is to Blame for Student Loan-Debt?
When a student graduates from college with a huge loan-debt, people may ask: "Who is to blame?" You can decide responsibility after reading this case study by Ron Lieber in The New York Times of May 29, 2010, at this link:http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/29/your-money/student-loans/29money.html?hpw

97. New Rules on Federal Student Loans
Effective July 1, 2010, new rules go into effect for those taking out federal student loans. Now, only the U.S. Dept. of Education will offer these loans. In addition, interest for subsidized Stafford loans will decrease to fixed rate of 4.5% for undergraduates. The federal Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students (PLUS) will have a fixed rate of 7.9%. For other information on these loan changes, see the article "Student Loans Get a Makeover," by Jane J. Kim in The Wall Street Journal of July 3-4, 2010, at this link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704334604575338883122321008.html
98. Yearly Cost of College Per Student

The cost per year to educate a college student can be expensive. And that cost varies, depending on the type of educational institution. For example, U.S. community colleges spend almost $10,000 per year, while private research universities spend $35,000 per year; the average cost in the United States is about $19,000 per student. For these and other data, see the article "Share of College Budgets For Recreation Is Rising," by Sam Dillon in The New York Times of July 10, 2010, at this link:http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/10/education/10education.html?ref=tuition

235. Unstack the Odds--To Beat the Odds, Part 5

Unstack the Odds: Help All Kids Access College—and Graduate!

by

Joe Rottenborn

Executive Director, Mahoning Valley College Access Program (MVCAP)

15. To Beat the Odds, Part 5

An important obstacle, of course, in accessing college and achieving success is the cost of a higher education. As Susan Choy stated, “The price of attending college is still a significant obstacle for students from low- and middle-income families, but financial aid is an equalizer, to some degree. Low-income students enroll at the same rate as middle-income students if they take all the necessary steps toward enrollment.” (Susan P. Choy, Access & Persistence: Findings from 10 Years of Longitudinal Research on Students, American Council on Education, 2002, p. 5.) http://inpathways.net/access.pdf

Others agree that financial aid—and a student’s conception of affordability--can help improve access and success. The authors of Reclaiming the American Dream stated the following in their report: “Both applying for financial aid and applying for college loans improve the likelihood a student will obtain a bachelor’s degree. So does a student’s or parent’s attendance at an information session on financial aid benefits. Likewise, students who believe affordability does not affect their choice of college have an improved chance of attaining bachelor’s degrees.” (William Bedsworth, Susan Colby, and Joe Doctor, Reclaiming the American Dream, The Bridgespan Group, October 2006, p. 12.) http://www.nhscholars.org/Documents/ReclaimingAmericanDream.pdf

Unfortunately, many at-risk students don’t access financial aid. According to the 2006 report for The Bridgespan Group, “Half to three-quarters of low-income students don’t apply for aid; they don’t apply for loans; and/or they don’t attend information sessions on postsecondary aid and its availability.” (William Bedsworth, Susan Colby, and Joe Doctor, Reclaiming the American Dream, The Bridgespan Group, October 2006, p. 15.) http://www.nhscholars.org/Documents/ReclaimingAmericanDream.pdf

Often, underrepresented students and their parents may figure college is out of reach for them because they can’t afford it. Sadly, though understandably, this belief can reduce their access and success in college. According to the writers of Reclaiming the American Dream, “factors that affect the perception of affordability also have an effect on rates of matriculation and completion. Low-income students who attended financial aid information sessions and subsequently applied for financial aid were much more likely to attend and complete college, presumably because they understood both the true cost of college and the types of aid available to them. The simple fact is that in order to make college affordable, low-income students need more financial aid.” (William Bedsworth, Susan Colby, and Joe Doctor, Reclaiming the American Dream, The Bridgespan Group, October 2006, p. 22.) http://www.nhscholars.org/Documents/ReclaimingAmericanDream.pdf

Alberto Cabrera and the researchers at Penn State summarized the varying correlation financial aid—and the types of aid—seemed to have with success in college. They concluded the following: “Research into the effect financial aid plays on degree completion is contradictory. Nora (1990), Voorhees (1987), and St. John (1990) found all forms of federal support equally effective in preventing students from dropping out. However, Stampen and Cabrera (1986, 1988) found persistence rates were highest when student aid packages included work-study programs. More recently, Adelman (1999) reported grant-in-aid and loans had a small but positive contribution to the probability of securing a college degree. On the other hand, Astin (1975) found grants and work-study programs had positive effects on persistence, while loans had negative effects when directed to low-income students. St. John's (1991) comprehensive review of 25 years of research on the effect of financial aid led him to conclude reception of financial aid has a positive effect on persistence to graduation regardless of the type of financial aid. He also noted inconstancies could be attributed to methodological problems in terms of analytical models followed, the use of institutional databases versus national databases and levels of controls.” (Alberto F. Cabrera, Kurt R. Burkum and Steven M. La Nasa, Pathways to a Four-Year Degree: Determinants of Degree Completion Among Socio-Economically Disadvantaged Students, Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, 2003, p. 25.) http://www.sheeo.org/access/On%20the%20Right%20Path.pdf

The PSU research team also quantified the correlation of various types (e.g., grants, loans) of financial aid and SES with degree completion; they found this: “For all students, receiving grants-in-aid and loans increases chances of completing a 4-year degree. Recipients of grants-in-aid are 7% more likely to earn a degree, while loan recipients are 12%. SES also moderates the impact of financial aid, particularly for loan recipients. Lowest-SES and Middle Low-SES students receiving loans increase their degree completion chances by 16% and 26%, respectively.” (Alberto F. Cabrera, Kurt R. Burkum and Steven M. La Nasa, Pathways to a Four-Year Degree: Determinants of Degree Completion Among Socio-Economically Disadvantaged Students, Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, 2003, p. 35.) http://www.sheeo.org/access/On%20the%20Right%20Path.pdf

221.Unstack the Odds--Cost, Part 3

Unstack the Odds: Help All Kids Access College—and Graduate!

by

Joe Rottenborn

Executive Director, Mahoning Valley College Access Program (MVCAP)

11. Cost, Part 3

To keep a student’s cost for college as low as possible, they may want to consider the option of matriculating to a community college before transferring to a four-year school. Sometimes, financial incentives make this route hard to pass up. In the state of Massachusetts, for example, a transfer program for community college grads offers a most reasonable college cost. According to an Associated Press article, “A new program is aimed at making it easier for graduates of two-year community colleges to attend--and afford--the University of Massachusetts flagship Amherst campus. Community college students with a grade point average of 3.0 or better would be guaranteed admission to UMass-Amherst with free tuition. Those with a GPA of at least 2.5 percent would also be guaranteed admission and would be eligible for financial aid and other services. The current in-state tuition at the university is $1,714 a year.” ("Umass woos community college grads,” The Boston Globe, March 23, 2011.) http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2011/03/23/umass_woos_community_college_grads/

Another financial alternative to consider is attending the regional campus of a state university; these local campuses can often have lower costs. An illustration of this approach can be seen in the case study I collaborated on regarding Kent State University in Ohio. According to that analysis, students with an expected family contribution (EFC) of $0 on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) could attend the regional campuses of KSU at Salem, East Liverpool, or Trumbull at no cost, based on the full federal Pell grant of $5,350 in 2009-10. (That full Pell amount of $5,350 annually would be split between the fall and spring semesters, for $2,675 in financial aid per term.) Given tuition at KSU regional campuses for freshmen and sophomores at $2,469 per semester, students would not only get their entire tuition paid by the Pell Grant but also get money back--that could be used to buy books. (“EFC of $0? Go to College in the Valley for Free—or Almost,” MVCAP blog post, November 29, 2009.) http://mvcap.blogspot.com/2009/11/21-efc-of-0-go-to-college-in-valley-for.html

Interestingly, when it comes to student views on cost, it was not their most important consideration in choosing a college. According to a survey of 21,000 high school seniors, done of its registrants by Fastweb.com with consulting firm Maguire Associates in January 2011, “total cost” was the fourth most frequently-cited factor (by 87% of respondents)--and tied with “Availability of need- or merit-based scholarships” (87%)--after “quality of major” (94%), “’value’ of education, including quality and cost” (92%), and “employment opportunities after college” (91%). (Jacques Steinberg, “Economy Is Growing Factor in College Choices, Poll Finds,” The New York Times, The Choice: Demystifying College Admissions and Aid, March 23, 2011.) http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/23/economy-2/

219.Unstack the Odds--Cost, Part 1

Unstack the Odds: Help All Kids Access College—and Graduate!
by
Joe Rottenborn

Executive Director, Mahoning Valley College Access Program (MVCAP)

11. Cost, Part 1

When it comes to cost, it’s helpful to consider the view of Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, President Emeritus at The George Washington University, who described higher education pricing as follows: “Colleges and universities have been using the sales model for years: it is called ‘scholarships’ and other forms of financial aid. And most admissions officers can tell you their school's ‘discount rate,’ a term of art that comes from the merchandising sector. Statements like, ‘Our tuition is $42,000 a year but 48 percent of our students receive aid,’ tells us that 52 percent pay full price and all the others get a markdown.” (Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, “Price Does Not Equal Cost,” The New York Times, February 22, 2011.) http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/02/21/cutting-tuition-a-first-step/reducing-college-tuition-a-patch-on-a-leaky-roof

For the underrepresented students with odds stacked against their access to college and reduced chances of success, these financial discounts are often irrelevant, however, since their high school grade-point average, class-rank, and score on the ACT or SAT will often not qualify them to receive much—if any--merit aid (i.e., scholarships.) Therefore, securing need-based aid is critical. Indeed, the Roadmap (cited earlier) offered this recommendation in regard to reducing the cost of college for Latinos: “Guarantee need-based aid for qualified students.” [emphasis in original] As it explained, “Finding and receiving sufficient financial aid to pay for college are complex and cumbersome processes. Providing potential and current students with a guarantee of their eligibility for financial support has been effective for enrolling and retaining low-income students at several institutions and has the potential to be effective on a larger scale.” (Roadmap for Ensuring America’s Future By Increasing Latino College Completion, Excelencia in Education, March 2011, p. 15.) http://www.edexcelencia.org/initiatives/EAF/Roadmap

Also from the Roadmap regarding cost of college was its recommendation to “Make college accessible and affordable for students of all economic backgrounds.” [emphasis in original] “Policy efforts” offered included the following:
“Market state scholarship programs more intentionally targeted at students from economically disadvantaged and underrepresented communities to increase their application of federal and private financial aid resources to pay for college.
Create financial incentives for low-income students to remain continuously enrolled in higher education until degree attainment. This could include loan forgiveness, textbook waivers, or tuition discounts to students who remain continuously enrolled. . . .
Expand need-based funding from the state for low-income students. [and]
Charge leaders of public higher education institutions to develop a coordinated action plan to increase capacity, access, and degree attainment . . . .” (Ibid., p. 17.) http://www.edexcelencia.org/initiatives/EAF/Roadmap

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."

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168. 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. EGCC chief: School committed to serving Warren, by V. Shank - http://t.co/LIgx1dY - TribToday.com - Warren, OH

"Eastern Gateway Community College president Laura Meeks said the institution is committed to developing a strong presence in downtown Warren, even without the $1.3 million in federal funding U.S. Rep. Timothy Ryan was hoping to secure for the college's expansion and other projects. The college will start classes as planned Tuesday at its new Warren site."

2. Part 1: Answers to Readers’ Questions on Financial Aid, by Mark Kantrowitz - http://nyti.ms/f6v4bK

"To help navigate that process, Mark Kantrowitz, a financial aid expert and founder of the Web sites finaid.org and fastweb.com, is answering questions from readers of The Choice this week."

3. Ivy Chase, by Kevin A. Hassett - http://www.aei.org/article/102981

"All told, the average annual ROI for the top ten public institutions is 13.4 percent. The average annual ROI for the top ten private institutions is 12.3 percent. . . .The average total cost for a bachelor's degree from a public institution is $83,695; for a private institution it is $171,026. The higher tuition at top schools brings diminishing returns."

4. Trends in College Pricing, by Gaston Caperton - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gaston-caperton/trends-in-college-pricing_b_807469.html

"The reports found that during the past decade, average tuition and fees at public four-year colleges and universities rose almost twice as fast as those at private colleges. Over the same period, average household incomes have remained stagnant. Making matters worse was the disturbing drop in state spending on higher education -- a decline of 9 percent in 2008-09 and 1.3 percent in 2009-10."

5. Ivies, Extracurriculars, and Exclusion, by Lauren Rivera - http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/faculty/directory/rivera_lauren.aspx#research

"Employers privileged candidates who possessed a super-elite (e.g., top 5) university affiliation and attributed superior cognitive, cultural, and moral qualities to candidates who had been admitted to such an institution, regardless of their actual performance once there."

6. University of California: Another Year of Student Protests? by Lynn O"Shaughnessy - http://t.co/N1yg7gi

"Californians should probably prepare themselves for round II of student protests. Jerry Brown, in one of his first acts as governor in the cash-strapped state, has released proposed budget cutbacks that would slash $500 million from the 10 UC campuses. That would bring state support to the UC campuses back to the level it was in 1999 — and there were tens of thousands of fewer students then."

7. Rigorous, Revelant High School Program Leads Kids to College, by Caralee Adams - http://t.co/eGwT0k0

"The seven-year study found that participation in CART's Linked Learning approach increased the community college entrance rate by 11 percentage points—71 percent for CART students compared with 60 percent for a demographically similar group of non-CART students. About 23 percent of CART students went on to four-year universities compared to 21 percent of their non-CART peers."

8. How Graduation Rates Shape College Choice, by Eric Hoover -

http://chronicle.com/blogs/headcount/how-graduation-rates-shape-college-choice/27770

"Providing graduation rates, the researchers found, increased the likelihood (by about 15 percentage points) that parents would choose the college with the higher graduation rate. Moreover, such information was most likely to influence the choices of parents who had relatively low incomes and little admissions savvy. More-affluent parents were less likely to change their preferences based on information about graduation rates."

9. The Plight of Nontraditional Students, by Mary Churchill - http://chronicle.com/blogs/old-new/the-plight-of-nontraditional-students/147

‎"Students are married, have children, care for their parents, hold full- and part-time jobs, and drop in and out of school as their lives and finances allow. Increasingly, we are finding older students returning to school after a 10-to-15-year hiatus. They are in their 30s or 40s. Our institutions are not prepared for them and do not welcome them. This needs to change."

10. How Jared Loughner Changed: The View from His Schools, by Mark Thompson - http://bit.ly/ibZ2F3 @time

‎"Loughner's actions unnerved up to a third of McGahee's 15 to 20 students, so much so that they complained to the professor following the opening class in basic algebra. "The students were very concerned after the first day," he says. "I must have had three to five students come up to me after class saying, 'Jared concerns me a lot.' One lady in the back of the classroom said she was scared for her life, literally."

11. A critical shortage of school counselors, by Valerie Strauss - http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/student-life/a-critical-shortage-of-school.html

"Though the recommended number per counselor is 250 students, the American School Counselor Associations shows that the national average is actually one counselor for every 457 students. And those figures were from 2008-09, the latest available, but before many states slashed school budgets last year."

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