359. 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. Average student loan debt tops $25,000, by Blake Ellis - http://money.cnn.com/2011/11/03/pf/student_loan_debt/ via CNNMoney.com - "College seniors who took out loans to fund their college education owed an average of $25,250, 5% more than the class of 2009 owed, according to a report from the Institute for College Access & Success' Project on Student Debt."

3. U.S.-born children take fight over tuition to court, by Alan Gomez – http://usat.ly/uj42II via @USATODAY - "Now a Florida lawsuit is highlighting a rare practice of forbidding U.S.-born students — citizens by birth — from getting in-state tuition because their parents are illegal immigrants. Five students, all born in the U.S. to illegal immigrant parents, sued the state last month for denying them in-state tuition rates even though they'd lived in Florida, graduated from state high schools and were entering state colleges and universities."

4. American Students Gaze Across the Atlantic and See College, by Rebecca R. Ruiz: http://nyti.ms/tcSYKl - "At a time when more international students are choosing to study in the United States, a separate phenomenon is on the rise: that of American students choosing to spend their entire college experience abroad. Some international institutions have noted American students’ increased willingness to travel farther from home, which has prompted the schools to bolster their outreach efforts."

5. Report Finds Colleges Fail to Disclose Information, by Libby A. Nelson Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/uHHnRt via AddThis - "Three years after the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, which included new disclosure requirements for institutions, the majority of colleges are failing to provide public information on graduation rates for low-income students, and many do not adequately disclose other required information, according to a study published today by Education Sector and the American Enterprise Institute."

6. Essay: Focus student success efforts on what happens in the classroom, by Vincent Tinto Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/uHOQca via AddThis - "It is one thing to hold high expectations; it is another to provide the support students need to achieve them. At no time is support, in particular academic support, more important than during the critical first year of college when student success is still so much in question and still malleable to institutional intervention."

7. NAEP Scores Flat, Sun Rises Again, by Robert Slavin - http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/sputnik/2011/11/naep_scores_flat_sun_rises_again.html - "Recent research from Don Hernandez shows that for students not reading on grade level by 3rd grade, one in six did not graduate from high school on time. This rate is four times greater than that for proficient readers. If this doesn't sound an alarm, I don't know what will. Reading well is a fundamental necessity for learning in all other subjects from math to history, even art. Children who are not reading on grade level simply cannot reach their full potential in any other subject. Economically, this leads to immeasurable loss in untapped potential of our future workforce."

8. College Graduates’ Debt Burden Grew, Yet Again, in 2010, by Tamar Lewin - http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/03/education/average-student-loan-debt-grew-by-5-percent-in-2010.html?_r=1&hpw - “Student debt goes up and it doesn’t ever go down,” said Mark Kantrowitz, the publisher of Finaid.org and Fastweb.com, two Web sites that offer advice on paying for college. “We’re clearly heading in the direction of decreased college affordability. Among lower-income students, the canaries in the cage that squawk first, we’re already seeing a decline in enrollment in four-year colleges and an increase in lower-cost two-year institutions,” he said. Mr. Kantrowitz estimated that for the class of 2011, average debt was $27,200 — or, if parent loans were included, $34,000."

9. Is community college the best value in academia? by Daniel de Vise - College, Inc. -http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/college-inc/post/is-community-college-the-best-value-in-academia/2011/11/03/gIQA9xabiM_blog.html?tid=sm_btn_twitter via @washingtonpost -"Have you considered community college as a pathway to a four-year degree?"

10. Grab college major or lose career, by Jay Mathews - Class Struggle - http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/class-struggle/post/grab-college-major-or-lose-career/2011/11/02/gIQARHF5gM_blog.html?tid=sm_btn_twitter via @washingtonpost - "Using a sample of 62,218 first-time community college students in Washington state, researchers Davis Jenkins and Madeline Joy Weiss noted that students from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds, on average less likely to graduate, were also “less likely than higher SES students to enter a concentration, which we define as taking and passing at least three courses in a single field of study.”They were slowed by remedial courses, but even when they had a chance to pick majors, they weren’t quick and often did not see what choices would help them get jobs. The only majors with good career prospects that low-income students chose in large numbers were in nursing and other health fields."

270. Review of College News

Here are some links to today's stories

about 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 via @rottenbornj ▸ http://t.co/UftEiOc

2. Sad summer ahead for teen employment, by John Wisely and Christina Hall - http://usat.ly/jHcVz7 via @USATODAY - "The official teen unemployment rate is about 25%, but that figure doesn't count all the teens who aren't seeking work. When all teens are factored in, only 25% of them will actually have jobs. That level of discouragement or disinterest worries many economists."

3. Troubled life ended in violence, by Adam Ferrise - TribToday.com - Tribune Chronicle - Warren, OH: http://bit.ly/mIoBnS - "Before Brandon Adkins was gunned down Saturday in the street, he had been shot at, attempted suicide, had his life threatened and was suspected of committing myriad crimes, including stealing a car, burglary and assault, according to police reports."

4. Now That You've Gotten In, by Lionel Anderson - http://nyti.ms/k44fM6 - "Now that you’ve gotten in, give some thought to staying in, excelling and, ultimately, graduating."

5. Education Week: Study Finds Gaps Remain Large for Hispanic Students, by Sarah D. Sparks - http://t.co/XzIegAW via @educationweek - "While growing numbers of Hispanic students have changed the face of American education over the past two decades, the gap between them and their white classmates in math and reading remains as wide as it was in the 1990s, according to a new federal study."

6. Oregon Legislature adopts goal of seeing 40 percent of Oregonians have a college degree, by Bill GravesOregonLive.com - http://t.co/6DWaFP8 - "The House voted 46-14 in favor of Senate Bill 253, which declares one mission of Oregon's education system is to ensure by 2025 that: 40 percent of all adult Oregonians have a bachelor's degree or higher, 40 percent have earned an associate's degree or post-secondary credential and 20 percent have a high school diploma or the equivalent. The bill goes next to Gov. John Kitzhaber, who will sign it into law."

7. Hunt is on for overseas college students, by Mary Beth Marklein - http://usat.ly/jAxCGs via @USATODAY - "But as more countries seek to cash in on the growing market for international students, the USA is losing ground. From 2000 to 2008, the number of students enrolled in a college outside their home country soared 85% to 3.3 million. During that time the U.S. share shrank, from 24% to 19%, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operative Development."

8. The Achievement Gap: Why Hispanic Students Are Still Behind, by Kayla Webley - http://t.co/ayrgeWS via @TIME - "The report analyzes tests given to fourth and eighth graders in math and reading in 2009. Overall, on a national level, Hispanic students scored about 20 points — or two whole grade levels — lower on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scale. (A common rule of thumb among education advocates is that 10 points on the NAEP scale is equivalent to one grade level.)"

9. Positioning young black males for success, by Michael T. Nettles - The Answer Sheet - http://t.co/iTQ9rsq via @washingtonpost - "One final note, at the symposium, the other recurring refrain we heard was that we don’t have a “child problem” we have an “adult problem.” That problem is the desperate need for all adults, parents, educators, policymakers and others to get involved and solve this crisis."

10. ANDREA NEAL: Effective summer reading programs can narrow the achievement gap - http://t.co/wh5FsEs - "The pioneering study on the subject was done in 1978 by Barbara Heyns, who followed 3,000 sixth and seventh graders in Atlanta, Ga. through two school years and the intervening summer. She concluded "the gap between black and white children and between low and high income children widens disproportionately during the months when schools are not in session."Similarly, a 1996 study found that middle-income students experienced reading gains during the summer while low-income students regressed."

11. Prioritizing Early Childhood Education: We Can't Afford to Wait, by Susan Ochshorn - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/susan-ochshorn/prioritizing-early-childh_b_880959.html - "A growing number of children in the United States are not ready for school. Studies show that at least half of the educational achievement gap between poor children and their more advantaged peers is evident in the kindergarten classroom."

262. Review of College News

Here are some links to today's stories about
college access and success.

by

Joe Rottenborn

Executive Director, Mahoning Valley College Access Program (MVCAP)

1. Surging college costs price out middle class, by Annalyn Censky - http://t.co/Rl6BzD9 via @CNNMoney - "As the out-of-pocket costs of a college education go up faster than incomes, it's pricing low and medium income families out of a college education," said Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of financial aid sites FinAid.org and FastWeb.com."

2. The Class of 2011: Commencement Speeches, by Jonathan Corum - http://nyti.ms/kSQ0Ye - "Word usage in 40 speeches given at graduations this year."

3. The True Significance of 'Gainful Employment,' by Doug Lederman - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/lHltJi - "Leaders of for-profit colleges -- and their supporters, mostly Republicans, in Congress -- continued to rattle their swords about the rules’ fundamental unfairness in singling out for-profits for scrutiny. Meanwhile, Wall Street analysts and others who watch the sector -- and were free from worry about maintaining the colleges’ position in a potential lawsuit challenging the regulations -- acknowledged just how much gentler the new rules were than the earlier version."

4. Teach Financial Literacy, by Steven Bahls - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/l1kLFH - "Lately the most common answer from recent graduates as to how we can improve has been surprising — more education about financial literacy and the practical aspects of living in today’s world."

5. How to Get a Rhodes, Fulbright and Other Prestigious Fellowships, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://t.co/AtwE378 via @cbsmoneywatch - "So how do college students increase their chances of getting these fellowships for graduate work? Andrew Roberts, a professor at Northwestern University and the author of an excellent book, The Thinking Student’s Guide to College: 75 Tips for Getting a Better Education, provides some tips."

6. Why a Learning Disability Can Give You A College Admission Edge, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://t.co/qM8tAA0 via @cbsmoneywatch - "Colleges and universities, he says, can treat a learning disability as a plus. And here’s why: colleges look for diversity in their applicants and a learning disability is a form of diversity."

7. Education Secretary May Agree to Waivers on ‘No Child’ Law Requirements, by Sam Dillon - http://nyti.ms/jxh3rH - "The Obama administration has been facing a mounting clamor from state school officials to waive substantial parts of the law, which President Bush signed in 2002, especially its requirement that states bring 100 percent of students to proficiency in reading and math by 2014 or else face sanctions."

8. Lawmakers Talk About Their Degrees—or the Lack of Them - http://chronicle.com/article/Lawmaker-Talk-About-Degrees/127846/ - "I think the biggest gift I could give my children is an education," Ms. Roach says. "But even if I had no children at all, I wouldn't want to make it more difficult for the average family to give their kids a chance at a college degree."

9. Colleges offer graduates help repaying loans, by Mary Beth Marklein - http://usat.ly/jT4sn0 via @USATODAY - "The financial-aid benefit, which targets students who expect to pursue careers in low-paying public-service fields, aims to help colleges attract and retain students who might otherwise enroll somewhere cheaper, or nowhere at all."

10. College group targets incentive payments for international student recruiters, by Daniel de Vise - http://t.co/WaCGg68 via @washingtonpost - "Most colleges have few, if any, employees devoted to international recruiting, and sending workers abroad can get expensive. Many schools have turned instead to agents, who typically set up shop overseas and refer students to U.S. universities for a fee. Many agents charge the student a fee, as well."

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


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139. 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. Net-Price Calculator: The Latest Buzzword for College-Bound Families, by Jacques Steinberg - http://nyti.ms/dMK35D

‎"It is an online device called the “net price calculator,” and colleges and universities will be required by the federal government to have their own versions on their Web sites beginning late next year. The expectation is that families considering a particular institution will be able to enter basic information — household income, savings, mortgage, number of other family members in college — and a program will respond with estimated costs for that college."

2. For-Profit College Graduation Rate: 22 Percent - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/24/forprofit-college-graduat_n_787964.html

"The median debt of for-profit college graduates -- $31,190 -- far outpaces that of private non-profit college graduates, which stands at $17,040, and is more than triple the median debt for those from public colleges, which is $7,960. The University of Phoenix had one of the lower graduation rates at five percent, though the school said in a statement that when all of its students are accounted for -- not just those in federal data -- its graduation rate for bachelor's degree seekers rises to 36 percent."

3. International Students: 8 Things To Know About Attending American Colleges, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://t.co/aqjj4SC

‎"If you want to study abroad in the United States some day, here are eight things that prospective international students need to know:"

4. School Demographics Can Add to Social Cost of Achievement, by Sarah D. Sparks - http://t.co/f1eSdef via @educationweek

‎"The authors found black and Native American adolescents each had significantly higher social costs associated with academic success than did white students, and the social cost was greatest for students who were part of a racial minority in a high-achieving school. Interestingly, this occurred whether or not white students or another racial group made up the majority of the students. "The main interpretation is these schools are likely to create a more competitive environment, and any competitive environment will increase tensions between groups," Fuller-Rowell said. Moreover, in a highly competitive school, "It's difficult to achieve highly without engaging in behaviors that are visible to peers" such as speaking out in class or participating in clubs, he said."

5. 12th Grade NAEP Scores Are Meaningless, by Diane Ravitch - http://t.co/jyZjs3X via @educationweek

"The National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB), which oversees NAEP, has known for years that 12th graders don't try to do well on the tests. The students know that the tests don't count, that there are no individual scores, that no one will ever know if they did well or poorly, and they are not motivated to do their best."

6. Harvard Revisits Policy on Early Admissions, by Eric Hoover http://chronicle.com/blogs/headcount/harvard-u-revisits-policy-on-early-admissions/27740

"William R. Fitzsimmons, Harvard’s dean of admissions and financial aid, told the Crimson that the university was reviewing the success of moving to a single application deadline in 2007. “We’re in the midst of a major study,” Mr. Fitzsimmons said. “At the moment, we don’t anticipate any changes, but we’re a dynamic institution.”

7. This Raging Fire, by Bob Herbert - http://nyti.ms/9Jjsc2

"We know by now, of course, that the situation is grave. We know that more than a third of black children live in poverty; that more than 70 percent are born to unwed mothers; that by the time they reach their mid-30s, a majority of black men without a high school diploma has spent time in prison. We know all this, but no one seems to know how to turn things around. No one has been able to stop this steady plunge of young black Americans into a socioeconomic abyss.
Now comes a report from the Council of the Great City Schools that ought to grab the attention of anyone who cares about black youngsters, starting with those parents who have shortchanged their children on a scale so monstrous that it is difficult to fully grasp. The report, titled “ Call for Change,” begins by saying that “the nation’s young black males are in a state of crisis” and describes their condition as “a national catastrophe.” It tells us that black males remain far behind their schoolmates in academic achievement and that they drop out of school at nearly twice the rate of whites. Black children — boys and girls — are three times more likely to live in single-parent households than white children and twice as likely to live in a home where no parent has full-time or year-round employment. In 2008, black males were imprisoned at a rate six-and-a-half times higher than white males."

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


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138. 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. U. of Virginia Explains Its Return to Early-Admissions Arena, by Jacques Steinberg -http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/23/virginia/

‎"The 22,500 students who applied for the 3,240 seats in the current freshman class represented an increase of 4,000, or 22 percent, over applications three years earlier. With U.V.A.’s decision over that same period to accept the Common Application — which helped add to its popularity by making it easier to apply — the institution seemed to have little incentive to bring back early admissions. And yet. . . ."

2. Flogging For-Profit Colleges, by Doug Lederman - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/elgJF2

"The study, released Tuesday by Education Trust, largely repackages previously published data on higher education companies -- their booming enrollments (particularly of minority and low-income students), escalating dependence on federal financial aid, relatively low graduation rates (compared to most public and independent four-year colleges), and high student debt and default levels . . . ."

3. Opening Up Dormitories, by David Moltz - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/eOrJmo

"The institutions are a half mile apart, Eastern Michigan in Ypsilanti and Washtenaw in Ann Arbor. The university is also the top transfer destination of students from the community college. But when Eastern Michigan had extra dorm space to spare, the two institutions drew even closer. “They approached us,” said Linda Blakey, Washtenaw associate vice president of student services, of Eastern Michigan officials."

4. College Student Borrowing On The Rise: Pew Report - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/23/college-student-borrowing_n_787587.html

"The rise in attendance numbers at private, for-profit colleges has caused the uptick in student borrowing, Pew reports: Over the past decade, the private for-profit sector has expanded more rapidly than either the public or private not-for-profit sectors. In 2008, these institutions granted 18% of all undergraduate awards, up from 14% in 2003."

5. Rise of College Student Borrowing, by Rebecca Hinze-Pifer & Richard Fry http://pewsocialtrends.org/2010/11/23/the-rise-of-college-student-borrowing/

‎"Undergraduate college student borrowing has risen dramatically in recent years. Graduates who received a bachelor’s degree in 20081 borrowed 50% more (in inflation-adjusted dollars) than their counterparts who graduated in 1996, while graduates who earned an associate’s degree or undergraduate certificate in 2008 borrowed more than twice what their counterparts in 1996 had borrowed. . . ."

6. Where College Hoops Reign Supreme: Best Colleges for Basketball Fans - http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/slideshows/best-colleges-to-attend-for-basketball-fans/

"There are many students that choose a college based on the quality of a school’s athletic program. If you’re one of those students looking for a school with a top-notch basketball team, this list is for you."

7. Don't Let the Student Loan Crisis Kill Families, by Jennifer Openshaw - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jennifer-openshaw/act-now-to-avoid-college-_b_786531.html

"As students take on more debt -- $14,000 on average for those earning just associate degrees at the for-profits -- the default rates are growing. Some $275 billion in loans made to students at for-profit colleges will default over the next 10 years. In fact, these for-profit universities represent 10% of all university students, yet they account for 43% of all student-loan defaults, according to the Department of Ed. . . ."

8. International Students: Who Is Attending American Universities, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://t.co/JEdmr8m

"The influx of international students is hardly new. Since 2006, every college admission cycle has attracted more foreign students who are eager to study in the United States. Chinese students are the biggest source of international students by far, according to the annual Open Doors report conducted by the Institute of International Education."

9. Report Finds Low Graduation Rates at For-Profit Colleges, by Tamar Lewin - http://nyti.ms/fqGCuv

"A new report on graduation rates at for-profit colleges by a nonprofit research and advocacy group charges that such colleges deliver “little more than crippling debt,” citing federal data that suggests only 9 percent of the first-time, full-time bachelor’s degree students at the University of Phoenix, . . . ."

10. Report Faults For-Profit Colleges As Providers of 'Subprime Opportunity', by Kevin Kiley - http://chronicle.com/article/Report-Faults-For-Profit/125486/

"The report finds that, on average, only 22 percent of students who enroll in four-year-degree programs at for-profit colleges graduate within six years, compared with 55 percent and 65 percent at public and private nonprofit colleges, respectively. But there was wide variation within the for-profit sector."

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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


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