391. 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. 'Good-enough’ university http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/setting-our-sights-on-a-good-enough-college/2011/12/16/gIQAyCK8yO_story.html?tid=sm_btn_tw - "Help high schoolers keep perspective."

3. High seniors receive college scholarships Los Angeles Wave - Community News, Sports & Entertainment Lynwood Press http://www.wavenewspapers.com/news/local/lynwood-press/Three-Firebaugh-High-seniors-receive-colege-scholarships-135757023.html -"LYNWOOD — Three seniors from Firebaugh High School here have been given full four-year scholarships through the QuestBridge National College Match program.QuestBridge is a nonprofit organization dedicated to connecting high-achieving students from low-income backgrounds with scholarship opportunities. . . ."

4. Reducing the black-white achievement gap by reducing black unemployment Economic Policy Institute http://shar.es/WnCTW

5. RT @fremonttribune It's time to starting gathering financial aid information http://bit.ly/tTu13Y - "If you or your child will be heading to college next fall, now is the time to prepare for applying for financial aid."

6. Toys wear out, gift of education lasts a lifetime - Chicago Sun-Times: http://www.suntimes.com/news/mitchell/9482631-452/toys-wear-out-gift-of-education-lasts-a-lifetime.html#.Tu1e9TBpeN8.twitter via AddThis

7. Inconvenient Income Inequality: http://nyti.ms/uLWvcn - "Some recent surveys seem to suggest that many Americans are in denial about the seriousness of the gap between the rich and poor."

8. Florida A&M death puts focus on traditions – http://usatoday.com/ http://usat.ly/tTaX5N via @USATODAY

9. Half of U.S. schools fail federal standards – http://usatoday.com/ http://usat.ly/roQv42 via USATODAY

10. College prep: All I want for Christmas is acceptance http://t.co/2BUIIe1S http://shar.es/W1Yo4

11. Yale early admissions - http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/2011/dec/17/early-admit-rate-increases-slightly/ - "Yale sent acceptance letters to 15.7 percent of its early action applicants for the class of 2016 on Thursday evening."

12. Lori Sturdevant: Achievement gap -- a disaster in slow motion http://t.co/wy2UiQMB http://www.startribune.com/opinion/otherviews/135762243.html

13. UC Berkeley Extends Financial Aid To Middle-Class Students Neon Tommy: http://www.neontommy.com/news/2011/12/uc-berkeley-extends-financial-aid-middle-class-students#.Tu5Vpi1z0Us.twitter via AddThis - "Robert Birgeneau, UC Berkeley chancellor, announced Wednesday that the Berkeley Middle Class Access Plan (Berkeley MCAP) is aimed at families with an annual gross income between $80,000 and $140,000."

14. College savings made simple [The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa]: http://t.co/uemxeGeW via @AddThis

15. College students face shorter Pell Grants - http://shar.es/W1d7p - "As Congress passes a 2012 budget, student loans will get pinched next fall. Changes to Pell Grant program would hit African-American students hard."

196. 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. Two Ways to Get Kicked Out of College Before You Arrive On Campus - Auburn Journal: http://bit.ly/gZ6scR

‎"According to the 2010 State of College Admission (National Association for College Admission Counseling, September 2010, p. 28), 22 percent of colleges reported they revoked offers of admission during the fall 2009 semester/quarter. The average number of offers revoked increased 230% from 2008 to 2009. Although not stated in the 2010 report, in previous years, colleges reported the most common reason for retracting offers being a sharp decline in final grades followed by disciplinary actions (disciplinary actions most likely to result in retraction of an offer were violence, cheating, drug-related offenses and theft)."

2. Juniors Get an Early Lesson on College Applications, by Colleen Tang - Pelham, NY Patch: http://t.co/qAnuMj0

“We have five colleges coming in tonight and they’ll give their perspectives on everything from SUNY Purchase, applying as an art major to Fordham and Iona,“ said Eugene Farrell, director of counseling services at PMHS. “So we try to provide a range of perspectives on colleges and on college essays and all those other pieces. It’s information that we try to get to parents as best we can.”

3. Financial aid: One of six tools to graduate debt-free, by Husna Haq - http://t.co/NWwV16D

"Here are six ways you, too, can trim or eliminate college debt:"

4. Always worth a try to apply for financial aid, by Terry Savage - Chicago Sun-Times: http://bit.ly/gunvDV

‎"You’ll never know until you try whether you will qualify for financial aid. Unless you have saved all the money you’ll need, it’s worth a try. Some expensive schools might grant an aid package that makes them more affordable than even a local college or state school. The FAFSA — the Free Application for Federal Student Aid — is the basis for almost every financial aid decision that is based on need."

5. Study: IL Student Poverty Rate Rises - Achievement Gap Widens, by Mary Anne Meyers - Public News Service: http://j.mp/gWzyDn

‎"According to the 2011 Kids Count Report released by Voices for Illinois Children, less than half of the low-income students in Illinois are able to read at grade level."

6. Cleveland native Ron Ferguson pushes to close academic achievement gap, by Regina Brett cleveland.com: http://t.co/czSJx8z

"Education has been called the next civil rights issue. Ferguson told me it's bigger than that. We need to re-craft a national identity around new academic aspiration. We can't afford to ignore the race gap, he said. Already, in 10 states the majority of children are non-white."

7. College students must work to solve problems that affect blacks, speaker says, by Paul Garber & John Hinton http://t.co/IhYGOaw

"You need to develop causes that you are willing to die for," Marc Lamont Hill said during a fiery 50-minute speech. "You have the ability to turn the world upside down." Hill, 32, was the keynote speaker for the Seventh Annual Black Male Symposium. More than more than 220 people attended his lecture in Dillard Auditorium in the Anderson Center."

8. 63 Colleges With the Best Financial Aid, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://t.co/GHCuOTx

‎"In fact, according to a new U.S. News & World Report survey, only 63 schools out of 1,700 colleges and universities claim that they meet their students’ full financial need. . . . Here are the schools on US News & World Report’s list in alphabetical order: 63 Most Generous Colleges and Universities."

9. Buying Your Way Into College, by Jane J. Kim - http://on.wsj.com/eZHl4x

"Thanks to the recent recession, more colleges are giving seats to wealthier students—especially international or wait-listed applicants—who are willing to pay full freight."

10. College Parties, Minus the Beer Binges, by Sue Shellenbarger - http://on.wsj.com/ieuC1s

"Surveys at Purdue University, for example, show a sharp drop in binge drinking among students, to 37.3% in 2009 from 48% in 2006, says Tamara Loew, health-advocacy coordinator. She attributes this in part to a boom in late-night, alcohol-free events on or around campus, from poetry slams and dances to carnivals and "cabin-fever" parties."

11. More Students Fail Advanced Placement Tests, by Stephanie Banchero - http://on.wsj.com/ei0Nh4

"Education experts attribute the low scores to the recent national effort to push more students—no matter how ill-prepared—into AP courses, hoping to get them ready for college. They also blame school districts that have watered down the AP curriculum to accommodate lower-performing students, and students who sign up simply to pad their college applications."

12. Stanford Corners the 'Smart' Market, by Darren Everson and Jared Diamond - http://on.wsj.com/gSL4Jl

"What stands out about Stanford's class is something entirely different: what superior students they are."

13. For-Profit Colleges and Foes Await U.S. Rules, by Tamar Lewin - http://nyti.ms/i97XKt

"The data — covering all institutions of higher education — found that among students whose loans came due in 2008, 25 percent of those who attended commercial colleges defaulted within three years, compared with 10.8 percent at public institutions and 7.6 percent at private nonprofit colleges and universities."

14. US students lagging behind, by Anne Michaud - http://t.co/cN3faUU via @vindicator

"Not coincidentally, perhaps, middle school is where American students begin to fall behind their global peers. By high school, among 30 developed nations, U.S. students rank 15th in reading, 21st in science, 25th in math and 24th in problem-solving."

15. Book Chat: Why Does College Cost So Much? by David Leonhardt - http://nyti.ms/hUjPvH

"The biggest problem with our current financial aid programs is their complexity. Families have to make a series of decisions early in the process to help their children to become college material. Well-to-do families usually take care of this quite well. College is expected, and in most cases the expectation is realized. On the other hand, because they think they can never afford college, children from less well-to-do families do not take the steps one has to take to prepare for college."

16. Ethnic diversity ends, and begins, with admissions, by the Editorial Board - The Skidmore News: http://t.co/ctVGW4Z

"Our college admissions, unlike other peer schools like Hamilton College and Vassar College, considers whether a student can afford tuition as a part of his or her admission into the school; our college operates under "need-sensitive" admission, as opposed to "need-blind" admission. For example, when two prospective students with the same racial backgrounds, test scores, grades and extracurriculars apply to Skidmore, the student who requests less financial aid will more likely be accepted."

17. Yale Shifts Aid From Wealthier Families to Help Poor Students, by Oliver Staley and Janet Lorin - http://t.co/A5JoJel via @BloombergNow

‎"Beginning with students who enter this August, parents who earn between $130,000 and $200,000 a year will be asked to pay an average of 15 percent of their income, up from 12 percent for the previous three years, said Caesar Storlazzi, Yale’s chief financial aid officer, in an interview. Yale will also increase the income cap for families who pay nothing to $65,000 from $60,000."

18. The Changed Landscape, by Doug Lederman - Inside Higher Ed: http://t.co/z6x5Afs

‎"But for higher education, the sea change was most evident in the strikingly lopsided vote for an amendment that would block the U.S. Education Department from using any of its fiscal 2011 funds to carry out its proposed regulation requiring for-profit college and other vocational programs to ensure that their students are prepared for "gainful employment."

• Follow the most important stories on college admissions and financial aid on Twitter at http://twitter.com/rottenbornj


• For links to articles on college admissions and financial aid, you can "friend" Joe Rottenborn at http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=23325544


• "Like" the MVCAP fan page: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=23325544#!/pages/Mahoning-Valley-College-Access-Program-MVCAP/284002915922


• You can join the group MVCAP Financial-Aid Friends at this page: http://www.facebook.com/?sk=2361831622#!/group.php?gid=126580419181


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

191. 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. YSU tries to protect its image, by vshank@tribtoday - Tribune Chronicle - Warren, OH: http://t.co/OZw3Ehj

‎''It's just to remind people, to let them know once again that YSU is safe, the campus is safe and we stand by that,'' he said. University and Youngstown city officials, including Mayor Jay Williams, have offered several reminders of YSU's safety record since one student was killed and 11 others were shot at a fraternity party near campus Feb. 6. Jamail Johnson, a 25-year-old YSU senior, died. . . ."

2. Bypass the Bookstore: ‘Fiske Guide’ Goes iPad, by Jacques Steinberg - http://nyti.ms/evin8E

‎"My colleague Eric Platt, who is closer in age to the college-going generation than I am, used the arrival of the Fiske app as an opportunity to take a whirl around the Apple store in search of other admissions-related apps. Here are a few that caught his eye, along with his thumbnail impressions:"

3. Spending Showdown, by Doug Lederman - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/h0is6j

"The distance between their positions on spending for higher education and similar debates over many other parts of the government could, at its worst, lead to a shutdown of the federal government between now and March 4, when the current continuing resolution to fund federal operations for 2011 expires. If Congress does not pass and the president does not sign new legislation by then, the government would shut down."

4. The $10,000 Question, by Steve Kolowich - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/eO2J1E

“Today, I’m challenging our institutions of higher education to develop bachelor’s degrees that cost no more than $10,000, including textbooks,” said Perry on Tuesday in his “State of the State” address. “Let’s leverage Web-based instruction, innovative teaching techniques and aggressive efficiency measures to reach that goal,” he said."

5. How Athletes Spend Their Time, by David Moltz - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/i9tanm

‎"The average Division I baseball player missed 2.3 classes per week last year, and the average Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) football player missed 1.7 classes per week last year. In both sports, this is an increase of 0.5 classes missed per week from 2006. The average number of classes missed by athletes in all other sports remained relatively unchanged from 2006."

6. College Application Rates for 2011: Which Schools Saw a Decline? - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/11/college-application-rates_n_821530.html#s237964&title=Tulane_University_1336

‎"Perhaps Tulane was hit so hard because the school received the most applications of any U.S. school in 2009, and so they added an additional essay question to their application form in 2010 to weed out uncommitted prospies. (Columbia, conversely, switched to the Common Application and received record applications this year.)"

7. Triplets, Twins, Quadruplets: Your Hidden College Discount, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://t.co/Ep17TRK

‎"Here’s great news for the mom with triplets: Parents with multiple students in college at the same time often enjoy a substantial price break. The more students in college simultaneously - they don’t have to be twins, triplets or Octo Mom’s kids - the greater the ultimate price discount. . . . Here’s why: parents’ Expected Family Contribution will drop with each additional child in college."

8. Facebook Keeps Class In When School Is Out at Ky. School, by Jenna Mink: http://t.co/mMUOlow via @educationweek

‎"It's a way to keep students on schedule, especially high-achieving students who are taking Advanced Placement classes. Thomas Jones, a social studies teacher at Warren East High School, has been communicating with students on Facebook during snow days. Jones, who teaches an AP European history course, posts videos, articles, discussion topics and test reminders. "It's just a way to keep us going. It's a way to communicate," Jones said."

9. Ronald Ferguson Works to Close Educational Achievement Gap, by Michael Winerip - http://nyti.ms/gifcwL

"His research indicates that half the gap can be predicted by economics: even in a typical wealthy suburb, blacks are not as well-to-do; 79 percent are in the bottom 50 percent financially, while 73 percent of whites are in the top 50 percent.
The other half of the gap, he has calculated, is that black parents on average are not as academically oriented in raising their children as whites. In a wealthy suburb he surveyed, 40 percent of blacks owned 100 or more books, compared with 80 percent of whites. In first grade, the percentage of black and white parents reading to their children daily was about the same; by fifth grade, 60 percent to 70 percent of whites still read daily to their children, compared with 30 percent to 40 percent of blacks."

10. Apply early, carefully for college financial aid, by Alyson Cunningham - http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20110213/NEWS01/102130312

‎"Her advice for parents and seniors is simple: Start early. Take your time and don't wing it," she said. "Think ahead and apply early, but make sure it's good, comprehensive, complete and quality applications."

11. A year at Brown U. will cost more next year - http://www.projo.com/business/content/Brown_Corporation_Meets_02-13-11_91MFIB3_v7.133c4d8.html

"The cost of a Brown University education will increase by 3.5 percent next year, to $53,156. . . .Brown, which relies on tuition and fees for about 55 percent of its revenue, will next year charge $41,328 for tuition, $6,748 for room and $4,148 for meals."

12. Special Report: Getting That Perfect College Fit, by Natalie Kaplan - http://patch.com/A-c4m6

"According to a New York Times chart, students admitted versus the number of applicants to a particular school in 2010 ranged from a low of 7 percent at the likes of Yale University to a high of 83 percent at University of Colorado, Boulder."

13. College Bound? The Financial Aid Application Period Begins, by Frank Medina - http://patch.com/A-cXDT

"The ONLY way to apply for financial aid is through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). After a student submits their FAFSA, they will receive their Student Aid Report (SAR) either in the mail or through email. The SAR will explain the types of awards the student is eligible for. . . . In order to complete the FAFSA, dependent applicants will need to utilize their parent's tax information."

14. Warning: You May Receive A College Rejection Letter Soon, by Frank Medina - http://patch.com/A-dQTx

‎"In general, Ivy League universities and other high level institutions often reserve admission spots for the children or relatives of famous alumni or donors with deep pockets. They also offer some top notch students the ability to apply through the early admission program. Often, these schools also have sports teams and so they reserve spots for incoming athletes as well as for cheerleaders."

15. Students learn to overcome financial obstacles to college, by Richard O. Jones - http://t.co/4o2UlbH via @oxfordpress

‎"The occasion was Hamilton High’s first FAFSA Day, in which 450 seniors and their parents were invited to the Media Center to meet with Dave Murray from the Indiana-based National Center on College Costs, who walked them through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, the form required to receive federal financial aid, including the federal Pell grant, student loans and need-based state grants."

16. Yale increasing tuition and board fees - http://www.wwlp.com/dpp/news/connecticut/Yale-increasing-tuition-and-board-fees

‎"The Ivy League school says tuition for 2011-12 for undergraduates at Yale College will be $40,500. Students will also pay $12,200 for their room and board. Yale Provost Peter Salovey said the average Yale scholarship will be $36,000 and that students who receive financial aid will get scholarship awards to cover the increased costs...."

17. Minneapolis schools go after the language gap, by Corey Mitchell StarTribune.com: http://t.co/dW5NVDE

"Fewer than 30% of Andersen's students are proficient in reading, state test scores indicate. Scores on math tests, where understanding English also is required, are even lower. That is not surprising at a school where 70% of students are classified as second language learners, educators say."

18. ‘Race to Nowhere’ documentary questions education system, by Jody Feinberg - Brockton, MA - The Enterprise: http://t.co/nUomrIk

"Since its release last year, this film about the harmful effects of stress on students has become must-see viewing in communities where the push for success and pressure to attend top colleges are strong. . . . The film presents a disturbing view of childhood and adolescence: overstressed students who become physically ill and emotionally depressed and cheat or take prescription drugs to get good grades."

19. From China, More Students Pursue Dream of American Education, by Jacques Steinberg - http://nyti.ms/fF4XFB

"At rural Grinnell, nearly one of every 10 applicants being considered for the class of 2015 is from China. Dozens of other American colleges and universities are seeing a surge in applications (and similar brochures) from students in China, where a booming economy means that more families can pursue the dream of an American higher education."

• Follow the most important stories on college admissions and financial aid on Twitter at http://twitter.com/rottenbornj


• For links to articles on college admissions and financial aid, you can "friend" Joe Rottenborn at http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=23325544


• "Like" the MVCAP fan page: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=23325544#!/pages/Mahoning-Valley-College-Access-Program-MVCAP/284002915922


• You can join the group MVCAP Financial-Aid Friends at this page: http://www.facebook.com/?sk=2361831622#!/group.php?gid=126580419181


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

128. 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. How Do You Advise Your Child to Slow Down, and Wait? by Caren Osten Gerszberg - http://nyti.ms/aQlOF2

"How do you advise your child to slow down, wait and not feel the pressure, when you are running around, simultaneously juggling obligations and trying to stop and take some deep breaths yourself? As the parent, I try to be the voice of reason, to set an example, to keep balance in my life and for my family. But at times, I get caught up, too."

2. Congressional Chaos? - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/bgzzwC

"Most of the conversation focused on the potential reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, but when talk turned to higher education, the discussion was almost exclusively about the U.S. Department of Education’s regulations on “gainful employment” and other financial aid issues, and on Senator Tom Harkin’s (D-Iowa) continued push to investigate for-profit colleges as chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Bethany Little, chief education counsel for the HELP committee, said that Harkin was determined to continue to scrutinize for-profit colleges. “What is going on for Americans who are in some cases being duped by these schools and being left with significant debt and no opportunity to pay it off because their diploma is either nonexistent or worthless is something [Harkin] cares deeply about,” she said. The senator, she added, “is not going to back away from an investigation that has brought to light really startling things.”

3. Washington Post’s Kaplan Faces Growing Scrutiny, by Tamar Lewin - http://nyti.ms/9VWFxd

"Over the last decade, Kaplan has moved aggressively into for-profit higher education, acquiring 75 small colleges and starting the huge online Kaplan University. Now, Kaplan higher education revenues eclipse not only the test-prep operations, but all the rest of the Washington Post Company’s operations. And Kaplan’s revenue grew 9 percent during the last quarter to $743.3 million — with higher education revenues more than four times greater than those from test-prep — helping its parent company more than triple its profits. But over the last few months, Kaplan and other for-profit education companies have come under intense scrutiny from Congress, amid growing concerns that the industry leaves too many students mired in debt, and with credentials that provide little help in finding jobs. Reports of students who leave such schools with heavy debt, only to work in low-paying jobs, have prompted the Department of Education to propose regulations that would cut off federal financing to programs whose graduates have high debt-to-income ratios and low repayment rates."

4. The Most Beautiful College Libraries (PHOTOS) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/09/the-most-beautiful-colleg_n_778614.html#s174271

"Campus Grotto compiled a list of the ultimate breathtaking study spots in America. Click through to see if yours ranks in the top 10 -- and check out Campus Grotto for the full list."

5. The Tuition Is Too Damn High, by Dan Treadway - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-treadway/the-costs-of-unaffordable_b_780803.html

‎"As I sat in the back of the room in one of my classes and listened to a fellow student drone on about how her family's summer trip to the Ozarks somehow related to media theory, I let out a sigh. As she stumbled on her point about listening to Glen Beck on the radio while driving through Oklahoma, I pulled out my calculator and began doing a little math. Lets see, the cost for Fall tuition for my major was $4,646. Divide that by the four classes I'm taking, then divide that by the 27 class meetings in a semester. The number I came up with was $43.01. That was the amount of money I spent to attend that particular class session. Even more troubling, after prorating that number I realized that I was paying about $5 to listen to the girl conclude that Glen Beck was biased. My only solace was that I qualified for in-state tuition."

6. Black Male Achievement in a 'State of Crisis,' Study Says, by Dakarai Aarons - http://t.co/1wmZtp2 via @educationweek

"As a study this summer by the Schott Foundation for Public Education pointed out, fewer than half of black males graduate from high school on time. "At almost every juncture, the odds are stacked against these young men in ways that result in too much unfulfilled potential and too many fractured lives," writes Michael Casserly, the council's executive director. The council's report suggests that the underperformance of black male youths is nothing short of a national emergency, and it calls for the convening of a White House conference."The previous efforts to ring the alarm bell have too often fallen on deaf ears, and we thought that a White House conference would help both raise the visibility of the issues and aide in attempting to martial the public will to tackle it," Casserly said in an interview."

7. Education Week: Study: Fewer Than Half of Black Males Graduate on Time, by Dakarai I. Aarons - http://t.co/925xfix via @educationweek

"John H. Jackson, the foundation’s president and chief executive officer, said the low national graduation rate for black males is something the country cannot afford to let persist if it is to reach President Barack Obama’s goal of leading the world in the percentage of college graduates by 2020. “It just seems to be that the U.S. is systemically failing black males,” he said, yet policymakers and educators “aren’t making the choice and the tough decisions to provide all students the opportunity to learn.”“It’s absolutely a lack of political will,” he said."

8. New Haven Offers Its Students Free College Tuition, by Winnie Hu - http://nyti.ms/9e6auW

"City and school officials announced on Tuesday that a new program, called New Haven Promise, would offer to pay eligible students’ way through any public college or university in Connecticut. The program will also pay up to $2,500 a year to those who attend a private college in the state. The program — to cost $4.5 million a year, financed primarily by Yale University — is open to students who live in the city and have attended its public schools, including charter schools, since at least ninth grade, regardless of family income. Students must also have at least a 3.0 grade point average and a 90 percent attendance rate. About 200 of the 1,000 graduates last year would have qualified, city officials said."

9. Veterans and Colleges Like New GI Benefits, Despite Rough 1st Yr, by Kevin Kiley http://chronicle.com/article/Start-Up-Woes-for-New-GI-Bill/125322/

Congress passed the Post-9/11 GI Bill in 2008, and the benefits were made available August 1, 2009. The program is designed to cover tuition expenses for veterans up to the cost of the most-expensive public university in their state of residence. The Department of Veterans Affairs pays that money directly to an institution instead of to the student, as it had done under previous laws. The bill also provides stipends for books and a monthly living stipend, and those amounts are paid directly to the student.Another benefit under the bill, known as the Yellow Ribbon Program, helps cover the costs of private institutions, matching any financial aid those institutions offer above the basic tuition benefit provided in that state."

10. In STEM Fields, How Hispanic Students Pay for Ed Affects Success, by Elyse Ashburn http://chronicle.com/article/In-the-STEM-Fields-How/125318/

"The report, "Tapping HSI-STEM Funds to Improve Latina and Latino Access to STEM Professions," argues that the Hispanic achievement gaps at the baccalaureate, master's, and doctoral levels exist in large part because of finances. "A lot of discussion about participation hasn't acknowledged that fact," said Lindsey E. Malcom, one of the co-authors and an assistant professor at the University of California at Riverside.Hispanic students are more likely than their peers to come from low-income families—and that affects not only the competing demands on their time and money but also the types of institutions they are most likely to attend. Such students disproportionately start their college educations at community colleges and Hispanic-serving four-year colleges, which typically have lower costs. In turn, the researchers say, those institutions tend to have fewer resources, often leaving them less equipped to support students and to prepare them for graduate work."

11. Student's Calling: Help Peers Spend Responsibly - http://chronicle.com/blogs/postcards/a-student-finds-her-calling-helping-others-spend-responsibly/73

‎"She said Central Michigan students have an average of $27,000 in college-loan debt—$7,000 more than the national average. What bothers her is seeing some students use loan money for spring-break trips or tanning-salon visits—especially if they’re racking up credit-card debt at the same time. The average college student has $4,000 in credit-card debt, she told me. “You spend so much more money with a card than if you use cash”—when you use a card, you don’t see the money leaving your hands. Students, she said, don’t worry about establishing a good credit history because they don’t understand how important it will be to them in the future, and most students never even bother to check their credit reports. Which is crazy, she said. “How would you like it if you went through school for four years and didn’t know your GPA?”

12. Best Jobs For College Students Unigo http://t.co/9GegVLD

‎"Consistently keeping a few extra Andrew Jacksons in your wallet will require some work on your behalf, though. And by work, we mean an actual paying job. Don’t fret; lots of students have to supplement their income with a part-time post. Whether you take an on- or off-campus job, one thing is certain: not all jobs are created equal. Not only will a job enable you to purchase the most useless and random of gifts for yourself, but it can actually be a worthwhile and enjoyable experience. Without further ado, our slate of top jobs for college students."

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

36. Yale Admissions Video

What's your opinion of this admissions video?

http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/19/yale/