The Kept-Up Academic Librarian

Nursing Is Top Choice For Second-Career College Students

Non-traditional students — those who don't begin college right after high school — are the norm in Heartland's nursing program. But, in this class, none of the 40 students is a traditional student. The nursing-as-a-second-career trend has been in place for several years. Some people who pursue nursing as a second career take advantage of accelerated, one-year nursing programs for people who already have a bachelor's degree. Read more at:
http://washingtonexaminer.com/entertainment/health/2012/05/spotlight-older-students-choosing-nursing/561796

Programs Help College Dropouts Get Those Last Few Courses Needed For Graduation

The University of Rhode Island, reeling from a dropout rate among seniors that has doubled from last year, has joined a nationwide trend to encourage dropouts to return for a few last classes and finally earn a college degree. The school introduced a "Finish What You Started" program in recent months after discovering the dropout rate among its roughly 4,000 seniors had doubled to about 300 from 150 last year. URI joins several universities across the country with similar programs to bring back dropouts who had earned most of
their degree credits. Read more at:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/topic/sns-rt-usa-collegedropouts-repeatl1e8g2pn6-20120502,0,6355827,full.story

For First-Gen Students College Is Alien Territory

As more young people move beyond high school, the unique challenges that often face first-generation college students are becoming more apparent. A 2010 NCES study found a wide gap in the graduation rates between four-year students whose parents earned degrees (69 percent) and those whose parents never went to college (40 percent). The realization can hit when the student gets that first syllabus. Confusion, uncertainty, frustration, fear ... all the emotions kick in. Then comes the question: Who can I talk to? For first-generation students, the answer can be elusive, for college — both the campus and the concept — is such unfamiliar territory. Read more at:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/tribu/sc-fam-0417-first-generation-college-20120417,0,2891546.story

Dual Enrollment Programs May Help College Seniors Stay Engaged

Some high school students have found a cure for the senior blahs: "Dual" or "concurrent" college classes let them earn high school and college credits for the same course. Some students go to a college campus, usually a local community college, while others study at their own high schools. Nationwide, more than a million high school students are taking at least one college class, it's believed. Unlike Advanced Placement courses, which are geared to high achievers, dual enrollment is usually open to a wide range of students. Some programs target students at risk of dropping out. Read more at:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/tribu/sc-fam-0403-education-college-early-20120403,0,5325560.story

Oil Boom Creates New Opportunties And Challenges For These IHEs

Three years ago, Williston State College President Ray Nadolny asked employees to park in the front because the campus looked so empty. Now, as a result of enrollment growth and a spike in demand for workforce training, Nadolny tells them to park in the back or they’ll be ticketed. The oil boom has brought an influx of new challenges for Williston State College, and the other campuses in the west also are feeling the effects. Read more at:
http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/230549/

Vermont Establishes Program To Increase College Enrollment

At 15, Terri-Ann Zweeres is getting a glimpse of what it takes to go to college. While other teens are in study hall, she and about 14 other Bellows Free Academy High School students take a class every three days at Community College of Vermont called introduction to college studies that’s intended to prepare them to go on to higher education. It’s one of a number of strategies in Vermont to get more students to pursue higher education or training after high school. While students here do well academically compared with other states and the state’s high school graduation rate is the second highest in the country, its rate of those who go onto postsecondary education right out of high school is among the lowest at about 44 percent. Read more at:
http://articles.boston.com/2012-02-19/news/31077773_1_higher-education-national-student-clearinghouse-vermont-department

New Jersey Sends More Students To Out Of State Colleges Than Any Other State

The state is packed with applicants who have high SAT scores and well-off parents, but it has a relatively lean higher education system. More than half of New Jersey high school graduates who enroll at four-year colleges choose one that’s out of state. Many of these students land in the Washington region. New Jersey’s outflow of students is the largest of any state. It’s not that New Jersey students don’t have options at home. But those schools don’t have the capacity for all of the state’s college-bound teenagers. Read more at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/new-jerseys-student-drain-is-gain-for-district-colleges/2012/01/19/gIQAkjiAMQ_story.html

Debate: Are Too Many People Going To College

These are the opening statements of a luncheon debate co-sponsored by the Manhattan Institute's Center for the American University and the John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy.  The debate, held January 11 at the Harvard Club In New York City, pitted George Leef, research director of the Pope Center, against Peter Sacks, economist and author of Tearing Down the Gates: Confronting the Class Divide in American Education. Read more at:
http://www.mindingthecampus.com/originals/2012/01/_are_too_many_people_going_to_.html

Women Heading Back To College For Better Opportunities

Workers are dropping out of the labor force in droves, and they are mostly women. In fact, many are young women. But they are not dropping out forever; instead, these young women seem to be postponing their working lives to get more education. There are now — for the first time in three decades — more young women in school than in the work force. Though young women in their late teens and early 20’s view today’s economic lull as an opportunity to upgrade their skills, their male counterparts are more likely to take whatever job they can find. Read more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/29/business/young-women-go-back-to-school-instead-of-work.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha2

Colleges Need To Pay Attention To Multiple Student Success Factors

Colleges should examine a wider set of social, economic and personal characteristics to determine how they can help students remain in school and graduate, a new report has found. Aside from SAT scores and high school grade point averages, students' success in college relies on a number of other factors — often overlooked — that more accurately predict whether they will stay in school. Students who visit a college before enrolling, participate in clubs and other activities and those who have used the Internet for research and homework are more likely to complete a degree earlier than others. The costs of attending a college and the institution's size also contribute to students' success. Read more at: http://articles.latimes.com/2011/nov/28/local/la-me-college-retention-20111129