The Kept-Up Academic Librarian

Admissions Must Do A Better Job Of Matching Students To The Right College

In truth, the college admissions frenzy is limited to a relative handful of privileged students. This is a problem. As a nation, we need far more students to be caught up in the college admissions market--but in a completely different way. Most students default to colleges that are public, affordable, close to home, and admit at least 90 percent of applicants. A significant number are parents themselves--nontraditional students with families and jobs--are a fast-growing segment of the college population. Unfortunately, the closest, cheapest college is often a bad choice. Read more at:
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/09/our-best-weapon-against-the-college-crisis-a-matchcom-for-higher-ed/245713/

Adult Students Are The New Majority

The most significant shift is probably the massive growth in the adult student population in higher education. Thirty-eight percent of those enrolled in higher education are over the age of 25 and one-fourth are over the age of 30. The share of all students who are over age 25 is projected to increase another twenty-three percent by 2019. Policies and norms remain oriented towards "traditional" students. Rankings, awards, and honors go to institutions with great sports teams, prize-winning researchers, or elite student bodies--never to those that are helping nontraditional students master new skills and so that they can reenter the workforce, get promoted, or change careers. Read more at:
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/09/old-school-colleges-most-important-trend-is-the-rise-of-the-adult-student/245823/

Private U Will Match A Public's Tuition For Qualified Applicants

Getting good grades and high SAT scores could save some Seton Hall University freshmen more than $21,000 a year in tuition costs under an unusual new program that could pit the Catholic school against Rutgers University for some of the state’s top students. Starting next fall, Seton Hall will match Rutgers’ tuition — which is currently $10,104 a year for most in-state undergraduates — if freshmen score at least 1,200 on the combined reading and math sections of their SAT tests and graduate in the top 10 percent of their high school class. Read more at:
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/09/seton_hall_will_lower_tuition.html 

 

Georgia Tech Asks "Please Don't Steal The T"

Georgia Tech officials are asking students to lay off stealing the letter "T" from signs on campus.  The missing letter from signs all over the campus has cost Georgia Tech more than $100,000 in repairs. Undergraduate President Elle Creel said the tradition of stealing the "T" off Tech Tower began in the 1960s,  but now there are complaints that the letter is missing from all parts of the campus. "All of our buildings have been defaced,” said student Katie Simmons. “We just got an awesome new building and all of the T's are already missing." Read more at:
http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/news/local_news/Thieves-Taking-%27T%27-Off-Ga.-Tech-Signs-20110927-pm-pk 

 

Part-Time Students Are The Majority And The Majority Do Not Graduate

A new report finds evidence of a new majority on college campuses: part-time students. Three-quarters of today’s college students attend part time, juggling classes along with work and family responsibilities, according to a new report from the nonprofit Complete College America. Outcomes for part-time students are starkly worse than for their full-time counterparts. The completion rate for part-time students seeking a bachelor’s degree is 24 percent in the states surveyed, even when students are given eight full years to finish. The corresponding completion rate for full-time students is 61 percent. Read more at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/college-inc/post/report-exposes-hidden-failure-of-part-time-students/2011/09/27/gIQAZHWl1K_blog.html?wprss=college-inc

U.S. News Ranks Campuses By Ethnic Diversity

College-bound students who believe that studying with people of different racial and ethnic backgrounds is important will want to consider student-body diversity when choosing a school. To identify colleges where students are most likely to encounter undergraduates from racial or ethnic groups different from their own, U.S. News factors in the total proportion of minority students, leaving out international students, and the overall mix of groups. The data are drawn from each institution's 2010-2011 school year student body. Read more at:
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/campus-ethnic-diversity

Graduate Program Enrollment Drops Slightly

Enrollment of new students at graduate schools in the United States dropped slightly from 2009 to 2010, despite an 8.4 percent increase in applications. It was the first decline in first-time graduate enrollment since 2003, according to the Council of Graduate Schools, and came after a 5.5 percent increase the previous year. The decrease in new graduate students was particularly noticeable in business, education and public administration programs. Doctoral programs are growing faster than master’s and certificate programs. Read more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/22/education/22grad.html

New Report Points To Dismal College Graduation Rates

A report to be released on Tuesday by a group seeking to raise college graduation rates shows that despite decades of steadily climbing enrollment rates, the percentage of students making it to the finish line is barely budging. The numbers are stark: In Texas, for example, of every 100 students who enrolled in a public college, 79 started at a community college, and only 2 of them earned a two-year degree on time; even after four years, only 7 of them graduated. The report recommends that states adopt financing incentives to push colleges to pay more attention to completion rates. Read more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/27/education/27remediation.html?_r=1

These Ads Help IHEs Influence Those Who Influence The Rankings

A new campaign for a university is borrowing a page from Dale Carnegie in trying to win friends and influence the influencers. In this instance, the primary target market is so-called thought leaders who influence the rankings on the surveys of best colleges and universities. Students considering attending B.U., as well as professors considering teaching and conducting research there, “base their thinking, and ultimately their decision, on reputation,” Mr. Burgay says. Read more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/26/business/media/boston-university-advertises-on-a-needs-to-know-basis.html?pagewanted=2

For-Profits Move Ahead With Online Learning Technology

The future of online education at these prestigious schools won't involve abandoning the traditional classroom. But students will spend less time in the classroom, in favor of learning through personalized tutorials such as those produced by Carnegie Learning. The leading universities and colleges have seen the potential in this kind of this mix of online and face-to-face learning, and they are investing in it via internal development rather than external acquisition. The real disruptive threat is to the hundreds of institutions that emulate the elite few at the top. Read more at:
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/09/why-you-should-root-for-college-to-go-online/244834/