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Showing posts with label U. of Phoenix. Show all posts
Showing posts with label U. of Phoenix. Show all posts

Thursday, January 13, 2011

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."


‎"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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Thursday, December 23, 2010

159. 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. Common Application Users Find Glitch In Common, Too, by Jacques Steinberg - http://nyti.ms/hrIqxS

"When he would follow the program’s instructions to execute a “print preview” of his answers — which would show him the actual version that an admissions officer would see, as opposed to the raw work-in-progress on his screen — his responses were invariably cut off at the margin, in midsentence or even midword."

2. Showdown in the Offing - http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/12/23/top_republican_vows_legislation_to_stop_rules_on_for_profit_colleges

"One possible scenario has House Republicans putting forward 2011 budget legislation in early March that would cut the Pell Grant Program or slash Head Start or other Democratic priorities -- but would soften those stances in exchange for an amendment to the legislation that gutted gainful employment."

3. 46% Of Fed Loans To For-Profits Will Go Into Default - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/23/46-percent-default-rate-o_n_800283.html

‎"The staggering percentage of defaulted loans at proprietary institutions may garner support for federal efforts to regulate such colleges and provide a boost for the DoE's proposed "gainful employment" rule, which would screen for-profit institutions according to their students' ability to repay loans. Essentially, the rule would test the likelihood that students will graduate and then become gainfully employed."

4. For-Profit College Loan Fail, by Andy Kroll - http://t.co/NCkkTI5 via @motherjones

"The DoE's regulations would mandate that for-profit college graduates earn enough to repay their federal loans, or else the schools could lose access to federal loan funding. That would be a serious blow to much of the industry, which relies on such funds to survive. Most colleges receive 75 percent of more of their revenue in federal loan funding; at others, like the University of Phoenix's parent company, Apollo Group, federal dollars comprise upwards of 90 percent of the revenue. (The legal limit is exactly 90 percent.)"

5. At Kaplan U., 'Guerilla Registration' Leaves Students Deep in Debt, by Chris Kirkham - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/22/kaplan-university-guerilla-registration_n_799741.html?ir=College

"Far from an aberration, Castillo's experience typifies the results of a practice known informally inside Kaplan as "guerrilla registration": academic advisors have long enrolled students in classes they never take, without their consent and sometimes even after they have sought to withdraw from the university, in order to maximize the company's revenues, according to interviews with former employees."


"Across education and industry, research by Mr. Sackett; Neal Schmitt, a psychology professor at Michigan State University in East Lansing; and others shows the biggest predictor of success is a student’s conscientiousness, as measured by such traits as dependability, perseverance through tasks, and work ethic. Agreeableness, including teamwork, and emotional stability were the next-best predictors of college achievement, followed by variations on extroversion and openness to new experiences, Mr. Sackett found."


"But Republicans, who will control the House come January, are already signaling that they may not be so generous in the future. In a news release issued today, the incoming chairman of the House Appropriations Committee described the additional Pell money as a “bailout” for the program."

8. Top Colleges Reconsider R.O.T.C. After ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Vote, by Tamar Lewin and Anemona Hartocollis - http://nyti.ms/efkKY0

"The R.O.T.C., which has units on 327 campuses nationwide, was sent packing from several Ivy League and other prominent campuses in the late 1960s and early 1970s, in the firestorm of student protests against the Vietnam War. More recently, though, it has faced opposition because of discrimination against gay men and lesbians in the military."



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Friday, December 10, 2010

150. 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. Gunfight at the For-Profit Corral, by Doug Lederman - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/ghlBJV

"The damaging information in the GAO report knocked career college officials back on their heels, giving credence to Democratic politicians' assertions that "bad actors" in the sector needed significantly more regulation, and implying (because the inquiry uncovered problems at all 15 of the colleges visited) that there might actually be a lot of tainted players. The report's release also, not unimportantly to some observers, drove down the companies' stock prices sharply."

2. An Unequal Burden, by Dan Berrett - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/hd06eL

“Divorced or separated parents contributed significantly less than married parents -- in absolute dollars, as a proportion of their income, and as a proportion of their children’s financial need,” Ruth N. López Turley, associate professor of sociology at Rice University, and Matthew Desmond, a junior fellow at Harvard University, say in their article, “Contributions to College Costs by Married, Divorced, and Remarried Parents.”

3. Unconventional Wisdom, by Jack Stripling - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/fzbfFE

"The paper lays out in stark detail one of higher education’s most vexing questions: How is it that a nation can spend more than it did 20 years ago on postsecondary education, admit more students to college, and still have stagnant if not worsening completion rates? Perhaps, the authors argue, it’s because colleges invest in what sounds good instead of figuring out what works well."

4. For-Profit Colleges Cash In On Veterans, by Chris Kirkham - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/09/vets-enrollment-in-forpro_n_794555.html?ir=College

"A report released today by the Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which has been examining aggressive recruitment practices and high student loan default rates in the burgeoning for-profit education industry over the past several months, shows the share of their revenue coming from veterans has increased fivefold from 2008 to 2010."

5. Public Blames Graduation Rates On College Students: Poll - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/09/public-blames-grad-rates-_n_794255.html

"The AP-Stanford University poll also shows that people mostly blame students and their parents for poor college graduation rates. And they give high marks to all sectors of American higher education including for-profit colleges, despite recent criticism of dubious recruiting tactics, high student loan default rates and other problems at some schools. Asked where the blame lies for graduation rates at public four-year -year colleges, 7 in 10 said students shouldered either a great deal or a lot of it, and 45 percent felt that way about parents. Between about a quarter and a third blamed college administrators, professors, teachers, unions, state education officials and federal education officials."


"Below, see the 13 highest-paid football coaches based on their total compensation (some coaches are afforded lucrative maximum bonuses, which can increase their salary package by hundreds of thousands of dollars.) Check out USA Today for the full list."

7. Virginia Tech Violated Clery Act In 2007 Mass Shooting, by Dena Potter - http://huff.to/i6f6fn Huffpost

"Virginia Tech's failure to issue timely warnings about the serious and ongoing threat deprived its students and employees of vital, time-sensitive information and denied them the opportunity to take adequate steps to provide for their own safety," the report stated."

8. Poverty affected U.S. PISA scores, by Stephen Krashen - http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/research/how-poverty-affected-us-pisa-s.html

"But data available now tells us that poverty, as usual, had a huge impact on PISA reading test scores for American students. American students in schools with less than 10% of students on free and reduced lunch averaged 551, higher than the overall average of any OECD [Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development] country. Those in schools with 10% to 25% of students qualifying for free and reduced lunch averaged 527, which was behind only Korea and Finland. In contrast, American students in schools with 75% or more of children in poverty averaged 446, second to last among the 34 OECD countries."

9. Key Senator Raises Concerns on Veterans' Benefits to For-Profit Colleges, by Kelly Field -http://chronicle.com/article/Harkin-Questions-Flow-of/125677/

"According to the report, one reason for-profit colleges focus on veterans and service members is because their tuition benefits can count as a nonfederal source of money, helping the colleges remain eligible for other sources of student aid. Over the past five years, veteran and military tuition benefits flowing to 20 of the largest for-profit colleges grew about 700 percent, from $66.6-million in 2006 to a projected $521.2-million in 2010, says the report.
In the conference call, Mr. Harkin said it "makes no sense" that tuition benefits aren't counted toward the federal share of the 90-10 formula."


"In 2009, the proportion of Phoenix students completing an associate degree within three years of enrolling was 23 percent, down from 26 percent the year before. Among bachelor’s degree students, the six-year completion rate was 34 percent, versus 36 percent the previous year."

11. Jonathan Curtiss, Boise State U., as told to Beckie Supiano - http://chronicle.com/article/Say-Something-A-Students/125656/

In this video, hear from a student about his decision--including the role his church played--to leave South Central L.A. to attend Boise State U.

12. Urban Education: The State of Urban Schooling at the Start of 21st Century, by Martin Haberman - http://www.educationnews.org/ed_reports/104105.html

"Since 1962 the achievement gap between disadvantaged populations and more affluent ones has widened. At one extreme urban school districts graduate half or fewer of their students. (Arbanas, 2001) At the other extreme 11% of American students are now among the top 10 percent of world achievers. “If you’re in the top economic quarter of the population, your children have a 76% chance of getting through college and graduating by age 24. . . . If you’re in the bottom quarter, however, the figure is 4 %.” (Loeb, 1999) White students’ achievement in reading, math and science ranks 2nd, 7th and 4th when compared with students worldwide. Black and Hispanic students however rank 26, 27th and 27th on these basic skills. (Bracey, 2002)

13. Half of pupils on free school meals can't read, by Richard Garner - Education News, Education - The Independent http://ind.pn/hDuf6u

"These figures reveal that our education system is letting down half of all 10 and 11-year-old boys who qualify for free school meals," said Schools minister Nick Gibb."

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Thursday, December 2, 2010

144. 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. Grief Interrupts an Idyllic Freshman Year, by Ann Derry - http://nyti.ms/hEfnhZ

"You can spend four years preparing for college, get into the college of your choice, set off on your big adventure, and yet your life can change permanently along the way."

2. Information Unstacks the Deck, by Dan Berrett - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/gbv053

‎"Bridget Terry Long, professor of education and economics at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education, says that, while the economic benefits of a postsecondary degree have been well documented, the escalating price tag and rates of default on student loans make the prospect of attending college an increasingly risky proposition. “Giving students and their families better information would enable them to avoid unworthy college investments that would leave them with substantial debt and little in the form of skills,” Long writes in her paper, "Grading Higher Education: Giving Consumers the Information They Need."

3. New Data, No Better Results, by Doug Lederman - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/e6RpZO

"Men and women graduated at roughly comparable rates, but there were significant differences by race: 45.5 percent of Asian students had earned bachelor's degrees in six years, compared to 36.4 percent of white students, 16.9 percent of Hispanic, 16.7 percent of black, and 27.3 percent of mixed race students."


"The Phoenix-based company expects new-student enrollments to decline roughly 40% in the current quarter, which ends Nov. 30, as it changes the way it compensates admissions counselors and introduces new student orientation meetings. The meetings are designed to ensure that a larger proportion of beginning students are qualified to complete their degree programs but also might result in some dropouts."


"Which American cities boast the most cerebral residents? According to Portfolio, Boulder, Colo. takes the No. 1 spot. Using new American Community Survey data, Portfolio assessed the average level of higher education obtained by the residents of 200 cities, coupled with their relative earning power of adults who live in them."

6. More Students with Disabilities Attending College, Volunteering, by Christina Samuels - http://t.co/3mpo08X via @educationweek

‎"The researchers compared student information gathered in 1990 to reports gathered in 2005. According to the report, within four years of leaving high school, 46 percent of young adults in 2005 were reported to have enrolled in a postsecondary school versus 26 percent in 1990. The gains spanned across a broad range of postsecondary programs: an 18 percentage-point increase in community college enrollment, a 13 percentage-point increase in postsecondary vocational, business, or technical school enrollment and a 9 percentage-point difference in enrollment at four-year universities."

7. A Mission to Transform Baltimore’s Beaten Schools, by Sabrina Tavernise - http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/02/education/02baltimore.html?_r=1&hp

"Not everyone likes Dr. Alonso’s methods, and many find that his brassy self-confidence can grate. But few are arguing with his results. Since he was hired, the dropout rate has fallen by half, more students are graduating and for the first time in many years, the system has gained students instead of losing them."

8. Half of All First-Time Students Earn Credentials Within 6 Years, by Beckie Supiano - http://chronicle.com/article/Half-of-All-First-Time/125585/

"By the end of the six-year period, 9 percent of the students earned certificates, 9 percent associate degrees, and 31 percent bachelor's degrees. The numbers are similar to those of the last cohort the department followed, which began college in 1995-6.
Among students who began at public two-year colleges, 9 percent earned certificates, 14 percent associate degrees, and 12 percent bachelor's degrees. Among those who began at four-year colleges, 2 percent received certificates, 5 percent associate degrees, and 58 percent bachelor's degrees."

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Tuesday, November 30, 2010

142. 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. College students on break fix others' lives, by Betty Klinck - http://usat.ly/h1QOQ5 - RT @USATODAY

"About 72,000 students went on "alternative" break trips in 2009, most of them spring break. But of 1,430 winter, spring, summer and weekend alternative breaks, about 140 were during winter break, says Samantha Giacobozzi, programs director for Break Away, an alternative-break resource that represents more than 140 participating colleges."

2. To-Do (and To-Don't) Lists for Parents, by Sue Biemeret - http://nyti.ms/fWkQmK

"But you need to let your child be responsible for this process. Sure, he may need some prodding along the way — OK, “prodding” could be euphemistic for “begging and pleading” — but, in the end, this is your child’s college search, not yours. The more you do, the less your child will."

3. Spokesperson Confirms Apollo Layoffs, by Teresa Rivas - http://on.wsj.com/heZvCB

“In recent months, we have accelerated the shift in our approach to student admissions, and have refined our business model. These staffing reductions are intended to better align our operations with these business decisions,” Clark wrote in an email."

4. College Application Essay Increasing in Importance, by Caralee Adams - http://t.co/BM9LXKN via @educationweek

"The essay was rated of "considerable importance" in the admission decision by 27 percent of admissions officers in 2009, compared to 14 percent in 1993, according to the 2010 College Admissions Report by the National Association for College Admission Counseling. With so many more students applying to college now and increased competition for spots at selective schools, the essay is a quick way to get a thumbnail sketch of an applicant, says David Hawkins, director of public policy and research for the NACAC. It's a way to get a sense of the applicant's writing ability and personality, he says."

5. Education Week: Study Points to Fewer 'Dropout Factory' Schools, by Sarah D. Sparks - http://t.co/FS6p2gH via @educationweek

‎"The study suggests that a combination of state economic concerns and federal accountability pressure has helped drive up the national graduation rate from 72 percent in 2001 to 75 percent in 2008, the most recent federal graduation estimate. Black, Hispanic, and Native American students made some of the greatest gains, but more than 40 percent of those students still did not graduate on time as of 2008."

6. Workers seek new skills at community colleges, but classes are full, by Peter Whoriskey - http://t.co/z0dlgUi via @washingtonpost

"All over the United States, community college enrollments have surged with unemployed and underemployed people seeking new skills. But just as workers have turned to community colleges, states have cut their budgets, forcing the institutions to turn away legions of students and stymieing the efforts to retrain the workforce."

7. Does It Matter Where You Go to College? - Room for Debate - http://nyti.ms/dSSsLX

8. What You Do vs. Where You Go, by Marth (Marty) O'Connell - Room for Debate - http://nyti.ms/fN7ly5

"The key to success in college and beyond has more to do with what students do with their time during college than where they choose to attend. A long-term study of 6,335 college graduates published by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that graduating from a college where entering students have higher SAT scores -- one marker of elite colleges -- didn't pay off in higher post-graduation income. Researchers found that students who applied to several elite schools but didn't attend them -- either because of rejection or by their own choice -- are more likely to earn high incomes later than students who actually attended elite schools."

9. Yes, College Choice Makes a Difference, by Richard D. Kahlenberg - Room for Debate - http://nyti.ms/iag5Ki

"While people might assume that it is harder to get through an academically rigorous college, in fact a student is more likely to graduate from a selective institution than a less selective one, controlling for initial ability. For example, Anthony Carnevale and Jeff Strohl’s Century Foundation study found that among students scoring between 1200 and 1300 on the SAT, 96 percent graduate from the most selective colleges, compared with 78 percent at the least selective."

10. Lifelong Benefit: Access to Money and Power, by Anthony P. Carnevale- Room for Debate - http://nyti.ms/eHazJl

"Our dilemma is that, although selective institutions produce excellence, they are also reproducing inequality. The elite colleges are increasingly white and affluent. The least selective four-year colleges and community colleges are increasingly home to disproportionate concentrations of low-income students as well as African-American and Hispanic youth. And less than 5 percent of students at elite colleges come from the bottom quartile of family income."

11. Merit and Race, by Luis Fuentes-Rohwer - Room for Debate - http://nyti.ms/hoL7WR

"This point raises the question of who is a racial minority worthy of special consideration. For example, fewer and fewer historically disadvantaged African-American students are being admitted to elite colleges. Increasingly, elite colleges are admitting biracial students and first- or second-generation black students from the Caribbean and from Africa. Historically disadvantaged African-American students are being left behind in the elite college lottery. This is a tragedy. This also underscores the remaining importance of our historically black colleges and universities.
The question is similarly complicated with respect to Latino applicants. For example, should Cuban Americans with on average higher socioeconomic status be treated the same as Mexican Americans or Puerto Ricans? How about recent migrants from Central and South America?"

12. Skip the Admissions Game, by Kevin Carey - Room for Debate - http://nyti.ms/fztWiP

"The only way we know how to rate college quality in this country is by wealth, fame, and exclusivity. But most students -- about four out of five --attend colleges that have modest resources, are easy to get into, and are relatively obscure. Lacking any other way to distinguish among these choices, these students usually attend whichever college is cheapest and closest to home."

13. Graduate School Matters More, by David W. Breneman - Room for Debate - http://nyti.ms/eFu1DZ

"Performing at a high level in a good quality but not highly prestigious college may give a student a better chance of getting into graduate or professional school than being lost in the middle of the pack in a highly selective institution. The quality of graduate or professional school will matter more in the long run to a student’s success in life than the ranking of the undergraduate college."

14. The Specialization Trade-off, by James Shulman - Room for Debate - http://nyti.ms/fDx8l3

"Upon graduation, students at these highly selective institutions will find that firms that recruit talented people would rather search in 20 places, which have already sorted people on the basis of talent, than in 200. Being at one of those 20 places puts a person in the field of vision of those who are looking for talent. Because of these opportunities in college and beyond, the scarcest resource an elite college manages is a place in the entering class."

15. U.S. School Graduation Rate Is Found to Be Rising, by Sam Dillon - http://nyti.ms/hFU3kq

"The report cites two statistics. The national graduation rate increased to 75 percent in 2008, from 72 percent in 2001. And the number of high schools that researchers call dropout factories — based on a formula that compares a school’s 12th-grade enrollment with its 9th-grade enrollment three years earlier — declined to about 1,750 in 2008, from about 2,000 such schools in 2002."

16. Diversity Remains Fleeting on College Governing Boards, Surveys Find, by Paul Fain - http://chronicle.com/article/Diversity-Remains-Fleeting-on/125566/

"The older age of board members and their lack of diversity may be related, said Merrill P. Schwartz, the association's director of research and author of the reports. Minorities and women were much less likely to attend college during most trustees' prime college-going years, when many institutions were just beginning to admit them."Our boards look more like folks who graduated college 30 years ago," Ms. Schwartz said."

17. The New Conservative Critique of Higher Education, by Frank Donoghue http://chronicle.com/blogs/innovations/the-new-conservative-critique-of-higher-ed/27902

"But to do so we would eventually have to find an alternative to our current byzantine and often life-crushing financial-aid system, so largely dependent on borrowed money. The easy availability of students loans is, I believe, setting the stage for a meltdown similar to the subprime mortgage crisis, as waves of students will graduate unable to pay their debt."




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Thursday, November 25, 2010

139. 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. Net-Price Calculator: The Latest Buzzword for College-Bound Families, by Jacques Steinberg - http://nyti.ms/dMK35D

‎"It is an online device called the “net price calculator,” and colleges and universities will be required by the federal government to have their own versions on their Web sites beginning late next year. The expectation is that families considering a particular institution will be able to enter basic information — household income, savings, mortgage, number of other family members in college — and a program will respond with estimated costs for that college."


"The median debt of for-profit college graduates -- $31,190 -- far outpaces that of private non-profit college graduates, which stands at $17,040, and is more than triple the median debt for those from public colleges, which is $7,960. The University of Phoenix had one of the lower graduation rates at five percent, though the school said in a statement that when all of its students are accounted for -- not just those in federal data -- its graduation rate for bachelor's degree seekers rises to 36 percent."

3. International Students: 8 Things To Know About Attending American Colleges, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://t.co/aqjj4SC

‎"If you want to study abroad in the United States some day, here are eight things that prospective international students need to know:"

4. School Demographics Can Add to Social Cost of Achievement, by Sarah D. Sparks - http://t.co/f1eSdef via @educationweek

‎"The authors found black and Native American adolescents each had significantly higher social costs associated with academic success than did white students, and the social cost was greatest for students who were part of a racial minority in a high-achieving school. Interestingly, this occurred whether or not white students or another racial group made up the majority of the students. "The main interpretation is these schools are likely to create a more competitive environment, and any competitive environment will increase tensions between groups," Fuller-Rowell said. Moreover, in a highly competitive school, "It's difficult to achieve highly without engaging in behaviors that are visible to peers" such as speaking out in class or participating in clubs, he said."

5. 12th Grade NAEP Scores Are Meaningless, by Diane Ravitch - http://t.co/jyZjs3X via @educationweek

"The National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB), which oversees NAEP, has known for years that 12th graders don't try to do well on the tests. The students know that the tests don't count, that there are no individual scores, that no one will ever know if they did well or poorly, and they are not motivated to do their best."

6. Harvard Revisits Policy on Early Admissions, by Eric Hoover http://chronicle.com/blogs/headcount/harvard-u-revisits-policy-on-early-admissions/27740

"William R. Fitzsimmons, Harvard’s dean of admissions and financial aid, told the Crimson that the university was reviewing the success of moving to a single application deadline in 2007. “We’re in the midst of a major study,” Mr. Fitzsimmons said. “At the moment, we don’t anticipate any changes, but we’re a dynamic institution.”

7. This Raging Fire, by Bob Herbert - http://nyti.ms/9Jjsc2

"We know by now, of course, that the situation is grave. We know that more than a third of black children live in poverty; that more than 70 percent are born to unwed mothers; that by the time they reach their mid-30s, a majority of black men without a high school diploma has spent time in prison. We know all this, but no one seems to know how to turn things around. No one has been able to stop this steady plunge of young black Americans into a socioeconomic abyss.
Now comes a report from the Council of the Great City Schools that ought to grab the attention of anyone who cares about black youngsters, starting with those parents who have shortchanged their children on a scale so monstrous that it is difficult to fully grasp. The report, titled “ Call for Change,” begins by saying that “the nation’s young black males are in a state of crisis” and describes their condition as “a national catastrophe.” It tells us that black males remain far behind their schoolmates in academic achievement and that they drop out of school at nearly twice the rate of whites. Black children — boys and girls — are three times more likely to live in single-parent households than white children and twice as likely to live in a home where no parent has full-time or year-round employment. In 2008, black males were imprisoned at a rate six-and-a-half times higher than white males."

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Wednesday, November 24, 2010

138. 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. U. of Virginia Explains Its Return to Early-Admissions Arena, by Jacques Steinberg -http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/23/virginia/

‎"The 22,500 students who applied for the 3,240 seats in the current freshman class represented an increase of 4,000, or 22 percent, over applications three years earlier. With U.V.A.’s decision over that same period to accept the Common Application — which helped add to its popularity by making it easier to apply — the institution seemed to have little incentive to bring back early admissions. And yet. . . ."

2. Flogging For-Profit Colleges, by Doug Lederman - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/elgJF2

"The study, released Tuesday by Education Trust, largely repackages previously published data on higher education companies -- their booming enrollments (particularly of minority and low-income students), escalating dependence on federal financial aid, relatively low graduation rates (compared to most public and independent four-year colleges), and high student debt and default levels . . . ."

3. Opening Up Dormitories, by David Moltz - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/eOrJmo

"The institutions are a half mile apart, Eastern Michigan in Ypsilanti and Washtenaw in Ann Arbor. The university is also the top transfer destination of students from the community college. But when Eastern Michigan had extra dorm space to spare, the two institutions drew even closer. “They approached us,” said Linda Blakey, Washtenaw associate vice president of student services, of Eastern Michigan officials."

4. College Student Borrowing On The Rise: Pew Report - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/23/college-student-borrowing_n_787587.html

"The rise in attendance numbers at private, for-profit colleges has caused the uptick in student borrowing, Pew reports: Over the past decade, the private for-profit sector has expanded more rapidly than either the public or private not-for-profit sectors. In 2008, these institutions granted 18% of all undergraduate awards, up from 14% in 2003."

5. Rise of College Student Borrowing, by Rebecca Hinze-Pifer & Richard Fry http://pewsocialtrends.org/2010/11/23/the-rise-of-college-student-borrowing/

‎"Undergraduate college student borrowing has risen dramatically in recent years. Graduates who received a bachelor’s degree in 20081 borrowed 50% more (in inflation-adjusted dollars) than their counterparts who graduated in 1996, while graduates who earned an associate’s degree or undergraduate certificate in 2008 borrowed more than twice what their counterparts in 1996 had borrowed. . . ."

6. Where College Hoops Reign Supreme: Best Colleges for Basketball Fans - http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/slideshows/best-colleges-to-attend-for-basketball-fans/

"There are many students that choose a college based on the quality of a school’s athletic program. If you’re one of those students looking for a school with a top-notch basketball team, this list is for you."

7. Don't Let the Student Loan Crisis Kill Families, by Jennifer Openshaw - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jennifer-openshaw/act-now-to-avoid-college-_b_786531.html

"As students take on more debt -- $14,000 on average for those earning just associate degrees at the for-profits -- the default rates are growing. Some $275 billion in loans made to students at for-profit colleges will default over the next 10 years. In fact, these for-profit universities represent 10% of all university students, yet they account for 43% of all student-loan defaults, according to the Department of Ed. . . ."

8. International Students: Who Is Attending American Universities, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://t.co/JEdmr8m

"The influx of international students is hardly new. Since 2006, every college admission cycle has attracted more foreign students who are eager to study in the United States. Chinese students are the biggest source of international students by far, according to the annual Open Doors report conducted by the Institute of International Education."

9. Report Finds Low Graduation Rates at For-Profit Colleges, by Tamar Lewin - http://nyti.ms/fqGCuv

"A new report on graduation rates at for-profit colleges by a nonprofit research and advocacy group charges that such colleges deliver “little more than crippling debt,” citing federal data that suggests only 9 percent of the first-time, full-time bachelor’s degree students at the University of Phoenix, . . . ."

10. Report Faults For-Profit Colleges As Providers of 'Subprime Opportunity', by Kevin Kiley - http://chronicle.com/article/Report-Faults-For-Profit/125486/

"The report finds that, on average, only 22 percent of students who enroll in four-year-degree programs at for-profit colleges graduate within six years, compared with 55 percent and 65 percent at public and private nonprofit colleges, respectively. But there was wide variation within the for-profit sector."







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Friday, November 12, 2010

130. 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. Should free college be part of education? Plain Talk by Al Neuharth, USA TODAY Founder, RT @USATODAY - http://usat.ly/c4snA7

‎"Is it time to make tuition free in public colleges and universities? Of course. Here's why and how: Families are spending an average of $64 billion in tuition a year to send 13.9 million students to public colleges and universities. For the last 10 years, we have spent $1.1 trillion on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, an average of more than a $110 billion annually. Get it: $64 billion annually for higher education; $110 billion annually for wars. In addition to that staggering money cost, those two wars have cost us 5,663 military lives. Many of those killed in the wars were college-age men and women.The war costs are paid for through some present taxes and mostly debts piled up for future generations.The college costs are paid for by parents and/or longtime debts for graduating students."

2. Internal Barriers to Online Expansion - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/bwj6k2

"The biggest factors holding back the expansion of online programs at the 183 responding colleges? Lack of instructors and support personnel (61 percent) and budget cuts (56 percent). In a presumably related pattern, 67 percent reported having growth plans fettered by “[s]tudent demand for online courses which exceeds capacity to provide these courses. ”In other words, the pace at which colleges expand their online arms now depends largely on internal politics and how much money administrators can wrangle from their depleted coffers. And if there is opposition, the call is likely to be coming from inside the house. Many institutions see online expansion as a good way to increase tuition revenue in light of reduced giving, shrunken endowments, and stingy statehouses."


‎"Although initially introduced as a means of providing all applicants an equal shot at being accepted, some universities believe the SAT's democratic goals have gone awry. Students have to pay a fee to take it, and those who can afford to usually enroll in expensive prep courses or hire a private tutor. A number of researchers have concluded that a student's high school GPA is as good an indicator of performance in college as the SAT. Some institutions, like Wake Forest University, found that dropping the SAT requirement increased their student body's diversity -- the percentage of undergraduate minority students rose from 18 to 23 percent once Wake Forest joined the ranks of SAT-free schools. According to the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, at least 775 American colleges and universities are now test optional. Below, check out eleven competitive institutions where most -- if not all -- standardized tests are not required for admission."

4. Want to Live the American Dream? You Might Have to Move to UK, by Jane White - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-white/want-to-live-the-american_b_782324.html

"Compare what the Brits are mad at with what we put up with -- in the U.S. the cost of college can top $50,000 at a private college and typically half that in a public school. This wasn't always the case. A generation ago, college costs were not only lower but federal grants accounted for 70 percent of the cost of a degree; now loans make up 64% of the cost. And our next Speaker of the House, John Boehner, made no bones about taking donations from the student loan industry when he was minority leader, the lenders that make college even MORE expensive, profiting from interest rates that we subsidize."

5. We Get It. College Is Great. But So Is Welding, by Michael N. Smith http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-n-smith/we-get-it-college-is-grea_b_773055.html

"College is the answer for some, just not for everyone. It also works the other way. Skilled trades are the answer for some, but not all. I think we are failing our younger generations by having unrealistic expectations. What would happen if a guidance counselor told the valedictorian they will be a failure if they didn't learn to weld? That would be crazy. Their parents would be appalled. But we do exactly the same thing to other students when we say they "need" to go to college and it's considered okay. Not all students have the same skills. The truth is we aren't all equal and that's OK."

6. As For-Profit Colleges' Enrollment Slows, Industry May Be At Brink of a Major Reset, by Goldie Blumenstyk http://chronicle.com/article/For-Profit-Colleges-May-Be-at/125379/

‎"ITT Educational Services reported that the number of new students at its campuses declined by 3.9 percent over the previous year. Corinthian Colleges Inc. said it expected declines of 5 percent to 7 percent this year. Strayer Education reported a 2-percent decline. DeVry Inc. and Capella Education both said they expected new enrollment would be down slightly from the previous year.The biggest changes occurred at the biggest for-profit institution. The University of Phoenix said the 92,000 new degree-seeking students it enrolled in the quarter that ended August 31 represented a 10-percent decline from the previous year. More telling, the university's parent company, the Apollo Group, said it expected its new-student enrollment could drop by more than 40 percent in the quarter ending November 30, as it radically revamps its enrollment machine in response to new federal regulations and what company executives describe as a transition for the company's business model."

7. 'The Washington Post' and the Perils of For-Profit Colleges, by Stephen Burd http://chronicle.com/article/The-Washington-Postthe/125270/

"It's hardly a secret that the Washington Post Company owns Kaplan Inc., one of the largest for-profit-college chains in the country. Kaplan, in fact, accounts for 62 percent of the parent company's total revenue. Late last week the Post reported that overall revenue from its Kaplan division rose to $743-million, up 9 percent over the same period last year. Recognizing the outsize role that Kaplan plays in keeping the newspaper afloat, Donald E. Graham, the company's chairman and chief executive, declared in 2007 that the Washington Post Company was now "an education and media company."Less widely known are the Post's ties to Corinthian Colleges, a for-profit higher-education company that serves about 110,000 students at more than 100 colleges in the United States and Canada. The newspaper company purchased nearly seven million shares of Corinthian Colleges' stock in 2008, giving it an 8-percent ownership stake in a company that appears to be among those most in jeopardy. . . ."

8. Best Majors for Big Paychecks http://bit.ly/8Zj4lK RT @newsweek

"The number of openings for new B.A.s shrank by an estimated 22 percent last year, according to the National Association of Colleges, and with only slight improvement this year, unemployment for degree-holding early-20-somethings has remained above 7 percent. That means many new grads may find themselves poolside after all—only it won't be out of choice. Some caveats: the figures are self-reported and limited to people with a B.A. only (which means lawyers, doctors, and anyone with an advanced degree are not included). More important, salary reflects career choice as much as the financial merits of a particular major."

9. Top 2,000 Colleges: MIT, Stanford, Caltech Top Latest College Ranking List http://www.educationnews.org/higher_education/top_2000_colleges.html

"The web site StateUniversity.com unveiled its latest college rankings list this week. The list ranks 2,000 U.S. colleges and universities based on a formula that weighs student retention, standardized test scores, student/teacher ratios, and other factors.StateUniversity.com, a web site that provides information about thousands of post-secondary educational institutions, first released a college ranking list in 2009."

10. ACT: Most high school juniors not college-ready in Illinois - Educators criticize ACT benchmarks chicagotribune.com http://bit.ly/bTWI4D

‎"The readiness numbers generated skepticism and even heated criticism from some educators who questioned ACT's benchmarks, though schools were hard-pressed to explain why their students weren't considered prepared. The nonprofit ACT company stands by its readiness scores: at least 18 in English, 21 in reading, 22 in math and 24 in science. The top possible score is 36. Paul Weeks, an assistant vice president at ACT, said students who don't meet those scores may find themselves in remedial courses or struggling in regular college classes."I will hear a story about a student who maybe fell far short of one or two or three benchmarks and went on to college and did well," Weeks said. "But when we look across all the data, that is not the case." School officials insisted that their graduates do, in fact, go off to college and do well — though that information comes from student surveys and anecdotes."

11. Read The Joe Rottenborn Daily for today's top stories on college admissions/financial aid in newsletter form - http://paper.li/rottenbornj











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Friday, November 5, 2010

125. 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. When Listing Extracurricular Activities, No Need To Fill All Blanks, by Jacques Steinberg - http://nyti.ms/bqSxIL

"Here’s how Monica C. Inzer, the dean of admissions at Hamilton College in New York and a member of the Common Application board, put it: We’d rather see depth than a longer list. I think students think we want well-rounded kids. We do. But we really want a well-rounded class. That could be lots of people who have individual strengths. Distinction in one area is good, and better than doing a lot of little things."

2. The Rise of the 'Edupunk' - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/9azAXt

“We're still trying to fit the Web into our educational paradigm. I just don't think that's going to work,” said Mary Spilde, president of Lane Community College, in Eugene, Ore. Today's students are “pretty bored with what we do,” she added. In a notable acknowledgment of the tail wagging the dog, several panelists alluded here to the possibility that if colleges don't change the way they do business, then students will change the way colleges do business.College leaders don't yet know how to credential the knowledge students are gaining on their own, but they may soon have to, said Mark David Milliron, deputy director for postsecondary improvement at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. We are not far from the day when a student, finding unsatisfactory reviews of a faculty member on ratemyprofessors.com, will choose to take a class through open courseware online and then ask his home institution to assess him, Milliron said. Colleges need to prepare for that reality, he said."

3. When Social Media Is Irrelevant - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/bW8sTL

"In an admittedly limited study of 65 students (mostly from graduate programs) -- presented Thursday to a packed room here at the Sloan Consortium International Conference on Online Learning -- university officials discovered that the students cared mainly that their instructors clearly communicated the expectations and requirements for a class and responded in a timely manner to their questions. They cared less about getting to know their classmates, looking at instructor profiles, having real-time chat sessions, and simulating face-to-face communication with video. Also, students who had previous experience learning online were more likely to be relatively indifferent toward social intimacy with their instructors and classmates. The notion that “social presence” might help with retention in online programs has prompted vendors to infuse their online learning platforms with more social media tools, particularly synchronous text- and video-chat features."

4. Veterans who go back to school want more support, by Jenna Johnson - http://t.co/XTPoFI4

"Researchers with the National Survey of Student Engagement interviewed nearly 11,000 student veterans who were first-year students or seniors at four-year schools. The veterans reported interacting less with their instructors than did classmates who had not enlisted, and they were less likely to partake in educational opportunities such as internships or study abroad. The Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research produces the survey each year to measure how students and faculty interact and learn. The latest, results of which will be released Thursday, found that colleges should "seek ways to more effectively engage student veterans in effective educational practices and provide them with the supportive environments that promote success."

5. Banks Spend $83 Million to Promote Student Credit Card Use, by Scott Gamm http://www.huffingtonpost.com/scott-gamm/banks-spend-83-million-to_b_778709.html

‎"According to a new report released by the Fed, credit card issuers paid a whopping $83,462,712 to colleges, universities and institutions of higher education to promote student credit cards. As a result of this $83 million+ spent, credit card issuers gained an extra 53,164 college credit card accounts in 2009. Let me get this straight: $83 million was spent to encourage college students to open up credit card accounts, which allow students to spend beyond their means and rack up huge amounts of credit card debt (the average per student is over $4,100, according to Sallie Mae). You may think that college students use credit cards for books and groceries. But when 50% of college students have 4 credit cards or more, according to Sallie Mae, it's hard to believe that only necessities are being charged on their credit cards! Irresponsible credit card use in college will not only ruin the credit score of students, but it will instill poor spending habits for years to come."

6. College Applications Continue to Increase. When Is Enough Enough? by Eric Hoover - http://nyti.ms/dARwf9

"For this fall’s freshman class, the statistics reached remarkable levels. Stanford received a record 32,022 applications from students it called “simply amazing,” and accepted 7 percent of them. Brown saw an unprecedented 30,135 applicants, who left the admissions staff “deeply impressed and at times awed.” Nine percent were admitted. The biggest boast came from the University of California, Los Angeles. In a news release, U.C.L.A. said its accepted students had “demonstrated excellence in all aspects of their lives.” Citing its record 57,670 applications, the university proclaimed itself “the most popular campus in the nation.”

7. Education Department to Review U. of Phoenix’s Federal Student Aid http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/education-dept-to-review-u-of-phoenixs-federal-student-aid/28111

"Phoenix, like many for-profit colleges, relies heavily on federal student aid, and its prediction last month that by 2011 such aid would exceed 90 percent of its revenue—breaking a federal threshold—helped send the company’s stock price into a tailspin. According to recently released data from the department, last year Phoenix took in $1-billion in federal Pell Grants, the first institution, for-profit or otherwise, to receive that much."

8. NCAA Puts U. of Michigan on Probation for Rules Violations in Football Program

"The Division I Committee on Infractions announced its decision in the closely watched case Thursday afternoon, when it released a 29-page report detailing the allegations—and sanctions—against head coach Rich Rodriguez’s football program. In addition to placing the institution on probation, the committee also upheld Michigan’s self-imposed penalty that would reduce the amount of practice time allotted to its football team through the end of the 2011-12 academic year. In the report, the NCAA faulted Rodriguez for allowing his program to run afoul of the association’s rules in several areas, including the number of coaches he had on staff and the amount of practice time athletes were required take part in. The NCAA also said the head coach—as well as the athletic department at large—failed to monitor the football program, and directed Rodriguez to participate in an upcoming seminar about NCAA rules."

9. Read The Joe Rottenborn Daily for today's top stories on college admissions/financial aid in newsletter form - http://paper.li/rottenbornj




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Friday, October 29, 2010

120. 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. Not So Need-Blind - Inside Higher Ed

‎"Bishop pointed to economic data showing that, since 1985, the cost of attending a private college has risen at more than double the rate of household income. Put another way, the share of a median household's income that was devoted to paying for higher education went from 22 percent in 1988 to more than 50 percent today. Those increases continue, with tuition and fee hikes this year ranging from 4.5 percent to nearly 8 percent over last year. "Families are more stressed than they ever have been before," said Bishop...."As I look out over the next 10 years, I'm deeply concerned," said Rick Bischoff, vice president for enrollment at Case Western Reserve University. "Would it be better to have a smaller percentage of high-need students and not 'gap' them?" he asked, referring to the practice of admitting some applicants without offering them sizable enough aid packages to realistically make it possible for them to enroll. "

2. Need Blind, but 'Gapping' -

"That's because only a small subset of colleges pledges to meet the full need of all students they admit. That means that for most institutions, "gapping" has become the norm. That's when a college admits a student, tells her that she probably needs $X to afford to enroll, and then provides a package that is less than $X -- sometimes considerably so. On need-blind status, the study found that 93 percent of public institutions and 81 percent of private institutions say that they are entirely need blind. An additional 6 percent of private colleges report that they are need blind until May 1, and then consider economic circumstances when evaluating students on the waiting list or who apply late. But the numbers change dramatically when colleges are asked if they meet the full financial need of accepted students. Only 32 percent of public institutions and 18 percent of private institutions say that they make such a commitment, the report says."

3. Nearly All Graduates of a Texas High School Earn College Credit, in Inside Higher Ed

"A new report by Jobs for the Future outlines how the Hidalgo Independent School District, which serves an economically depressed area along the Texas-Mexico border, was able to graduate more than 95 percent of its most recent high school graduating class with college credit. About two-thirds of its graduating seniors earned at least a full semester of college credit. The school district opened the Hidalgo Early College High School in 2005 with help from the University of Texas System and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Unlike many early college high schools that serve less than 400 students, the Hidalgo model serves all of the 900+ high-schoolers in the district. The high school has strong partnerships with South Texas College and Texas State Technical College, so that students can transfer onward to earn a postsecondary credential. John Fitzpatrick, executive director of the Texas High School Project, said of the project, “Hidalgo [Independent School District] shows that obstacles impeding high school and postsecondary success can be overcome. The success of early college high schools is being replicated in districts throughout Texas. We need to create more Hidalgos in our country, more districts where the lessons of early college are spread to all students.”

4. Top 10 benefits of a college degree, by Elizabeth Fuller -

Please, read this list!

5. For athletes, concussions impact class: After 5th hit, ex-Penn FB player grappled with school, by Calder Silcox

"However, ending his collegiate football career didn’t halt the effects of his concussion. For weeks after the hit, Donnelly struggled with schoolwork — a challenging hurdle for a Wharton sophomore.“Doing work was hard,” he said. “I would get headaches when I would focus, when I would read. Class was pretty much the same thing.”Colin added that in the weeks after his concussion, he had trouble recalling what he’d just read or heard in class. At the advice of his doctors, he avoided school for an entire week, watching as the work piled up.“My short term memory was just foggy until I recovered,” he said. According to Kathy Lawler, director of neuropsychological resources at Penn, Donnelly’s situation is typical of most individuals who suffer head trauma.“You’ll be fine if you don’t do anything, but the minute you go to do something like read for an hour . . . ."

6. For-Profit Colleges Clean Up Their Acts ... Sort Of -

"Faced with mounting criticism, two of the largest for-profit colleges have announced reforms. Starting in September the 470,000-student-strong University of Phoenix stopped paying its admissions officers based on the number of students they sign up, eliminating an incentive some see for those officers to mislead applicants or pressure them to sign paperwork. The school will also put all prospective new students through a three-week, tuition-free “orientation” course designed to help them decide whether they’re ready for the commitments that come with their studies. In the past there have been reports of cash-strapped students talked into signing up when they may not have been ready—many may be behind financially or educationally, but they still end up on the hook for making school payments they can’t really afford. “The orientation program enables incoming students to make an informed decision about attending University of Phoenix and experience the rigors of the college classroom. . . ."

7. College Tuition: What Students Are Paying Today, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy -

‎"Bottom Line: If you are evaluating colleges, price tags are meaningless. It’s important to find out kind of price cuts individual colleges will offer your child. You’re more apt to find these schools if you cast a wider net. There are tons of price discounts out there and the best way for a child to snag them is to do well at school and take challenging courses. Grade point averages and the strength of a teen’s academic record are typically what colleges care about the most. In the meantime, if you want to see what college costs have been doing at individual schools, I’d suggest that you take a look at this nifty college cost tool from The Chronicle of Higher Education that shows the yearly tuition and fees for more than 3,300 individual colleges and universities since 1999."

8. Education Leaders Weigh in on Preparing Students for College Success, by Caralee Adams -

"The United States has slipped from the No. 1 spot in producing college graduates to 12th, in part, because the country was not paying attention, not working hard enough, not setting high enough goals, not getting teachers in the right places, and not having the right leadership, Caperton said. There should be a stronger partnership between K-12 and higher education. Too often, colleges have stood back and said, "Send me your students and we'll take them and expect them to be at a certain level," Caperton said. If colleges want better performance, there needs to be more collaboration with public schools and higher demands on students in teacher colleges, he said. Caperton pointed to College Board programs starting in the 6th grade that build students' skills in English and math so they are ready for the PSAT in 9th grade and Advanced Placement courses in high school."

9. For-Profit Colleges to Get New Federal Rules, by Tamar Lewin -

"The final regulations on these for-profit colleges cover 13 of the 14 program-integrity questions the department has plans to address. The one that remains is the “gainful employment” regulation that would cut off federal student aid to programs whose graduates borrow too much and earn too little to repay their debts. The department will hold hearings next week on the topic, and will meet with interested parties to discuss that regulation, which will be finalized next year, and go into effect in 2012."

10. Life After Test-Optional, by Eric Hoover

"At the College Board’s annual conference here, several admissions officers at “test-optional” colleges have shared some answers. Melissa Falk, associate dean of admission and financial aid at Muhlenberg College, said reading the files of a non-submitter requires more time than reading the files of other applicants. That’s because Muhlenberg requires applicants who don’t send their scores to submit a copy of a graded paper, and to participate in an interview, either in person or by telephone. “It adds another level of subjectivity,” Ms. Falk said. Typically, colleges that go test-optional must do a lot of explaining, to faculty members, alumni, high-school counselors, prospective applicants, and—last, but not least—campus tour guides. The message? “This doesn’t mean standards are diminished,” Ms. Falk said."

11. Who Needs Harvard? by Nancy Gibbs and Nathan Thornburgh

‎"You're the college counselor at a public school in a hothouse ZIP code, and you wish you could grab the students, grab the parents by the shoulders and shake them. Twenty thousand dollars for a college consultant? They're paying for help getting into a school where the kid probably doesn't belong. Do they really think there are only 10 great colleges in the country? There are scores of them, hundreds even, honors colleges embedded inside public universities that offer an Ivy education at state-school prices; small liberal-arts colleges that exalt the undergraduate experience in a way that the big schools can't rival. And if they hope to go on to grad school? Getting good grades at a small school looks better than floundering at a famous one. Think they need to be able to tap into the old-boy network to get a job? Chances are, the kid is going to be doing a job that doesn't even exist now, so connections won't do much good. The rules have changed. The world has changed."

12. Read The Joe Rottenborn Daily for today's top stories on college admissions & financial aid in newsletter form -




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