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."

357. 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. Public Universities Seeking Out-of-State Students, by Rebecca R. Ruiz: http://nyti.ms/vlYca7 - "In an article published on Sunday in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Eric Hoover and Josh Keller reported that public universities are escalating their recruitment of out-of-state students – students who not only bring geographic diversity to campus, but also pay higher tuition rates and improve a school’s bottom line."

3. Advocate for students chides colleges for policies on low-income students, by Doug Lederman Inside Higher Ed: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/11/01/advocate-students-chides-colleges-policies-low-income-students#.TrAGpcyFo4w.twitter - "Haycock and her group, which focuses on ensuring equitable education for students regardless of their race or socioeconomic status, have issued a series of reports criticizing college policies (overemphasis on standardized test scores, merit-based financial aid, etc.) that tend to benefit wealthy and white students over others. . . . Haycock (at left) did not hold back, painting a picture of increasing inequality in higher education in which, among other things, students from families in the highest quartile of family income are now 10 times likelier than those in the lowest quartile to have a bachelor's degree."

4. Emphasize the Ambitious: Q&A With Kati Haycock, by Joan Richardson - http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2011/11/01/kappan_haycock.html via @educationweek - "That goal took over my life. What animated me was how we could turn around the performance of the groups of kids who were behind. I came to believe that what was happening in K-12 was important to making that change. I think of our work as helping to make our country better. When you consider the ideals upon which we were created, and you look at what the data tell us about inequality, it’s clear that our narrative as a country is far away from where we really are."

5. 12 Best and Worst 529 College Savings Plans, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://moneywatch.bnet.com/spending/blog/college-solution/12-best-and-worst-529-college-savings-plans/7058/ via @cbsmoneywatch - "But, you may be wondering, how do you pick the best 529 plans and avoid the worst? Morningstar, the investment research firm, has made the task easier for you. In its new industry survey of 529 plans, Morningstar has selected the top five 529 plans, as well as the seven worst. Here is your 529 cheat sheet:"

6. New NAEP, Same Results: Math Up, Reading Mostly Flat, by Erik W. Robelen - http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2011/11/01/11naep.h31.html via @educationweek - "One area of long-standing concern is the large achievement gaps among racial and ethnic groups, especially when comparing African-American and Hispanic students with white students. Although all groups have made academic progress over the past two decades, the achievement gaps have proved difficult to close.The 2011 reading and math results produced no statistically significant changes in the black-white achievement gap from 2009."

7. More States Flag Potential Dropouts With Warning Data, by Sarah D. Sparks - http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2011/11/01/11earlywarning_ep.h31.html via @educationweek - "At minimum, researchers found that most existing systems flag what Robert Balfanz, a co-author of the study and the director of the Everyone Graduates Center, calls “the ABCs” of such systems:

• Attendance: Students who have missed either 10 percent of school days or 20 days total;

• Behavior: Students who receive two or more mild or more-serious behavior citations, which in most schools means detentions or suspensions; and

• Course performance: Students who struggle to keep up in key classes at different grades."

8. The Wrong Inequality, by David Brooks in The New York Times - http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/01/opinion/brooks-the-wrong-inequality.html?_r=1&hp - "In these places, the crucial inequality is not between the top 1 percent and the bottom 99 percent. It’s between those with a college degree and those without. Over the past several decades, the economic benefits of education have steadily risen. In 1979, the average college graduate made 38 percent more than the average high school graduate, according to the Fed chairman, Ben Bernanke. Now the average college graduate makes more than 75 percent more. Moreover, college graduates have become good at passing down advantages to their children. If you are born with parents who are college graduates, your odds of getting through college are excellent. If you are born to high school grads, your odds are terrible."

9. In a Standardized Era, a Creative School Is Forced to Be More So, by Michael Winerip - http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/31/education/no-child-left-behind-catches-up-with-new-hampshire-school.html?src=recg - "The intent of No Child Left Behind was to provide quality education for poor children, mainly in urban areas, but it has taken over everything. By next spring, 90 percent of New Hampshire schools are expected to be labeled as failing."

10. School Suspensions Among Boys May Be Linked to Lower College Attendance, by Dan Berrett -http://chronicle.com/article/School-Suspensions-Among-Boys/129593/ - "As the likelihood of suspensions increases, students' chances of making it to college decrease. Citing previous research, the authors note that one suspension lowers the chance of attending college by 16 percentage points, and of graduating from college by 9 percentage points. "We suggest that boys' higher tendency to act out, and develop conduct problems, might be particularly relevant to their relative absence in colleges," the authors write."

356. 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. Tips on Finding and Securing Scholarships, by Rebecca R. Ruiz: http://nyti.ms/vLFbCd - "His principal tip was volume. “The trick to winning is to apply to lots of scholarships,” he said. All students – including the “very lucky and very skilled” – will get far more rejections than they will get wins, he said."

3. Your Common Application Essay, Uncut - The New York Times: http://nyti.ms/vmfPUd - ". . . The Common Application now asks that essays be between 250 and 500 words long. That upper limit was reimposed — after four years without one — amid feedback from admissions officers that essays had grown too long. But unlike other parts of the online application, which may cut off students midword when they exceed character limits, the essays are sent to colleges in full, and aren’t even labeled with word counts. Many seniors are pondering: to cut or not to cut?"

4. Pentagon Pledges Not to Change Tuition Reimbursement Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/t1ikrK via AddThis - "The Pentagon on Friday pledged not to change tuition reimbursement policies for active duty military at this time. Cuts in benefits have been expected (and the Marine Corps indicated earlier in the month that it was ready to make cuts), causing concern to many active duty military members who are enrolled in various programs."

5. Schooled in Sports: NCAA Raises Minimum GPA for Incoming Student-Athletes, by Bryan Toporek - http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/schooled_in_sports/2011/10/ncaa_raises_minimum_gpa_for_incoming_student-athletes.html via @educationweek - "Starting in August 2015, high school student-athletes who hope to play sports in college will be held to a higher academic standard. While freshmen only need a 2.0 GPA to be eligible for competition now, the new rules require student-athletes to have a 2.3 GPA to have immediate access to competition.
If a student-athlete meets the current 2.0 GPA requirement but falls short of the 2.3 GPA required for competition, the NCAA approved a proposal that will allow him/her to still remain on his/her athletic scholarship. The NCAA is calling this an "academic redshirt" year."

6. More Students Migrate Away From Home, by Eric Hoover and Josh Keller -http://chronicle.com/article/The-Cross-Country-Recruitment/129577/ - "Public universities across the country are engaged in an all-out war for out-of-state students. Deep cuts in support are driving the search for revenue, and in many states, a stagnating pool of local applications has pushed colleges to recruit broadly. The winners, like Arizona State, bring in higher out-of-state tuition and get to skim from a larger pool of prospective students. . . . Randy Hodgins, the former chief lobbyist for the University of Washington, said he once told a joke to his counterpart at the University of California that has more than a grain of truth. "The answer to both of our budget problems is, I take your kids and you take mine, and then they're both nonresidents," Mr. Hodgins said."

7. Where Does Your Freshman Class Come From?http://chronicle.com/article/Interactive-Freshman-Class/129547#id=204796 - "Ohio State University was the 1st most popular in-state university for Ohio freshmen in 2010."

8. Bottom of the Heap - The New York Times - http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2011/10/29/opinion/29blow-ch.html?ref=opinion "Selected measures from the report "Social Justice in the OECD--How Do the Member States Compare?" Includes some categories of index ratings and some raw data."

9. Want to earn more money? Study STEM. by Daniel de Vise - College, Inc. - http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/college-inc/post/want-to-earn-more-money-study-stem/2011/10/28/gIQALikjPM_blog.html?tid=sm_btn_twitter via Washingtonpost.com - "Math-science majors can earn more than humanities majors even with a lesser degree. Carnevale believes the economy has shifted over the past 30 years to reward academic fields over educational attainment. In other words: It doesn’t matter how long you have studied; it matters what you study. . . . 63 percent of STEM workers with associate’s degrees earn more than non-STEM workers with bachelor’s degrees."

10. Know Before You Owe: Student Loans - http://www.consumerfinance.gov/students/knowbeforeyouowe/