See free MVCAP e-books on college admissions and financial aid for sharing, printing, and downloading at our online resource library: http://issuu.com/mvcap1. A Plea for More School Counselors, by Robert Bardwell
"If school counselors were used in more effective ways — and if there were more school counselors to help our students — then our graduation rates and college-going rates would improve, and our students would be better prepared to overcome the numerous obstacles standing in the way of their success. Research shows that comprehensive school counseling programs do indeed affect student success and achievement. Data also indicate that students who have access to quality school counseling do better on standardized achievement tests, one predictor of success in college. The percentage of students bound for higher education increases when they have access to highly trained school counselors who are not at lunch duty, completing paperwork or counting test booklets."
2. Advice for the College Interview: Girls, Dress Discreetly; Boys, Mind Those Hands, by Dave Marcus -
“I’m surprised at the number of students who can’t easily articulate why they drove six hours to visit our campus,” David Kogler of Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn. “Was it our reputation? Did you like our mail? Grandma told you about us? You’re on your way to our chief competitor?”Any of those would at least start a dialogue, he says. When I do alumni interviews for Brown University, I look for a critical thinker, someone who has insatiable curiosity about everything from literature to science. Recently I started asking applicants to name their representative in Congress. I get quite a few dull stares. Same when I suggest that students discuss an article they’ve read in the past two days in a newspaper or magazine, in print or online.Oh, well. My questions rarely matter. Applicants don’t seem to realize that relatively brief alumni interviews hardly ever make or break a candidate’s case."
3. The New Community College Tuition Hike - Inside Higher Ed:
"Some of the college’s most popular programs, like nursing, which has a three-year waiting list, and avionics, would be among those charging a premium. Flores dismissed the notion that raising tuition for these programs might decrease student access to them.“The point is to guarantee access,” Flores said. “The access will be zero if the programs go away. I’m mindful of price elasticity and that some students might be shut out if the price goes too high.… But it’s a balancing act, and we’re a long way from shutting people out.”Flores also pitched another differential tuition idea to his board last month. He wants to give students who take any courses during “off-peak” hours a small tuition break. This, he said, would encourage better use of the college’s resources. Those taking courses during “peak” hours would just pay the standard tuition."
4. DIY U, Educational Access, and the New Elitism, by Anya Kamenetz
". . .I have to believe that the large racial and economic gaps that persist in our educational system are the result of systematic inequality, not differences in innate ability. Therefore it follows that a massive injustice is being perpetuated on thousands of children who get crappy instruction in crappy schools and never get a decent chance to go to college, even though if you had stuck them in a top-flight public school from 1st grade they'd definitely be Ivy League material."
5. The Student Loan Disclosure Document That Every Borrower Needs to Read, by Zac Bissonnette -
"One of my greatest concerns about the way most students make their college financing decisions -- and one of the key reasons I wrote Debt-Free U: How I Paid For An Outstanding College Education Without Loans, Scholarships, Or Mooching Off My Parents -- is this: Very, very few borrowers fully understand the potential ramifications of the loans that they are taking out. No effort is made to educate borrowers and while all borrowers do have to sign promissory notes; the disclosures are hopelessly inadequate. To help, I have put together my own disclosure document that I believe every single prospective college student should be required to read and sign before borrowing a dime to pay for college. I'm highly confident that Sallie Mae and financial aid offices around the country will adopt this disclosure statement immediately:"
6. Let's Stick to the Facts on For-Profit College Regulations, by Lanny Davis
"The new rules target only for-profit institutions, a relatively small section of higher education. And for reasons not explained by the DOE, it has made no effort at all to hold public and private non-profit colleges to any similar standard for student debt and repayment limitations and job placement outcomes -- particularly puzzling since these schools are subsidized by tens of billions of dollars of direct federal and state grants and are the beneficiaries of the largest share of federally-backed student loans. Even so, there remains a problem in the debate on this important issue that is fundamental -- and that is respect for the difference between ideology and facts. To put it bluntly and to paraphrase a well-known pundit, those who criticize for-profit schools are "entitled to their own opinions, but not their own facts." In this spirit, I challenge three important "assertions of fact" by proponents of these regulations, including leaders at the DOE as well as some Democrats. . . ."
7. States Set Widely Varying 'Proficiency' Bars, by Sarah D. Sparks in Education Week -
"The researchers used National Assessment of Educational Progress benchmarks to compare each state’s standards against the benchmarks for the same subjects used in two international assessments, the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, or TIMSS, and the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study, or PIRLS, during 2007, the most recent year all three types of assessments were administered. Researchers then analyzed the percentage of students in each state who would meet minimum proficiency according to their state standards and the common international standards. Measured against the international benchmarks, the gaps between states for students were so great, the report notes, that the difference in actual proficiency between students in states with the most and least rigorous standards was double the national achievement gap between black and white students on the National Assessment of Educational Progress in 2007, then about two grade levels."
8. To Save Students Money, Colleges May Force Switch to E-Texts, by Jeff R. Young
"Here's the new plan: Colleges require students to pay a course-materials fee, which would be used to buy e-books for all of them (whatever text the professor recommends, just as in the old model). Why electronic copies? Well, they're far cheaper to produce than printed texts, making a bulk purchase more feasible. By ordering books by the hundreds or thousands, colleges can negotiate a much better rate than students were able to get on their own, even for used books. And publishers could eliminate the used-book market and reduce incentives for students to illegally download copies as well.Of course those who wanted to read the textbook on paper could print out the electronic version or pay an additional fee to buy an old-fashioned copy—a book. Some for-profit colleges, including the University of Phoenix, already do something like this, but the practice has been rare on traditional campuses."
9. Top Producers of U.S. Fulbright Students by Type of Institution, 2010-11
1. U. of Michigan 40; 2. Yale U. 31; 3. Brown U. 24; 4. Stanford U. 24; 5. U. of Chicago 23.
10. Early, Rolling, Regular: When Should You Apply? by Ester Bloom - College Admission Deadlines Unigo
"In my high school English class senior year, 14 out of 15 of us got into our first choice colleges. The only one who didn’t was the only one who did not apply early. Case closed? Not exactly. Some of my classmates regretted landing where they did, while the one girl who went to the state school she got into Regular Decision not only had a great time—she also managed to save a huge amount of money. The truth is, there is no one answer to the question of Early vs. Regular, and feel free to walk away from anyone who tries to tell you otherwise. What is right for you will depend on your unique combo of circumstances, ambitions, and constraints. Check out the different options broken down below."
11. Read The Joe Rottenborn Daily for today's top stories on college admissions & financial aid in newsletter form -
