Access, College Readiness, Value of College

Michelle Obama Speaks to Students at 5th Annual Beating the Odds Summit

Reach Higher hosted the fifth annual Beating the Odds Summit Tuesday to support first-generation college-bound students.

“No matter how much you may front, there is a part of you that is wondering whether this was a mistake and whether I belong and whether I can do this. Can I go on this campus or start this program? Am I really worthy of it? Those were the messages I had going on in my head and they still come up in life,” former First Lady Michelle said.

“…But here’s my one big message. This is not a mistake. You are here because you are more than capable of doing it.”

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International Education

ICYMI: NACAC Releases International Research Brief

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High schools and colleges continue to develop and refine their strategies for recruiting abroad, according to new findings from the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC).

In particular, the association’s latest research brief shows that over the last two years more colleges have adopted practices that provide greater oversight of commissioned-based agents.

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Cost of College

Report: Improve Net Price Calculators for Student Success

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The Alliance for Higher Education and Democracy at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn AHEAD) recently released a new research brief that examines the usability and usefulness of university Net Price Calculators (NPCs).

The brief offers recommendations for colleges and universities that will help ensure prospective students have accurate and transparent information on college costs.

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Academic Performance

Study: Traditional On-Campus Housing Offers Academic Benefits

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Cinder block walls, bunk beds, and shared bathrooms: Undergrads may like to complain about their on-campus accommodations, but new research suggests that living in a traditional dormitory may help freshmen keep their grades up.

A study published this summer in the Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice found that first-year students in traditional dorm rooms had higher GPAs than those living in on-campus apartment-style housing.

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Access, College Admission

Guide Helps Ensure Access, Success, and Visibility for Native Students

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The needs of Native American students are too often overlooked in all phases of higher education— including the admission process, according to a recent research project from the American Indian College Fund.

“(I)nvisibility is in essence the modern form of racism used against Native Americans…when a student is invisible, his or her academic needs are not met,” according to a recent executive brief produced by the College Fund, the largest US charity supporting Native student access to higher education.

As a result, many Native students are dissuaded from considering postsecondary education. And when American Indian students do try to access higher ed, they often are left feeling unwelcome and alone. Sometimes, they are even the target of hostility, as was the case in May 2018 when two brothers from the Mohawk Nation were removed from a Colorado State University campus tour after a mother on the tour became suspicious of their motives.

Inspired to create change in response to that traumatic event, the College Fund crafted a Declaration of Native Purpose in Higher Education.

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College Admission, NACAC News

Now Available: New Episode of ‘College Admissions Decoded’

A new episode of NACAC’s College Admissions Decoded podcast is now available.

“Counseling Applicants and Families Amidst a Scandal” explores the messages unintentionally sent by the Varsity Blues bribery scandal. It also looks at ways to assuage the worries students have about getting into college.

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Access, Advocacy, NACAC News

NACAC at NCORE

I recently had the opportunity to represent NACAC at the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in American Higher Education (NCORE). Since 1988, this annual conference has served as the premier forum for members of the higher education community to discuss and work to create college campuses that are more equitable, accessible, and anti-racist.

NCORE was an incredibly valuable professional development opportunity. My participation in this conference helped affirm the importance of some of the work already underway at NACAC and sparked ideas for new avenues for advocacy. Here are some of the things that have kept me thinking in the weeks that have passed since the conference concluded.

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Access

Connecting NACAC and NCORE through the Enrollment Management Professionals Caucus

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When I learned of the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in American Higher Education (NCORE) in 2011, I immediately decided to go. There, I was amazed to see various departments such as academic affairs, multicultural affairs, housing, and development represented. However, I saw very few people from college admission counseling and enrollment management.

By 2014, I decided to do something to change that. That year, I founded NCORE’s Enrollment Management Professionals Caucus (EMPC) — a convening of faculty and staff who work with students at the intersection of high school and higher education and/or help to manage enrollment at colleges and universities, including those who work in admission, financial aid, registrar, and college counseling, among other departments.

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