College Access: How the Space Race Opened Doors for Women

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We all know the space race gave America access to the moon, but did you know it also helped pave the way for more women to go to college?

Women now make up more than 56 percent of students on campuses nationwide, according to the US Department of Education. But back in the 1960s, colleges often used “gender quotas” or simply excluded women entirely.

2018 marks 60 years since the passage of the National Defense Education Act (NDEA). In a recent episode of the Ways & Means podcast, host Emily Hanford explored how the National Defense Education Act inadvertently gave millions of American women access to college.

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College Spurs Transfer Success with Elimination of D Grades

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When students transfer, colleges are looking at more than just credit totals. Performance also matters, which is why Stanly Community College (NC) has eliminated D grades.

For course credits to transfer, many four-year colleges require students to have earned at least a C. So even through students with a D grade have technically passed the class, they didn’t perform well enough to have another institution recognize their learning. And in many cases, the low mark also prevents students from meeting the prerequisites needed to take more advanced courses within the same subject.

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The Fight to End Campus Hunger

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Could “food scholarships” help more students complete college?

Daphne Hernandez, an assistant professor of nutrition and obesity studies at the University of Houston, thinks so.

In a column published this month by Community College Daily, Hernandez noted that an estimated 50 percent of community college students nationwide lack access to healthy and affordable foods.

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Number of Student Visas Issued by US Drops

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The number of student visas issued by the US State Department fell again this year, a decline that experts say is tied to stricter immigration policies.

In the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, the US issued 393,573 student visas — representing a 17 percent decline from the year before and a 40 percent decrease from 2015.

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Student-to-Counselor Ratios: Watch Our Facebook Live Q&A

The ideal student-to-counselor ratio is 250-to-1, yet the average school counselor currently serves a caseload that is nearly twice that size.

What are the implications for students and for the profession? Experts from NACAC and the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) addressed that question today during a Facebook Live Q&A.

“Student outcomes are better with the 250-to-1 ratio,” Jill Cook, ASCA’s assistant director noted during the chat. “Attendance is better, achievement is better, graduation rates (are better).”

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New Series Offers Guidance on Commission-Based International Student Recruitment

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Does your college use agents to recruit international students? A new series of resource papers from NACAC is designed to help ensure institutions remain in compliance with the association’s recently revised code of ethics.

The first paper, which examines trends in commission-based international student recruitment, was released this week.

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Grants Available to Fund College Signing Day Events

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Decision Day is just a few weeks away for hundreds of thousands of college-bound high school seniors.

May 1—also called National College Decision Day—is the deadline for students to accept an offer of admission and make a tuition deposit at many institutions.

And for the fifth year, Reach Higher—in coordination with Better Make Room—is encouraging schools and communities to host College Signing Day events in recognition of their students’ hard work.

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Common Application Launches New App for Transfer Students

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The Common Application has launched a new application for transfer students, helping meet a growing need for this student population.

More than one-third of all students switch schools sometime during their college career and more than two-thirds of US colleges view transfer students as considerably important in meeting enrollment goals, according to NACAC’s State of College Admission report.

The new Common App for transfer will allow transfer students to provide information about their qualifications for admission in a more targeted and tailored way. For example, it includes a prerequisite coursework feature, allowing applicants can select courses they completed that apply toward prerequisite requirements for particular academic programs.

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Learn More About Student Activism and the Admission Process

Should student activism influence college admission decisions?

Tune into Admissions Live today at 11 a.m. ET to learn how colleges are responding to student disciplinary actions stemming from political protests.

Host Adam Castro will be joined by NACAC President-Elect Stefanie Niles and Eric Hoover, a senior writer at The Chronicle of Higher Education.

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Regular updates on NACAC and the world of college admission counseling. For more information about NACAC, visit nacacnet.org.