Learn How to Apply for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program

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Still paying off your student loans?

Debt relief is available for qualifying school counselors and college admission professionals through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program.

Learn the ins and outs of the program on June 6 during a free webinar hosted by the US Department of Education’s Office of Federal Student Aid.

The one-hour session starts at 2 p.m. ET and will teach you how to apply for and navigate the PSLF program.

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Share Our New Checklists with Your Students

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Researching colleges can be a daunting task. Important questions often go unasked, and it’s hard to keep all the details organized in one place.

A new resource from NACAC aims to simplify the process for college-bound students.

Created in collaboration with the association’s Inclusion, Access, and Success Committee, Ask the Admission Office is a series of six checklists designed to help students determine what to ask when researching college options.

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Report: Cost Puts Many Public 4-Year Institutions Out of Reach for Low-Income Students

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Have low-income students been effectively shut out of public four-year institutions of higher education?

A new report by the National College Access Network (NCAN) examines this question and the results aren’t pretty.

Only 25 percent of residential public four-year institutions meet NCAN’s measure of affordability, data show.

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Upperclassmen Offer Tips to Incoming Freshmen

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Editor’s note: A version of this post was originally published on Admitted in July 2015.

Preparing to send your students off to college?

Upperclassmen and recent graduates from around the world offered their advice to incoming freshmen in a New York Times piece.

The tips range from pragmatic (“always take advantage of free food”) to philosophical (“be willing to learn as you go”).

In all, the story includes advice from 24 students. Tips on finding friends, conquering college coursework and taking care of your physical and mental health are included.

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Join Us for a #NACACreads Discussion about Race

Summer is fast-approaching, which means our next #NACACreads chat is just around the corner.

On June 11, we’ll discuss Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? The chat kicks off at 9 p.m. (ET).

Author Beverly Daniel Tatum, president emerita of Spelman College (GA), will answer questions about her bestselling book as we explore how racism affects students as they make their way to and through college.

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The Waiting Game

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They told me it wouldn’t be until the first week of June, but I continue to check the portal every few days. Exactly 100 days from the moment I hit the “submit” button—this is the amount of time it will take to determine whether they want me or not. Everyone says, “be patient, it’s a rite of passage, and what will be will be.” Patience has never been my strong suit and as I ponder this position I have placed myself in, I reflect on the many students I have told the exact same thing.

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Popularity of Happiness Course Shines a Spotlight on Student Mental Health

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Yale University’s most popular course ever may be one of the best indicators of the mental health of incoming and current college students.

Psyc 157, “Psychology and the Good Life,” a twice-weekly lecture that tries to teach students how to live happier lives, enrolled nearly a quarter of the entire student body this semester. It is reportedly the most popular course in Yale’s 316-year-long history.

The course is led by psychology professor Laurie Santos who speculates that the college admission process and the high-pressure campus environment it fosters are behind the class’s popularity. In high school, she said, students had to deprioritize happiness to gain admission to school, leading them to adopt unhealthy and harmful life habits that culminate in “the mental health crises we’re seeing at places like Yale.”

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Summer Camp Helps Special Needs Students Prepare for College

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Adjusting to campus life can be tough for any student.

But for teens with Asperger’s syndrome and high-functioning individuals with autism, making the transition to college can be especially challenging.

The University of Wisconsin—Eau Claire is attempting to help such students succeed by preparing them for the stressors they will face as undergrads. The university, a NACAC member institution, holds a week-long residential summer camp to help high school juniors and seniors get ready for college. 2018 marks the 10th year it has offered the camp.

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Survey: Majority of LGBTQ Youth Face Negative School Environments

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The majority of LGBTQ youth experience negative and even hostile school environments, according to a new report from the Human Rights Campaign.

The advocacy group surveyed roughly 12,000 students between the ages of 13 and 17 who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer, and found that 70 percent had been bullied at school because of their sexual orientation.

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Georgia State Lauded for Student Success Initiative

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Georgia State University has reinvented itself.

“By focusing on retaining low-income students, rather than just enrolling them, the college raised its graduation rate to 54 percent from 32 percent in 2003,” according to a recent New York Times article. “And for the last five years, it has awarded more bachelor’s degrees to African-Americans…than any other nonprofit college or university in the country.”

Officials from the university — a NACAC member institution — say data analysis and targeted supports have helped boost student success. Advisers monitor the daily progress of the school’s 40,000 undergrads and act quickly to provide assistance at the first sign that a student is struggling.

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