280. Summer 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. Mixed News on State Student Aid, by Doug Lederman - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/opfhDm - "State spending on financial assistance to students increased by 3.8 percent in 2009-10, even as many governments struggled with recession-driven cuts in many programs. But nearly half of all states cut back on their all-important spending on need-based financial aid, even as enrollments boomed and as many students and families struggled to keep pace with tuitions that public colleges (or their legislatures) raised sharply."

3. Despite Fiscal Woes, Spending Rose on Student Aid in Many States in 2010, by Eric Kelderman - http://chronicle.com/article/Despite-Fiscal-Woes-Many/128173/ - "Ohio cut need-based grants the most last year, with a 66-percent decrease, while Alaska and Michigan cut them by more than half. Both Hawaii and Utah slashed need-based grants by nearly a third."

4. Jobless College Graduates Struggle Under Ongoing Recession, by Amanda M. Fairbanks and Andrew Lenoir - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/08/college-graduates-jobs-unemployment_n_893495.html - "Seventy-five job applications. Forty cover letters. Twelve interviews. Zero job offers.Since graduating from Wellesley College four years ago, Kayla Calkin, 25, has yet to get a break.In May, Calkin completed a master's degree in public policy from George Washington University. Like so many her age, she believed a graduate degree might guarantee a more stable future.Calkin now works as a full-time nanny in Washington, D.C., while continuing to scour for an eventual dream job in politics. Her two degrees make her overqualified for even the most basic, entry-level position."

5. Grants and student loans are the trend when paying for college tuitions, by Maegan Clearwood - herald-mail.com http://t.co/bVwt9tS - "According to a College Board report, the average in-state public tuition and fees increase was 7.9 percent in 2010-11. With other expenses, such as room and board, total annual charges average at $16,140."Frankly, students are not prepared at all," said Britney Carter, student financial aid counselor at Hagerstown Community College."

146. 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. Financial Aid: A Broken Bridge to College Access? by Bridget Terry Long - http://www.hepg.org/document/19/

"Although there are many barriers to college access and success for low-income and minority students, most can be grouped into three major categories. The first set of major barriers relates to cost. . . . A second major set of barriers to college enrollment and persistence is academic preparation. . . . The third major impediment to higher education for many students, particularly those from low-income families, is the complexity of the college admissions process and financial aid systems, as well as a lack of accurate information about higher education costs. College attendance is the culmination of a series of steps and benchmarks, and this current landscape is too complex and difficult for many families to decipher and navigate."

2. Do Loans Increase College Access and Choice? by Bridget Terry Long - http://www.bos.frb.org/economic/neppc/wp/2007/neppcwp0701.pdf

"This paper attempts to provide additional information on the impact of loans on college decisions by focusing on the period during which college loans were made available to all families, regardless of financial need. The major shift in aid policy occurred due to the 1992 Higher Education Reauthorization Act (HEA92)."

3. Paying for College: The Rising Cost of Higher Education - http://www.massinc.org/Events/2006/06/Paying-for-College-The-Rising-Cost-of-Higher-Education.aspx

"College is the key gatekeeper to the middle class. If you can figure out how to make it to a degree, you can pretty much guarantee a middle class. So many are kept back from entering the gates."

4. Jobless rate up among those with at least bachelor's degree, by Paul Davidson - http://usat.ly/ghcUb8 - RT @USATODAY

‎"The well-educated have been insulated from the worst effects of the recession, which battered manufacturing and construction workers. And unemployment is still far lower for the college-educated than for high school graduates (10%) and those without high school diplomas (15.7%)."

5. When a College Student Loses a Parent, by Jacques Steinberg - http://nyti.ms/fpvnxx

"We particularly want to draw your attention to those that described a faculty member, counselor or roommate who rose to the occasion on behalf of a grieving student."

6. Using the Rankings, by Scott Jaschik - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/gu6PV6

"Of the 80 percent of colleges that believe their institutions appear "favorably" in the rankings, 71 percent promote their rankings results in marketing materials (although most of those say that they promote the rankings in only a limited way)."

7. Less Than 50% Attained Degrees In Last 6 Years, - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/03/49-percent-attained-degre_n_791655.html

‎"The report found that, within six years of enrollment, 49 percent of students attained a certificate, associate or bachelors degree from some institution."

8. Plan to Lift University Tuition Galvanizes British Students, by D. D. Guttenplan - http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/06/world/europe/06iht-educLede06.html?_r=1&hpw

"Under the latest proposals tuition fees, now capped at £3,290, or $5,150, a year, would be allowed to rise as high as £9,000. Universities, which currently have their teaching budgets financed largely by the government, would see 80 percent of that subsidy removed — the only exceptions being courses in science, technology, medicine, nursing and “strategically important languages.”

• 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