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Vol. 22 No. 3
November 2007
The News from NACAC This
Fall
IN AUSTIN, TEXAS,
this fall, the National Association of College Admissions Counseling
celebrated its 70th anniversary at its 63rd annual meeting. Over
4,500 guidance counselors and admissions officers attended 120
workshops on a variety of topics in college admissions and financial
aid.
Technology's impact on admissions was one hot topic. In its
fifth annual "State of College Admission," NACAC said
that the admissions process is becoming more mechanical at many
institutions because of the increased use of technology.
And while students become more technologically savvy, admissions
officers are being pushed to keep up with the volume of work.
The report noted that the mean ratio of applications to admission
officers at public universities was 741 to 1, at private colleges
279 to 1.
Meanwhile, NACAC found that about 33 percent of inquiries
to four-year colleges were received by email or the school's
web, and 58 percent of applications now come in online. Colleges
are also using technology to reach students. Some 47 percent
send email newsletters to prospective students, 35 percent provide
online chat rooms and 29 percent maintain Web logs, 27 percent
notify students of their decision by email and 25 percent let
students check their status online.
Half of all high schools have a computer station or resource
center exclusively dedicated to the college search.
COMMERCIALIZATION
HURTING
The ill effects of commercialization on the admissions
process was another hot topic. Lloyd Thacker and the Education
Conservancy were on hand with a new study, "College Admissions:
What Are Students Learning?" to charge that "Admissions
has distorted the way education is perceived and pursued between
students, parents, families, high schools and colleges."
However, there are some positives Thacker sees in the process.
"We found out that (students) are learning good things:
how to think about themselves, how to communicate about themselves
and how to plan for the future."
But there are some distinct negatives. "Their level of
cynicism about higher education is not something that educators
would respectively want, and it's a result of the practices and
signals that they are learning."
SAT ATTACK
One popular session at the conference was chaired
by William R. Fitzsimmons, Harvard's dean of admissions and financial
aid. It drew more than 100 high school counselors and college
admissions officers. On a voice vote, the group strongly urged
making the SAT optional. "I think the negatives far outweigh
the positives," Brad MacGowan, a counselor at Newton North
High School in Massachusetts told Education Week. There
is speculation that NACAC may formally adopt a similar position.
According to the National Center for Fair & Open Testing,
755 colleges and universities do not require test scores from
most of their applicants. However, the College Board claims that
88 percent of four-year colleges rely on the test.
Many of the NACAC participants thought the former SAT II or
subject tests are more useful and reliable. A very small number
of colleges now require these subject tests, according to Fitzsimmons,
who said he feels "a lot of places really, really need"
standardized tests. In part, they help sort real skills in an
era of grade inflation.
NACAC has formed a Commission On the Use of Standardized Tests
in Undergraduate Admission chaired by Mr. Fitzsimmons and will
issue a report next year. For more about the conference and to
order tapes of the individual sessions, see www.nacacnet.org.
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The Federal Dollar
New Student Aid Law. Last month, President Bush
signed a budget reconciliation law, the College Cost Reduction
and Access Act of 2007, authorizing what was called the largest
increase in student aid since the G.I Bill. As a result of cutting
government subsidies to student-loan companies for the second
time in two years, money was freed to increase the maximum Pell
Grant from $4,310 to $5,400, increasing $400 a year until 2012-2013.
The law also expands the minimum income cutoff for a maximum
Pell Grant from $20,000 to $30,000. The income-contingent repayment
option will be extended to those who use private loans.
Minority serving institutions also received an infusion of
$255 million. Another $100 million was designated for institutions
seeking to increase Hispanic enrollment in science, technology,
engineering and math (STEM).
Student aid lenders took the brunt of the cuts, losing $21
billion in subsidies. For example, the amount of federally guaranteed
reimbursement to lenders for loans that default will fall from
97 to 95 percent. The default rate recently fell to 4.6 percent.
Some Republicans charged that instead of saving money, the bill
will spend 29 times more than it saved, if calculations extend
beyond five years.
FAFSA Won't Be Mailed. Beginning in January, paper
copies of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
will no longer routinely be mailed out to schools by the U.S.
Department of Education. Since 94 percent of students use the
electronic version, the bulk mailing of millions of copies proved
wasteful.
However, the DOE will send out specially- requested bulk copies
to schools that request them because their students do not have
sufficient access to the electronic version.
Federal Research Funds. Which colleges receive the
most federal money for research? The top 15, in order: Johns
Hopkins, U. of Washington, U. of Michigan, Stanford U., U. of
Wisconsin at Madison, U. of California at Los Angeles, U. of
Pennsylvania, MIT, U. of California at San Francisco, U. of California
at San Diego, Columbia U., U. of Colorado, U. of Pittsburgh,
Duke U. and Washington U. at St. Louis.
New Federal Funds. The federal Academic Competitiveness
Grants were awarded for the first time last year to 400,000 first-
and second-year Pell Grant recipients who received, on average,
$850. SMART Grants of about $3,875 were also awarded for the
first time to 80,000 third- and fourth-year Pell Grant recipients
majoring in physical, life or computer science; engineering;
mathematics; technology; or a specified foreign language.
Sallie Mae Sale Off. And one victim of the College
Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007, recently signed by President
Bush, is the $25 billion sale of Sallie Mae, the giant student
loan company. Because the new law cut subsidies to lenders the
deal was no longer attractive to a consortium of banks and private
equity firms. The cancelled deal called for stock purchases of
$60 a share. But after Congress acted, stocks have been selling
in the $42 range.
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The Guide to the Guides
Rankings, More Rankings. In case you missed the
controversial U.S. News & World Report rankings, here
are some highlights: "Best National Universities,"
in order: Princeton, Harvard, Yale, Stanford, California Institute
of Technology, U. of Pennsylvania, Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, Duke, Columbia U., U. of Chicago, Dartmouth C., Cornell
U., Washington U. in St. Louis, Brown, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern,
Emory, Rice, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, U. California-Berkeley,
Carnegie Mellon, Georgetown, U. of Virginia, U. California-Los
Angeles and U. of Michigan.
The "Best Liberal Arts Colleges," in order: Williams,
Amherst, Swarthmore, Wellesley, Carleton, Middlebury, Bowdoin,
Pomona, Davidson, Haverford, Claremont McKenna, Grinnell, Vassar,
Wesleyan, Harvey Mudd, Washington and Lee, Colgate, Hamilton,
Smith, Oberlin, U.S. Naval Academy, Colby, U.S. Military Academy,
Bates and Bryn Mawr.
The top 10 "Best Black Colleges," in order: Spelman,
Howard, Hampton, Morehouse, Fisk, Tuskegee, Claflin, Xavier of
Louisiana, Dillard and Johnson C. Smith U.
America's Best Colleges. New this year in the 2008
edition of U.S. News and World Report: military service
academies and the percentage of Pell Grant recipients attending
a college are some of the variables used to calculate "graduation
rate performance;" see www.usnews.com/colleges.
Barron's Guide to the Most Competitive Colleges, 5th
edition; profiles 74 schools with quotes from former students
and lists of prominent grads; 1,112 pages; published by (Barron's
Educational Series, 2007); www.barronseduc.com; ISBN-13: 978-0-7641-3760-0,
$21.99; www.barronseduc.com.
The Best 366 Colleges: This 2008 edition from The Princeton
Review asked 120,000 college students "what their colleges
are really like"; (where students have the "best classroom
experience," for example. Answer: Reed C., Wabash C., Thomas
Aquinas C., Wellesley C. and Mount Holyoke C.); 813 pages; ISBN:
978-0-375-76621-3; $21.95.
Southern Affairs. And if you are looking for almost
any statistic about higher education in the South, you are likely
to find it in the Southern Regional Education Board's Fact
Book on Higher Education. One highlight: SREB forecasts that
"population changes could put gains in education attainment
at risk" as Hispanics-whose college-going rates lag behind
those of blacks and whites-are expected to move into the South
more than any other group in the next two decades.
Reports and databases with information on the number of students
enrolled, their success rate, financial aid and more about colleges
and universities in 16 states are packed into the 50th anniversary
of the book at http://www.sreb.org/main/EdData/FactBook/summary2007.asp.
International Rankings. The Institute of Higher Education
at Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China has released its Academic
Ranking of World Universities 2007. While including a disclaimer
that the rankings, by nature, have methodological and technical
problems, it is an attempt to gather information about the leading
500 universities worldwide including descriptions of fields of
study and alumni. The rankings can be viewed by looking at the
top 100, for example, or by listings of the top universities
in North and Latin America, Europe and the Asia Pacific areas.
The rankings are "done independently by the ranking team
in IHE-SJTU for their academic interests without any external
financial support." The sponsors note, "It has nothing
to do with any commercial activities what so ever." With
that said: the top 12: Harvard, Stanford, UC-Berkeley, Cambridge,
MIT, California Institute of Technology, Columbia U., Princeton,
U. of Chicago, Oxford, Yale and Cornell U.
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THE COUNSELOR'S
CORNER
Where Would Holden Cauldfield
Get In?
EDITOR'S NOTE: Holden
Caulfield, the protagonist in J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in
the Rye, was once kicked out of a prep school in Pennsylvania.
And one NACAC session this fall that drew a large crowd focused
on strategies to help such underachieving boys today gain college
admission. Two counselors, Greg McCandless, Sage Hill School
in Newport Coast, California, and Annette Cleary, Marquette University
High School in Milwaukee, made suggestions for both writing recommendations
and working with "late blooming" males.
IS IT EASIER FOR BOYS TO BE
ADMITTED TO SELECTIVE COLLEGES? The answer is clearly
"No." Admissions professionals have a responsibility
to their institution to bring in the best people possible, as
demonstrated through grades, tests, match and essays that show
they are worthy to be a member of the institution. So even if
we have a gender shortage that doesn't mean unqualified males
can just walk through the gate. No one wants to be the admissions
person who admits someone who is ill equipped to do the work,
and then, during first semester, have a professor come around
asking, "So who admitted Joe?" And you have nothing
to point to in the file as to why you did it.
Still, there is the growing problem of underachieving and
unmotivated young men. How can counselors become effective advocates
for these late bloomers so that they can, at least, get into
a college or university that is realistically a good match for
them?
RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Honesty is Required.
In writing recommendations, counselors can't pretend that a student's
record is stellar and ignore the low grades or disciplinary problems.
They can't pretend that the college application readers are not
going to pick up on them. A favorite question readers ask is,
"Why is no one talking about the 'D'?" A counselor's
credibility as an advocate goes out the window if he or she does
not address those holes in the record. The same goes for students.
They lose credibility if they don't acknowledge problems somewhere
in their application or essay. And they lose an opportunity to
talk about what they have learned from what they have gone through.
2. Add a Perspective on
the Student. Readers of recommendations want to get
a sense from counselors about "the late bloomer." They
want to know, "Is this low grade the result of laziness?"
"Is it because of a lack of challenge?" "Are there
home issues?" Offering a perspective on a student can tell
colleges that when you sit across the desk from the student,
"He is fantastic and his face lights up when he talks about
math or creative writing. But boy, are those science classes
a pain for him." Tell the college, "This is why this
student is looking at your school. This is why this student is
a match for your school."
Colleges do want as much disclosure as possible. But if a
counselor and the student haven't taken the opportunity to write
the student's story, the reader will make his or her own narrative
and it probably won't be as favorable. But if both are enthusiastic
and realistic at the same time, it gives readers something to
use to advocate for that student.
3. Take Responsibility.
It also helps to explain to students that they must take responsibility,
either in an essay or an interview, for their own story. Yet,
help them see how to portray their situation and explain the
problems that led to the "D-" in their junior year.
But they should also highlight the positives-the intellectual
curiosity that drives them to read a book in English class all
in one night even though it drives their teacher crazy because
they are ahead of the rest of the class.
It is also important for colleges to know that the applicant
is not a "toxic personality," and that that was not
what caused the problems. If it was a discipline issue, was it
a one time "teenaged boy" situation or is it a pattern
of behavior? Boys, in particular, often get very nervous that
one problem will define them forever. Tell them they have a choice:
They can decide if this is one incident or a pattern that defines
them in their high school career. A lot of boys respond to this.
It helps them to stay positive. It can push them on to maturity.
4. Call and Follow up.
A follow-up phone call is helpful. For example, a Holden Caulfield
may be interested in just one area, so he is amazing in science
and math, but cringes at the psychology course. Sometimes it
is hard for colleges to reconcile that behavior. They will wonder,
"How would that work out for our college and our core curriculum?"
"How do we know that the young man will plug into that interest
at the next level?"
5. Put the Curriculum in
Context. Maybe this late bloomer didn't have great
grades, but the student did push himself and tried to stretch.
Or counselors can note that while maybe a student isn't that
strong, he did take four years of social studies or an AP class
or two. It is a fine balance between talking about the negatives,
and framing them in a way that gives the college a broader understanding
of the student in relation to the curriculum and the other students
in the school.
6. Remember Ethical Issues
are Involved. Counselors must remain true to who they
are. They can only do so much. This is the student's record and
life. Counselors shouldn't ever feel they have to cross the line
in advocating for the student to make something happen that really
isn't earned. Put the responsibility on students to advocate
for themselves. (At the same time, colleges need to remember
that counselors and schools are also worried about the legal
ramifications of how honest they can be.)
7. Show Students How to
Write about Their Experiences. If there have been
incidents that have happened to students in the last couple of
years, a disciplinary problem or a dip in grades, for example,
help them write about what they learned or the wisdom that they
have gained and that it won't happen again once the student steps
on the college campus. That really is what the reader is looking
for. They want to know is this a moment in time or a fundamental
character flaw? They want to know what the student has done to
rectify that situation. And they want to know, what has the history
been since then?
8. Mock Interviews are Worthwhile.
Sit down with students and go through a possible interview. How
should they talk about their problems in person? When is it appropriate
to bring it up? It takes the angst out of interviews to have
practiced beforehand.
9. Help Students Move On.
Advise students (and parents) not to obsess about the past. They
need to know that that removes all forward momentum of the application.
It stalls the application. Help them move on. Students get a
sense of relief from doing that.
10. Keep It All in Perspective.
Are students allowed to make mistakes anymore in selective college
admissions? Unfortunately, in highly selective college admissions,
one little thing could swing a kid off the table. That's the
basic reality. And that is part of the consequences of the decisions
these students make. But there are admissions committees who
want to give students a chance, who went through the same kind
of ordeal. These "late blooming boys" are going to
get in somewhere. And they are going to do well. We have an opportunity
to reduce the stress for them and help them find the right place
to start again.
These comments are adapted from
the NACAC presentation in Austin, Texas, in September.
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P.S. People Were Talking About
A new book out by Richard Lerner called The Good Teen.
He states that instead of defining teens in negative terms (they
don't smoke, they don't drink, they don't get into trouble) define
the good teen by stressing "5 C's" with teenagers:
"competence" including social, vocational and health,
"confidence," then "character," "connection"
and "caring."
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ENROLLMENT TRENDS
Some Hispanic Student Stats. According to the 43
institutions in the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities
(HACU), Hispanic graduation has risen to 58 percent, yet only
12 percent earn a college degree. About half of all Hispanic
students reside in California and Texas. The Commission for Texas
Higher Education has launched a 15-year initiative to boost college
graduation rates among Hispanic students. Texas students can
consult www.collegefortexans.com.
Graduation
Rates. While the college rankings remain controversial, there
is a new emphasis on tracking the real outcome of colleges' education
work, graduation rates. That was the focus of U.S. Secretary
of Education Margaret Spelling's Commission on the Future of
Higher Education.
One year later, The Chronicle of Higher Education reports
that hundreds of colleges and universities now use standardized
student achievement tests to measure student learning; and many
colleges plan to post performance-related data on their web sites.
This latter group includes the 400 members of the American Association
of State Colleges and Universities and the 200-member National
Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges.
Others also have taken up the call. For example, The Education
Trust maintains a web site that lets students easily track graduation
rates at various colleges. See: www.collegeresults.org.
Part-Time
Disadvantage. A new study from the National Center for Education
Statistics, "Part-Time Undergraduates in Postsecondary Education:
2003-4," found that 35 percent of undergrads that year were
part-time students. The profile of these students indicates they
are more likely to be older, female, Hispanic, first-generation
and financially independent than full-time students. Most attend
two-year colleges. Only 25 percent of full-time students attend
two-year institutions. About 83 percent of the part-time students
work full time.
The bad news was that when researchers examined a group of
part-time undergrads who entered college in 1995, only 15 percent
had earned a degree by the end of six years. About 46 percent
of these students left school within their first year. In contrast,
64 percent of full-time students had earned a degree or certificate
within six years, 44 percent earned their bachelor's degree.
And 72 percent of the full-timers had stayed in school.
Minority
College Student Enrollment. A new 149-page report from the
National Center for Education Statistics called "Status
and Trends in the Education of Racial and Ethnic Minorities"
examines the state of minority students across the board from
elementary school through postsecondary. Among the highlights:
- Between 1976 and 2004, the percentage of minority students
enrolled as undergraduates increased from 17 to 32 percent. But
in 2004, the gender gap between females and males was largest
for black undergraduates.
- In 2003-04, Asians/Pacific Islanders received a smaller percentage
of aid than any other race/ethnicity.
- More postsecondary degrees were awarded to Blacks than Hispanics,
although Hispanics comprised a larger percentage of the total
population. Hispanics and American Indians/Alaska Natives received
a higher proportion of associate's degrees. For details, see
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2007/2007039.pdf.
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NEWS YOU
CAN USE
Tuition Still Climbing.
According to the College Board, the cost of college was up for
2006, but the rate of growth was lower over the past five years.
- At public four-year institutions, in-state tuition and fees
average $6,185, or $381 more than last year, a 6.6 percent increase.
In 2007-08, average total charges (which include both room and
board and tuition and fees), are $13,589, a 5.9 percent increase
over last year. The average full-time student at a public four-year
school receives about $3,600 in grants and tax benefits, which
lowers the average tuition and fees to a net price of about $2,600.
- At private four-year nonprofit institutions, tuition and
fees average $23,712, or $1,404 more than last year, a 6.3 percent
increase. Average total charges (including room and board and
tuition and fees), are $32,307 in 2007-08, which is 5.9 percent
higher than in 2006-07. The average full-time student attending
a private college receives about $9,300 in grants and tax benefits,
which reduces the average tuition and fees to a net price of
about $14,400.
- At public two-year institutions, tuition and fees average
$2,361, a $95 or 4.2 percent increase. The average full-time
student in this sector receives about $2,040 in grants and tax
benefits, lowering the average tuition and fees to a net price
of about $320.
The College Board released these and other higher education
pricing and aid statistics in its annual "Trends in College
Pricing 2007" and "Trends in Student Aid 2007"
reports. For complete copies of these reports see www.collegeboard.org.
Out-of-Control?
The Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics new report
concludes: 54 percent of faculty members at 23 Division 1-A universities
said that decisions about sports on their campus were driven
by needs of the entertainment industry; 72 percent think the
salaries paid to the football and basketball coaches are excessive;
46 percent are satisfied with their university president's oversight
of athletics, while 28 percent are not; 61 percent said athletes
were motivated to earn their degrees and keep pace with peers
in the classroom.
Liberal
Colleges? How liberal are today's college professors? That's
what many students and parents want to know. For years, conservative
critics have charged colleges with being havens for "leftist
professors." Now two professors, from Harvard U. and George
Mason U., conclude that nearly 44 percent of the 1,417 full-time
professors they surveyed at 927 colleges of all types are "liberal."
Just over 9 percent are "conservative." But 47 percent
describe themselves as "moderates."
And,
Lest You Wondered, Higher Education Pays. But it is not just
in monetary gains from a college education, a new report from
the College Board says. College also improves the quality of
life for recipients and society in general. Among the benefits:
College graduates are more likely to have access to pension plans
and are more actively involved in improving their health. They
also volunteer more, vote more often and are more likely to donate
blood. For more info see www.collegeboard.org.
Final
Chapters. The 129-year-old Sheldon Jackson C., the oldest
college in Alaska, has suspended academic operations. According
to the Southern Education Foundation's new report, "Education
After Katrina: Time for a New Federal Response," about 35,000
students from Louisiana and Mississippi did not return to college
or university in either their home state or elsewhere because
of the disruptions of the hurricane.
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COLLEGE BOUND's Publisher/Editor: R. Craig
Sautter, DePaul University; Chief Operating Officer: Sally
Reed; Assistant Editor: Emma Schwartz; Illustration:
Louis Coronel; Board of Advisors: David Breeden,
Edina High School, Minnesota; Claire D. Friedlander, Bedford
(N.Y.) Central School District; Howard Greene and Matthew
Greene, authors, The Greenes' Guides to Educational Planning
Series; Frank C. Leana, Ph.D., educational counselor;
M. Fredric Volkmann, Washington University in St. Louis;
Mary Ann Willis, Bayside Academy (Daphne, Ala.).
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In This Issue
Feature Articles
The News From
NACAC This Fall
The Federal
Dollar
The Guide
to the Guides
THE COUNSELOR'S
CORNER
Where
Would Holden Caufield
Get In?
-P.S.
People Were Talking About
ENROLLMENT TRENDS
-Some
Hispanic Student Stats
-Graduation
Rates
-Part-Time
Disadvantage
-Minority
College Student Enrollment
NEWS YOU CAN USE
-Tuition
Still Climbing
-Out-of-Control?
-Liberal
Colleges?
-And, Lest
You Wondered,
Higher Education Pays
-Final Chapters
CB has learned it won
an APEX 2007 Award of Excellence in the newsletter category "for
excellence in publication" from Communication Concepts.
Nearly 5,000 publications were evaluated. Thanks to our subscribers
for your continued support.
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