Students: Start Searching Now for On-Campus Jobs

August 21, 2017 Mary Stegmeir

Planning to work during the school year to help pay for college?

Incoming freshmen should start searching now to increase their odds of landing a great campus job, according to a post on Homeroom — the official blog of the US Department of Education.

“If you’re interested in working part-time while in school, it’s best to start checking out those opportunities early, even before you get to campus or start classes,” notes blog author Susan Thares, who works with the department’s office of Federal Student Aid.

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College Admission

Navigating the Tide of Stress this Fall

August 17, 2017 Nicole Shaub Cook

Each August, I get hit by a tsunami of anxiety and stress. Though it happens year after year, I’m still startled when I look up and see it above me, overshadowing the peaceful laziness of summer that came before.

Call it a professional hazard: Students and parents cannot help but look toward college with apprehension, and their apprehension arrives in force (in my office) in August. Whether stemming from the unbelievable cost of college, or the incredible odds against getting into a dream school, these fears are grounded in the realities of today’s college admission world.

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Access

Supporting All Students: First-Gen Student-Turned-Prof Offers Tips

August 16, 2017 Ashley Dobson 1 Comment

David Hernández is an assistant professor of Latino/a studies at Mount Holyoke College. But before joining academia, he was a first-generation university student.

Having experienced university life from two perspectives, Hernández recently reflected on what would have helped make college more accessible to him the first time around.

He wrote a personal essay featured in The Chronicle of Higher Education that shares his experience as an 18-year-old and asks, “What could today’s universities and colleges do differently for a student like me?”

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Uncategorized

#nacac17: 10 Ways to Make the Most out of the Exhibit Hall

August 15, 2017 Meghan Dalesandro 2 Comments

If Boston is your very first NACAC conference, that’s wicked good news! There is so much to love about this city and this conference. But with that, I’m sure that there are lots of questions and planning and “what do I do” floating around your mind.

I can assure you that you will find that the NACAC conference is one of the best of the year in our industry! Sessions, coordination, content, and venues all play a part in that. But, above all else, it’s the people.

This year will be my (gulp) 17th NACAC conference. And one thing I’ve gotten to know well is the exhibit hall.

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Legislation, Uncategorized

News Update: Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program

August 14, 2017 Liz Glaser

A new report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) finds that many qualified student borrowers have been delayed, or even denied, access to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program.

The program, a Department of Education initiative, allows borrowers to have their federal student loans forgiven after making 120 eligible payments over the course of 10 years working in eligible public service careers.

Yet despite meeting all eligibility requirements, the CFPB found that some borrowers have spent years paying into the program without receiving their promised loan relief.

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Access, College Admission, NACAC News

4 Ways College Counselors Can Increase Access for Underrepresented Students

August 10, 2017 Mary Stegmeir

Diversity on campus strengthens our colleges and our country.

Yet a large number of qualified students from low-income and minority populations are still underrepresented in American higher education due to inadequate access to college advising resources.

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Access

Reflections on Diversity in Higher Education and the Consideration of Race in Admission Decisions

August 9, 2017 Art Coleman

Editor’s Note: This column was first published by Education Counsel.

The New York Times recently reported that the US Department of Justice [DoJ] released an internal document indicating action with respect to “a new project on ‘investigations and possible litigation related to intentional race-based discrimination in college and university admissions.’”

The DoJ responded with indications that its effort was aimed at one case on behalf of Asian-American students — a position, according to the Times, that was greeted with some skepticism by others. While there is much more to learn about the Department’s planned action, we should take this opportunity to reflect on the fact that time-tested, common sense principles derived from settled federal law continue to inform the work of higher education institutions today, just as they did last week…and last year.

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Cost of College

Private Colleges Propose Tuition Reduction Strategy

August 7, 2017 Ashley Dobson 1 Comment

What if America’s private colleges could stop their annual increases in tuition or even drop their prices down?

The National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU) has an idea it says would do just that.

NAICU has recommended that Congress give private, nonprofit colleges a temporary anti-trust exemption for the purposes of promoting affordability.

Current laws ban discussion about prices and discounts — including student aid — among competitors in any industry. NAICU says that this has led to a vicious cycle of ongoing tuition inflation and has forced private colleges to offer larger and larger discounts on the sticker price to stay competitive.

They believe that if schools could talk to one another, they could end this cycle and start targeting financial aid to the students who need it most. The thinking is that if everyone made the decision to collectively lower tuition, then no college would feel like it “lost” because it wasn’t offering the huge discounts that are currently available to counter price inflation.

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Access, NACAC News

ICYMI: NACAC President Responds to Trump Administration’s Reported Plan to Challenge Affirmative Action

August 3, 2017 Mary Stegmeir

NACAC President Nancy T. Beane responded Wednesday to media reports suggesting the Trump administration is considering legal action against colleges and universities with race-conscious admission policies.

In a statement released to the press, Beane noted that the Supreme Court upheld in 2016 the right of colleges to consider a student’s race or ethnicity as one factor when making admission decisions.

“By disregarding the Fisher ruling, the administration and Justice Department would frustrate efforts to improve educational opportunity, and would erode respect for diversity in higher education,” she said. “This initiative would be a serious challenge to the critical work of improving college access and success for all students.”

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Admitted