What should first-generation college students know before they head to campus?
A new social media campaign organized by Better Make Room is encouraging college counselors and others to share their wisdom on Twitter.
Contribute your own tips by using #AdviceForFirstGen and #BetterMakeRoom in your tweets.
Tips already submitted include:
How do social inequalities shape access to education, and what can counselors and admission professionals do to help students navigate an increasingly complex array of postsecondary choices?
Discuss those questions and more on Monday during a #NACACreads discussion of Lower Ed: The Troubling Rise of For-Profit Colleges in the New Economy.
The chat will kick off on Twitter at 2 p.m. ET.
Author Tressie McMillan Cottom will participate in the hour-long discussion, and there will be plenty of opportunities for you to share your own thoughts about the book, as well as for-profit colleges.
Continue reading #NACACreads: Join Us Monday to Discuss ‘Lower Ed’
The IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) is now available to student loan holders applying for an income-driven repayment plan, the Department of Education announced last week.
According to a press release, “new encryption protections” have been added to the tool. However, the DRT will remain out-of-service for FAFSA filers until Oct. 1.
Continue reading DRT Now Available for Income-Driven Repayment Plan Applicants
Although most American degree holders believe they received a quality education, more than a quarter say they would attend a different college if they had it all to do over, a new national poll shows.
A survey of 89,492 US adults by Gallup and the Strada Education Network found that 28 percent of respondents wish they would have selected a different institution. And given the chance, 36 percent would have chosen a different major.
Continue reading Survey: Many Americans Would Change Their College Choices
A group of private schools wants to remove letter grades from the college admission process.
Instead, members of the newly formed Mastery Transcript Consortium (MTC) would submit reports to universities outlining how well students demonstrate mastery of key academic concepts. Other qualities, such as creativity and persistence, could also be highlighted on the new transcript.
The model is inspired in part by competency-based education, a method where students progress through the curriculum based on their demonstration of knowledge and skills, rather than seat time. Consortium leaders say each member will have the freedom to determine which “performance areas” will be included on their school’s transcript.
NACAC research shows that grades matter most in college admission. But many counselors say the resulting pressure to attain perfect marks undermines student learning and development. Continue reading Rethinking the Transcript: High Schools Join New Consortium
There are more than 17,000 US students pursuing college degrees in the UK, a number which has grown by 17 percent since 2009.
Many are attracted by the possibility of broadening their international experience without struggling with a language barrier. Others relish the chance of learning at world-famous institutions older than the United States itself.
For others, it may also be an opportunity to get back to one’s roots as it was for Aiysha Whitfield, a student from Portland, Oregon, who has just finished her combined bachelor’s degree in film studies and communication, media and culture at Oxford Brookes University (UK).
Continue reading Studying in the UK: One US Student’s Perspective
Can you believe it’s already June? That means our next #NACACreads book club chat is just days away.
On June 12, we’ll discuss Lower Ed: The Troubling Rise of For-Profit Colleges in the New Economy.
The conversation will kick off at 2 p.m. ET on Twitter, and we’d love to have you join the chat!
Author Tressie McMillan Cottom will participate in the hour-long discussion, and there will be plenty of opportunities for you to share your own thoughts about the book, as well as for-profit colleges.
Continue reading Get Ready for #NACACreads with Tressie McMillan Cottom
I just completed my 19th year as director of college counseling at Kents Hill School in Maine, 15 years of which also included building and directing its international program. As I close this chapter and begin my next as director of academic advising and college counseling at The American School in London, I am awed at the rapidly changing landscape of international students in the US, particularly at our high schools, and the dire need for more professional development on both the secondary school and college side in support of this growing population of students.
Continue reading NACAC Workshop: Learn More about Counseling and Recruiting International Students
Editor’s note: A version of this post originally appeared on Admitted in May 2015. It’s being republished as part of NACAC’s Best of the Blog series.
It has become customary for many schools to publish a list of college decisions each May. The Ellis School, where I work, is no exception. Our students are so bright and involved and — with 30 students accepted to more than 80 colleges and counting — every girl has excellent options.
But after more than 13 years in the college admission field, I have come to understand that, no matter how impressive, a college list alone does not convey what is truly important and meaningful about a young person’s college admission story. What matters most are the truths they discover about themselves during the process.
Continue reading Between the Lines: What a College List Does Not Tell You
Community colleges are an integral facet of the US higher education system. Serving nearly 6.3 million students, these public, two-year institutions offer a variety of courses and degree programs at a third of the price charged by four-year colleges. Because most community colleges have transfer agreements with baccalaureate-granting institutions, many students who seek a bachelor’s degree initially matriculate at a community college to take advantage of its cost-saving benefits. In fact, data from the National Student Clearinghouse show that 49 percent of students who completed a degree at a four-year university in 2015-16 had previously enrolled in a community college during the last 10 years.
Community colleges have typically established transfer agreements with local and regional institutions. These include “2+2” pathway programs, which guarantee admission for students at the partner four-year college if specific academic requirements are met, and articulation agreements that delineate how specific coursework will transfer between programs.
Results from a recent survey of 140 community colleges conducted by NACAC and Community Colleges for International Development (CCID) indicate a growing number of these colleges are also interested in pursuing transfer partnerships with universities abroad.
Continue reading Study: Interest in International Transfer Pathways Growing Among Community Colleges