333. 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. From 'Today' on NBC: Beginning the Search: http://nyti.ms/qYKZP5 - "The “Today” show — which occasionally partners with The Choice on college admissions segments — broadcast a report on Tuesday morning on how to begin your college search. . . . You can watch the full piece — featuring a tour of the University of Michigan campus and an interview with the director of admissions, Ted Spencer – by clicking at the top of this post."

3. The Hazards of Attending College Part Time, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://moneywatch.bnet.com/spending/blog/college-solution/the-hazards-of-attending-college-part-time/6746/ via @cbsmoneywatch - "College graduation rates in this country are terrible, but they are far worse for the majority of students who attend college part time. . . . While the typical image of a college student is someone who lives in a dorm, attends school full time and has most of the bills paid by their parents, the reality is starkly different. About 75% of students are commuters, who hold down jobs and juggle family obligations as they pursue their college dreams."

4. Study: Suburban Districts Falter in Global Competitiveness, by Sarah D. Sparks - http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/inside-school-research/2011/09/study_suburban_districts_falte.html via @educationweek - "The report, published in an online preview of the Winter 2012 issue of Education Next, argues that when average district achievement in math or reading is compared to average achievement in those subjects for students in industrialized countries, as measured on the Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA, even wealthier districts in areas like Beverly Hills, Calif., or Fairfax, Va., come out in the middle of the pack or worse."

5. Is the SAT losing its edge? by Jay Mathews - Class Struggle - http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/class-struggle/post/is-the-sat-losing-its-edge/2011/09/27/gIQAbS7h3K_blog.html via @washingtonpost - "More graduating seniors took the SAT last year than ever, 1.65 million. So why are the scores declining, and why is the best-known and most fearsome college-entrance test in U.S. history losing its edge? Let’s start with the obvious. More students are taking its rival, the ACT."

6. Middle school survey: sex, fear and suicide attempts, by Bill Turque - D.C. Schools Insider - http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc-schools-insider/post/middle-school-survey-sex-fear-and-suicide-attempts/2011/09/27/gIQAKwz92K_blog.html via Washingtonpost.com - "Chancellor Kaya Henderson sketched a bleak statistical picture of life in DCPS middle schools at Tuesday’s D.C. Council hearing, including a chilling survey finding that 10 percent of the school system’s 4,000 eighth graders have tried to kill themselves."

7. The 10 Best Places To Go To College: Unigo List - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/26/the-10-best-places-to-go-_n_980907.html#s372162&title=Boston_University - "Crave a life beyond the campus multi-purpose room? Check out Unigo's list of the coolest towns -- that also happen to have great colleges -- below. Vouch for your own college town in the comments section!"

8. The New Ivy League: Unigo List - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/27/the-new-ivy-league-unigo-_n_982994.html - "The hallowed Ivy League is famed for its exclusivity, and cluster of eight elite Northeastern institutions can only accomodate a fraction of today's talented students. But fear not, there are other places in America that can offer a home of equal value to the world's burgeoning brains. Using student reviews they compiled, Unigo formed a list of colleges that match the Ivies in terms of rigor and vigor. See them below in alphabetical order."

9. New data highlight YSU retention problem, by Denise Dick - http://www.vindy.com/news/2011/sep/28/new-data-highlight-retention-problem/ via Vindicator - “More serious is what happened in the percentage of returning undergraduates,” he said. There were more than 1,000 students who didn’t return this year. “That surprised all of us,” Fahey said."

10. Youngstown City schools, after state criticism, developing plan for ‘better gains,’ by Denise Dick - http://www.vindy.com/news/2011/sep/28/city-schools-after-state-criticism-devel/ via @vindicator - "He believes people in the district understand the sense of urgency. “We have to move forward,” Hathorn said. “The longer we wait, the worse it’s going to get.”

154. 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. Some Checklists for Those Applying, or Already Decided, by Kelly Dunham - http://nyti.ms/fL5Swk

"To help keep your sanity, and not alienate your parents or high school counselor, some dos and don’ts for those preparing regular-decision applications:"

2. A Curricular Innovation, Examined - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/fyXbqY

‎"Students can choose to take any number of StraighterLine classes for a flat rate of $99 per month, plus an additional one-time fee of $39 per course; take a single class for a single payment of $399; or take ten courses over one year for $999. As a result, the company has received a raft of press attention, much of it positive, with a focus on StraighterLine's low cost and the convenience it affords students."

3. Give Back That Scholarship, by David Moltz - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/fu3M5u

"For the 2006-7 academic year, Arizona State’s baseball team awarded 11.17 of its permitted 11.70 academic scholarship equivalencies to players (in many NCAA sports, teams can divide up their allocation of scholarships into partial grants). As a result, 0.53 scholarship equivalencies remained. The coaching staff, however, wanted to bring in three midyear transfer students to play for the team, and needed a total of 1.06 scholarship equivalencies in the spring semester to give these transfer students the scholarships they were promised.
To fill the gap, Murphy asked six or seven players on his team to participate in a program he dubbed “Devil-to-Devil,” and give part or all of their scholarship money back to the team to bring on the three midyear recruits. Four players gave back scholarship money to reach the 1.06 scholarship equivalencies needed."

4. Colleges With The Lowest Graduation Rates - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/15/colleges-with-the-lowest-_n_797119.html#s208556

"The Chronicle found that overall, graduation rates at American higher education institutions have declined by 33 percent since 2002 -- with the recession as a likely cause. Below are the 12 public and private research universities with lowest graduation rates. The Chronicle has a searchable list of all colleges and universities included in their research."

5. Who Are the Undergraduates? http://chronicle.com/article/Who-Are-the-Undergraduates-/123916/

"Roughly 22 million undergraduates attended college at some point in 2007-8, and the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study from that year provides a snapshot of where students are coming from and how they pursue their educations. More than a third of all undergraduates attend part-time, and most are not affluent. That's reflected in where students go to college—more than twice as many undergraduates attend the University of Phoenix's online campus as go to an Ivy League college. You can explore students' demographics for yourself below."

6. How Will Suburban Schools Handle The New Influx of Immigrants? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sarah-garland/suburban-school-immigration-education-reform_b_797201.html

"Graduation rates for blacks and Hispanics -- the overwhelming majority of all immigrants in the United States -- are far below those for whites. The trend line therefore suggests that the country will be facing a growing shortage of educated Americans as global competition intensifies, particularly as other countries' graduation levels rise."

7. Avoid These 4 Financial Aid Whoppers, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://t.co/tEMM3Ce

‎"Odds are that you will increase your chances of capturing financial aid if you can avoid common financial aid myths. Here are four of the biggest financial aid whoppers:"

8. Spelman Looks to Help Would-Be Dropouts With Co-op Program, by Sara Lipka- http://chronicle.com/article/Spelman-Looks-to-Help-Would-Be/125723/

"Thirty percent of students at Spelman, a historically black women's college in Atlanta, qualified for federal Pell Grants eight years ago; almost 50 percent do today, said Beverly Daniel Tatum, the college's president. Demographic data project that trend will continue, as the population of college-going black women grows and includes a higher proportion of low-income students. Spelman's graduation rate, about 82 percent, far exceeds the national average, but Ms. Tatum thinks it should be higher. "When students don't finish," she said, "it is almost always related to their financial situation."

9. Stress and the High School Student - Room for Debate - http://nyti.ms/e9vkaN

‎"A new documentary, "Race to Nowhere," looks at the pressures being put on high school students to build their résumés with Advance Placement classes and athletic accomplishments to improve their chances of acceptance at elite colleges and universities. The film captures the angst of boys who drop out of high school because of the pressure, girls who suffer stress-induced insomnia and students forced to cheat their way through classes."

10. Reconsider Attitudes About Success - Room for Debate, by Alfie Kohn - http://nyti.ms/ekymCt

"Many parents push their kids with the best of intentions, but some are so busy basking in the reflected glory of their children’s accomplishments that they overlook the damage being done by the pressure to live up to their expectations. “Few parents,” said the psychoanalyst Erich Fromm, “have the courage and independence to care more for their children’s happiness than for their success.” Whole childhoods are sometimes sacrificed in a relentless regimen of preparing kids for Harvard, a process I’ve come to call “Preparation H.” Gambling their mental health and love of learning in the hopes of acceptance at an extremely selective college is a bet that no caring, rational parent should take.
Ultimately, though, educators (with parental support) must be willing to change the entrenched educational practices that are turning so many teens into basket cases."

11. What Happened to Childhood? by Clara Hemphill - Room for Debate - http://nyti.ms/g5ijaj

"Schools and families can ease the pressure on high school students by acknowledging that there are many fine colleges and universities that don’t require perfect SAT scores and straight As. But any parent who reads the newspapers knows that the very rich are getting richer while incomes are stagnating for almost everyone else. These conditions may fuel parents’ fears that any child who doesn’t attend an elite high school and a super elite university will end up flipping hamburgers."

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