| |
Vol. 19 No. 7
March 2005
The Federal Dollar
Bush Budget Just
a Starting Point
PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH sent
his fifth budget proposal to Congress last month. The $2.57 billion
blueprint for 2006 was designed to shake things up. First of
all, the budget proposal calls for the elimination of 150 programs,
one third of them in the Department of Education. Each of these
programs has demonstrated strong Congressional support in the
past and efforts to eliminate them are likely to meet stiff opposition.
PELL EMPHASIS
However, much of the money saved from these programs
would be targeted to helping the poorest of poor students with
enhanced Pell Grants that increase the maximum grant by $500
to $4,500 over the next five years, eliminating the $4.3 billion
deficit that the Pell program currently carries which has prevented
past increases in Pell Grants. The budget also increases the
amount that students can borrow from government direct- and guaranteed-student-loan
programs. Federal Work Study and Supplemental Educational Opportunity
Grants, which supplement Pell Grants, would remain at 2005 funding
levels.
BUDGET AX
Among the programs though that the President would
dismantle: The Perkins Loan program for low- and middle-income
families that makes loans averaging $1,875 to 673,000 borrowers;
the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education program
which supplies funds for career training at community colleges;
the Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership (LEAP) which
matches state need-based spending with a federal dollar for every
state dollar spent; Upward Bound and Talent Search programs for
low-income students; Gear Up, which helps middle school students
focus on college preparation; and the Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship
Program.
The administration said that it wanted to make the best use
of taxpayer money and that the Pell Grant Program does that better
than those it would eliminate. Congress will now conduct hearings,
make its own decisions and a compromise budget will emerge. CB
will keep you informed.
NO UNDERGRAD LEFT BEHIND?
Meanwhile, President Bush's new Secretary of Education,
Margaret Spellings, wants the administration's elementary and
secondary No Child Left Behind legislation to serve as a model
for the nation's colleges and universities. The goal is to help
colleges close the minority achievement gap and to give students
and parents reliable information upon which to make comparative
choices.
Spellings told a gathering of the American Council on Education
in February that, "One of the biggest challenges is a lack
of compatible and comprehensive measurements." She wants
colleges and universities to use "common languages and metrics"
to better measure student and school performance. That will require
an overhaul of the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System
(IPEDs) as a first step toward greater postsecondary accountability.
However, Spellings made clear that the Bush Administration
does not intend to place price controls on tuition or to set
up punitive accountability standards such as those in the No
Child Left Behind legislation. Instead, she said, the states
and college governing boards, not the federal government, are
responsible for making sure colleges serve their constituencies.
[back
to top]
Unprepared for College and Work
ACCORDING TO A NEW REPORT, as many
as 40 percent of 1,500 recent high school graduates surveyed
said there were gaps between their high school educations and
the skills, abilities and work habits expected of them in college
and the workforce.
Meanwhile, the 300 college instructors surveyed indicated
that 42 percent of the students they encounter "are not
adequately prepared by the education they receive in high school
to meet the expectations of college."
The 400 surveyed employers estimated that about the same number
of high school grads "are unprepared for the expectations
that they face in entry-level jobs" and that 45 percent
are "not adequately prepared to advance beyond entry-level
jobs." Their greatest deficiencies were in mathematics and
writing.
The report, "Rising to the Challenge: Are High-School
Graduates Prepared for College and Work," is from Achieve,
Inc., Washington D.C.
HINDSIGHT
Knowing what they know now, 80 percent of the high
school graduates say they would have better applied themselves
in high school and taken more rigorous courses.
These high school grads also reported that they would have
worked harder if they had been pushed harder by their schools
with tougher academic standards.
Ohio Governor Bob Taft, a co-chair of Achieve, Inc., concluded,
"We're hearing a clear message from our graduates that we
do them no favors if we set the bar for performance too low.
Young people are telling us loudly and clearly that they want
to be challenged."
Indeed, only 26 percent of recent grads in college and 20
percent of those in the work force said they faced high academic
expectations in high school and were significantly challenged.
To view the entire report, visit www.achieve.org.
[back
to top]
Student Debt Soars
UNDERGRADUATE student loan debt
has jumped 66 percent over the past half decade to an average
of $18,900 per borrower. But due to increased wages and low interest
rates, repayment is eating up about 7 percent of the income of
those with student debt, a figure that has remained constant
for the past decade.
Nellie Mae, the student loan organization that reported the
numbers, found that loans had forced 38 percent of borrowers
to put off purchase of a home, an increase from 25 percent in
1991; and 21 percent put off having children, up from 12 percent
in 1991. While recent borrowing has occurred with low interest
rates, many experts worry about the consequences on future students
as interest rates increase.
[back
to top]
Stats on Students
Minority Affairs. Many of the nation's most prestigious
schools reported an unexpected decline in the number of African-American
first-year students last fall. The U. of Michigan, for example,
reported a 15 percent decline at its Ann Arbor campus. The U.
of Georgia saw a 26 percent decline; the U. of Illinois, a 32
percent decline in black freshmen. In California, the number
of applications to state schools from black students fell by
7 percent. Indiana U. Bloomington, however, witnessed a 36 percent
increase in black freshmen; Northwestern U. and the U. of Chicago
also posted increases.
Over all, the number of Hispanic college students has increased
by 600,000 over the past decade, according to the American Council
on Education. The number of black students has jumped by about
500,000 and Asian-American students by 300,000 over the past
10 years.
High School Graduation Rates Flat. The national high
school graduation rate for all public school students has remained
flat over the last decade, dropping slightly from 72 percent
in 1991 to 71 percent in 2002, according to a new study from
the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. Additionally, the
percentage of all students who left high school with skills and
qualifications necessary to attend college increased from 25
percent in 1991 to 34 percent in 2002, the study, "Public
High School Graduation and College-Readiness Rates: 1991-2002"
found.
The states with the highest graduation rates were: New Jersey
(89 percent) followed by Iowa, Wisconsin and North Dakota (all
with 85 percent.) States with the lowest graduations rates were:
South Carolina (53 percent), Georgia (56 percent), Tennessee
(57 percent) and Alabama (58 percent).
In the class of 2002, 78 percent of white students graduated
with a regular high school degree. However, only 56 percent of
African- American students and 52 percent of Hispanic students
graduated. And while only 40 percent of white graduates were
qualified to enter college, just 23 percent of African-American
students and 20 percent of Hispanic students were adequately
prepared to do college work. To view the entire report, go to:
www.manhattan-institute.org.
Student Cheaters. The Josephson Institute of Ethics,
based in Los Angeles, has issued its "Report Card on the
Integrity of American Youth." The survey of 24,763 high
school students discovered that 62 percent have cheated on exams,
27 percent stole items from a store during the previous 12 months
and 40 percent have lied to save money.
Despite those facts, 74 percent of those surveyed rated their
ethics higher than their peers and 98 percent said that they
thought it was important to be a person of good character. Researchers
speculated that these inconsistencies were explained by high
levels of cynicism students have about the ethics of successful
people and the prevalence of cheating in the "real world."
The only positive aspect of the survey was that both the levels
of cheating and theft declined for the first time in 12 years.
For more info, see www.charactercounts.org.
Not Web Savvy. Contrary to stereotype, teens are not
as adept as adults in navigating the Web, according to a report
released in January by the Nielsen Norman Group. The study of
13- to 17-year olds found that teens as a group were only able
to complete tasks using the Web 55 percent of the time, compared
with 66 percent of adults in a previous study. Immaturity, poor
reading skills, weak research skills and "an unwillingness
to tough it out when a site posed design obstacles" were
partly to blame, the study concluded.
[back
to top]
THE COUNSELOR'S
CORNER
"Can You Get Us Into Harvard?"
"HOW DO YOU HELP US GET INTO
HARVARD?" The parent at the other end of the phone
was the father of Rob, a ninth grader, who called our educational
counseling office seeking a quick answer to this popular question,
adding, "We've known from the time Rob was born that we
wanted him at an Ivy League college."
This kind of thinking that focuses on college placement rather
than on the experience of high school that can lead to college
placement is all too common. In our work as educational counselors,
we try to help families frame this question differently. We encourage
families to think of the time between the ninth and eleventh
grades of high school as a journey that prepares the student
for the eventual process of applying to college in senior year.
Navigating the way through high school should be a thoughtful
plan that is mindful of the ultimate destination, but focuses
on steps along the way.
THE HIGH SCHOOL "TRIPTIK"
Anyone who has been a member of the AAA Motor Club
is familiar with their trademark Triptik, a tool which breaks
down a long journey into smaller segments. The driver using a
Triptik is alerted to detours, road conditions, highway speed
traps and other variables along the way, as he or she turns each
page outlining a particular segment of the trip mile by mile.
The driver using the Triptik knows that the ultimate destination
is Cambridge, Massachusetts, but focuses on each milestone, including
tourist attractions and comfortable rest stops.
For the student in grades 9 and 10, the milestones are course
selection, skill building, standardized testing and the development
of nonacademic interests and commitments. However, to continue
the driving metaphor, the beginning high school student has only
a permit, not a full-fledged license. He or she cannot yet drive
solo.
Most of us can well remember how difficult it was for us to
learn to drive with a parent in the passenger seat, exercising
critical judgment as we negotiated sharp turns and learned to
shift gears. So too is this time of getting ready to think about
the college application process. Communication and collaboration
are paramount to the ultimate success of this process. Most ninth
and tenth graders are not ready or willing to talk about applying
to college, be it Harvard or the University of Michigan. So when
parents jumpstart the process, and talk about what their children
need to do to pave the way to a specific college, kids understandably
become frightened and worry that they will not pass their road
test.
The typical ninth or tenth grader does not, and perhaps should
not, have a clear destination yet. They should be urged to concentrate
on getting the most out of high school and enjoying the ride.
To do this, most students need help with problem-solving skills.
It is the time when a driving instructor other than the parent
can be so useful-a prized teacher, an educational consultant,
a close relative, an advisor or school counselor. Talking to
ninth and tenth graders about concrete particulars-such as course
selection and commitment to a community service project-is much
more relevant and understandable to them, and much less threatening,
than talking about which college to attend.
Our planning sessions for ninth and tenth graders have so
been well received by parents and students that we feel it is
critical to separate planning for the high school years from
applying to college in the senior year. Just as you wouldn't
take to the road without instructions and a sense of direction,
you should not go through high school blindly, without a road
map.
We point out that there will always be obstacles in one's
path and detours that call for a change of plans. Understanding
physics may prove impossible and your best friend may be elected
captain of the varsity lacrosse team instead of you. Thoughtful
planning can help you to consider an alternate route that may,
in fact, prove an advantage. For instance, deprived of the opportunity
to be newspaper editor, one may explore a totally unfamiliar
area and excel in it, becoming an outstanding debater.
We believe that the cliché "getting the most out
of high school" includes self-discovery and self-realization.
There are, indeed, road signs along the way. Students do need
to maximize the resources of high school as well as their own.
For instance, they should follow a sequence of courses to the
highest level they can do well at such as three lab sciences,
or three years of foreign language. They should take risks and
stretch their capabilities and for instance, try out for a play
or join the debate team or write for the school newspaper. It
is important for one's own sense of self to develop an interest
and take it to the top: try for a leadership role or an editorship
or a captaincy.
TAKING THE WHEEL
Then, when students actually begin the college exploration
process mid-way through junior year, they will be equipped to
start taking the wheel, to assume ownership of the process. The
fusillade of standardized tests-PSAT, SAT I, SAT II's, AP exams-can
be counterattacked by thoughtful planning that has occurred each
year. SAT II's can be spaced over time. For instance, Biology
SAT II can be taken at the end of grade nine, World History at
the end of grade ten, rather than clumped together on one Saturday
in June at the end of eleventh grade. Students will have made
the most of the high school experience, academically, socially
and personally, and be ready to take charge of the college application
process because they have been given the tools to do so. These
are the college candidates who stand out in the applicant pool.
When it does become the right time to talk about college,
if one has used the high school years to develop academic and
extra-curricular potential, then much of the groundwork has been
established. One is not in the position of scurrying to make
up for lost opportunity. It has been demonstrated that students
who enjoy the high school journey make more appealing and sought-after
college candidates.
We would like Rob's father to ask, "Can you help us,
as a family, understand how Rob can get the most out of high
school?" Whatever college becomes the destination, the journey
starts here.
Frank C. Leana, Ph.D. and Carole
S. Clark, M.A., educational counselors, can be reached at www.frankleana.com.
[back
to top]
COUNSELOR'S BOOKSHELF
People are talking about.... "Helicopter parents"
as described in "The Pressure of Parents" by Hara Estroff
Marano, Psychology Today, December 2004...." Admissions
& Student Aid," a special section of The Chronicle
of Higher Education, February 25, 2005.
Two new books from The Princeton Review focus on financial
aid: Paying for College Without Going Broke: 2005 Edition,
an annually-updated guide to getting the most possible financial
aid, Kalman A. Chany with Geoff Matz. Includes line-by-line advice
for FAFSA and CSS/Profile and updates on education tax breaks
and 529 Plans; 314 pp., ISBN 0-375-76421-6, $20. And, How
to Save for College by Joseph Russo and James Belvin, advice
from two financial aid directors, 234 pp., ISBN 0-375-76425-9;
$14.95.
On Higher Education: A History of American Education,
John R. Thelin, (University of Georgia), ISBN 0-801-88004-1;
$19.95. And, College Unranked: Affirming Educational Values
in College Admissions, edited by Lloyd Thacker, from The
Education Conservancy, www.educationconservancy.org,
$19.95.
Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions and Defined Mind have
released a CD compilation featuring original, SAT vocabulary-rich
songs from up-and-coming independent artists. What they bill
as "the first-of-its-kind CD," includes rock, R&B,
alternative and hip-hop music.
World Wide Web Resources
Down Under. To find out more about the colleges of Australia
and New Zealand, try www.australearn.org, sponsored by the North
American Center for Australia and New Zealand Universities, Westminster,
Colorado (1-800-980-0033).
Hop Scotch. To learn more about the new Scottish postsecondary
system created in 2001, the University of the Highlands and Islands,
an educational partnership of 14 colleges and research institutions,
go to www.uhi.ac.uk.
[back
to top]
ADMISSIONS WATCH
Hyper-Competitive. According to a new study from
NACAC (National Association for College Admission Counseling),
only 14 percent of all four-year colleges accepted fewer than
half of their applicants. And, these schools receive approximately
one quarter of all four-year applications. Close to 60 percent
of four-year students attend colleges that accepted between 51
and 70 percent of applications; and these accounted for 31 percent
of national four-year applications. On average, all four-year
colleges accept 71 percent of those who apply.
Are Early Apps Declining?
NACAC also reports that its research shows 45 percent of colleges
with Early Decision policies that it surveyed reported a decrease
in the number of ED applications they received in 2003, compared
to 2002. Only 37 percent of colleges reported an increase in
ED applications.
SAT-Less. Some 20 years
ago, Bates College in Maine dropped the SAT requirement for its
admissions applicants. What were the long-term consequences?
At the recent NACAC (National Association for College Admission
Counseling) conference, William C. Hiss, Bates vice president
for external affairs and former dean of admissions, revealed
the results of its 20-year study of its optional SAT policy.
In the end, it made no difference. Students who submitted SAT
scores and those who did not both posted the same graduation
rates.
The real payoff for Bates was that its appli-cation pool almost
doubled when it dropped the standardized test. And Hiss said
the quality of the applicant pool improved as well as its diversity.
Over the two decades, about 35 percent of female applicants
and 25 percent of male applicants did not submit a SAT score
to the admissions committee. Almost half of Hispanic and 45 percent
of black applicants did not submit the test.
Full-Court Press. The University
of Illinois has been at the top of the NCAA basketball ratings
most of the season. Now the U. of I.'s office of admissions is
putting on its own full-court press to recruit top scholars.
The new offensive takes place in the wake of a 14 percent decrease
this year in applications to the Land of Lincoln's flagship university.
Using hundreds of alumni, U. of I. is courting the state's
best academic students with a new intensity. The school also
e-mailed thousands of multi-media postcards to targeted students.
More than 8,000 minority students were personally contacted by
phone as well.
U. of I.'s director of undergraduate admissions, Stacey Kostell,
told the Chicago Sun-Times that, "A lot of universities
have soaked a lot of money to recruit out-of-state students (in
Illinois), especially in Chicago. We don't want our best students
to go out of state."
And with out-of-state applications off by 30 percent, costing
Illinois over a million dollars in tuition, the school is also
quadrupling the number of recruiting events it sponsors beyond
its borders. In the past, Illinois has spent only $85 recruiting
each enrolled student compared with a nationwide average of $456.
Fewer
Early Applications. In 2002, Harvard U. attracted 7,600 early
applications under a policy that did not prevent applicants from
filing similar early applications at other universities. In 2003,
after the university adopted single-choice early action, in which
students can apply early to only one college but are not compelled
to attend if accepted, Harvard checked the hysteria and received
only 3,800 early applications.
Stanford made the same policy change and early applications
actually increased by 67 percent. Yale made the same move and
applications increased 42 percent. Both fielded about the same
number as Harvard did in 2003.
[back
to top]
SCHOLARSHIP SCOOPS
GuildScholar Program. Legally blind students who
entered their senior year in high school in autumn 2005 are eligible
for scholarships up to $15,000 from The Jewish Guild for the
Blind. See www.jgb.org.
Little Known Gems. Dick
Jones and Associates in College Park, Pennsylvania, sent CB leads
on these Scholarship Scoops:
- The Howard Dunbar Scholarship at Nova Southeastern U. in
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, awards $1,000 to male students with
demonstrated need.
- Make A Difference Scholarships at Green Mountain College
in Poultney, Vermont, worth $120,000 over four years, go to incoming
freshmen who have "made a significant positive difference
in their communities and/or in the lives of others."
- Music grants are available to non-music majors at Susquehanna
U, in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, who still want to practice their
instrument. In addition to the music grants, students receive
free weekly music lessons.
- Social Justice Scholarships ranging from $8,000 to $14,000
go to sociology majors and minors at Loyola U. New Orleans, who
perform 45 hours of community service each semester.
- The Sewanee Loan Reduction Program helps students at The
University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, with a 3.0 average
or better reduce their financial aid need-based student loans
by up to 40 percent.
- Distinguished Artists Awards go to Hope College students
in Holland, Michigan, who demonstrate outstanding creative abilities
in art, dance, music, theatre or creative writing.
- Leadership Awards are given to students at Stephens College
in Missouri for activities such as offices held in organizations,
community service or extracurricular performance. But also, students
can earn those scholarships on campus by attending concerts,
lectures, convocations and other events for which they earn points.
Students who accumulate 45 points can earn a $3,000 leadership
scholarship.
P.S. Students at Green Mountain
College in Vermont also can earn a B.A. in resort management
in just three years. The co-op program requires students to study
in the summers, but also places them in jobs paying up to $12,000
over three years at Killington Resort, the largest ski area in
the East. Many students from the program's first graduating class
last year found jobs in the resort industry.
[back
to top]
NEWS YOU CAN USE
Higher Salaries. According to the Kiplinger
Letter, 2005 college grads can expect to get starting salary
offers in the mid-to-high $30,000's, "a range that hasn't
been seen since 2001." (But they shouldn't hold their breath
waiting for signing bonuses.)
Going Coed. Immaculata University,
20 miles west of Philadelphia with 3,500 students, will begin
enrolling men in its traditional undergraduate program fall 2005.
Boarded Windows. It's hard
times for many houses along fraternity rows across the nation.
At David Letterman's alma mater, Ball State U., in Muncie, Indiana,
for example, six former houses have closed their doors because
they could no longer pay their bills. Meanwhile, 11 national
and international fraternities now demand that their chapter
houses be alcohol free.
[back
to top]
COLLEGE BOUND's Publisher/Editor: R. Craig
Sautter, DePaul University; Chief Operating Officer: Sally
Reed; Contributor: Marc Davis; Circulation: Irma
Gonzalez-Hider; Illustration: Louis Coronel; Board
of Advisors: Rosita Fernandez-Rojo, Choate-Rosemary Hall;
Claire D. Friedlander, Bedford (N.Y.) Central School District;
Howard Greene, author, The Greenes' Guides to Educational
Planning Series; Frank C. Leana, Ph.D., educational
counselor; Virginia Vogel, Educational Guidance Services;
M. Fredric Volkmann, Washington University in St. Louis,
Mary Ann Willis, Bayside Academy (Daphne, Ala.).
|
|
In This Issue
Feature Articles
Bush Budget Just
a Starting Point
Unprepared
for College
and Work
Student
Debt Soars
Stats
on Students
COUNSELOR'S CORNER
"Can
You Get Us Into Harvard?"
COUNSELOR'S
BOOKSHELF
-People
are talking about...
ADMISSIONS WATCH
-Hyper-Competitive
-Are Early
Apps Declining?
-SAT-Less
-Full-Court
Press
-Fewer Early
Applications
SCHOLARSHIP SCOOPS
-GuildScholar
Program
-Little
Known Gems
-P.S.
NEWS YOU CAN USE
-Higher
Salaries
-Going Coed
-Boarded
Windows
P.S. To renew your subscription or order
Who Got In? 2004 go to www.collegeboundnews.com or call
773-262-5810.
|
