175. MVCAP fyi

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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1. Report on College Attendance Crisis for Black Males Exaggerated - http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/achievement-gap/report-on-college-attendance-c.html

"The article also referred imprecisely to the significance of the number of black men in college. While black men made up “just 5 percent” of college students in 2008, that figure did not represent one of the areas in which blacks showed a lack of achievement, given that black men make up only about 6.5 percent of the general population."

2. University report: Class of '11 will see slightly better jobs outlook, by Andrew Katz - http://bit.ly/ifypLZ #cnn

"The Recruiting Trends 2010-2011 survey, released November 17, found that overall hiring is expected to grow by 3 percent over last year to provide 122,000 opportunities for graduates across all degree levels. In fact, nearly 72 percent of those positions could be filled at the bachelor's degree level alone, as the entire college labor market is leveraged by an expected 10 percent increase in the hiring of those degree holders, the survey of 4,600 employers says."

3. California State campuses raise tuition in middle of school year, by Michael Martinez - http://bit.ly/9kN1W3 #cnn

"The 5 percent increase will raise tuition from the current $2,115 to $2,220 for the spring semester for full-time undergraduate students. Next fall, full-time undergraduate tuition rise from $4,440 to $4,884 per year. Trustees sought to soften the blow by stating that about half of its undergraduates -- about 180,000 students -- will be fully covered for the tuition increases through financial aid."

4. Experts give tips to college grads seeking first job, by Christine Dugas - RT @USATODAY - http://usat.ly/hpzZSr

"The unemployment rate of Americans ages 20 to 24 has climbed from 8.5% in 2007 to 15% this year at a time the overall unemployment rate hovers just below 10%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Adding to the pressure to get a job, graduates on average are starting out with $24,000 in student loan debt, according to a new report about 2009 from The Project on Student Debt."

5. Students can make up credits online, by Susan Sawyers - RT @USATODAY - http://usat.ly/hxMzAT

"The classes are part of a widening phenomenon called credit recovery — a term that sounds more about erasing debt than advancing education but actually enables troubled students to get credit for classes they've previously failed or didn't complete."

Here are some articles that were posted earlier:

6. Unready and Unsuccessful, by Joanne Jacobs http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joanne-jacobs/unready-and-unsuccessful_b_775668.html

"Seventy percent of California's degree-seeking community college students failed to earn a credential or degree -- or to transfer to four-year universities -- within six years, concludes a new study. Most students drop out quickly, reports the Institute for Higher Education Leadership & Policy. . . ."

7. Failure to educate, by Junia Yearwood - http://b.globe.com/dz8Hmo

"I knew that most of my students who walked across the stage, amidst the cheers, whistles, camera flashes, and shout-outs from parents, family, and friends, were not functionally literate. They were unable to perform the minimum skills necessary to negotiate society: reading the local newspapers, filling out a job application, or following basic written instructions; even fewer had achieved empowering literacy enabling them to closely read, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate text. However, they were all college bound. . . ."

8. Wising Up on STEM Completion - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/903NgE

"According to NSF statistics cited in the AAUW report, despite the fact that women make up the majority of college students generally, only 88,371 of them graduated in STEM fields in 2007, compared to 138,874 of their male counterparts. In 2007, men outnumbered women in science and engineering careers, 73 percent to 27 percent."

9. A Time of Urgency, by Freeman A. Hrabowski III - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/bNqGXs

"Many might be surprised that underrepresented minorities aspire to earn STEM degrees at roughly the same rate as other groups. However, only about 20 percent of underrepresented minority students complete undergraduate STEM programs within five years."

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134. MVCAP fyi

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1. College job market to see slight rebound MSU News Michigan State University http://t.co/122LM4m

"Overall hiring is expected to increase 3 percent, with bachelor’s-level and MBA-level hiring both surging 10 percent, said Phil Gardner, director of MSU’s Collegiate Employment Research Institute, which conducted the survey of some 4,600 employers. Geographically, the Great Lakes region, which took the brunt of the recession, will see a robust 13 percent increase in bachelor’s-level hiring, which is tops in the nation, Gardner predicts. The region consists of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin.But the good news should be taken with a word of caution, Gardner said. An uptick in job growth is simply the first step out of a very deep hole, he said, and hardly represents a return to the heady economic days of the late 1990s and early 2000s."

2. How to Define College Readiness? Good Question, by Catherine Gewertz http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/curriculum/2010/11/lest_you_harbor_any_doubt.html

"What happened here? The Tribune analyzed how ACT's "college readiness benchmarks" lined up with schools' own ideas of their students' preparedness. At some of Illinois' most well-regarded high schools, as it turns out, rather substantial portions of students are falling short of the ACT's benchmarks, which are supposed to indicate how ready they are to succeed in entry-level credit-bearing college coursework.Predictably, this sort of thing can prompt some squirming and defensiveness in high schools that are used to elite distinctions. But it takes us back to that persistent question: Exactly how do you define college readiness?"

3. UVA Announces Early-Action Plan, by Eric Hoover http://chronicle.com/blogs/headcount/uva-announces-early-action-plan/27710

"In 2011, early applicants would apply to Virginia by November 1 and receive a decision in January. Successful applicants would have until May 1 to accept or decline their admission offers, and they would be able to apply to other colleges—under early-action, early-decision, or regular-decision programs. Several selective colleges have some version of an early-action program, but restrictions vary. Georgetown University, for instance, tells its early applicants that they may apply to other colleges’ early-action and regular-decision plans, but not to a binding early-decision plan.Greg Roberts, Virginia’s dean of admission, said he and his staff considered a variety of early programs over the last six months. “This provides the most flexibility and freedom for students,” he says. “It’s the type of plan that will result in the most diverse applicant pool.”

4. Black Students’ Proficiency: Cutting to the Chase, by John Jensen http://www.educationnews.org/ed_reports/education_organizations/102927.html

"African-American boys especially need deliberate retention of knowledge. Consider the kid and the bicycle accident we noted above. What’s the equivalent of an educational 911 call for the kindergartner already way behind? It’s to replace an osmosis model with a retention model. This becomes particularly obvious when the deficit can be clearly diagnosed and the diagnosis tells us what’s missing. If he’s missing a thousand words of vocabulary, a thousand words spelled, a thousand pages read, and a thousand number sets processed, is there a mystery here requiring a multi-year study? That his mother wasn’t swift at math, his dad is overseas, and his brothers are into sports doesn’t change his deficit. Call 911. If it’s a mystery to anyone exactly what the median, standard response is to repair the educational equivalent of a broken bone, our system is much worse off than anyone is facing. More of an osmosis model is not an adequate substitute for an effective retention model applied student by student."

5. Nearly one-third of students studied online last year - http://voices.washingtonpost.com/collegeinc/2010/11/survey_nearly_13_of_students_s.html

"The survey is a collaboration between the Babson Survey Research Group and the College Board and is "the leading barometer of online learning in the United States," according to a release. For-profit colleges and career-oriented public campuses have been swift to embrace online learning. Prestigious public and private colleges have been slower. It was a big deal last year when the University of North Carolina appeared to become the first flagship public school to require students to take a class -- Spanish 101 -- online."

6. Some sweet college essay advice (from a student) - http://voices.washingtonpost.com/campusoverload/2010/11/some_sweet_college_essay_advic.html

"Today's guest blogger is Jimmy Mayers, a senior English major at St. Lawrence University in New York. Before you tense up, close your eyes, take a deep breath. The college essay is one of the most famous parts of the college application -- and for good reason. Here you can paint a picture of yourself that stands out from the numbers in your test scores and transcripts. So, if you're nervous about writing your college essay, change gears. Suspend your disbelief, as any good literature teacher would say, and accept for a moment that you're going to write a great college essay. Here are a few pointers:"

7. The Most Political Colleges: Top 10 Schools Where Students Follow The Beltway As Closely As Their Studies Unigo http://t.co/SEJcIuu

"As students, political activism is a compelling way to bring that entire body of knowledge together and truly make a difference. While some say activism during the collegiate years is declining, over 30,000 student votes paint a different picture, one in which political activity is a vibrant, integral part of the academic experience."

8. Jocktastic! Top 10 Schools Where Sports Rule Unigo http://t.co/Hjcs3XY

"Sure, there are some students who chose to observe sports from afar (or not at all), but for most, being obsessed with college sports is a way of life. We scored 30,000 student votes to identify the Top 10 Schools where the Big Game is a Really Big Deal."

9. 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. Analyzing salaries for Football Bowl Subdivision coaches http://usat.ly/22JgPq

‎"USA TODAY obtained at least some information on all but nine schools, most of which are private. Four public schools did not provide contracts; 17 did not provide the NCAA-mandated outside income report, which covers athletically related income the coach receives from non-university sources (e.g. support organization, apparel contracts). Schools that provided contract information were given the opportunity to review their figures. A not available (NA) in the chart denotes schools that are private or did not release the information or schools whose coaches are new and had not filed an outside income report."

2. Encouraging Deep Learning - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/bEGCoi

"The authors of this year’s survey argue that the percentages of students who reported that they engaged “often or very often” in “deep learning” activities indicate that community colleges must do a better job of promoting them in the classroom if they hope to boost student performance. Only 43 percent of students reported that they “included diverse perspectives (different races, religions, genders, political beliefs, etc.) in class discussions.” Forty-five percent noted they “learned something that changed [their] viewpoint about an issue or concept.” Fifty-six percent stated that they “put together ideas or concepts from different courses when completing assignments or during class discussions” and “examined the strengths or weaknesses of [their] own views on a topic or issue.” Finally, only 57 percent reported that they “tried to better understand someone else’s view by imagining how an issue looks from his or her perspective."

3. Executives Collect $2 Billion at For-Profit Colleges http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=washingtonstory&sid=am_MEK7XWQr0

"Strayer Education Inc., a chain of for-profit colleges that receives three-quarters of its revenue from U.S. taxpayers, paid Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Robert Silberman $41.9 million last year. That’s 26 times the compensation of the highest-paid president of a traditional university. Top executives at the 15 U.S. publicly traded for-profit colleges, led by Apollo Group Inc. and Education Management Corp., also received $2 billion during the last seven years from the proceeds of selling company stock, Securities and Exchange Commission filings show. At the same time, the industry registered the worst loan-default and four-year-college dropout rates in U.S. higher education. Since 2003, nine for-profit college insiders sold more than $45 million of stock apiece. Peter Sperling, vice chairman of Apollo’s University of Phoenix, the largest for-profit college, collected $574.3 million. Education corporations, which receive as much as 90 percent of their revenue from federal financial-aid programs, are “private enterprise that’s almost entirely publicly funded,” Henry Levin, director of Columbia University’s National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education, said in a telephone interview."

4. 10 Issues Affecting Student Veterans - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/11/10-issues-affecting-stude_n_782049.html#s177524

"For a veteran, making the transition from military life to college life can be especially difficult. Beyond the stresses of the classroom, veterans must cope with a host of other issues, from anxiety disorders to simply feeling like they fit in. The Washington Post offers a list of what colleges can do to better support their student veterans -- and below, we outline ten issues affecting the men and women who've gone from the service to campus."

5. Some simple rules for managing student loans, by Michelle Singletary - http://t.co/fYPPSVQ via @washingtonpost

"For years, I've written, talked and generally fussed about the way people handle their money. Yet it never - and I mean never - ceases to amaze me how people borrow money with so little understanding about how much they owe and how long it will take to pay it back. And the worst are borrowers who take out loans for college. So what should you do if your grace period is coming to an end this month? Here are some suggestions from the Project on Student Debt, an initiative of the Institute for College Access & Success, a nonprofit independent research and policy organization. You can find all 10 of its tips at http://bit.ly/avNe7V:"

6. Thousands Of UK Students Protest Tuition Fees Hike - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/10/thousands-of-uk-students-_n_781493.html#s179091

‎"Organizers said 50,000 students, lecturers and supporters demonstrated against plans to raise the cost of studying at a university to 9,000 pounds ($14,000) a year – three times the current rate – in the largest street protest yet against the government's sweeping austerity measures."

7. Is Any University President Worth $42 Million Dollars? by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://t.co/uDePJNY

‎"According to Bloomberg, that’s what Robert Silberman, the chair and chief executive officer of Strayer Education Inc., a chain of for-profit colleges, pocketed last year.The for-profit colleges that Silberman oversees enroll roughly 54,000 students, which is the same number of students as Ohio State University. Gordon Gee, Ohio State’s president, whom Time Magazine named one of the nation’s 10 best college president in 2009, is the highest paid president of any public university. Gee’s salary and compensation exceeds $1 million.$114,794-a-Day Pay???Silberman’s pay is about 42 times greater than Ohio State’s president. I’m not sure what’s more galling, Silberman’s $114,794-a-day compensation last year or the fact that he must surely believe that he deserves the money."

8. High School Teachers Don't Think Students Are College Ready, by Caralee Adams - http://t.co/IVJolVl via @educationweek

While just 31 percent of high school teachers think their graduating seniors are prepared for college, 68 percent of current college students say they were prepared for college coursework during their first year. Still, about 28 percent of students surveyed had to take remedial classes to get up to speed. Other sources, such as the College Board, put that number as high as 40 percent.What then should high schools do to get students on a solid footing for college careers? Teachers want more data to help them better measure how well their students do in college so they can adjust coursework accordingly."

9. University Giving Falls, With No Rebound in Sight, by Geraldine Fabrikant - http://nyti.ms/9QBjqd

"But in 2009, giving to 1,027 universities and colleges plummeted 11.9 percent, to $27.85 billion, according to data compiled by the Council for Aid to Education, the greatest single annual decline since the Depression. Fund-raising advisers and experts anticipate a slow recovery. Indicators are that overall giving for fiscal 2010 may be flat; data for the year, which generally ended June 30, is not available yet. A handful of institutions have already released their numbers. At Harvard, for example, giving was down 1 percent, to $596 million, and Yale also had a slight decline. Chicago was up 1 percent, and for the University of Texas, Austin, giving rose more than 3 percent."

10. Community Colleges Must Focus on Quality of Learning, Report Says, by Sara Lipka - http://chronicle.com/article/Community-Colleges-Must-Focus/125344/

"Community-college students also do not use support services to the extent they may need to, the report says. Nineteen percent of entering students were unaware that their college had an orientation program, and 26 percent didn't know about financial-aid advising, according to the report. Seventy percent were familiar with writing, math, or other skill labs, and 72 percent knew about academic advising, but 65 percent and 47 percent, respectively, never used those services. Many of those students drop out of college. According to the report, only 28 percent of first-time, full-time students seeking an associate degree finished a certificate or a degree within three years. After six years, still fewer than half (45 percent) of students who enrolled in community college to earn a certificate or degree had met that goal."

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. Check Every Word Before Hitting 'Send,' by Caren Osten Gerszberg - http://nyti.ms/aTZCGN

‎"There is an option to upload and attach the personal essay document to the application, but for the short answer, Nicole needed to cut the text from her Word document and paste it into the application’s limited space (“limited” being the critical word here). We put in the payment information. She hit SEND. “Congratulations,” I said. “You’ve officially applied!” But then, I looked at the printout we’d made and noticed the last line of her short-essay answer, which ended abruptly, midsentence. It had been cut off on the application.“Nicole? What’s this?” I muttered.“Oh no!” she said, panicked. Apparently, her short answer had exceeded the 150-word limit by 12 words, and had somehow gone unnoticed."

2. No Curveballs for Higher Ed - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/cghJJQ

"In the House, Republicans are expected to push for budget cuts and greater oversight of all of higher education, not just for-profit colleges. In the Senate, Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) will continue the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee’s examination of for-profit colleges into next year. Harkin and Senator Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) have said they plan to introduce legislation in 2011 targeting perceived waste, fraud and abuse in for-profit higher education."

3. Shift in the Statehouses - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/b0WsTm

‎"Early Wednesday morning, television networks projected that Strickland had been defeated by his Republican opponent, John Kasich, a former Ohio Congressman with a reputation as a deficit hawk. In many ways, given the constrained budget picture in Ohio, that trait of Kasich's may ultimately be more important than whether he will continue the agenda undertaken by Strickland and his hand-picked chancellor of the new University System of Ohio, Eric Fingerhut -- an agenda of performance-based budgeting and reorganization that has won plaudits nationally. In addition to the reforms, Strickland has prioritized colleges in state funding decisions, viewing higher education as essential to Ohio's (and Ohioans') economic future -- an example few expect Kasich to follow."

4. The 9 Most Expensive Dorms: Campus Grotto List http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/02/the-9-most-expensive-dorm_n_777750.html

"According to Campus Grotto, the price of year's worth of dining hall meals and campus roof over one's head increased by 3.9 percent and 4.6 percent for private and public institutions, respectively. On average, public school students pay $8,535 for college housing; private school students must cough up $9,700. So at which schools must you reach the furthest into your pocket to pay for a standard double room? When taking into account Campus Grotto's new list of the 20 most expensive college dorms, odds are the school will be in an urban setting in New York or California. Surprised?"

5. Is A College Class For $138 Too Good To Be True? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/02/straighterline-inc-offers_n_777850.html

"Launched in 2008, for-profit online college course provider StraighterLine, Inc. is starting to capture media attention with its offer of general education courses for as low as $138 per month -- or $999 for a first-year course load. According to the Baltimore Sun, StraighterLine differentiates itself from other inter...net-only institutions because it does not offer degrees -- rather, it sells courses that most universities require, and encourage students to transfer credits earned via its website to more traditional institutions."

6. 25 Most Expensive Colleges in America, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy http://t.co/WtpanXT

‎"Brace yourself, college costs are continuing to rise. Two years ago, five colleges smashed the $50,000 barrier, but today 100 colleges are now charging $50,000 or more.Using new College Board data, The Chronicle of Higher Education compiled a list of the nation’s 100 most expensive colleges. You can find the complete list of the most expensive colleges on the newspaper’s site, but here are the top 25 colleges and universities that have broken the $50,000 mark."

7. Smallest College Endowments Perform Best, Study Finds, by Tamar Lewin http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/03/education/03brfs-SMALLESTCOLL_BRF.html?_r=1&hpw

"College endowments returned an average of 12.6 percent in fiscal 2010 — and, unusually, the smallest endowments performed better than the largest ones, according to preliminary data from 80 colleges and universities gathered for the comprehensive Nacubo-Commonfund Study of Endowments to be released in January. According to the data, institutions with assets under $25 million had an average return of 14.1 percent, compared with 12.3 percent for those with assets over $1 billion. Smaller endowments tend to be invested more than larger ones in traditional assets such as domestic equities, which performed well in the rebound from the previous year’s sell-off, and fixed income, which benefited from declining interest rates."

8. Unready and Unsuccessful, by Joanne Jacobs http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joanne-jacobs/unready-and-unsuccessful_b_775668.html

"Seventy percent of California's degree-seeking community college students failed to earn a credential or degree -- or to transfer to four-year universities -- within six years, concludes a new study. Most students drop out quickly, reports the Institute for Higher Education Leadership & Policy and the Campaign for College Opportunity. Between 2003 and 2009, only 40 percent of students earned at least 30 college credits, which is considered "the minimum needed to provide an economic boost in jobs that require some college experience," reports the LA Times.Blacks and Latinos did worse: Only 26% of black students and 22% of Latino students had completed a degree or certificate or transferred after six years, compared to 37% of whites and 35% of Asian Pacific Islanders. Students fail because they're not prepared for college-level reading, writing and math. Many are juggling jobs and family responsibilities too, of course, but college readiness is the make-or-break issue."

9. For-Profit Colleges Curry Favor With Candidates for State Offices, by Eric Kelderman http://chronicle.com/article/For-Profit-Colleges-Curry/125224/

"Among for-profit colleges, the Apollo Group, which owns the University of Phoenix, has been the most generous to state candidates, according to data from the National Institute on Money in State Politics, a nonprofit organization that tracks state-level campaign contributions. The Phoenix-based company, along with a few of its key employees, has poured nearly $350,000 into state campaigns during the current election cycle, with roughly two-thirds of that amount going to campaigns in Arizona and California. Those contributions are meant to build the companies' influence among lawmakers who could have the greatest impact on future proposed regulations, in particular, new state laws and regulations that authorize for-profit and online institutions to operate in a state. Under new federal rules, which take effect next year, some colleges will have to be approved to operate in a state in order for its students to receive federal financial aid."

10. Republican Gains in Congress Could Temper For-Profit Inquiry, by S. Hebel and K. Kiley-http://chronicle.com/article/Republican-Gains-in-Congress/125233/

"The outcome is expected to have a more-immediate effect on the fight over for-profit colleges than on any other federal higher-education policy debate. Having reclaimed the House of Representatives, Republicans could block bills aimed at for-profits and attempt to overturn the administration's proposed "gainful employment" rule, which would penalize programs whose graduates carry unmanageable levels of debt. Republican leaders have said they want to focus on scrutinizing the outcomes and costs of all types of colleges, not just those in the for-profit sector, shifting attention from problems at proprietary institutions alone to issues facing higher education as a whole.Yet even the most sanguine of the sector's supporters acknowledge that the Republican takeover of the House won't be a panacea for for-profit institutions. Since Democrats have held onto the Senate, they can continue their investigation into for-profit colleges and thwart any Republican effort. . . ."

11. Career Education Corp. Could Pay $40 Million to Settle Lawsuit Filed by Culinary Students http://chronicle.com/article/Career-Education-Corp-Could/125231/

"Career Education bought the college in 1999. A 2007 story in SF Weekly described a litany of student concerns about the pricey institution, where tuition for a 15-month program can run about $50,000 and where, according to the article, students could graduate without knowing how to julienne vegetables or make a simple consommé. Ray Gallo, the lawyer for Allison Amador, the former student who along with 36 others first brought the lawsuit, said the amount of damages awarded to current or former students would depend on their particular circumstances—such as how long they were enrolled, what program they took­, and how much they paid—and how many of the 8,500 students ultimately elect to take part in the settlement, if the judge approves it. The $40-million includes fees for the plaintiffs' lawyers."

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