Entries for May 2010

The Washington Post - 

A new study shows that grade weighting for Advanced Placement courses is unnecessary. Schools have been promising students 3 grade points (usually given for a B) if they get a C in an AP course so they will not be frightened away by its college-level demands. It turns out, however, they will take AP with or without extra credit.

Never mind. Our students can relax. College competition rules. Nobody is going to stop weighting grades unless every other district in the country does. Russia and the United States still have many nuclear warheads and missiles two decades after the end of the Cold War. Grade-weighting is sort of like that, but more serious.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/30/AR2010053003085.html

The Baltimore Sun -  After high school seniors graduate this season, they and their parents will soon face another time-honored tradition —paying college tuition. But the new crop of college-bound freshmen this summer will experience a much different federal student loan program than in years past. This is all happening because of a law passed earlier in the year that requires federal student and parent loans to come directly from Uncle Sam starting in July, instead of through... ...continue reading

The New York Times -  Tucked among mansions in this affluent Boston suburb, Pine Manor College was long a finishing school, a place for well-heeled women to receive an education and for Ivy League men to find wives — earning it the pejorative nickname “Pine Mattress.” Photographs around campus show alumnae clad in white gloves, pearls and shirtwaist dresses. But quietly and deliberately, this small women’s college has undergone a radical change, from a pl... ...continue reading

The New York Times -  Like many middle-class families, Cortney Munna and her mother began the college selection process with a grim determination. They would do whatever they could to get Cortney into the best possible college, and they maintained a blind faith that the investment would be worth it. Today, however, Ms. Munna, a 26-year-old graduate of New York University, has nearly $100,000 in student loan debt from her four years in college, and affording the full monthly payments ... ...continue reading

The New York Times (Bay Area Blog) -  While budget cuts are remaking education across the country, California’s still stand out for their severity. Among the resulting changes are admissions and access to the state’s flagship higher education system, the University of California. Here is a look at the new reality. http://bayarea.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/28/the-changing-admissions-landscape-at-the-university-of-california/

The Huffington Post -  Isn't it time we shifted our focus away from HOW to pay for college and instead started to probe WHY it costs so much to begin with? Should we wait until our educational system faces the same financial collapse and ruin as Wall Street before we start asking serious questions and demand a system of checks and balances be put into place? After all, it's not just the actual cost of college we should be worried about -- it's the hidden cost nobody wants to talk ab... ...continue reading

Enrollment Manager- the newly re-named and latest version of our Continuum 422 CRM   - is here!     And, admissions work just got a whole heck of lot easier.    All of us at Admissions Lab are extremely proud to introduce Enrollment Manager™, our exciting new Enrollment Service designed to help you wow prospects, form life-long relationships and yield your best fit class.   Enrollment Manager™ is better than anything you’ve see... ...continue reading

The Chronicle of Higher Education -  The dynamics of recruitment are changing. Old strategies for attracting applicants no longer work as well as they once did. And in an era of tightened budgets, understanding the return-on-investment for each enrollment expense is crucial. So said attendees here at the New England Association for College Admission Counseling's annual conference. On Thursday, admissions officials discussed how admissions representatives could plan their recruitment tr... ...continue reading

Enrollment Manager™ - the newly re-named and latest version of our Continuum 422 CRM   - is here!     And, admissions work just got a whole heck of lot easier.    All of us at Admissions Lab are extremely proud to introduce Enrollment Manager™, our exciting new Enrollment Service designed to help you wow prospects, form life-long relationships and yield your best fit class.   Enrollment Manager™ is better than anything you&rsqu... ...continue reading

The Chronicle of Higher Education -  Six years ago, Lloyd Thacker became a familiar name in higher education. Since then, he has been described in many ways. As the savior of college admissions. As a hopeless romantic tilting at ivory towers. As a voice of calm in a world of admissions angst. As a guy who can't accept that higher education is, among other things, a business.