329. 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. More college officials learn about applicants from Facebook, by Mary Beth Marklein – http://usat.ly/rpUwnK via @USATODAY - "Nearly a quarter (24%) of admissions officials at 359 selective colleges say they used Facebook, up from 6% the previous year, and 20% used Google to help evaluate an applicant, says the survey, conducted by Kaplan Test Prep. Kaplan, which did not identify participating colleges, queried 500 colleges listed in U.S. News & World Report rankings and in Barron's Profiles of American Colleges."

2. ‘Pursue your dream’ by Virginia Shank - Tribune Chronicle - Warren, OH - http://bit.ly/mQFLL9 via AddThis - "It makes sense," said Jasmine Wallace, 17, a senior and member of the school's yearbook committee. "It's important to show kids that there's far more to life than being on the streets, than just giving up on yourself and what you can do with your life. These are real people pursuing their careers and working hard at what they do. It gives you something to hold on to. It gives you hope that you can also make something of your own life."

3. Gazing Into Higher Ed's Future, by Doug Lederman - Inside Higher Ed - http://bit.ly/ns4co1 via AddThis - "And the gender gap, already a concern for many in higher education, would widen: with enrollments of women growing by 21 percent and men by just 12 percent, as the department projects, by 2019 women would make up 59 percent of all postsecondary students, up from the current 57.1 percent."

4. College Bound: States Pass New Laws to Encourage College Completion, by Caralee Adams - http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/college_bound/2011/09/states_pass_new_laws_to_encourage_college_completion.html via @educationweek - "Nearly 80 new laws related to college completion have been approved in states so far in 2011, and the range of approaches are chronicled by Boosting College Completion, a two-year initiative by the Education Commission of the States funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation."

5. For-Profit Colleges, Vulnerable G.I.’s, by Hollister K. Petraeus - http://nyti.ms/o9aZzl - "The schools have a strong incentive to enroll service members and veterans, in large part because of the “90-10 rule” created by the 1998 amendments to the Higher Education Act. Put simply, the rule says that a for-profit college must obtain at least 10 percent of its revenue from a source other than Title IV education funds, the primary source of federal student aid. Funds from Tuition Assistance and the G.I. Bill are not defined as Title IV funds, so they count toward the 10 percent requirement, just like private sources of financing.
Therein lies a problem. For every service member or veteran (or spouse or child, in the case of the post-9/11 G.I. Bill) enrolled at a for-profit college and paying with military education funds, that college can enroll nine others who are using nothing but Title IV money."

6. St. Mary’s U. Finds That When It Texts, Students Come, by Alex Campbell - http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/st-marys-u-finds-that-when-it-texts-students-come/33328 - "At St. Mary’s University, potential students are given the option to sign up for updates when they first make contact with the institution. Throughout the application process, they get alerts, and, if they reply, the university writes back to them individually. For the second straight year, students who signed up were more likely to apply than those who didn’t, and, if they got accepted, they were more likely to matriculate."

7. Grading the GOP Candidates on Education, by Andrew J. Rotherham - http://ti.me/nTMHie via Time - "As some start to drop hints about what their education plans might look like, here's a handicapper's guide to the leading contenders and their views — and record — on education."

8. Obama prepares to revamp ‘No Child Left Behind’ by Lyndsey Layton - http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/obama-prepares-to-revamp-no-child-left-behind/2011/09/16/gIQAKUrXlK_story.html via Washingtonpost.com - "Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan are scheduled Friday to detail plans to waive some of the law’s toughest requirements, including the goal that every student be proficient in math and reading by 2014 or else their schools could face escalating sanctions. In exchange for relief, the administration will require a quid pro quo: States must adopt changes that could include the expansion of charter schools, linking teacher evaluation to student performance and upgrading academic standards. As many as 45 states are expected to seek waivers."

9. The problem with Obama’s plan to issue NCLB waivers, by Valerie Strauss - The Answer Sheet - http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/the-problem-with-obamas-plan-to-issue-nclb-waivers/2011/09/21/gIQAdVfQmK_blog.html via Washingtonpost.com - "States have been begging Washington to relieve them of the most onerous of NCLB’s provisions, Adequate Yearly Progress, a measure that requires public schools to ensure that nearly all of their students score as proficient on standardized tests in reading and math by 2014. Failing to reach sub-goals toward that end results in punitive measures that require schools to be restructured in one of several models. As the 2014 goal has approached, the number of schools in danger of failing has shot up."

10. More public universities turn dorms into residential colleges, by Jenna Johnson - Campus Overload - http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/campus-overload/post/more-public-universities-turn-dorms-into-residential-colleges/2011/09/21/gIQA8tjGlK_blog.html via Washingtonpost.com - "The idea of a residential college is not new at schools like Cambridge and Harvard, or small liberal arts colleges. But lately many large public institutions are adopting the model, creating small academically driven communities where students can live all four years . . . . The idea is that by putting these students in a building with lots of gathering spots — movie theaters, fitness rooms, kitchens and gaming rooms — they will learn from each other and share ideas."

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193. 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 socked by budget cuts, by Anna Spinner - http://t.co/kmwTJGU via @CNNMoney

"Facing declining tax revenues in the wake of the Great Recession, states are slashing funding for higher education, forcing many colleges to eliminate majors and entire departments."

2. Colleges plan Black History events - TribToday.com - Tribune Chronicle - Warren, OH: http://t.co/ixeOuCJ

‎"Black History Month programs and activities with featured guests speakers have been scheduled at both Youngstown State and Kent State universities."

3. Governor, black Ohio lawmakers seek common ground - http://t.co/aXSonKI via @daytondailynews

‎"Black state lawmakers say they believe they can work with Ohio Gov. John Kasich (KAY'-sik) to change sentencing laws, help close the achievement gap among students of different ethnicities and work to promote minority businesses."

4. Class of 2015 follows financial aid pattern, by Felicia Schwartz - http://t.co/Dv2PNs9

‎"If an admitted student informs the College that they have received a better offer from another school, the College will see if there are adjustments that can be made to match offers from other schools that continue to operate under no-loans policies, according to Laskaris. “If it’s an [Ivy League] school, we will match it,” Hazen said. “If it’s a non-Ivy, we probably won’t.”
. . . . Yale University, Harvard University, Princeton University, Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania all offer loan-free financial aid packages, according to their respective websites."

5. Is Completion the Right Goal? by David Moltz - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/eBgCek

"Arthur M. Hauptman, an independent public policy consultant specializing in higher education finance issues, kicked off the event, "Degrees of Difficulty: Can American Higher Education Regain Its Edge?," with his paper arguing that, based on underlying data, the president’s national goal for increasing degree attainment is “almost impossible to achieve in the best of circumstances.”

6. Dealing (With) Drugs at Elite Colleges, by Allie Grasgreen - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/dZ3DPn

"The busts were unusual not only because they occurred at top-tier institutions within a short time frame, but also because of their scope. In late October, police found a drug lab on the top floor of a Georgetown freshman residence hall. A little over a month later at Columbia, a five-month police investigation (dubbed “Operation Ivy League”) ended in the arrest of five students who sold $11,000 worth of various out of dorm rooms and fraternities. And two weeks after that, police arrested a Cornell student off-campus in possession of $150,000 worth of heroin."

7. UNLV president plans for 'state of fiscal collapse', by Anthony Ramirez - http://t.co/wsxenAe via @lasvegassun

"Smatresk told the faculty group that the cuts for UNLV would total $47.5 million and would need to be implemented by July 2012, so a plan for financial exigency would have to be prepared.UNLV has had about $50 million in cuts over the last four years. . . . If the cuts proposed by Gov. Brian Sandoval were approved, Smatresk said, academic cuts could not be avoided."

8. "But For Ohio State:"with $100 million, Class of 1959 alum Les Wexner makes largest philanthropic gift to university - http://www.osu.edu/features/2011/butforohiostate

"Find out what Ohio State means to Wexner--and tell us what it means to you."

9. How Much is Your College President Costing You? by Brian Burnsed - US News and World Report: http://t.co/d2spAbr

"The sitting president of a private nonprofit college received an average of $475,403, in pay, bonuses, and additional benefits according to a U.S. News analysis of 2008 compensation data amassed by the Chronicle of Higher Education. Twenty of the 362 sitting college presidents received more than $1 million in compensation and two cracked the $2 million threshold."

10. What does $659 million in debt really mean? by Arielle Milkman - http://t.co/rByZDj9 via @nyunews

"Tomorrow, NYU Local is partnering with MTV darling and former NYU student Andrew Jenks in an event they've titled Casualties of Debt: An NYU Student Demonstration. Jenks explains it best: we are casualties because after we graduate, we may as well be indentured servants. "Our lifetime is going to be spent trying to pay people back for things," Jenks said . . . ."

11. Where Professors Send Their Children to College, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://t.co/atbJtDl

"The children of professors are far more likely to attend liberal arts colleges than other parents. Children of university faculty are about twice as likely to select liberal arts college than children of parents earning more than $100,000 a year. Why are college professors steering their children to liberal arts colleges, which educate a mere 3% of the nation’s college students?

These insiders understand that liberal arts college focus exclusively on educating undergraduates and offer a boutique education with small classes and personal attention from professors.
In contrast, the main focus for professors at private and public research universities is conducting their own research and training graduate students. Educating undergrads is a lower priority. In fact, at universities graduates students often teach many undergraduate classes."

12. Ravitch: The Problem with Teach For America- http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/diane-ravitch/ravitch-the-problem-with-teach.html

"The problem with TFA is that it grossly overstates its role in American education. This year, TFA sent 8,000 young people into high-needs schools; they agree to stay for two years; some stay longer, but most will be gone within three years.This is a small number indeed when you consider that our nation has 4 million teachers. And our most compelling problem is attrition. Of those who enter teaching, 50 percent are gone within five years. These are terrible statistics. We need a stable teaching profession, not a revolving door. We need to recruit new teachers who plan to stay in teaching and make a career of it."

13. A Resident Assistant and His Guide Dog, by Beckie Supiano - http://chronicle.com/blogs/saysomething/2011/02/14/episode-11-a-resident-adviser-and-his-guide-dog/

"In this episode, we hear from Matt Simpson, a junior at Washington and Lee University, whose visual impairment hasn’t stopped him from working as an RA."

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153. 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. Graduation Gap Bowl 2010 -http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2010/12/11/12_11_10_graduation_gap_bowl/

See the graduation gap on the football teams in upcoming bowls.

2. Deferral? Denial? Acceptance? A Daughter Tells Her Story, by Nicole Gerszberg - http://nyti.ms/eNZF6S

"This process has taught me a great deal. Not only did I learn how to package myself into “250 words or less,” but I also have a better sense of where I want to be in 10 years, what areas of study I would like to explore, and a lot about who I am."

3. In Over Its Head, by Elizabeth Redden - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/goaHgu

"How did Keuka College end up being a powerhouse player in China, with more than twice as many students enrolled there as in New York? Is it the little college that could or is it, per the account in the dissertation, the institution that got in over its head? These narratives are not mutually exclusive."

4. The Senate's Budget Approach, by Doug Lederman - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/gb9xZC

‎"To the relief of many college officials, both pieces of legislation would provide $5.7 billion to close a shortfall in the Pell Grant Program, ensuring that -- with the help of mandatory budget funds Congress provided in last spring's Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act -- the maximum grant would remain at $5,550."

5. Tweaks to GI Bill Move Ahead, by Jack Stripling - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/gMFMne

"While the current law derives its maximum payout from the highest in-state public tuition in a given state, the new legislation would cap annual payouts at $17,500. Any expenses above that threshold could be covered by the Yellow Ribbon Program, which allows participating private colleges to enter into dollar-for-dollar matching agreements with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs."

6. Colleges With The Highest Graduation Rates - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/14/colleges-with-the-highest_1_n_796136.html#s206355

"On Harvard's heels are Yale University and the University of Notre Dame, with rates of 97 and 96 percent. Among public research universities, the University of Virginia had the highest graduation rate in 2008 at 93 percent, followed by the College of William and Mary and the University of California-Berkeley."

7. Stanford shares details of early-admit class, by Elizabeth Titus - http://www.stanforddaily.com/2010/12/13/stanford-shares-details-of-early-admit-class/

"The University received a record-high 5,929 applicants, dropping the admission rate to 12.7 percent for Stanford’s “restrictive early-action program.” Applicants were up 6.5 percent from last year, when Stanford admitted 753 of its 5,566 applicants, or 13.5 percent. The University notified all early applicants of their application status via e-mail on Friday afternoon."

8. 14 Things You Didn't Know About College Students, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://t.co/HWVU1UG

‎"Did you know, for instance, that only 48% of undergraduates attend college full-time? This week The Chronicle of Higher Education assembled some statistics on undergraduates in such categories as household income, gender and where students are attending college that could change your perception of the typical college kid. Here are 14 facts about undergrads:"

9. Higher-Ed Groups Lay Out Strategies to Reach Obama's College-Completion Goal, by Eric Kelderman: http://chronicle.com/article/Higher-Education-Groups-Lay/125710/

"Changing how higher education is paid for "may be the hardest task of all, because it will mean abandoning well-understood and deeply ingrained practices that . . . serve to preserve the institutional status quo rather than creating incentives for vital changes, such as improved persistence and graduation rates, or cost containment," the report says."

10. Standardized snake oil, by Marion Brady: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/guest-bloggers/standardized-snake-oil---.html

"As a mountain of research makes clear, what ails them is primarily long-term poverty and the myriad problems poverty spawns. That’s a matter I’m not qualified to write about, but for those who think test scores actually mean something important, I’ll note in passing that Finland always ranks near the top, and their child poverty rate is less than 3%, while America’s rate is over 20% and climbing rapidly. Those who believe skilled teachers can level the education playing field enough to erase that difference in the quality of the material they’re given to work with aren’t just not in the game, they’re not even in the ball park."

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• "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


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149. 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. Viewing College as a Joyful Celebration, as yet Unaffordable, by By Uyanga Tamir - http://nyti.ms/igo61v

‎"Financial aid has become the most important aspect of a college; if I cannot afford the tuition, I simply cannot go. Moreover, there is one thing that further complicates my already too stressful senior year: I am an international applicant."

2. Will an Admissions Rejection be a Rejection of Me as a Person? by Michael Campbell - http://nyti.ms/eCR0Mv

‎"First, my fears: I’m afraid of rejection. Not just the thin-envelope “I didn’t get into Harvard!” type of rejection, but the struggle to disassociate an admissions rejection from the rejection of me as a person."

3. If College Search Is Like Prison, Stanford Could Hold The Key, by Kori C. Hazel - http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/08/cherry-creek-kori-hazel-1/

“College lockdown” involves camping out on a computer typing multitudes of essays and filling out a plethora of applications with the constant need of stress management and a grande hot chocolate, all of which occurs a week or two before a college deadline."

4. When Acceptance to College Hinges on An Audition, by Avery Diubaldo - http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/08/cherry-creek-avery-diubaldo-1/

"The college application process for theatrical majors is a unique one. While most students seeking a higher education need to do no more than complete an array of standardized exams, college applications and transcript forms, the prospective theater major has one more obstacle: the audition."

5. Facebook Freshmen Welcome Groups Altered to Look Less Official, by Jacques Steinberg - http://nyti.ms/eaK40l

"More than 150 Facebook groups that appeared to be official welcome sites for the prospective freshman classes at colleges and universities were altered Wednesday, to make clear that they exist partly as a marketing tool for a commercial, roommate-matching service known as Roomsurf."

6. Guide to Student Loans, by Jonathan D. Glater - http://www.nytimes.com/ref/timestopics/topics_studentloans.html?ref=student-loans

"There are three basic types of loans undergraduate students should know about: federal loans made by the government directly; federal loans made by banks or other lenders and guaranteed by the government; and private or alternative loans from banks or other private lenders that carry no government guarantee. (Sometimes a college itself may make loans, too, usually in partnership with a financial institution.)"

7. Setting State Targets, by David Moltz - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/hDTbIM

"Spurred by President Obama’s rhetoric and the work of a few influential foundations, many states have echoed the national call for more community college graduates by setting their own completion goals in recent months. And though some say these statewide goals are evidence of a larger shift in community college mission from access to completion, others see them as a preemptive attempt to demonstrate the kind of accountability that the federal and state governments may impose. Some question whether these newly set goals are even realistic amid dwindling funding for higher education."

8. For-Profit Colleges Draw Big Revenue From Veterans, by Eric Lipton - http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/09/education/09colleges.html?_r=2&hp

"More than 36 percent of the tuition payments made in the first year of the program — a total of $640 million in tuition and fees — went to for-profit colleges, like the University of Phoenix, according to data compiled by the Department of Veterans Affairs, even though these colleges serve only about 9 percent of the overall population at higher education institutions nationwide."

9. Why Final Exams Are Going to the Dogs, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://t.co/dRCKFcf

"My favorite de-stresser activity just might be at Oberlin College. Twice a night at the library during final exams, students get to dance for five minutes as a song — chosen by students in an online poll — is blasted from speakers. Sounds like fun to me."

10. Elementary Students Encouraged to Set College Goals, by Caralee J. Adams - http://t.co/PG8wmck via @educationweek

"In the push to boost college-completion rates, high schools have often been the focus of college-readiness efforts, but now the reach is going even deeper into middle and elementary schools. Some educators feel it’s too late in high school to start introducing the concepts of college, high expectations, and academic achievement."

11. Safety schools matter in college admissions, by Valerie Strauss - http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/college-admissions/safety-schools-matter-in-colle.html

"Unfortunately, these are the very colleges that students should be paying extra attention to. After all, if things don’t work out with their top choices, isn’t it important to attend a college that has just about everything they want and need?"

12. U.S. Revises Report on Recruiting at For-Profit Colleges, by Tamar Lewin - http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/09/education/09gao.html?hpw

“After the review of the tapes, we chose to issue the revised report to add more precise language and to clarify some aspects of the report,” said Chuck Young, a spokesman for the G.A.O. “But ultimately nothing has changed with the overall message of the report, and nothing has changed

with any of our findings.”

13. Parents Embrace A Documentary on Pressures of School, by Trip Gabriel- http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/09/education/09nowhere.html?pagewanted=1&hpw

"The film portrays the pressures when schools pile on hours of homework and coaches turn sports into year-round obligations. Left somewhat unexamined is the role of parents whose high expectations contribute the most pressure of all. “Everyone expects us to be superheroes,” one high school senior in the film says."

14. Colleges Urged to Play Greater Role in Regional Development Efforts, by Karin Fischer http://chronicle.com/article/Colleges-Are-Urged-to-Play-a/125657/

"Participants in the two-day conference, "Providing a Uniquely American Solution to Global Innovation Challenges: Unleashing Universities in Regions," delved into the various ways colleges can help build stronger local economies, including acting as conveners for conversations about regional development, aligning their curricula with local elementary and secondary schools, and producing and retaining well-educated workers."

15. Dropout rate for California black students hits 37%, by Jill Tucker - http://t.co/73iPZR6

‎"The 37 percent African American dropout rate, up three percentage points from the prior year, was far above that of any other ethnic subgroup. Hispanic students had the second highest rate at 27 percent."

16. Poor white boys 'more likely to struggle at primary school,' by Graeme Paton - Telegraph - http://t.co/ql2nr7x

"White British boys from the most deprived families perform worse at the age of 11 than any other group, it was disclosed. They are around 50 per cent less likely to start secondary education with an acceptable standard of the three-Rs than other pupils. Poor children from black African, black Caribbean, Chinese, Indian, Bangladeshi and Pakistani families all performed better than their white British classmates, figures show."

• 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

136. 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

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

1. Four Sure-Fire Ways to Derail Your College Search, by Sue Biemeret http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/22/biemeret-3/#more-24669

‎"My mantra is simple: “The school that fits you best is the best school for you.” When a student finds a college that fits him academically, socially, emotionally and financially — and the college feels the exact same way about that student — fit happens and the college admission “game” is a win/win. But it’s so easy to stray off course, to make things other than fit matter. And when that happens, the college search can get messy, uncomfortable and just plain wrong. In that spirit, here are four easy ways to derail the college search:"

2. Consensus or Groupthink? - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/9p5Pet

"The convergence around the "college completion agenda" -- put simply, the now widely held view that the country must in the next 10-15 years significantly increase the number of Americans with a quality postsecondary credential -- has been driven by many factors, most notably the imprimatur of President Obama within the first weeks of his term. But arguably even more important has been the fact that the country's highest-profile foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the most visible foundation focused primarily on higher education, the Lumina Foundation for Education, have both thrust college completion to the top of their agendas."

3. Colleges Ask Prospective Students Creative Essay Questions http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/19/most-creative-college-ess_n_785443.html

"The University of Chicago is also famous for its unorthodox questions. According to the school's admissions homepage, the admissions essay is "an opportunity for students to tell us about themselves, their tastes, and their ambitions. They can be approached with utter seriousness, complete fancy, or something in between."

4. Top 10 Ways to Improve Students' Achievement and Create Learners - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pam-lowe/top-10-ways-to-improve-st_b_786205.html

"One of the major negatives is that change is rarely welcome. People tend to like the status quo and do not want the apple cart overturned. Our first year was fraught with change; change in vision, strategies, instructional methods and materials. Through it all, our staff preserved as we worked on our improvement. Over the course of my educational experience I've collected a list of criteria that I believe create an atmosphere ripe for improving student achievement. Here I will call it: Top 10 Ways to Improve Student Achievement and Create LearnersDisclaimer: This is by no means all that schools should be doing. Note that these are broad actions; there are many more detailed actions that need to be taken."

5. Early Decision Applications Are Soaring: Here's Why, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://t.co/d7Dtu6J

"Many elite schools that accept early decision and/or early action applications are experiencing more students applying to college through the early bird options. Vanderbilt University, for instance, received 1,666 early decision applications this year, which represents a 30% jump. Northwestern University’s early decision applications (2,127) soared 26% and the University of Chicago’s early action applications increased 18.5%.Students are applying earlier because at many schools they enjoy a greater chance of acceptance. Some schools are filling half of their classes with students who apply to college early."

6. Rise in College Applications Raises Concerns About Access, by Caralee Adams - http://t.co/2C5IHhX via @educationweek

"With the rise in applications for admission, more colleges are rejecting more students and becoming more selective. The report suggests this could close doors of opportunity for more low-income, first-generation students in all sectors, as these students typically are less certain of their academic goals, received less rigorous college preparation, and have more difficulty negotiating the college bureaucracies. Applying to more schools only to be rejected by more institutions also makes the application process more costly for students and schools, the report notes. While applying to more schools may give students more options for the best fit or the best financial aid package, the report shows growing evidence that financial aid investments are outstripping investments in teaching and learning in the classroom, ultimately canceling out the students' advantage."

7. Teaching for America, by Thomas L. Friedman - http://nyti.ms/dp5tJa

"Here are a few data points that the secretary of education, Arne Duncan, offered in a Nov. 4 speech: “One-quarter of U.S. high school students drop out or fail to graduate on time. Almost one million students leave our schools for the streets each year.... One of the more unusual and sobering press conferences I participated in last year was the release of a report by a group of top retired generals and admirals. Here was the stunning conclusion of their report: 75 percent of young Americans, between the ages of 17 to 24, are unable to enlist in the military today because they have failed to graduate from high school, have a criminal record, or are physically unfit.” America’s youth are now tied for ninth in the world in college attainment."

8. Growing Up Digital, Wired for Distraction -http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/21/technology/21brain.html?pagewanted=1&ref=general&src=me

"Researchers say the lure of these technologies, while it affects adults too, is particularly powerful for young people. The risk, they say, is that developing brains can become more easily habituated than adult brains to constantly switching tasks — and less able to sustain attention. “Their brains are rewarded not for staying on task but for jumping to the next thing,” said Michael Rich, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School and executive director of the Center on Media and Child Health in Boston. And the effects could linger: “The worry is we’re raising a generation of kids in front of screens whose brains are going to be wired differently.”

9. Download or print the free MVCAP Powerpoint presentation "Paying for College" at our site: http://issuu.com/mvcap/docs/paying_for_college

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