326. 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. Character Transcripts: Application Components of the Future? by Rebecca R. Ruiz - http://nyti.ms/n8kEKR - "Wouldn’t it be cool, he mused, if each student graduated from school with not only a G.P.A. but also a C.P.A., for character-point average? If you were a college-admissions director … wouldn’t you like to know which ones scored highest in grit or optimism or zest?"

2. What if the Secret to Success Is Failure? by Paul Tough: http://nyti.ms/q3WWSC - "People who have an easy time of things, who get 800s on their SAT’s, I worry that those people get feedback that everything they’re doing is great. And I think as a result, we are actually setting them up for long-term failure."

3. Why We Need For-Profit Colleges, by Joe Nocera: http://nyti.ms/rjHwDU - "All of this obscures what really ought to be the most important fact about the industry: the country can’t afford to put it out of business. On the contrary, America needs it — and needs it to succeed — desperately."

4. How to Stop the Drop in Verbal Scores, by E. D. Hirsch Jr. - http://nyti.ms/peVpj0" - This is very worrisome, because the best single measure of the overall quality of our primary and secondary schools is the average verbal score of 17-year-olds. This score correlates with the ability to learn new things readily, to communicate with others and to hold down a job. It also predicts future income."

5. Hechinger Report Tips for succeeding in your first year of college, by Justin Snider: http://bit.ly/rh3C95 via AddThis - "A little preparation in the summer before school and soon after your arrival on campus can set you on the path to success. Before you start college:"

6. What the Lost Decade of Wages Means for Colleges and Their Graduates, by Jeffrey Selingo - http://chronicle.com/blogs/next/2011/09/18/what-the-lost-decade-on-wages-means-for-colleges-and-their-graduates/ - "First for students, the report underscored yet again the lifetime economic benefits of getting a college degree. The poverty rate for Americans in their 20s with a college degree in 2010 was 8 percent, compared to 23 percent for those in the same age group with just a high-school diploma (the poverty line was set at $22,314 for a family of four in 2010). While the poverty rate for those in their 20s with a bachelor’s degree has increased by two percentage points since 2002, it jumped by six points for those with a high-school diploma during the same time period."

7. The Effect of Liquid Housing Wealth on College Enrollment, by Michael F. Lovenheim - http://www.jstor.org/pss/10.1086/660775 - "I find that households used their housing wealth to finance postsecondary enrollment in the 2000s when housing wealth was most liquid; each $10,000 in home equity raises college enrollment by 0.7 of a percentage point on average."

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165. 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. NCAA football: All dollars, no sense, by Frank Deford - http://bit.ly/dZyc3A /via @SI_24Seven

"Why should any of this be surprising? College football is a billion dollar enterprise now, and everybody involved is making money -- sometimes millions -- except the players themselves."

2. Presidents Plot Push for Aid Changes, by Doug Lederman - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/hZqEzI

"A 2008 study by the Institute for College Access and Success found that four-year colleges were distributing $3.3 billion in institutional aid to one group of students in excess of those students' proven financial need, while first-year students at those same institutions had $2.4 billion in unmet need over and above their grants, subsidized loans and work study funds."

3. Athletes and Students Graduate Comparably, by David Moltz - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/f4uleP

"Released Thursday by the NCAA, results from a representative, division-wide sample of 115 institutions show that 66 percent of athletes who enrolled as freshmen in 2003 graduated within six years. This is comparable to the 65 percent graduation rate for all students at the 444 Division III member institutions."

4. Verbal Commitments Challenged, by David Moltz - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/gaExv8

"Some coaches of high-profile sports teams occasionally make verbal scholarship offers to potential recruits as early as the eighth grade. For example, last February, a 13-year-old quarterback verbally committed to play football at the University of Southern California. The prospect would most likely not be able to enter college until 2015."

5. 6 Great College Resolutions for the New Year, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy - http://t.co/1Z7EwRU

"Many parents focus on getting their teens into college rather than making sure that their children are well prepared to succeed in college. The latter is far more important."

6. Georgia Facing a Hard Choice on Free Tuition, by Kim Severson - http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/07/us/07hope.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp

"Part of it is the program’s popularity. A majority of freshmen in Georgia have grades good enough to qualify for Hope, which covers tuition, some books and fees — but not housing costs — at any Georgia university or technical school."

7. Do Legacy Preferences Count More Than Race? by Richard Kahlenberg - http://chronicle.com/blogs/innovations/do-legacy-preferences-count-more-than-race/28294

‎"How does the 45-percentage-point increase given to primary legacies compare with other preferences such as those for under-represented minorities? Hurwitz’s study doesn’t say. But Bowen and colleagues (using earlier data, from a smaller set of schools and controlling just for SAT scores) found that being an under-represented minority increased one’s chances by 27.7 percentage points."

8. Pittsburgh mentors, money fuel education, by Mary Beth Marklein - http://usat.ly/gv4iIb RT @USATODAY

"It centers on the Pittsburgh Promise, a 3-year-old scholarship — worth up to $40,000 over four years — for public school graduates. Students can use the scholarship at just about any college or trade school in the state. Their only requirements: attend class regularly and maintain a 2.5 grade point average."

9. A Tough Job Outlook, by Scott Jaschik - Inside Higher Ed: http://bit.ly/gIjYqu

"For those seeking jobs teaching English or foreign languages, the job market remains bleak -- but what passes for good news may be that the number of openings is flat this year, and isn't dropping further after dramatic declines in the previous two years."

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