369. 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. Special report on Jerry Sandusky, Joe Paterno, Penn State scandal, by L. Jon Wertheim and David Epstein - http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/magazine/11/16/penn.st/index.html - "What they could not possibly have known was that their accounts would help set in motion the most explosive scandal in the history of college sports, one that would make a mockery of the recent drumbeat of NCAA outrages."

3. Penn State case brings other victims forward, by Marisol Bello – http://usat.ly/rYcawT via USATODAY - "It's a collective empowerment for victims," says Jeff Herman, a Miami attorney who specializes in sexual abuse cases. "Many feel isolated and alone. Then they see all this press and all of a sudden, they see victims standing up and taking on institutions."

4. College coaches cash in, by Erik Brady, Jodi Upton and Steve Berkowitz – http://usat.ly/sh5KGr via USATODAY - "Critics find it troubling that this rapid rise for coaches comes at a time when instructional spending at many schools has slowed or declined amid economic struggles and shrinking state education budgets. "Athletics has gotten so disproportionate to the rest of the economy, and to the academic community, that it is unbelievable," says Julian Spallholz, a professor in the department of food and nutrition at Texas Tech, where coach Tommy Tuberville got a $550,000 raise. "This kind of disproportion in the country is why people are occupying Wall Street."

5. Engineering Majors Most Likely to Burn the Midnight Oil, by Rebecca R. Ruiz: http://nyti.ms/rpr1PY - "The average college student, the researchers reported, studied for 15 hours each week. Engineering students fell on the higher end of the spectrum — devoting roughly 19 hours to class preparation — while students with majors in business and social sciences were on the lower end, spending about 14 hours preparing for class. (Meanwhile, the survey found, students of business were more likely to hold a job during the school year.)"

6. Part 4: Answers to Your Questions on Scholarships and Student Loans, by Mark Kantrowitz: http://nyti.ms/tTizgO - "The odds of winning a scholarship, however, are pretty slim. The majority of students, regardless of their race, will not win private scholarships. Even in STEM fields the odds of winning a scholarship are about 1 in 6. Both white and minority students find it difficult to win private scholarships because there are relatively few scholarships. Race has little to do with it, though white students enjoy a statistical advantage over minority students. As documented in a recent student aid policy analysis paper, “The Distribution of Grants and Scholarships by Race,” white students are 40 percent more likely to win private scholarships than minority students."

7. The Early Line on Early Applications for the Class of 2016, by JACQUES STEINBERG and REBECCA R. RUIZ: http://nyti.ms/sC1Nc0 - "The window for applying to many colleges and universities under early admission programs closed late Tuesday night. While it will be some time before a definitive statistical portrait emerges of this early admissions season, The Choice has been dutifully requesting application figures from a range of more than 100 institutions. The chart above, which we’ll be updating regularly as other figures trickle in, represents the equivalent of early returns in an election, with results from two dozen “precincts.”

8. NSSE 2011 measures student engagement by major, by Allie Grasgreen Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/uiKnGX via AddThis - "For example, McCormick said, first-generation students likely haven’t had as much informal consulting or guidance as their peers whose parents went to college. That might be why this year's NSSE survey shows they went beyond the typical student in terms of learning strategies -- while they spent significantly less time preparing for class, they were more likely than their peers to use a variety of strategies, especially the less common ones such as reviewing notes after class and creating their own examples to help them study."

9. Parental Interactions and Child Development, by Daniel Messinger Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/ufQDl1 via AddThis - LISTEN TO THIS!

10. Consumer Protection Bureau Survey on Private Loans Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/vNPZU5 via AddThis - "The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is seeking comments on private student loans from students, families, colleges and loan providers to prepare a report for Congress on private student lending. In a notice published in today's Federal Register, the bureau said it was seeking information on how students use private loans, what types of comparison shopping tools are available, what best practices are for financial aid offices who counsel private borrowers, and other topics related to the private lending industry."

11. 25 college majors with the highest unemployment ratesby Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505145_162-57325132/25-college-majors-with-the-highest-unemployment-rates/?tag=mncol;lst;9 - "Five of the college majors with the worst job prospects on this list are related to psychology. Ironically, psychology is the fifth most popular college degree."

12. 25 college majors with lowest unemployment rates, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505145_162-57324669/25-college-majors-with-lowest-unemployment-rates/?tag=contentMain;contentBody - "The Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce used U.S. Census Bureau statistics to tease out the unemployment rates for 173 college majors. I looked at the 100 most popular college majors and pulled out the 25 majors with the lowest unemployment."

13. College Bound: Demand for Jobs That Require High School Diploma Declines, by Caralee Adams - http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/college_bound/2011/11/glimpse_at_where_students_are_applying_early_admission.html via @educationweek - "For all the talk of the value of a college degree, there are decent jobs for those with just a high school diploma. The problem is there are not enough of those jobs to go around, according to a report released yesterday by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. . . . It found that 37 percent of all jobs in 2018 will be for workers who have either some high school education, a high school diploma, or on-the-job training. This number is down from 72 percent in 1973, 44 percent in 1992, and 41 percent in 2007. In other words, the demand for postsecondary education will increase from 59 percent to 63 percent in the next seven years."

14. Rising College Costs Are Due Largely to Books, Room, and Board, Study Finds -http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/rising-college-costs-are-due-largely-to-books-room-and-board-study-finds/38109 - "The average amount that students paid, after subtracting savings from scholarships and grants, increased by nearly $3,000, while net tuition prices grew by only about $1,000 over roughly the same period. The overall cost to attend a two-year college also grew, by $1,333, despite the fall of net tuition prices by $849."

15. Hey, it's time to Occupy Education, says @arotherham - http://ti.me/tr1PO5 via @TIMEIdeas - "What do I mean by educational inequality? We’re all familiar with achievement gaps between white kids and minorities. But here’s the income-based gap: just 8% of low-income students get a college-degree by the time they are 24 while three-quarters of affluent students do."

354. 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. Colleges start offering 'midnight classes' for offbeat needs, by Greg Toppo – http://usat.ly/tJVA6H via @USATODAY - "About two-thirds of community college students work full or part time, and colleges are finding that many of their students work late. Others simply do their best work at night, says Community College of Baltimore County (Md.) psychology instructor Joy Goodie."

2. Plan hopes to make student loans more forgiving, by Sandra Block – http://usat.ly/t0bw4p via @USATODAY - "The Obama plan doesn't provide any relief for borrowers who have private student loans, which are issued by private lenders and aren't backed by the federal government, Ryan says. Unlike federal student loans, private loans have variable interest rates that may shoot higher after the borrower graduates. They also lack many of the protections that come with federal loans. Borrowers who are having trouble repaying these loans have few options, other than seeking relief from the lender."

3. Trustees OK pact at YSU, by Virginia Shank - Tribune Chronicle - Warren, OH: http://bit.ly/vUhave via AddThis - "Both unions, which represent the university's two largest groups of employees, had been working without contracts since their previous pacts expired in August. YSU-OEA had announced plans to strike in August but called it off in time for classes to start on time Aug. 27."

4. Robert J. Zimmer on the Value of a Liberal Arts Diploma, by Rebecca R. Ruiz: http://nyti.ms/u3PzmX - “There are arguments about the value of liberal arts education. Tuition costs are a major concern. There are financial and political pressures on institutions to show immediate value,” Mr. Zimmer conceded. But, ultimately, he said, such concerns should not obscure the mission of liberal arts institutions: “to help students lead fuller lives and be better citizens.”

5. That Merit-Based Aid Offer Is Final, Universities Insist, by Rebecca R. Ruiz: http://nyti.ms/uP6tYf - "At Purdue University, merit-based financial aid offers are final and nonnegotiable. “We put that on our Web site — in red,” said Pamela Horne, dean of admissions and associate vice provost for enrollment management at Purdue. . . . Ultimately, the panelists agreed that the purpose of merit aid was to help the institution “shape the class,” in Ms. Horne’s words. “People think merit aid is all about rewarding the student,” she said. “Let’s face it – it’s not.” Mr. Nondorf agreed. “Getting in is the reward for all that hard work,” he said."

6. The Student Loan Proposal: What It Might Mean for You, by Mark Kantrowitz: http://nyti.ms/sHTQaM - "To help students avoid borrowing too much, the Obama administration is introducing a standardized financial aid offer form as part of a new “Know Before You Owe” campaign. This form helps students understand how much a college will cost, including how much debt they will have accumulated by the time they’ve graduated."

7. College Prices Continue to Surge Higher, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://moneywatch.bnet.com/spending/blog/college-solution/college-prices-continue-to-surge-higher/7039/ via @cbsmoneywatch - "Among states, California wins the dubious prize of boosting tuition by the greatest percentage. California residents watched helplessly as their tuition and fees jumped 21%. The states with the next highest rate hikes were Arizona (17%) and Washington (16%). States with low tuition increases included Connecticut and South Carolina that raised prices by 2.5%. Clearly, a major factor in mushrooming tuition at public universities is declining support from state governments."

8. College Costs Shifting to Families - http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2011/10/26/464787uscollegecostsnlysis_ap.html - "It was a transformation that was, by historical standards, remarkably swift: The decade of the 2000s saw a fundamental shift in how Americans answer the question "Who will pay for college?" More than ever, students and their families must foot the bill at public universities. And that bill is higher than ever.Realizing higher education would be essential to succeed in the emerging economy, Americans aspired and flocked to higher education as never before over the last 10 years. But over that same span, the 50 states did less—much less, factoring in the increased demand—and asked students and parents to do more."

9. Clearing Up Some Confusion About the New Federal Student Loan Rules,by Ron Lieber - http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/27/your-money/student-loans/explaining-new-federal-student-loan-rules.html?_r=1&hpw - "Many questions had to do with whether private loans, the kind that come from banks and often have higher and variable interest rates, are part of these changes. Nothing is changing with those loans. This is crucial, since many of the people in the worst sort of trouble — the ones you’ve read about with six-figure balances — often have both private loans and federal loans. Instead, only those with different kinds of federal loans — an estimated 5.8 million borrowers — will be able to consolidate them into one loan under the new plan and also save themselves a bit of money."

10. Editorial: The Wrong Fix for No Child Left Behind - http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/27/opinion/the-wrong-fix-for-no-child-left-behind.html?src=rechp - "The revised No Child Left Behind Act that passed out of the Senate education committee last week goes too far in relaxing state accountability and federal oversight of student achievement. The business community, civil rights groups and advocates of disabled children are rightly worried that the rewrite of the law would particularly hurt underprivileged children."

11. How Much Student-Loan Debt Is Too Much? by Jeff Selingo -http://chronicle.com/blogs/next/2011/10/26/how-much-student-loan-debt-is-too-much/ - "More than half of the students at public and private four-year colleges are now graduating with debt, according to the College Board. The average per borrower at public colleges is $22,000; at private colleges it’s $28,100. It has been reported that the financial payoff of a bachelor’s degree is $550,000 over a person’s lifetime, so the average level of debt still seems like a good investment."

12. Why College Tuition Should Be Regulated, by Steven Goodman - http://ti.me/uEmjTD via @TIMEIdeas - "Since loans now comprise 70% of financial aid packages, the growing tuition burden falls squarely on student-borrowers who may have saved for college but who still can’t meet the high cost of attendance. Two-thirds of American undergraduates are in debt. This year, student loan debt will grow to more than a trillion dollars, outpacing credit card debt for the first time."

352. 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)

(I'm just back from Portland, OR.)

1. Facebook's Impact on Student Grades, by Rebecca R. Ruiz - http://nyti.ms/nMA4mn -"While overall time spent on Facebook negatively affected G.P.A., the results were not clear-cut. As it turned out, those who frequently shared links on Facebook or checked the site to see what friends were up to tended to have higher grades. Those students who posted status updates tended to have lower grades. . . . Meanwhile — contradicting the zero-sum logic of some who might believe that a minute spent social networking is a minute spent not attending to schoolwork — the study found no substantive link between time spent on Facebook and time spent studying."

2. Online students might feel less accountable to honor codes, by Steve Kolowich Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/rRjY7Q via AddThis - "In a series of experiments, researchers at Ohio University found that students in fully online psychology courses who signed an honor code promising not to cheat broke that pledge at a significantly higher rate than did students in a “blended” course that took place primarily in a classroom. “The more distant students are, the more disconnected they feel, and the more likely it is that they’ll rationalize cheating,” Frank M. LoSchiavo, one of the authors, conjectured in an interview with Inside Higher Ed."

3. College Admissions: What Do Schools Really Care About? by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://moneywatch.bnet.com/spending/blog/college-solution/college-admissions-what-do-schools-really-care-about/6985/ via @cbsmoneywatch - "A new college admission study by the National Association for College Admission Counseling, which represents many colleges and universities, provides a handy cheat sheet on what schools do value when they review applications. . . . Clearly the best things that teenagers can do to increase their chances of getting accepted is to perform well in college prep courses and to make sure they include some rigorous classes in their schedule."

4. How Student Loan Borrowers Are Getting Into Trouble, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://moneywatch.bnet.com/spending/blog/college-solution/how-student-loan-borrowers-are-getting-into-trouble/6903/ via @cbsmoneywatch - "Private student loans don’t provide the protections that federal students loans offer and yet a new federal study suggests that an alarming number of college students are turning to private lenders before they’ve taken full advantage of their federal options."

5. Hechinger More, better early education could help close California’s achievement gap, by Sarah Garland: http://hechingerreport.org/content/more-better-early-education-could-help-close-californias-achievement-gap_6653/#.TqbKtAVPJkM.twitter via AddThis - "In California, the state with the largest population of Hispanic students in the country, the achievement gap starts early—long before children enter school.Hispanic children are much less likely to enroll in preschool than white or black children, and begin kindergarten more than half a year behind their white counterparts. First-generation immigrant students, many who speak only Spanish, start out more than a year behind. One way to combat this problem, educators argue, is enrolling more Hispanic children in preschool, where they can learn to count, say the alphabet and practice the other pre-reading and math skills they will need later on."

6. Push Is On to Add Time to School, by Nora Fleming - http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2011/10/26/09elt_ep.h31.html via @educationweek - "But while policymakers and recently proposed federal legislation promote expanded learning time as a strategy for school turnaround, some worry that it may be gaining steam too rapidly as a fix for schools that lack the know-how, resources, or research to implement it effectively."

7. NAEP's Odd Definition of Proficiency, by James Harvey - http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2011/10/26/09harvey.h31.html via @educationweek - "Joanne Weiss [is] the chief of staff to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. According to an article in the Aug. 24 issue of Education Week, Weiss said the practice of permitting each state to set its own proficiency standards amounts to “lying to parents, lying to children, lying to teachers and principals about the work they’re doing.” . . . The No Child Left Behind Act, passed by Congress in 2001 as the latest reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, permitted states to develop their own assessments and set their own proficiency standards to measure student achievement. Most states, for their purposes, quite sensibly defined proficiency as performance at grade level.What about NAEP? Oddly, NAEP’s proficient standard has little to do with grade-level performance or even proficiency as most people understand the term."

8. Screen Time Higher Than Ever for Children, by Tamar Lewin - http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/25/us/screen-time-higher-than-ever-for-children-study-finds.html?_r=1&hpw - "Despite the American Academy of Pediatricians’ longstanding recommendations to the contrary, children under 8 are spending more time than ever in front of screens, according to a study scheduled for release Tuesday. The report also documents for the first time an emerging “app gap” in which affluent children are likely to use mobile educational games while those in low-income families are the most likely to have televisions in their bedrooms."

9. College Readiness Is Lacking, City Reports Show, by Fernanda Santos - http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/25/education/25progress.html?src=recg - "Only one in four students who enter high school in New York City are ready for college after four years, and less than half enroll, according to the A-through-F high school report cards released on Monday."

10. When the Answer to 'Access or Excellence?' Has to Be 'Both' by Beckie Supiano - http://chronicle.com/article/When-the-Answer-to-Access-or/129423/ - "Pursuing both excellence and access is something most colleges try to do, and it's never easy. Top faculty and state-of-the-art facilities cost money, but raising tuition can shut some students out. If the college makes scholarships to attract high-performing students a priority, it might not be able to support those with financial need."

11. Business leaders inject themselves in school reform, by Valerie Strauss - The Answer Sheet - http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/business-leaders-inject-themselves-in-school-reform/2011/10/24/gIQArm5mFM_blog.html?tid=sm_btn_twitter via @washingtonpost - "This news release was issued in regard to the bill that the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions passed last week revamping NCLB. The bill reduces the federal role in public education that has become so prominent in the NCLB era, and it eliminates a key accountability provision of the law that wound up declaring thousands of schools failing, even when they weren’t. It turns back to the states the right to create their own accountability systems for schools, a move opposed by the Obama administration — and, apparently, leading businessmen. . . . Here’s the statement, which shows that the coalition doesn’t think the bill is tough enough:"

12. Read The Joe Rottenborn Daily ▸ today's top stories via @rottenbornj ▸ http://t.co/tvhFwZar

282. Summer 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. The End of Subsidized Loans? by Libby A. Nelson - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/onGy8i -"During talks Monday, Rep. Eric Cantor, the Republican majority leader, reportedly proposed making students responsible for paying the interest their loans accrue while they’re enrolled in college, a change that would save the government $40 billion over 10 years.The proposal would end the subsidized Stafford loan program, in which the federal government pays the interest that accrues while students are enrolled in school."

3. 'State Authorization' Struck Down, by Doug Lederman - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/qmk46W - "Tuesday's ruling by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia came in a lawsuit that the Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities filed in January on behalf of the for-profit colleges it represents. The career college group had challenged the state authorization regulation and two of the other "program integrity" rules -- those that effectively bar incentive compensation for recruiters, and that hold colleges accountable if they misrepresent their programs and results."

4. Price Points, by Kevin Kiley - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/omVmuz - "These officials prefer to focus on "net tuition revenue" -- the amount of money derived from each student after aid is subtracted from sticker price. They want to shift the conversations away from the discount rate toward a more integrated approach to tuition, literally striking "discount rate" from strategic plans, and make the concepts of net revenue and the actual price of college more apparent to the public, lawmakers, and potential students."

5. Critical Choices: How Colleges Can Help Students and Families Make Better Decisions about Private Loans - http://projectonstudentdebt.org/files/pub/critical_choices.pdf - "There is general consensus that students should exhaust all available federal financial aid, including federal loans, before considering other forms of financing like private student loans. Federal loans are available to students regardless of their or their family’s income. Private student loans are one of the riskiest ways to pay for college, and they are not financial aid any more than a credit card is when used to pay for textbooks or tuition. They typically have uncapped, variable interest rates and cost the most for those who can least afford them, while federal student loans have fixed interest rates that are not affected by the borrower’s income or credit score."

6. 5 Great Ways to Succeed in College, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://t.co/X1T7Ryw via @cbsmoneywatch - "According to the academics who conducted the research, 46% of students don’t improve in their writing skills or critical thinking and reasoning abilities after two years in college. More than a third of students who graduate never improve.How can you avoid that happening to you? Here are five tips to help you succeed in college."

7. Ohio picks interim as state superintendent - The Herald Dispatch: http://bit.ly/re7R4j - "The 15-0 vote to hire interim Superintendent Stan Heffner meant the board passed over Robert Schiller, who became the lone finalist from the board’s top three picks on Sunday after a second contender dropped out. Four board members abstained on the Heffner hiring vote.“A funny thing happened on my way to Texas,” Heffner said after the vote. He had been slated to begin a new job with Educational Testing Service’s office in San Antonio on Aug. 1."

8. A College Education for All, Free and Online, by Kevin Carey - http://chronicle.com/article/A-College-Education-for-All/128162/ - "UoPeople strives to serve the vast numbers of students who have no access to traditional higher education. Some can't afford it, or they live in countries where there are simply no good colleges to attend. Others live in rural areas, or identify with a culture, an ethnicity, or a gender that is excluded from public services.UoPeople students pay an application fee of between $10 and $50 and must have a high-school diploma and be proficient in English. There are also small fees for grading final exams. Otherwise, it's free."

9. Cal State University approves 12% tuition hike - http://usat.ly/ntvN2L via @USATODAY -"With a 13-2 vote, the CSU Board of Trustees passed the annual tuition hike of $588, which comes on top of a previously approved 10 percent increase for 2011-2012."

10. Moving past excuses from the no-excuse reform crowd, by Barnett Berry- The Answer Sheet - http://t.co/iAQRw8V via @washingtonpost - "[Paul] Tough argues that if we are to educate all children to achieve high academic standards, we must tackle the challenges of poverty head-on.He highlights tactics that have repeatedly been proven effective on a small scale: “supplementing classroom strategies with targeted, evidence-based interventions outside the classroom; working intensively with the most disadvantaged families to improve home environments for young children; providing high-quality early-childhood education to children from the neediest families; and, once school begins, providing low-income students with a robust system of emotional and psychological support, as well as academic support.”

11. The FRIENDLIEST Colleges - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/13/the-friendliest-colleges_n_896867.html#s306756&title=Carleton_College - Which college in Ohio made this list?

12. Don't spread these myths about college admissions, by Lee Bierer CharlotteObserver.com: http://bit.ly/niweTO - "Parents who have recently "graduated" from the college admissions process freely dispense advice and sometimes misinformation. To dispel many of these untruths, let's focus on some of the most popular myths about college admissions."

13. ON COLLEGE: The do's and don'ts of helping your high school senior, by Purvi S. Mody - San Jose Mercury News http://t.co/KxyWdL5 - "Don't call colleges on your child's behalf. If you and your child have a question about admissions or anything at all, let your child take the lead. It will develop self-confidence, and colleges like to hear from the students rather than the parents."

258. 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. Top paying jobs for class of 2011, by Kaitlin Madden - #cnn: http://t.co/8gbnaWV - "Now, in 2011, we can at last say that things are really and truly looking up for new college grads. According to the annual survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, overall, employers plan to hire 19.3 percent more new college graduates this fall than they did in the fall of 2010, the first double-digit percentage increase since 2007."

2. Private student loans vs. federal student loans, by Sandra Block - http://usat.ly/jowvoW via @USATODAY - "But while some private loan rates look appealing, you should never sign up for one until you've maxed out on federal student loans. And even then, you should scrutinize the terms of the loan contract before you borrow. Here's why:"

3. Thank You for the Scholarship, by Kevin Kiley - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/mpsBUb - "Now that budgets are tight and fund-raising is difficult, however, some see compulsory thank-you notes as a tool to help ensure that donors stay connected to the college and see the benefits of their contributions, potentially leading to future donations."

4. 'College For All' Campaign Getting a Second Look, by Catherine Gewertz - http://t.co/GGkW3Is via @educationweek - "Two thirds of the jobs created in the United States by 2018 will require some postsecondary education, but of those, nearly half will go to people with occupational certificates or associate degrees, according to data cited in the report."

5. Federal Committee: Net-Price Calculators Have Potential, and Pitfalls - http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/federal-committee-net-price-calculators-have-potential-and-pitfalls/33604 - "Because the calculators will not be standardized, the report argues, prospective students may have a hard time comparing different colleges’ costs. The report also raises concerns that the calculators won’t be used by the neediest students, nor will they accurately compute merit aid."

6. Analysis Finds Graduation Rates Moving Up, by Christopher B. Swanson - http://t.co/khUzhW6 via @educationweek - "A new analysis of high school completion from the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center finds that the national graduation rate stands at 71.7 percent for the class of 2008, the most recent year for which data are available."

7. Summer Do's and Don'ts for College Applicants, by Peter Van Buskirk - The College Admissions Insider (usnews.com) - http://t.co/QEwJ2fU - "If you are a rising high school senior, how will you spend your summer months? The following do's and don'ts provide guidance in making good and productive choices."

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

250.Unstack the Odds-GO TO COLLEGE:STEPS 14-16

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

Joe Rottenborn

Executive Director, Mahoning Valley College Access Program (MVCAP)

18. GO TO COLLEGE: STEPS 14-16

14) If necessary, request “reconsiderations” of financial-aid packages.
If you can't afford to attend the college of your choice, you can ask your financial-aid officer to "reconsider" your financial-aid award; click: http://mvcap.blogspot.com/2010/04/50-ask-for-reconsideration.html

15) Decide a college to attend and which financial-aid package component(s) to accept.

133. If you must consider a private loan for college, shop around! Hit: http://mvcap.blogspot.com/2010/05/78-interest-rates-vary-for-private.html

134. If you need more financial aid for college, link to our MVCAP blog: http://mvcap.blogspot.com/2010/05/80-how-to-get-more-financial-aid.html

135. Once you know your financial-aid package, inquire what your first bill will be & when it's due; then, make sure you'll have money to pay it!

16) If eligible, complete and submit an MVCAP Last-Dollar Scholarship Application by June 1.

136. Advised by MVCAP, have an EFC <$4,000, & unmet need >$1,000? Apply: http://mvcap.blogspot.com/2010/03/46-mvcap-last-dollar-scholarship.html

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

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

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

43. Student Loan-Debt, Part II

To read about hazards of taking on too much loan-debt for college, click on the following links:

a. re: private loans--http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2010/02/25/money-college-why-one-student-advises-avoiding-private-student/

b. re: community college students-- http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2008-07-23-comcol-debt_N.htm?csp=usat.me