382. 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. At White House Meeting on Affordability, a Call for Urgency, Innovation, and Leadership, by Collin Eatonhttp://chronicle.com/article/At-White-House-Meeting-on/130012/ -"Improving completion with the existing enrollment is not going to close the gap, we're going to have to get more students and get more students to complete—a good portion of them are going to have to be nontraditional students, those already in the work force."

3. Questions for the SAT's Top Cop, by Jacques Steinberg: http://nyti.ms/s4deNW - "During the 2010-11 academic year, the office conducted about 9,600 investigations of SAT testing irregularities, including fire alarms going off during testing and reports of test taker impersonation. On test day, test takers must present their admission ticket as well as an acceptable form of photo ID. The name on the admission ticket must match exactly the name on the ID, and the ID must include a recent, recognizable photo. Test center staff members are authorized to refuse admission to any test taker with invalid or questionable ID. A list of acceptable forms of ID is available on the SAT Web site."

4. The 'Boy Problem' Examined, by Elizabeth Murphy Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/tE7mzE via AddThis - "The female advantage is present across racial groups, as well, according to the data. In 1981, the most recent birth year calculated, white women have an 11 percent point advantage over white men, black women are at 9 percentage points and Hispanic women at 6 percentage points, according to the paper."

5. GAINS AND GAPS: CHANGING INEQUALITY IN U.S. COLLEGE ENTRY AND COMPLETION, by Martha J. Bailey and Susan M. Dynarski - http://www.nber.org/tmp/1823-w17633.pdf - "We find growing gaps between children from high- and low-income families in college entry, persistence, and graduation. . . . Sex differences in educational attainment, which were small or nonexistent thirty years ago,are now substantial, with women outpacing men in every demographic group. The female advantage in educational attainment is largest in the top quartile of the income distribution."

6. Districts see rise in homeless students, by Charlie Boss The Columbus Dispatch - http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2011/12/05/when-shelter-is-home.html - "It seems like in December and January, everything falls apart for a family,” said Pam Reveal, who oversees enrollment for Groveport Madison schools. “They lose their homes and jobs. A lot of them won’t go to a shelter unless they absolutely have to. Some have been sleeping in parking lots." The 5,822-student school district just southeast of Columbus has the highest rate of homeless students in Franklin County. About 8percent of the district’s students did not have a permanent address at one point last school year. That’s about 450 students, more than triple the number from the 2006-07 school year."

7. How to Rescue Education Reform, by FREDERICK M. HESS and LINDA DARLING-HAMMOND: http://nyti.ms/tntDvY - "Perhaps No Child Left Behind’s most enduring lesson is the value of humility — a virtue that must be taken to heart in crafting a smarter, more coherent federal role in schooling."

8. Employers Say College Graduates Lack Job Skills, by Lacey Johnson -http://chronicle.com/article/Employers-Say-College/130013/ - "The group surveyed more than 1,000 employers in various industries last month about whether job applicants possess the skills to thrive in the workplace. More than half of employers said finding qualified applicants is difficult, and just under half thought students should receive specific workplace training rather than a more broad-based education."

9. Guest post: A more relaxed approach to Early Decision, by Jeff Rickey - College, Inc. - http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/college-inc/post/guest-post-a-more-relaxed-approach-to-early-decision/2011/12/06/gIQAo1JXZO_blog.html?tid=sm_btn_twitter via Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive - "Instead of making them wait to hear from us until the middle of March, we developed a plan that allows students to apply Early Decision at any time up until our Regular Decision deadline of February 1. Students declare their Early Decision intentions by completing and submitting the Early Decision contract, and, once that is received and the admissions application is complete, the application is evaluated and the student is notified, usually within a couple of weeks of completion."

10. Still Waiting: Black Male Achievement in America, by LaVar Young - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lavar-young/black-male-achievement_b_1121379.html?ref=education&ir=Education - "But, the statistics are tangible and certainly disturbing, and they start immediately at birth. For one, black infant mortality rates are more than twice that of whites, in a country that already has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the developed world. As they grow into toddlerhood and childhood, the evidence mounts. Two-thirds of black children live in single parent households, which is three times that of white children. And one-third live in poverty, compared with one tenth of their white counterparts. In school, black males score lower on standardized tests, are nearly twice as likely to drop out of high school, three times as likely to be suspended from school and less likely to go on to a two-year or four-year college."

320. 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. How I saved $50,000 in college costs - http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2011/pf/college/1109/gallery.college_savings_strategies.moneymag/ via @CNNMoney - "These three students saved themselves tens of thousands of dollars -- and a lifetime of debt -- by pursuing less conventional approaches to college."

2. Study: Gap in education plagues Valley, by Karl Henkel - Newswatch: http://www.vindy.com/news/2011/sep/08/study-gap-education-plagues-valley/?nw via Vindicator - "From 2005 through 2009, the Youngstown-Warren-Boardman region had the seventh-highest education gap among the top 100 metropolitan areas, according to the Education, Demand and Unemployment in America report released today by Brookings. Education gaps are defined as “shortage of educated workers relative to employer demand.”

3. Tuition hikes fail to stop higher-ed cuts - http://www.vindy.com/news/2011/sep/09/tuition-hikes-fail-to-stop-higher-ed-cut/ via @vindicator - "The cost shift from states to students has been going on for years, according to State Higher Education Executive Officers, a group that tracks college funding."

4. The Net Price Calculator: Financial Aid 'Game-Changer'? by Rebecca R. Ruiz : http://nyti.ms/oLcODs - ". . .Here’s a definition for the uninitiated: it is an online device that offers customized approximations of college costs based on standardized inputs − family size and savings, for example. The calculator estimates a prospective student’s financial aid; subtracts that amount from a college’s “list price,” or full cost; and spits out a “net price,” the amount a particular student must pay or borrow to enroll."

5. No spots for hundreds of NYC school kids, by Melanie Eversley - http://usat.ly/niM1YH via @usatoday - "Hundreds of public schoolchildren in New York City won't be going to class today, the first day of classes, because there are no seats for them, the NY Daily News is reporting."

6. Where community colleges go wrong, by Jay Mathews - Class Struggle - http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/class-struggle/post/where-community-colleges-go-wrong/2011/09/08/gIQA5kGNCK_blog.html via @washingtonpost -“The remedial placement process is ground zero for college noncompletion in America,” she says. “If the nation is going to make any headway in helping more students graduate from college, it will have to completely overhaul the way students enrolling in nonselective colleges are tested for college readiness, and make fundamental changes in how colleges use that information to help students earn degrees.”

7. Washington Monthly - How the Other Half Tests, by Susan Headden -http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/septemberoctober_2011/features/how_the_other_half_tests031638.php -"In open admissions colleges, placement tests typically trump everything else. If you bomb the SAT, the worst thing that can happen is you can’t go to the college of your choice. If you bomb the Accuplacer, you effectively can’t go to college at all."

8. Early Decision: 10 Things You Need To Know About Applying - CBS MoneyWatch.com http://t.co/XEWM6Mo via @cbsmoneywatch

9. Read The Joe Rottenborn Daily ▸ Today's top stories on college access and success via @rottenbornj ▸ http://t.co/x7cmxSo

245.Unstack the Odds--GO TO COLLEGE:STEPS 4-7

Unstack the Odds: Help All Kids Access College—and Graduate!

by
Joe Rottenborn
Executive Director, Mahoning Valley College Access Program (MVCAP)

18. GO TO COLLEGE: STEPS 4-7

4) Use an online estimator, like that on the website of the ACT (http://webapps01.act.org/fane/docs/) to determine your financial need by calculating the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) for the first year of college.

5) Compare your EFC to costs of any colleges of interest, via a website like the link on the ACT site at http://webapps01.act.org/fane/docs/

6) Search local resources, college viewbooks, and Internet sites to identify scholarships, tuition-discounts, and gift-aid. Try using a free scholarship search & e-mail notification site, like Fastweb at the link http://www.fastweb.com/

7) Consider the advantage of Early-Decision and Early-Action options vs. regular admissions.

161. 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. Congress Targets Spending, by Patrick O'Connor and Janet Hook - http://on.wsj.com/eOVkTc - WSJ.com

"Republicans aren't proposing an across-the-board cut on the government, so some departments could see deeper cuts than others. The top targets could be programs whose budgets saw a jump under Democrats, like foreign aid and Pell Grants for middle-income college students."

2. Study less, earn more--at least in the beginning, by Michael Vasquez - http://t.co/Q2ciV5a via @miamiherald

"What the numbers say: Bachelor's degree recipients from the state's 11 public universities earned an average starting salary of $36,552 in 2009. Meanwhile, those who received associate in science degrees from Florida community colleges earned an average of $47,708 -- a difference of $11,000 more per year."

3. Cuomo Names Developers of a Student Loan Center, by Kareem Fahim - http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/01/nyregion/01student.html?_r=1

"Mr. Cuomo said Friday that $13 million in settlements paid by dozens of colleges and lenders in the case would be used to finance a national student loan center, to help young borrowers and their parents navigate the complexities of the college lending process."

4. Winter break is high season for dropouts, by Alan Tripp - http://voices.washingtonpost.com/college-inc/2010/12/winter_break_is_high_season_fo.html

"Their reasons are many. Students are naturally likely to reassess their college choices and careers at the end of their first semester. Also, and not surprisingly, our coaches have found that freshmen at traditional colleges returning home for their first extended break can have heightened feelings of homesickness. Other students have second thoughts after underestimating the rigors of college and how to balance those with everyday life.
Whatever the reason, these students will join the 800,000 each year who begin a bachelor's program yet never graduate. When 40 percent of our college students fail to graduate, there's a crisis -- one that impacts their lives, the lives of those around them and a country quickly falling behind."

5. Delaying College to Fill in the Gaps, by Sue Shellenbarger - http://on.wsj.com/hVPfkp - WSJ.com

"Gap-year activities range from doing volunteer work or taking classes, to working for pay, traveling or tackling outdoor adventures."

6. For-Profit Colleges Charging More While Doing Less for Poorest, by John Lauerman - Bloomberg http://t.co/DNSz190 via @BloombergNow

"The industry, including Washington Post Co.’s Kaplan University, has tripled enrollment to 1.8 million in the past decade by pouring billions of dollars into marketing and recruiting, offering flexible online classes and outfitting more-modern campuses while states slash funding for

for community colleges. As much as 90 percent of revenue at each for-profit college comes from federal student aid.
Today, one in seven minority students attends a for-profit college, as does one in four poor students who receive federal Pell grants for low-income families, according to the U.S. Department of Education and an industry group."

7. College grade inflation feared as GPAs gradually rise, by Diane Smith http://t.co/RzpAudV

"Rojstaczer, who has been tracking GPAs for years, lists his finding on gradeinflation.com--a website with links to GPA data. His findings were also presented in a research paper that was published in March. Rojstaczer said the average GPA nationwide at all schools has gone from 2.93 during the 1991-92 academic year to 3.11 in 2006-07."

8. Universities Are Challenged as Demographics Shift, by Reeve Hamilton and Jon Marcus - http://nyti.ms/hganF7

"Although the changing demographics of college campuses may be grabbing the headlines, the more compelling issue is how the growing number of minority students presents serious social and academic challenges for financially strapped universities, even as the schools are under pressure to boost graduation rates.

Nationally, 52 percent of Hispanic students and 58 percent of black students are unable to earn a bachelor’s degree in six years, compared with 40 percent of white students, according to the National Center for Education Statistics."

9. Study: TRIO Programs May Ease College Racial Gaps, But Parent Support Still Needed, by Sarah D. Sparks - http://t.co/C2JjW5o

"In fact, adolescent interventions brought the college-going rates of low-income Hispanic and black students up to the level of middle-income white students. "Upward Bound and Talent Search are examples of adolescent intervention programs that can benefit African-American and Hispanic students immensely when properly implemented," Ms. Walsh concludes.
The downside? The programs still do not make up for family support and resources in the college-planning process, a critical intent of the programs."

10. 10 ways to pay tuition in 2011, by Christina Couch - http://www.bankrate.com/finance/college-finance/10-ways-to-pay-college-tuition-in-2011-1.aspx

"With 529 plans fluctuating, financial-aid budgets getting slashed and tuition rising at an alarming rate, the landscape of college financing is changing fast. Fortunately, you still have options. Here are the best college finance tips for 2011."

11. High School Counselors Lack Training in College Admissions, by Caralee Adams - http://t.co/2T3hZA5

"High school counselors, particularly those in poorer urban and rural districts, often don't have the training needed to help students navigate the college admission system. And this can hinder access to higher education for first-generation, minority students, says Patrick O'Connor, past president of the National Association for College Admission Counseling in an recent op-ed essay that appeared in Diverse: Issues in Higher Education.
While 466 colleges offer training for school counselors, fewer than 45 of these programs offer a course showing future counselors how to help students and families select, apply, and pay for college, writes O'Connor."

12. Applying Early Decision: 6 Things to Do When You're Deferred, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://t.co/VfRBYzp

"A dear friend of mine’s son recently learned that the University of Chicago had deferred his application and he was devastated. Here, however, are six things that you can do to boost your chances of still getting into your dream school:"

• 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

157. 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. Me, in 500 Words or Less, by Michael Campbell - http://nyti.ms/eqkrD4

‎"The essays are my chance to reveal myself as an individual with substance beyond scores and merit beyond my transcript. If I fail to do so, I will become little more than a statistic in the eyes of admissions. If I succeed, I may prove myself a worthy candidate for acceptance."

2. Goodbye DADT, Hello ROTC, by Dan Berrett - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/hZMcLE

"It also effectively ends what has been a vexing problem for higher education, including at Columbia -- given our desire to be open to our military, but not wanting to violate our own core principle against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation," continued Bollinger. "We now have the opportunity for a new era in the relationship between universities and our military services."

3. Spare the Rod, Pay the Prof, by Steve Kolowich - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/ig5ERr

‎"Instead, the university is offering to share tuition revenues from online students with colleges and departments that accommodate them. In the College of Arts and Sciences, professors — who are not generally given bonuses for developing new courses — are offered $5,000 to adapt a course to the online medium."

4. 'The Global Auction' by Scott Jaschik - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/fByZ2t

‎"Start asking hard questions about your reasons for going to college, which college is likely to offer you a high-quality education, and what your chances are of finding a job that meets your expectations after graduation. If you’re aiming high, be prepared for a long and intense competition that doesn’t end when you enter the job market. If you do not see yourself at an elite university, is it better to go for a two-year rather than four-year college education and then opt for further training while employed?"

5. Top College Role Models Of 2010 - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/20/top-college-role-models-o_n_799011.html#s201958

"They showed their true selves. And in 2010, they accomplished monumental things. Below, see 11 inspiring college students, campuses, groups and professors who lead by example this year -- and may renew your confidence in younger generations."

6. 100-Headed Monster That Digests College Applications! by Ruth Starkman - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ruth-starkman/100headed-monster-digests_b_798907.html

‎"At large universities additional temporary readers, usually 100 or so, are hired on for the reading season from December to February. They are the first line of people reading your applications. These "external" temporary readers undergo several weeks of training before the reading process and continue to receive support from the fulltime admissions personnel after the reading starts. External readers are a hugely mixed group of people from high school academic counselors to alumni to retired or part-time faculty from many different universities."

7. Why Don't Professors Like to Teach? by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://t.co/ThEkjhK

"The reason is simple, according to a policy paper by the Center For College Affordability and Productivity. Professors are rewarded for staying out of the classroom. The big money in the higher-ed world is in research. It’s definitely not in teaching a bunch of undergraduates Psych 101 or holding office hours."

8. Cutbacks Force Some Early Colleges to Close Down, by Mary Ann Zehr - http://t.co/ThIN94j via @educationweek

‎"Over the past two-and-a-half years, two such schools have closed in Georgia, and a District of Columbia high school greatly scaled back its school-within-a-school early-college program. In Ohio, Youngstown State University is transferring responsibility for an early-college high school on its campus to the nearby Eastern Gateway Community College because it can no longer afford to sponsor it."

9. Early Decision Up, Yet Still Small Part of Admissions Pie, by Caralee Adams - http://t.co/Qr19mFc

"Early decision is when a student applies to his first-choice school and, if accepted, the decision is binding. Early action is similar to early decision, but the student doesn't have to commit immediately. She can still apply to other colleges and wait to make a decision until spring. About 18 percent of colleges offer early decision and 24 percent have early action plans, according to the 2010 State of Admissions Report by the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC). These plans are more common at private colleges."

10. Families Struggle To Compare Financial-Aid Offers, Survey Finds - http://chronicle.com/blogs/headcount/many-families-struggle-to-compare-student-aid-offers-survey-finds/27748

"Nearly two-thirds of respondents said the contents of individual award letters were clear and easy to understand, but more than half said that letters from different colleges were hard to compare. Almost seven-eighths of respondents said award letters should be standardized."

11. 30 Ways to Rate a College - by Alex Richards and Ron Coddington - http://chronicle.com/article/30-Ways-to-Rate-a-College/124160/

‎"That indicates a lack of agreement among them on what defines quality. Much of the emphasis is on “input measures” such as student selectivity, faculty-student ratio, and retention of freshmen. Except for graduation rates, almost no “outcome measures,” such as whether a student comes out prepared to succeed in the work force, are used."

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


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152. 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. The Case for Early Decision, by Robert J. Massa - http://nyti.ms/fuagT1

‎"Here’s what colleges typically don’t make clear: Although early decision is binding, no college will hold a student to a contract if a family determines that the financial aid package is inadequate, regardless of how much assistance the college offers or what the needs analysis-scholarship eligibility criteria suggests. That’s right. If the family says they can’t afford it, files an appeal and the college still doesn’t meet their expectations, they can withdraw their child’s application without penalty."

2. Did You (Or Your Child) Get an Early-Admission Decision? by Jacques Steinberg - http://nyti.ms/gpxx4k

"In the meantime, though, I hope that those of you who applied — or had a child who applied — will use the comment box below now, or over the next few days, to tell readers what you’re hearing as you hear it. In the process, I’d like to give readers of The Choice the virtual experience of being around the kitchen table or at the computer as these decisions land. So please, tell us your stories."

3. Surprise: Alumni Love Their Colleges, by Allie Grasgreen - Inside Higher Ed - http://t.co/dz4hBVW

"The survey, which was commissioned by the American Council of Education, hinges on one finding in particular: that despite a harsh economic climate for recent graduates and a harsh political one for colleges in general, 89 percent of alumni say their degree was worth the time and money."

4. 10 Paying College Jobs That Look Good on Your Résumé - US News and World Report, by Alexis Grant - http://t.co/JsHgLGh

‎"Your best bet is to look for a job that's related to the career you're hoping to pursue, so you can gain relevant skills, contacts, and experience. If you don't know yet which career is right for you, use your college job to help you figure that out, says Lindsey Pollak, author of Getting from College to Career: 90 Things to Do Before You Join the Real World. If you don't end up enjoying the job you choose, you can cross it off your list of potential careers.
These 10 jobs are great choices for students because they look good on a résumé, work around class schedules, and offer decent pay."

5. The 7 Most Important Classes to Take In College, by Rachel Dozier - http://j.mp/hUxJyc

"You’re not in school for the easy A’s. Here are seven classes that are not only fun but can help you down the road as well—no matter what your major is!"

6. Education Week: Study: States Must Move Faster to Close Achievement Gaps, by Mary Ann Zehr - http://t.co/BGp8XFI via @educationweek

"In Washington State, for example, the Center on Education Policy predicts it will take 105 years to close the gap between white and African-American students in 4th grade reading at the rate it’s going. By contrast, if Louisiana continues at the same pace in narrowing the gap between those same two groups of students in 4th grade reading, the gap will be closed in 12.5 years."

7. College, Jobs and Inequality - Editorial 12/14/10, The New York Times - http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/14/opinion/14tue1.html?_r=1&hp

"Over the past year, for example, the unemployment rate for college grads under age 25 has averaged 9.2 percent, up from 8.8 percent a year earlier and 5.8 percent in the first year of the recession that began in December 2007. That means recent grads have about the same level of

unemployment as the general population. It also suggests that many employed recent grads may be doing work that doesn’t require a college degree.
Even more disturbing, there is no guarantee that unemployed or underemployed college grads will move into much better jobs as conditions improve."

8. Emphasizing Sports Over Academics Sets Up Black Boys to Lose, by Richard Whitmire - http://t.co/r4Utc5k via @educationweek

"It’s perhaps understandable that high school boys ignore the odds and insist that academics don’t matter because they have a shot at the pros. But parents should know better. A community that pushes sports over academics is doing a terrible disservice to its children, who will find themselves in deep trouble when their athletic aspirations fail to materialize and they don’t have the academic background to do much else."

9. Md.'s Towson University conquers 'graduation gap' by Daniel de Vise - http://t.co/8ffofsd via @washingtonpost

"In 10 years, according to school data, Towson has raised black graduation rates by 30 points and closed a 14-point gap between blacks and whites. University leaders credit a few simple strategies: admitting students with good grades from strong public high schools, then tracking each student's progress with a network of mentors, counselors and welcome-to-college classes."

10. Dearth of Blacks at Oxford and Cambridge, by D.D. Guttenplan - http://nyti.ms/hTf6ta

"According to Mr. Lammy, last year the whole of Oxford University admitted just one black student, and Cambridge University does not have a single black faculty member. . . . A spokeswoman for Oxford said that Mr. Lammy’s arguments “don’t stack up.” In a statement, the university said lack of success in secondary school was the biggest barrier to blacks’ admission, noting that “in 2009, 29,000 white students got the requisite grades for Oxford compared to just 452 black students.”
“Black students apply disproportionately for the most oversubscribed subjects,” it said, further reducing their chances of success."

• 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


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• 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

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1. Early-Decision Applications Surge at Vanderbilt, George Washington and Dartmouth, by Jacques Steinberg - http://nyti.ms/c5CyHv

"I note, in scrolling through the nearly three dozen institutions (and counting) represented on the chart above, that binding early submissions to Vanderbilt are up more than 30 percent; those to George Washington are up nearly 20 percent; and that Dartmouth has seen an increase of nearly 14 percent. (Blogger’s disclosure: I am a Dartmouth graduate.)Bucknell (30 percent); Lehigh (14 percent); and Bowdoin (10 percent) also caught my eye. They join Northwestern (now reporting a 26 percent increase) and the University of Pennsylvania (18 percent), which I wrote about last week. As noted eloquently by several commenters in response to last week’s post, binding early programs continue to be a lightning rod for families and counselors; an applicant who applies under such a program, and commits to attend if accepted, loses the ability to not only field financial aid offers from other colleges, but also forfeits at least some potential leverage to persuade that institution to sweeten its scholarship. . . ."

2. Context on Admissions Jumps - Inside Higher Ed http://t.co/zFifUGf

"A report being issued today by the National Association for College Admission Counseling says that it is true that colleges are receiving many more applications than in the past -- and that part of the phenomenon is linked to top students applying to more colleges than they used to, and top colleges receiving more applications than they used to. Still, the NACAC report is very much a "yes but" on the question of whether the increases in applications are really about the frenzy to get into the most competitive colleges. Many of the largest increases in applications are at less selective institutions seeing increased numbers of high school graduates in some areas, and increased numbers of Latino and black applicants in other cases."

3. 13 Colleges That Leave Students In Massive Debt - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/18/student-debt-colleges_n_785604.html#s175927

"According to a recent report from the Project on Student Debt, the average 2009 college graduate with $24,000 in debt -- an increase of six percent from the prior year. Using Peterson's data, the report also researched which colleges leave the students in most debt. Some schools, like the Cleveland Institute of Art, average more than $60,000 worth of debt per student. See the 13 schools that leave students in the most debt below."

4. More Jobs For College Graduates Next Year - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/18/more-jobs-for-college-gra_n_785659.html

"Analysis of approximately 4,600 employers reveals that the job-market rebound can be attributed to a cessation of hiring freezes among larger companies as well as growth in small, fast-growth businesses. The report's principal investigator, Phil Gardner, says he expects to see the largest increase in jobs for college grads in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin. The industries expected to lead in hiring are manufacturing, professional services, commercial banking and federal government."

5. Entry level jobs: 8 Things You Need to Know, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://t.co/DJCE7qu

‎"Here’s the good news: more employers expect to be hiring college grads than last year. That’s one of the take-home messages of a new comprehensive survey of jobs for college graduates that Michigan State University conducted. The annual survey, which is the biggest of its kind, surveyed 4,600 employers about their hiring prospects. Here’s what the survey says about entry-level jobs for new college graduates:"

6. Rise in college applications hurts low-income students - http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/college-admissions/report-rise-in-college-applica-1.html

"The rise in applications at community colleges, for-profit institutions and less-selective public institutions appears to be a result of the increasing sizes over the years of graduating high school classes, and there has been growth in the number of applicants who are Hispanic and black, students who are more likely from moderate- and low-income families with less rigorous academic preparation. Many of these institutions have been hard hit by the economic downturn, and research shows that many of these underfunded public schools lack resources to meet the needs of their growing student bodies. At the more selective schools, applications have been rising apparently because each student is applying to a greater number of schools."

7. 'Application Inflation' Has Many Causes--and Consequences http://chronicle.com/blogs/headcount/‘application-inflation’-has-many-causes—and-consequences/27722

"The report suggests that the long-term rise in the number of high-school graduates pursuing higher education—particularly Hispanic students whose parents did not attend college—explains much of the recent increases at two-year colleges and less-selective four-year institutions. Meanwhile, a rising number of students applying to multiple institutions explains the increases at more-selective colleges and universities, the report says. At the same time, admissions offices have helped create the application monster with their recruiting and marketing practices, and many colleges have made applying to college quick and easy—not to mention free—in hopes of attracting more students. On most campuses, the relentless search for more and better applicants (encompassing the nation, if not the globe) serves altruistic goals as well as competitive ones."

8. Tuition Discounts Up at Public Colleges, Could Be Costly, by Rachel Louise Ensign - http://chronicle.com/article/Tuition-Discounts-Rise-at/125439/

"Increasing the discount rate, or the percentage of tuition covered by institutional aid from the operating budget, initially earns a public four-year college more revenue per student, according to research being presented on Thursday by Nicholas W. Hillman, an assistant professor of educational leadership and policy at the University of Utah, at the annual meeting of the Association for the Study of Higher Education. But once the discount rate rises above 13 percent—as it is has done at a number of public colleges, Mr. Hillman says—the financing approach earns less of a payoff.Mr. Hillman studied 174 public colleges and universities, finding that they had an average discount rate of 12.3 percent in 2008."

9. Colleges' own recruiting may push students to spread applications around, by Daniel de Vise - http://t.co/DKdmlqe via @washingtonpost

"Application inflation" is one of the most widely discussed but poorly documented trends in college admissions. Applications rose 47 percent at public colleges and 70 percent at private colleges between fall 2001 and fall 2008, according to the National Association for College Admission Counseling in Arlington County. In a new report, "Putting the College Admissions 'Arms Race' in Context," the group attempts to explain the unprecedented jump. Admissions officers point to a steady increase in the number of students applying to eight, 10 or 15 schools, particularly among top students courting selective colleges. The 34-page report suggests that application inflation is a phenomenon largely confined to selective colleges, whose applicants hope to raise their chances by applying to more schools. Colleges feed the frenzy by recruiting heavily - and unnecessarily, the authors contend."

10. Thanks but No Thanks, NAEP, by Chester E. Finn, Jr. http://bit.ly/aTqy3o

"The big news, alas, isn’t news at all, which is that proficiency levels remain dreadfully low in both reading and math (worse in math), that gains have been tiny, that college readiness is nowhere near what it ought to be, that the achievement gap hasn’t narrowed by a micron, and that an awful lot of spending and reforming and earnest hard work has not yet paid off for a country that needs fundamentally different outcomes for K-12 education."

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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."

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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1. Over All, Colleges Accept an Average of 2 of 3 Applicants, by Jacques Steinberg on The Choice: Demystifying College - http://nyti.ms/brt1HG

‎"In its annual “State of College Admission” report, which is being released Wednesday afternoon, the National Association for College Admission Counseling has tallied a fresh statistic that underscores the above point: The average acceptance rate at four-year colleges and universities was 67 percent for last fall’s freshmen class. For those families fixated on the nation’s most selective colleges — some of which accepted fewer than 10 percent of those who applied last year — such figures are probably of little comfort. But for others seeking to take a broader view, that 67 percent acceptance rate should be of some solace."

2. A Father's Acceptance: His Son Won't Follow His Ivy Footsteps, by Dave Marcus - http://nyti.ms/asjPrF

"For seven years, I’ve crisscrossed the country, discussing what I learned while writing two books about teenagers. Help your children find their hidden talents, I advise parents. Teach your children to be independent. Don’t live your dreams through your son or daughter.... Somewhere in my files, I have a photo of my son, Benjie, and me on the steps of the admissions office of my alma mater, Brown University. We were framed by glowing yellow forsythia, and I was beaming. Benjie was two weeks old."

3. Measuring 2-Year Students' Success - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/awMeel

‎"Supporters and critics of community colleges alike question the merits of the primary success metric currently produced by the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System: the "federal graduation rate," the completion rate for first-time, full-time students who earn credentials within 150 percent (recently changed to 200 percent) of the generally accepted amount of time it takes to complete. (In other words, four years for a two-year degree, and eight years for a four-year degree.) Supporters say the current data don't reflect the good work the colleges do, failing to account for the many students who transfer to four-year institutions without degrees, and the many students who come to the institutions for something less than a degree -- a certificate, or even just some retraining -- and get what they wanted. Critics argue that better data would simply provide clearer evidence that community colleges are failing in their mission, reinforcing what are terribly low completion rates. . . ."

4. Early Decision Bounces Back - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/aq0xAh

"During 2009, 47 percent of colleges reported an increase in the number of early decision applications they received, about the same proportion as the previous two years. But 65 percent of colleges with early decision reported admitting more students through the process in 2009, compared to only 43 percent reporting such increases the year before. And the gap is growing between the admissions rates for early decision and regular applicants at the same institutions. Colleges with early decision admit on average 55 percent of all applicants, but 70 percent of early decision applicants.In another data point on the return of early decision, in 2009 only 5 percent of colleges with the option reported admitting fewer applicants that way than they did the year before. In each of the previous three years, more than 30 percent of colleges reported such a shift."

5. Young Men Earn Fewer College Degrees: Report http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/20/men-college-degrees_n_769838.html

"According to the American Council on Education's analysis of 2008 data, 33 percent of men aged 25 to 34 hold postsecondary degrees, compared to 40 percent of men aged 55 to 64. Women, on the other hand, continue to exceed older generations in levels of higher education -- 42 percent of 25 to 34 year old females have a college degree, as opposed to 34 percent of those aged 55 to 64. This pattern is consistent across ethnic groups, with the exception of Asian-Americans, for whom both younger men and women earn undergraduate degrees at higher rates than their older counterparts."

6. The Latest Scoop on College Admissions, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy http://t.co/OEtFKI9

"The number of graduating high school students peaked at 3.3 million in 2009 while at the same time the recession made it more difficult for families to afford colleges. Higher-ed observers had predicted that students would limit their college choices and, sure enough, a significant minority of colleges have experienced that retrenchment. Twenty nine percent of colleges and universities said they experienced a drop in applications in 2009. That is the largest number of colleges to report fewer applications than at any time since 1996."

7. 10 Reasons to Attend Canadian Universities, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://t.co/hJVul1N

". . .To help get some answers about Canadian colleges, I sought out Whitney Laughlin, a veteran college consultant who is a leading expert on universities north of the border. Here are 10 reasons why Laughlin, who has offices in Santa Fe, NM, and Victoria, British Columbia, believes American teenagers should explore universities in Canada."

8. Early-Decision Programs May Lift Odds of College Admission, by Jacques Steinberg - http://nyti.ms/9RwQk3

"A report released Wednesday by an association of guidance counselors and admissions officers could be worth a look. It provides new evidence for those who believe that applying to college early in the academic year — or, more specifically, submitting applications under binding early-decision programs — increases the likelihood of acceptance. Nearly three of every four students who applied last year under such programs, which are offered by many of the nation’s most selective colleges, were accepted, compared with just over half who applied to the same colleges in the main application round, according to the annual report, “The State of College Admission,” by the National Association for College Admission Counseling. All told, the percentage accepted last year in the early-decision round, in which those accepted are compelled to withdraw all other applications and enroll, was 15 points higher than in the main phase. And that gap is rising, the authors said. In fall 2006, 61 percent, on average, were accepted early, compared with 53 percent in the regular pool."

9. The Economy and College Admissions, by Beckie Supiano http://chronicle.com/blogs/headcount/the-changing-state-of-college-admissions/27569

"During the 2009 cycle, the number of students graduating from high school in the United States reached a peak of 3.33 million; the number of high-school graduates is projected to decline through 2014-15. In recent years, many colleges have seen their application numbers increase as more students graduated from high school and as students applied to more colleges. This year, 65 percent of colleges reported an increase in the number of applications received. But despite the peak number of high-school graduates, 29 percent of colleges reported a drop in the number of applications they received, the highest share reporting a decline since 1996. That finding, the report’s authors suggest, could be the result of changed student behavior because of the recession. In a survey the association conducted last year, many counselors reported that more students were considering two-year colleges or were looking at public colleges rather than private ones because of cost considerations."