317. 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. Sign up to take ACT exam - http://www.vindy.com/news/2011/sep/03/sign-up-to-take-act-exam/ via Vindicator - "Registration is open for the Oct. 22 ACT achievement test. Students who wish to take the college admission and placement exam must register before Sept. 16."

2. Can a consultant get you into college? http://money.cnn.com/video/pf/2011/08/31/pf_college_admissions.cnnmoney/ via CNNMoney.com

3. An 'Instructor Like Me' by Scott Jaschik - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/nWyrHN via @AddThis - "Nonwhite students at community colleges are more likely to stay in classes and to earn higher grades if they have instructors of their race or ethnicity, according to a study released Monday by the National Bureau for Economic Research. But the same is true for white students, meaning that hiring more minority instructors may result in decreased performance by white students."

4. 15 Things You Need to Know About College Students, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://moneywatch.bnet.com/spending/blog/college-solution/15-things-you-need-to-know-about-college-students/6490/ via @cbsmoneywatch - "Student from wealthier families with incomes of at least $108,000 earn 55% of bachelor’s degree compared to the bottom income quartile of students (7%). Eighty two percent of students from families in the highest income quartile earn bachelor’s degrees compared with eight percent for the poorest Americans."

5. Student Success Depends on Public Accountability, by Jamie Vollmer - http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2011/08/31/02vollmer.h31.html via @educationweek -"America’s educators cannot teach all children to high levels because they are working in a system designed to do something else: select and sort young people for an industrial society that no longer exists; a system designed to leave children behind. We have a system problem, not a people problem."

6. Perry's College Plan: It's Just a Start, by Anthony P. Carnevale - Room for Debate - http://nyti.ms/ojMuQV - "Today, America's selective four-year colleges educate half the students, who are increasingly affluent and white; two-year colleges and the least-selective four-year schools educate the less fortunate, other half -- who are increasingly working class, Hispanic and African American. Elite four-year colleges enroll only 4 percent of students from low-income families, 6 percent of Hispanics, and 5 percent of African Americans."

7. College Costs: The Role of Rising Demands, by Stephen Joel Trachtenberg - Room for Debate - http://nyti.ms/pQbm6Y - "For decades, we have used the college experience as a halfway house between childhood and adulthood. If we make the college years leaner and meaner, then we must condition high school graduates for the new realities of higher education."

8. Slashing College Costs: A Glimpse of the Future, by Jane S. Shaw - Room for Debate - http://nyti.ms/qG8GHX - "When students and their parents conclude that the price of education is higher than its rewards, they will stay away, and the college “bubble” will burst. A tuition price war is the likely result, and Perry wants Texas to be ready."

9. China Isn't Cutting Education Investments, Marc Johnson - Room for Debate - http://nyti.ms/o3897u - "The decisions of state governments to rapidly reduce financial support for college education have led to the necessity of universities raising tuition. While the overall cost has not increased greatly, students are shouldering more of it."

10. Perry's Plan Will Help Control College Inflation, by David Guenthner - Room for Debate - http://nyti.ms/qxFxS8 - "College costs are quickly approaching a crisis point. Student loan debt has surpassed credit card debt, and the poor job market for recent college graduates is spurring a growing debate on whether a college degree is still worth it."

11. Investing in Human Resources, by Martha O'Connell - Room for Debate - http://nyti.ms/pKyekx - "As William Butler Yeats said, “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” . . . The true value of a college education should not be judged by a graduate’s ability to get that first job out of college, but rather to be prepared for jobs that have not yet been created and to have the ability to shift with changes that will occur throughout one’s lifetime."

12. QS World University Rankings 2011/12 - http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2011

13. Read The Joe Rottenborn Daily ▸ today's top stories about college access and success via @rottenbornj ▸ http://t.co/x7cmxSo

219.Unstack the Odds--Cost, Part 1

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

Executive Director, Mahoning Valley College Access Program (MVCAP)

11. Cost, Part 1

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

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

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