175. MVCAP fyi

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1. More Students Seek Avenues to Gay-Friendly Colleges, by Sergio N. Candido - http://nyti.ms/elZ0Ft

"One website that rates whether universities are gay friendly, the LGBT-Friendly Campus Climate Index, has gained popularity over the past year.The Index looks at policies, programs and practices each institution provides to its gay community and grades the university. Shane L. Windmeyer, co-founder of Campus Pride, the national nonprofit that runs Climate Index, said the increase in numbers of people going to the site is dramatic.
Visits have almost doubled from 6,850 a month in 2007, when the website was launched, to 13,580 a month in 2010, Windmeyer said."

2. Massage Therapists or R.N.s, by David Moltz - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/fKCq42

“For-profit colleges tend to focus on health care ‘support’ occupations like medical assisting, massage therapy, and dental assisting rather than ‘practitioner’ or ‘technical’ health occupations like registered nursing, medicine, or diagnostic technologist fields,” Morgan said."

3. The States of Online Regulation, by Steve Kolowich - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/hJz6tC

"Online education seems to be winning the battle against the initial skepticism about its legitimacy. Online enrollments have grown at nine times the rate of classroom-based education since 2002, according to the Sloan Consortium (with major buy-in in the public sector)."

4. College Retention Rates Improving at Two-Year Schools, Declining at Four-Year Schools -http://www.act.org/news/2011/01/20/college-retention/

"The percentage of students at two-year colleges who returned to the same institution for their second year of school has been trending up, from 53 percent in 2005 to a record high of 56 percent currently. The retention rate at four-year private colleges, in contrast, has been trending down, from 75 percent in 2005 to 72 percent currently."

5. 25 Highest Application Fees, by Brian Burnsed - US News and World Report: http://t.co/JQZN7LG

"Among national universities, which are typically the largest schools that receive the most applications, the average application fee was higher than the national average: $46.78. Only three schools—the Illinois Institute of Technology, Loyola University Chicago, and St. Louis University—reported they have no fee (8 of the 260 national universities surveyed didn't respond to the question)."

6. 8 Reasons Not to Get a Business Degree, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://t.co/nk5R6t8

"Thinking about getting a business degree? Business degrees are hot, but you might want to reconsider your decision. Here are eight reasons why you should not major in business:"

7. Success of College-Readiness Intervention Hard to Gauge, by Catherine Gewertz - http://t.co/N24rrXW via @educationweek

‎"They created a test that sends rising high school seniors an early signal about their readiness in mathematics and literacy, and allows those who meet the mark to go right into credit-bearing coursework as college freshmen, skipping remedial classes. To complete the picture, they crafted a suite of courses to bring lagging 12th graders up to college-level snuff and added training for preservice and in-service teachers."

8. To Really Learn, Quit Studying and Take a Test, by Pam Belluck - http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/21/science/21memory.html?_r=1&hpw

"The research, published online Thursday in the journal Science, found that students who read a passage, then took a test asking them to recall what they had read, retained about 50 percent more of the information a week later than students who used two other methods."

9. 2-Year Colleges Get Details of $2-Billion Grant Program, by Jennifer Gonzalez - http://chronicle.com/article/2-Year-Colleges-Get-Details-of/126006/

"President Obama wants every American to have at least one year of postsecondary education and wants the United States, by 2020, to once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world."

10. In a tough economy, new focus on job-oriented certificates, by Joanne Jacobs - Hechinger Report: http://t.co/GuXyIhW

"Labor economists and some educators believe career-driven degrees should become an increasingly common choice and are advising students to pursue skills-oriented fields of study they feel offer better job opportunities."

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122. MVCAP fyi

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1. Early College Applications Are Due Today, by Sue Biemeret - http://nyti.ms/9Ayirz

‎"And, my goodness, there are plenty of Early Plans out there. There’s the original binding Early Decision (at some schools today, there are actually two rounds of E.D.) and its less restrictive sidekick, Early Action. But don’t forget about those hybrid Single Choice Early Action plans, or Restrictive Early Action, which shouldn’t be confused with Early Notification, Priority Admission or Equal Consideration Deadlines. How does a student navigate this sea of seemingly urgent choices? Do all students really have to apply early to have any chance to get into their dream school? It feels like early is the new black — the one admission essential everyone needs in their arsenal in order to gain acceptance to college. Is that true?"

2. Higher Ed in the Next Congress - Inside Higher Ed http://t.co/uCXI7Rp

‎"Pell Grants, tougher oversight of for-profit colleges and better accountability for research funding may not on their own be top priorities for the 112th Congress, but they are likely to creep into some of the broader discussions of fiscal responsibility that will inevitably dominate discussion. They’re already surrounded by debates symptomatic of the scarcity of federal funds and will continue to be examined with microscopic precision, especially with a Republican majority in one or both chambers."

3. Push for Performance - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/cN9zSR

"As the completion agenda takes hold — spurred by President Obama’s goal of the United States having the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020 — a number of states have introduced or are considering funding formulas that reward student completion, instead of simply student enrollment. Still, those few states that have adopted performance-based appropriation only let it constitute a small percentage of their higher education funding formula, usually around 5-10 percent. If the Texas plan goes forward, it would represent one of the more dramatic changes in funding formulas to encourage completion."

4. New Job With an Old Friend - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/a1efd6

"While collecting a $115,000 paycheck from Arkansas State University, the former president of the state system hopes to strengthen relations between the university and a controversial online education company that now employs him, according to documents released Monday. Leslie Wyatt, who resigned as system head in July and now has faculty status, works as a consultant for Academic Partnerships, LLC, formerly known as Higher Ed Holdings, university documents state. Additionally, he serves as president and chairman of the American University System, a nonprofit association affiliated with the company, according to a cached version of the organization’s website. Amid mounting concern over potential conflicts of interest, the nonprofit group removed the only mention of Wyatt’s name on the site."

5. The 11 Best-Value Private Universities: Kiplinger List http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/01/kiplinger-ranks-best-coll_n_776274.html

"As tuition prices continue to rise, such value-rankings may become essential for families and students deciding on a college. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, this year 100 institutions are charging more than $50,000 annually for tuition, room and board and other fees. This is nearly double the amount of schools that ranked in 2009-2010 -- 58 universities passed the $50k mark last year. And the latest list includes a public institution for the first time -- UC Berkeley's total costs have reached $50,649 for out-of-state students (check out the Chronicle to view the full list of schools that cost more than $50,000)."

6. Education Week: Election Stakes High for Education Policy, Spending, by Alyson Klein and Sean Cavanagh - http://t.co/xPi2J9E

"The results of today’s midterm elections—which are expected to reflect voters’ frustration with the protracted economic downturn and wariness in many quarters about the role of government—could have major implications for the direction of federal education policy, the implementation of key state K-12 initiatives, and education spending at all levels. Education is rarely a deciding issue in elections, aside from specialized offices such as state and local school boards and superintendents. But this year, K-12 policy got more attention than usual because it was linked to the still-struggling economy, said David Winston, the president of the Winston Group, a Washington polling firm that works for Republican candidates. “Increased concern about education is directly related to the workforce,” he said. Business owners and voters are anxious that the country’s schools aren’t preparing students for the new, service-oriented economy, he said."

7. A Public University in the Expanding 50K Club of College Prices, by Jeffrey Brainard http://chronicle.com/article/A-Public-University-Joins-the/125207/

‎"This year marks a milestone as the first public institution has joined that elite club: the University of California at Berkeley is charging out-of-state residents $50,649 for tuition, fees, room, and board. (The price for in-state residents is only $27,770.) All of the other 99 colleges charging $50,000 or more are private. They made up 9 percent of the 1,058 private institutions reporting any amount for tuition, fees, room, and board....A sticker price of $50,000 is more than twice the annual income for a family of four living at the poverty line, $22,050."

8. Report: Distance Learning Urged in California http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/distance-learning-can-improve-higher-education-access-and-efficiency-in-california/27978

"The report, “Using Distance Education to Increase College Access and Efficiency,” was released by the California Legislative Analyst’s Office. It comes at a time when the state’s higher-education system is facing a financial crunch as well as pressure to improve graduation rates. The UC system, for example, lost $637-million in state appropriations last year. And in a different report made public today, the Center for Studies in Higher Education at the University of California at Berkeley called for drastic reforms to meet President Obama’s degree-attainment goals.The report released by the legislative analyst’s office recommended that the state legislature adopt a shared standard of course offerings among community colleges and public universities and establish statewide grants to create an online curriculum repository. It also suggested developing a course-exchange partnership with Western Governors University, a Utah-based nonprofit online institution."

9. SAT Review, by Sue Shellenbarger Getting In Unigo http://t.co/B8lo5IT

"On a challenge from my teenage son, I took the SAT earlier this month to see how a 57-year-old mom would do. My son says today’s teens have to be smarter, faster and more competitive to succeed. I suspect he’s right; I haven’t been able to help my kids with their math homework since eighth grade. Moreover, in the 41 years since I took the SAT, our culture and the expectations surrounding the exam have changed drastically. To see how I’d measure up, I swallowed my fears, crammed for six weeks and took the test May 2. Life for teens is indeed harder, my experiment taught me, but not in the way I expected. Aging took a toll on my mental abilities, to be sure, but I was able to erase most of the losses by studying. What surprised me more were the psychological hurdles. Coping with the ramped-up expectations and competitiveness that infuse the SAT process—a reflection of our entire culture—sent me into a tailspin of adolescent regression, procrastination and sloppy study habits. . . ."

10. College Kid to Millionaire RT @newsweek http://bit.ly/dtKkRC

"For most students, college is a time to make new friends, and possibly, if one is feeling industrious, a really killer beer bong. But for some enterprising college kids, their time at school was when they started making their millions. Mark Zuckerberg, shown here, started Facebook from his Harvard dorm room (though the provenance of the idea is hotly debated). Now, the social networking site is the most visited Web site in the U.S., and Forbes pegs Zuckerberg's worth at around $4 billion."

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