Category Archives: Uncategorized

Uncategorized

Department of Education Releases Online PSLF Tool

iStock

Think you may qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)? A new tool from the Department of Education can help you determine your eligibility.

The PSLF program was established in 2007 with the intent to reward public service employees who meet certain requirement by forgiving their student loan debt. In order to qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness, student loan borrowers must work full-time at a qualifying government or nonprofit organization and make 120 qualifying payments.

Continue reading Department of Education Releases Online PSLF Tool →

Uncategorized

Transition to College Can be Challenging for Rural Students

iStock

The faces of rural education in America are changing, but the challenges these students encounter in earning a college degree have not.

Universities have been slow to recognize these issues, but programs for supporting rural students are starting to crop up across the country.

“We never really came to terms with the fact that they needed extra support,” Naomi Norman, associate vice president for instruction at the University of Georgia, told NPR.

Though rural students graduate from high school at higher rates than urban students and at about the same levels as suburban students, only 59 percent go straight to college. And even if they enroll, they are more likely to drop out than their suburban and urban counterparts.

Continue reading Transition to College Can be Challenging for Rural Students →

NACAC News, Uncategorized

#NACACreads: Transcript of Chat with Author Karen Gross

On Dec. 12, #NACACreads chatted with Karen Gross about her book, Breakaway Learners . The book calls on college counselors and others to rethink the ways they help students prepare for life beyond high school.

Couldn’t make the discussion? Use this chat transcript to catch up on what you missed.

Continue reading #NACACreads: Transcript of Chat with Author Karen Gross →

Uncategorized

Colleges Get Creative to Fill Revenue Gaps

iStock

Declining enrollments are leading some colleges to look for new ways to boost revenue.

The Indicator, a podcast produced by NPR’s Planet Money team, recently shared a few of the more innovative approaches.

Did you know:

  • Forty-eight colleges have licensed their schools’ logos for use on caskets.
  • At least one university rents out its dorms on Airbnb during the summer months.
  • Collectively, US colleges and universities have added 41,446 new degree or certificate programs since 2012 — a strategy experts say is at least in part due to a desire to increase revenues.

Continue reading Colleges Get Creative to Fill Revenue Gaps →

College Admission, Uncategorized

Nov. 1 Eve is the New Halloween

iStock

This post was originally published on Admitted in October 2017. It’s being republished as part of NACAC’s Best of the Blog series.

Dear Halloween,

I miss you.

On Halloween in Denver, there is an air of anticipation as the sun settles behind the foothills. The skeletons of aspens and cottonwoods stand sentinel along neighborhood sidewalks, their scattered golden leaves soon to be decimated by the trampling of feet, wagons, and strollers. At dusk, adorable children with painted faces and pumpkin-shaped buckets begin to troll the streets.

At least, this is what I imagine happens.

It’s been years since I witnessed this tradition. I merely handle candy acquisition. My husband: distribution. While he responds to the doorbell with Pavlovian efficiency, I write recommendations and reply to my seniors’ frantic emails as they spend the last Halloween of their youth finalizing applications. Because for seniors, Oct. 31 isn’t Halloween.

It’s November 1st Eve.

Continue reading Nov. 1 Eve is the New Halloween →

Uncategorized

#NACACreads Author Hopes New Book Inspires Undocumented Students

Did you participate in our #NACACreads chat with Julissa Arce earlier this year?

The author and activist has released a new book about her experiences as an undocumented immigrant.

Someone Like Me — aimed at students ages 11 to 14 — was released last month. Arce told The New York Times that she hopes her story inspires undocumented students to dream big when it comes to higher education and their future.

Continue reading #NACACreads Author Hopes New Book Inspires Undocumented Students →

Uncategorized

Hey, Alexa: What Time Does the Dining Hall Close?

Saint Louis University (MO) students will have a little extra help figuring out what’s happening on campus this year.

All students moving into residence halls this week will receive a university-branded Amazon Echo Dot. The device, already popular in homes across the country, responds to voice commands and has been programmed to answer more than 100 university-related questions.

Continue reading Hey, Alexa: What Time Does the Dining Hall Close? →

Uncategorized

Conversations that Count: Making Mental Health Part of the College Prep Process

iStock

Should mental health be a part of college admission and college prep process?

Grace Gedye, a recent graduate of Pomona College (CA), thinks so.

“Before I went to college four years ago, my parents and I had a ‘work hard in class’ talk and a ‘safe partying’ talk. But we didn’t discuss what to do if stress morphed into anxiety or depression. We should have,” she wrote a recent op-ed for the LA Times.

“Instead, that summer almost every conversation I had with an adult included some variation on: ‘These are going to be the best four years of your life.’ So I was prepped for highs. And when the lows hit, I thought I was alone.”

Continue reading Conversations that Count: Making Mental Health Part of the College Prep Process →