See free MVCAP e-books on college admissions and financial aid for sharing, printing, and downloading at our online resource library: http://issuu.com/mvcap1. Data on 760,000 at risk after The Ohio State University's server hacked, by Jim Kavanagh - via @
"It doesn't appear that anyone's personal data were accessed, the university said, but Ohio State is providing a year of free credit protection services to those potentially affected. . . . The university expects the investigation and credit protection services to cost it $4 million, according to the Dispatch."
2. Elite Colleges Continue to Fill Slots Early, by Jacques Steinberg:
"At UPenn, for example, nearly half of the freshman class has already been admitted, according to my back-of-the-envelope calculations. At Haverford, Johns Hopkins and Bowdoin, the comparable figure is at or near 40 percent.
By allowing the most motivated — and, at times, some of the most financially able — applicants to lock in their college choices in December, selective colleges have in past years drawn criticism. The institutions have responded that it is in their interest to accept those applicants who are deemed the most qualified, and who have done sufficient research on a university to commit to it as their first choice."
3. More Tuition Struggles Projected, by Jack Stripling - Inside Higher Ed:
"Of 128 respondents, 15 percent of private institutions forecast zero growth or decreases in net tuition revenues for the current fiscal year, which ends June 30 for most colleges. That’s quite a change from the period between 2002 and 2008, when no more than 5 percent of private colleges saw annual decreases. The declines don't mean private colleges are cutting tuition, but rather that revenue lost from increases in discounting rates, which are at a 41 percent median, may be greater than revenue gained by tuition hikes."
4. Making P-16 Meaningful, by Doug Lederman - Inside Higher Ed
"Education reformers have held out hope that the Common Core State Standards Initiative -- the bottom-up effort by governors and state school chiefs to define college readiness and create national standards and assessments to measure progress toward it -- could get college and K-12 leaders out of the silos in which they too often operate."
5. Tracking Students to 200% of Normal Time: Effect on Institutional Graduation Rates -
"A majority of college graduates take longer to earn a degree than what is commonly thought to be the “normal” amount of time it should take—4 years for a bachelor’s degree and 2 years for an associates degree."
6. Delaware man pleads guilty to duping Harvard - (via @)
"Adam Wheeler was sentenced to 10 years of probation and to pay restitution to Harvard for the financial aid, scholarship money and academic awards he received fraudulently from the school."
7. 2010 high school valedictorians - Boston.com:
"Forty different paths, many that began in distant lands, have brought them together. Through hard work, caring parents, and perceptive teachers, they've conquered challenges. Now, they've made it to the top of their class. Here is a snapshot of Boston's 2010 valedictorians."
8. Sweating Bullets at the GAO, by Frederick M. Hess and Andrew P. Kelly - Inside Higher Ed:
"The authors of the Government Accountability Office’s for-profit secret shopper investigation pulled off a statistically impressive feat in August. Let’s set aside for the moment that on Nov. 30, the government watchdog quietly revealed that its influential testimony on for-profit colleges was riddled with errors, with 16 of the 28 findings requiring revisions. More interesting is the fact that all 16 of the errors run in the same direction -- casting for-profits in the worst possible light. The odds of all 16 pointing in the same direction by chance? A cool 1 in 65,536."
9. 10 Excellent College Towns: Unigo List -
"A school's location is the inherent culture surrounding the campus, and what that environment can offer its students. Don't worry though, if you are looking for great weather, we have that too! The perfect vista, town, or climate where you'll be truly happy is out there waiting for you. Here are ten of our favorites."
10. Seeberg parents feel betrayed by Notre Dame sex attack investigation - chicagotribune.com:
"We are parents fighting for our daughter. We're fighting for our sisters, our nieces and our granddaughters," Tom Seeberg said. "If not at Our Lady's university, then where? Where in the world would you fight for women? Where in the world would you fight for a cause like this?"
11. 3 Reasons Colleges Accept More Early Applicants, by Kim Clark - US News and World Report:
"Many schools' early admission rates appear high because coaches often push recruited athletes, who are pre-screened, through early to ensure commitments. Yale University, for example, accepted 730, or 13.9 percent, of its 5,261 early applications last year. Meanwhile, Yale says it accepted just 1,309, or 5.6 percent, of the 23,273 regular candidates. But Yale spokesman Tom Conroy noted that many of the early applicants were recruited athletes."
12. A Plea Deal for George Huguely, by Liz Seccuro -
"It is important to note that today, as I sit a mere 10 minutes from Capitol Hill, Senator Robert Casey (D-PA) is introducing the SaVE Act in the Senate, a bill crafted in direct response to this horrific death. Let us not lose focus on what Yeardley's murder means, the facts of the case, and that it resonates beyond UVA and to every corner of America's college and university communities."
13. Should You Major in Journalism? by Lynn O'Shaughnessy -
"I write a college blog for CBS MoneyWatch and the two most popular posts that I’ve written in 2010 focused on the 20 best-paying college degrees and the 20 worst-paying college degrees. Since this summer when I wrote those posts, they’ve had close to a half million hits. And this is no fluke. The most popular college blog post that I wrote in 2009 was also on the same subject."
14. Mentor Program Introduces Students to STEM-Related Fields, by Jamaal Abdul-Alim - via @
"Just one of dozens of local chapters affiliated with the national ACE Mentor Program, headquartered in Stamford, Conn., the program provides early career exposure, mentoring, and scholarships to high school students in an attempt to encourage them to enter one of the three fields that make up the ACE acronym: architecture, construction, and engineering."
15. Tax Bill With Benefits for Colleges and Students Heads to President's Desk, by Kelly Fields -
"The bill would extend for two years a series of expiring tax breaks, including several deductions and credits for research, tuition, and charitable donations. They include a tuition tax credit worth up to $2,500, a student-loan interest deduction worth up to $2,500, and a benefit that allows companies to provide up to $5,250 in tax-free tuition assistance to their employees.
The measure would also renew a tax credit for companies that give research dollars to colleges and allow individuals to continue to contribute up to $2,000 a year tax-free to Coverdell Education Savings Accounts."
- Follow the most important stories on college admissions and financial aid on Twitter at
- For links to articles on college admissions and financial aid, you can "friend" Joe Rottenborn at
- "Like" the MVCAP fan page:
- 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 -
