359. 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. Average student loan debt tops $25,000, by Blake Ellis - http://money.cnn.com/2011/11/03/pf/student_loan_debt/ via CNNMoney.com - "College seniors who took out loans to fund their college education owed an average of $25,250, 5% more than the class of 2009 owed, according to a report from the Institute for College Access & Success' Project on Student Debt."

3. U.S.-born children take fight over tuition to court, by Alan Gomez – http://usat.ly/uj42II via @USATODAY - "Now a Florida lawsuit is highlighting a rare practice of forbidding U.S.-born students — citizens by birth — from getting in-state tuition because their parents are illegal immigrants. Five students, all born in the U.S. to illegal immigrant parents, sued the state last month for denying them in-state tuition rates even though they'd lived in Florida, graduated from state high schools and were entering state colleges and universities."

4. American Students Gaze Across the Atlantic and See College, by Rebecca R. Ruiz: http://nyti.ms/tcSYKl - "At a time when more international students are choosing to study in the United States, a separate phenomenon is on the rise: that of American students choosing to spend their entire college experience abroad. Some international institutions have noted American students’ increased willingness to travel farther from home, which has prompted the schools to bolster their outreach efforts."

5. Report Finds Colleges Fail to Disclose Information, by Libby A. Nelson Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/uHHnRt via AddThis - "Three years after the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, which included new disclosure requirements for institutions, the majority of colleges are failing to provide public information on graduation rates for low-income students, and many do not adequately disclose other required information, according to a study published today by Education Sector and the American Enterprise Institute."

6. Essay: Focus student success efforts on what happens in the classroom, by Vincent Tinto Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/uHOQca via AddThis - "It is one thing to hold high expectations; it is another to provide the support students need to achieve them. At no time is support, in particular academic support, more important than during the critical first year of college when student success is still so much in question and still malleable to institutional intervention."

7. NAEP Scores Flat, Sun Rises Again, by Robert Slavin - http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/sputnik/2011/11/naep_scores_flat_sun_rises_again.html - "Recent research from Don Hernandez shows that for students not reading on grade level by 3rd grade, one in six did not graduate from high school on time. This rate is four times greater than that for proficient readers. If this doesn't sound an alarm, I don't know what will. Reading well is a fundamental necessity for learning in all other subjects from math to history, even art. Children who are not reading on grade level simply cannot reach their full potential in any other subject. Economically, this leads to immeasurable loss in untapped potential of our future workforce."

8. College Graduates’ Debt Burden Grew, Yet Again, in 2010, by Tamar Lewin - http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/03/education/average-student-loan-debt-grew-by-5-percent-in-2010.html?_r=1&hpw - “Student debt goes up and it doesn’t ever go down,” said Mark Kantrowitz, the publisher of Finaid.org and Fastweb.com, two Web sites that offer advice on paying for college. “We’re clearly heading in the direction of decreased college affordability. Among lower-income students, the canaries in the cage that squawk first, we’re already seeing a decline in enrollment in four-year colleges and an increase in lower-cost two-year institutions,” he said. Mr. Kantrowitz estimated that for the class of 2011, average debt was $27,200 — or, if parent loans were included, $34,000."

9. Is community college the best value in academia? by Daniel de Vise - College, Inc. -http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/college-inc/post/is-community-college-the-best-value-in-academia/2011/11/03/gIQA9xabiM_blog.html?tid=sm_btn_twitter via @washingtonpost -"Have you considered community college as a pathway to a four-year degree?"

10. Grab college major or lose career, by Jay Mathews - Class Struggle - http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/class-struggle/post/grab-college-major-or-lose-career/2011/11/02/gIQARHF5gM_blog.html?tid=sm_btn_twitter via @washingtonpost - "Using a sample of 62,218 first-time community college students in Washington state, researchers Davis Jenkins and Madeline Joy Weiss noted that students from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds, on average less likely to graduate, were also “less likely than higher SES students to enter a concentration, which we define as taking and passing at least three courses in a single field of study.”They were slowed by remedial courses, but even when they had a chance to pick majors, they weren’t quick and often did not see what choices would help them get jobs. The only majors with good career prospects that low-income students chose in large numbers were in nursing and other health fields."

331. 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. Thanks, but No Thanks, by Kevin Kiley - Inside Higher Ed - http://bit.ly/qxDuLn via AddThis - "The committee’s report notes that while U.S. News’ rankings are undoubtedly influential, college admissions officials and high school counselors question their value to students applying to college. . . . The committee’s report takes issue with the way the publication styles the rankings as the “Best Colleges” because the weights assigned to different metrics are essentially arbitrary."

2. Ambivalent on Agents, by Scott Jaschik and Kevin Kiley - Inside Higher Ed - http://bit.ly/pnw0bL via @AddThis - "At last year's NACAC meeting, he voiced skepticism about commission-based agents, saying that "this goes to the heart of the tension we’ve been experiencing for many years, which is what is the nature of what we do” in admissions. He said that the tension is a divide between viewing admissions as "connected to the educational mission" of academe and viewing admissions as "essentially sales."

3. The Secrets of a Good Principal, by Michael Winerip - http://nyti.ms/pkqboB - "Under state regulations, test scores can count for up to 40 percent of a teacher’s evaluation. “These tests are so unreliable; I wouldn’t count them 10 percent, 8 percent, 1 percent,” she said. “You don’t want teachers feeling belittled; you want them to keep their dignity so they can be at their best.”

4. Delay Kindergarten at Your Child’s Peril, by Sam Wang and Sandra Aamodt - http://nyti.ms/ofTr8j - "Parents who want to give their young children an academic advantage have a powerful tool: school itself. In a large-scale study at 26 Canadian elementary schools, first graders who were young for their year made considerably more progress in reading and math than kindergartners who were old for their year (but just two months younger). In another large study, the youngest fifth-graders scored a little lower than their classmates, but five points higher in verbal I.Q., on average, than fourth-graders of the same age. In other words, school makes children smarter."

5. The Complexity of ‘Fast Apps’ by Eric Hoover - https://chronicle.com/blogs/headcount/the-comlexity-of-fast-apps/28889 - "Several years ago, Vermont started using a fast app amid plans to grow its undergraduate enrollment by about 25 percent. The university sent its “VIP Application” to select prospects with specific test scores and self-reported grade-point averages. The pitch: recipients would pay no application fee and receive a decision within 21 days. The application was relatively short, and required an essay (though not a “new” one). That strategy helped Vermont expand its applicant pool. In 2002, the university received 9,800 applications; for this year’s freshman class, it received more than 22,000."

6. Top 10 Myths About Scholarships, by Beckie Supiano - https://chronicle.com/blogs/headcount/top-ten-myths-about-scholarships/28862 - "For all of the good information available to help students figure out how to pay for college, there are also more than a few urban legends about who gets money and why. Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of the web sites FinAid and FastWeb, tried to clear up some of these misunderstandings at a session of the NACAC meeting here on Friday, where he shared ten myths about college scholarships."

7. American students abroad pushed out of 'bubbles' by Justin Pope – http://usat.ly/olZP12 via @USATODAY - "After decades of laissez-faire and faith that just breathing the air in foreign lands broadens horizons, American colleges and international programs are pressing students harder to get out of their comfort zones. It's happening in popular destinations as well as more exotic spots in Asia and Africa, where there are fewer Americans, but language and culture barriers make them even more tempted to stick together."

8. Rethinking Pre-K: 5 Ways to Fix Preschool, by Kayla Webley - http://ti.me/qIi4a0 via @TIME - "Take two kids, one from a low-income family, the other middle class. Let them run around and do little-kid things in their respective homes and then, at age 5, enroll them in kindergarten. When the first day of school rolls around, research shows that the child from the low-income household will be as many as 1.5 years behind grade level in terms of language and prereading and premath skills. The middle-class kid will be as many as 1.5 years ahead. This means that, by the time these two 5-years-old start school, the achievement gap between them is already as great as three years."

9. Guest post: Get out your net-price calculator, by Bob Clement - College, Inc. - http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/college-inc/post/guest-post-get-out-your-net-price-calculator/2011/09/22/gIQA8XVjqK_blog.html via Washingtonpost.com -"One thing is certain: as of Oct. 29, any prospective college student that doesn’t ask, “What is this college really going to cost me?” will be making a poorly informed decision. Similarly, any institution that doesn’t provide a useful and accurate answer to that question may risk losing the trust of its most savvy prospects and their parents."

10. Read The Joe Rottenborn Daily ▸ today's top stories on college access and success via @rottenbornj ▸ http://t.co/xt4njNy8

172. 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. Report: First two years of college show small gains, by Mary Beth Marklein - http://usat.ly/eajgcx - RT @USATODAY

"After two years in college, 45% of students showed no significant gains in learning; after four years, 36% showed little change. Students also spent 50% less time studying compared with students a few decades ago, the research shows."

2. Can college students learn as well on iPads, e-books? by Mary Beth Marklein - http://usat.ly/cWw5WH - RT @USATODAY

"Compared with traditional textbooks, the iPad and other devices for reading digital bookshave the potential to save on textbook costs in the long term, to provide students with more and better information faster, and — no small matter — to lighten the typical college student's backpack."

3. Part 5: Answers to Readers' Questions on Financial Aid, by Mark Kantrowitz - http://nyti.ms/gCr1LA

"Most parent assets are sheltered by the need analysis formula, and the worst-case impact is a reduction of up to 5.64 percent of the asset. Money in the student’s name, on the other hand, reduces aid eligibility by 20 percent of the asset value."

4. Part 6: Answers to Readers’ Questions on Financial Aid, by Mark Kantrowitz - http://nyti.ms/eViPpM

"The asterisk next to your EFC means that your Fafsa has been selected for verification. The college will ask you for copies of the documents corresponding to the information submitted on the Fafsa, such as a copy of your federal income tax return and W-2 and 1099 statements. The purpose of verification is to ensure the accuracy of the information provided on the Fafsa. It is not the same as an audit."

5. Last of 7 Parts: Answers to Readers’ Questions on Financial Aid, by Mark Kantrowitz - http://nyti.ms/fZRh0O

"If a dependent student’s parent fails to file a required federal income tax return, the Fafsa will be rejected and the student will be ineligible for federal student aid until the parents file their tax returns. Likewise, if the parents provide some income figures on the Fafsa but are unable to supply a federal income tax return when the Fafsa is selected for verification, the student will be ineligible for federal student aid if their income is above the threshold at which a federal income tax return is required."

6. How Much Do College Students Learn, and Study? by Jacques Steinberg - http://nyti.ms/ieTUIA

"They note, for example, that students “who spent more hours studying alone” had greater gains on the standardized exam being used as a benchmark, as did students who took courses requiring “significant” reading and writing."

7. The Growth of For-Profits, by Scott Jaschik - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/evB8sW

"The rise in the for-profit sector is not the only notable shift. Within the category of "undergraduate instructional program," the new edition shows the shift among institutions toward a greater pre-professional focus. There was an increase of 115 institutions -- or 17 percent -- in the grouping of institutions that (while having some liberal arts offerings) awarded more than 60 percent of their bachelor’s degrees in professional fields."

8. 'Academically Adrift,' by Scott Jaschik - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/f8Kc4j

‎"Students majoring in liberal arts fields see "significantly higher gains in critical thinking, complex reasoning, and writing skills over time than students in other fields of study." Students majoring in business, education, social work and communications showed the smallest gains."

9. 4 Hints to Avoid Missing Scholarship Deadlines, by Matt Konrad - The Scholarship Coach (usnews.com): http://t.co/63SymAr

"Virtually every scholarship has its own deadline, and it can seem like there's no rhyme or reason to when they fall—all of which makes keeping track of them turn into more work than applying. Fortunately, there are some good tools and useful rules of thumb that can help keep you on track:"

10. 9 Ways To Save On Textbooks - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/17/9-ways-to-save-on-textboo_n_809905.html#s224991&title=OpenSource_It

‎"There are ways to avoid the insanely expensive textbook trap. . . . here are nine things you can do to save money . . . ."

11. Study Suggests U.S. Colleges Fail to Challenge Undergrads, by Caralee Adams - http://t.co/cW8qr8E

"When freshman were interviewed for the study, they often said they were were surprised at how easy college was. They also were often driven more by getting a degree than by obtaining knowledge. "Students have become increasingly obsessed with the idea of a credential that can be traded for labor market success," Arum said. "They are finding ways to navigate the system with minimal effort."

12. Carnegie Class Update Shows Boom in For-Profit and Professional Ed, by Scott Carlson -http://chronicle.com/article/Carnegie-Classification-Update/125982/

"Since 2005, when the foundation last made major revisions in its classification system and updated its list, it has added 483 institutions, for a total of 4,633. Of those new institutions, 77 percent were private, for-profit entities, while 4 percent were public and 19 percent were private, nonprofit. (The vast majority of the new for-profit institutions were two-year colleges.)"

13. 'Trust Us' Won't Cut It Anymore, by Kevin Carey - http://chronicle.com/article/Trust-Us-Wont-Cut-It/125978/

"The results for black students were particularly sobering. It turns out that the racial achievement gaps that shock the conscience in K-12 education get worse when students go to college."

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170. 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. Students' rights weighed as colleges try to assess threats, by Mary Beth Marklein - http://usat.ly/fwBHh2 - RT @USATODAY

‎"Two states — Virginia and Illinois — now legally require such teams and 80% of colleges nationwide have started them since the 2007 massacre at Virginia Tech that left 32 people dead. . . . Since April 2007, news reports show that at least 67 people have been killed and 69 others injured in attacks by U.S. college students."

2. High School Juniors, Start Your Engines, by Lee A. Culbertson - http://nyti.ms/hkyUJb

"Juniors are already itching and beginning to ask, “What should I be doing now?” First, breathe. Remember, “College is a match to be made, not a prize to be won” (Frank Sachs, the Blake School). When you make a list of colleges that you’d like to explore, consider investigating what is most important to you, and then begin to draft your preliminary list."

3. Part 3: Answers to Readers' Questions on Financial Aid, by Mark Kantrowitz - http://nyti.ms/fBS7IH

‎"Money in retirement plans, the family home and small businesses owned and controlled by the family have no impact on federal aid. As a result, parent assets affect the EFC of less than 4% of dependent students. You should, however, save money in the parent’s name, not the child’s. Child assets have a much more severe impact on the EFC."

4. College Is Still Worth It, by Anthony Carnevale - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/gWNYhv

"The most persuasive evidence that the BLS numbers are wrong are earnings data, which show that employers across the country pay a "wage premium" to college graduates, even in occupations that BLS does not consider "college" jobs. This simply means that businesses pay more money to workers with degrees than to those without because employers believe that postsecondary educated workers are more valuable."

5. Second GOALS study emphasizes coach influence, by Gary Brown - http://t.co/4Q8FYQ2 - Latest News - NCAA.org

"Athletics participation was the most-often reported reason for choosing a college (at least 75 percent of the time in all sport cohorts). Academics generally was a close second, followed by the institution’s proximity to home."

6. Five Reasons to Apply for Financial Aid, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://t.co/2cGUgxs

‎"Parents grumble about applying for financial aid, but there are excellent reasons why most families should take the time to fill out the cumbersome financial aid applications. If you are on the fence about filling out the FAFSA, here are five reasons to apply for financial aid."

7. NCAA Rejects Plan to Block Early Scholarships - http://t.co/245Bnxi via @educationweek

"The NCAA squashed a proposal Thursday that would have stopped college coaches from offering scholarships to students as young as middle-schoolers. . . . The legislative council also voted down tougher academic restrictions for incoming basketball players at the NCAA's annual convention."

8. High Achievers Scarce in Math, Science in U.S., by Erik W. Robelen - http://t.co/XKGAuOb via @educationweek

"Only about 10 percent of U.S. students scored in the two highest achievement categories in math on the Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA, well short of the figures for a host of other nations, from South Korea and Japan to France, Germany, and New Zealand

. . . . In science, the U.S. position was more favorable, but not dramatically so."

9. Researcher Finds Easy Solution for Test Anxiety - http://t.co/APRTEDK via @educationweek

‎"The report in Friday's edition of the journal Science says students who spend 10 minutes before an exam writing about their thoughts and feelings can free up brainpower previously occupied by testing worries and do their best work."

10. Facing New Cuts, California's Colleges Are Shrinking Their Enrollments, by Josh Keller - http://chronicle.com/article/Facing-New-Cuts-Californias/125945/

"I'll tell students in my presentations that if you want to leave the state, good for you," Ms. Ponce says. "We have too many people in the state of California. We need someone to leave right now."Many of the students are in denial, she adds. Their parents don't understand how the landscape has shifted. "I will break out the numbers, and they kind of look at me in complete confusion," she says. "They have no idea."

11. A Lesson on Urban Identity, by Matthew Amaral - http://www.educationnews.org/blogs/105853.html

“Can you be Ghetto and successful?” I tell them they can’t talk about drug-dealers, rappers, athletes, or other entertainers--we’re talking about real careers. . . . This is something that will really come into focus on a college campus when a majority of the students are NOT like them."

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

"Colleges do have flexibility in how they reduce the aid package. Some colleges will substitute the scholarship for their own grant funds, yielding no net financial benefit to the student. Other colleges will let the scholarship replace the loans, effectively reducing the out-of-pocket cost to the student. How the college reduces the need-based aid package will be specified in the college’s outside scholarship policy."

2. Gunning for the GAO, by Doug Lederman - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/f02H1O

"The report -- commissioned and released by the Coalition for Educational Success and conducted by the consulting firm Norton/Norris, which conducts its own "mystery shopper" reviews for what its principals say is a mix of for-profit and nonprofit colleges -- documents what its authors say are dozens of misrepresentations by the government agency that when taken together, they assert, seriously undermine its conclusions."

3. A Program Is Not a Plan, by John N. Gardner and Andrew K. Koch - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/dRCCXz

"Simply stated, higher education institutions in the United States focus heavily on student success programs, but rarely do they have a comprehensive plan to guide those programs. In the absence of a plan, redundancies and gaps occur, and retention stagnates. In short, a program or programs do not a successful plan make."

4. Tense time for workers, as career paths fade away, by Rick Hampson - http://usat.ly/gHOPfN - RT @USATODAY

"Although most economists expect the U.S. job market to register at least small gains this year, many Americans who have a job still fear losing it. Many who don't have a job fear they never will find one. And many in both camps worry that the recession, which officially ended a year and a half ago, speeded up inevitable changes in the workplace."

5. University Of Phoenix Enrollment Plunges 42% - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/12/university-of-phoenix-enr_n_807934.html

‎"The university and other for-profit colleges have recently faced increasing government and media scrutiny, due in large part to high student loan default rates, nefarious recruiting practices and low graduation rates. The average for-profit college graduation rate is 22 percent."

6. Dartmouth College, University of Chicago Get Record Undergrad Applications, by Janet Lorin - http://t.co/OmHcoNB via @BloombergNow

"Dartmouth’s total for the next academic year rose 16 percent to more than 21,700, from 18,778 a year earlier, Maria Laskaris, dean of admissions and financial aid, said today in a statement. Chicago’s total increased 12 percent to 21,669, from 19,374 a year earlier. . . ."

7. Tucson Shootings Suspect Worried College Officials, by Marc Lacey and Serge F. Kovaleski - http://nyti.ms/gndwj8

"Over all, there were seven contacts between Mr. Loughner and campus police in seven months, including two in one week. He clearly was on the radar screen of the authorities, though the documents suggest that they were uncertain how much of a threat he might be, or unclear on how to respond to him."

8. Dealing With Mental Disorders on Campus - Room for Debate - http://nyti.ms/i4alvb

"What are colleges to do with mentally disturbed students, given limited budgets and resources? What is the extent of a college's responsibility for keeping track of thousands of students, who may not be living on campus?"

9. For-Profits Break Monopoly on What College Can Be, by Peter Wood - http://chronicle.com/blogs/innovations/for-profit-colleges-on-the-brink-part-4/28299

"The deep value of for-profit education is that it breaks the practical monopoly on what a college can be."

10. Second-guessing red flags, action taken in Tucson case, by Mary Beth Marklein and Brad Heath - http://usat.ly/e0YWp1 - RT @USATODAY

‎"The college suspended Loughner last year for classroom and library disruptions, according to a statement from the school. Officials briefed his parents, and told Loughner to come back only after a mental health professional had assessed that he was not a danger to himself or others. After that, "there was no further college contact with Loughner," the college says."

11. Jared L. Loughner's Troubles at Pima Community College - http://documents.nytimes.com/jared-loughner-pima-community-college-documents?ref=us

Pima Community College released 51 pages of public safety reports and documents related to Jared L. Loughner, the former student charged with the mass shooting in Tucson."

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168. MVCAP fyi

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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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