Yesterday I wrote my review of Zac Bissonnette's book, Debt-Free U. He writes that attending a state university as an out-of-state student is not always your best public option.
In some ways that's true. Out-of-state tuition at the top public universities, including Berkeley, UCLA, Michigan and Virginia, is fast-approaching charges assessed by private universities.
But sometimes the best state schools are also quite selective when it comes to looking for in-state students, too. If you live in California, Virginia, New Jersey or New York, you're in luck; there are excellent publicly supported regional universities, too. Not all states have similar public options.
But suppose you want to graduate from a flagship or equally excellent public university, and you don't get in right from high school. You can go to another school or a community college, get the best grades you can, and try to transfer later. Or you can try to find a good value in another state.
Some schools participate in compacts; if you live in one state, you can pay in-state tuition in another, provided your state school doesn't offer the major you want and/or provided there is room at the other school (not always likely as public universities are more and more becoming first-choice schools).
I decided to cull the U.S. News listings to find flagship and regional state schools that:
1) Charge less than $22,000 out-of-state tuition. The figure is the average tuition for a private college. Presumably a student who goes out-of-state would prefer to go to a public school that charges less than a private school.
2) Have an undergraduate student body where twenty percent or more of the students come from out-of-state. Presumably a student who goes out-of-state would like to apply to schools where he has the best chance of admission. Generally, the more regional a school, the more likely the students come from in-state.
3) Accommodate 20 percent or more of their students in on-campus housing. An out-of-state student is likely to be less familiar with off-campus housing options and is less likely to want to sublet an off-campus apartment if they go home for the summer.
These three criteria form the 22-20-20 Rule. These schools met it.
University of Alabama
University of Alabama-Birmingham
Arizona State University
University of Arizona
University of Arkansas
Iowa State University
University of Kansas
University of Maryland-Baltimore County
Michigan Technological University
University of Minnesota-Crookston
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
University of Mississippi
Montana State University
Murray State University (KY)
Northern Kentucky University
North Dakota State University
University of North Dakota
University of Oklahoma
University of South Dakota
East Tennessee State University
Tennessee State University
James Madison University (VA)
University of Mary Washington (VA)
Virginia Tech
West Virginia University
University of Wisconsin-Superior
Growing up in New Jersey, a state which sends 55 percent of its college freshmen out-of-state, I recognize some of these names.
Virginia Tech is a popular destination for New Jersey students who didn't want to go to Rutgers, so is West Virginia. James Madison is similarly regarded. Arizona State happens to have the largest undergraduate student body of any national public university in the country. The University of Maryland-Baltimore County has been mentioned as an up-and-coming mid-sized state school in the education press.
I did not attempt to rank these schools. The list is meant to help students and parents find a good value. But the better value is to stay in-state, especially if you can get into the flagship campus.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Book Review:Scoreboard, Baby: A Story of College Football, Crime, and Complicity by Ken Armstrong and Nick Perry
The University of Washington football program has been down on its luck for several years, but it also has a winning history. At the beginning of the Aughts, U-Dub played its 1,000th college football game. Up till that time, the Huskies had won more than two-thirds of their games.
From 1908 through 1916, they had a record nine consecutive unbeaten seasons. They won the Rose Bowl in 1960 and 1961, then made six more trips to Pasadena through the seventies and the eighties. From 1990 through 1992, Washington won three more Rose Bowls and a national championship.
But the authors of this book point out that winning has always come at a cost to school and community. Noted for its intellectual community and culture, Seattle is also a football town where winning is everything. The Washington Huskies have done their thing far long than either of Seattle's professional sports franchises. But Washington's best coaches: Gloomy Gil Dobie, Jim Owens, Don James, and most recently, Rick Neuheisel, left in a cloud of shame. Neuheisel's 2000 season at U-Dub is the subject of Scoreboard, Baby.
I don't know Rick Neuheisel personally, but I remembered him very well when he became a head coach for the first time at the University of Colorado. In 1984, he came off the bench and an attack of food poisoning to lead UCLA to a 45-3 Rose Bowl win over my grad school alma mater Illinois.
While at Colorado, Neuheisel was a successful coach, but one who did not believe in discipline, and influenced the school to admit athletes for the sake of their athletic ability. Whenever his players committed indiscretions he looked the other way. In this sense, according to the authors, he became an ideal fit for the head coaching job at Washington.
Scoreboard, Baby is a thorough account of a winning season gone awry. High crimes of players turned into misdemeanors by a coach and boosters whose job was nothing more than to win football games. Greater coaches, Joe Paterno and Tom Osborne, for example, are noted for turning great players into better men.
After reading this book, no one would ever say that about Rick Neuheisel. The man won a lot of games. He beat a Drew Brees-led team in a Rose Bowl. He raised bushels of money for his athletic department. Yet he also silently conspired to cover up criminal acts. Read this, and you might be amazed that he is now head coach at UCLA. U-Dub's football fortunes have been in free-fall ever since.
This book validates the worst fears that cynics have about college football, but it also sends several messages, above all that a coach and athletic director are directly responsible for a player's conduct. If an athlete is under investigation, they should be suspended from play; if found guilty, they should be separated from the team and the school. Sadly, in 2000, Washington's boosters and coaches tried to convince the local law enforcement and legal community to look the other way, and they succeeded.
If you are a college football fan, and especially if you are about to become involved with a team, read this book. It may save a few aspiring coaches and athletic administrators from selling their souls. It may also lead more of them to recruit better characters for their football teams.
Monday, August 30, 2010
The advantages of considering Home State U--your public option
After reviewing Zac Bissonnette's Debt-Free U, I decided to add to and address some of the issues of choosing the home state university over other public or private education options.
Like Bissonette, I went to my home state flagship university, in this case Rutgers. I agree with his main points, but there are other considerations, too.
Bissonnette's main points about the home state university:
+ Families can take advantage of subsidies. As taxpayers they already help to reduce the cost for students to attend the state university.
+ Attending an elite private school versus a state school does not result in higher earnings over time.
+ The home state university offers the highest return on investment, even of salaries of elite private school graduates are initially higher.
+ State schools have honors colleges that can offer the small college experience at a lower price than private liberal arts schools.
+ Large state schools offer a larger choice of courses and majors.
+ Large state schools typically have a more diverse student body.
+ Large state schools are in college towns that offer the greatest selection of activities and events.
+ Large state schools have the largest alumni associations.
To these points, I would add:
+ State politicians have a vested interest in trying to keep their public universities accessible and affordable. They appoint their boards of governors and become responsible for excessive tuition increases. They can intervene to impose caps on tuition increases in difficult times, or negotiate with the schools to limit them. Elected officials have no such power over private colleges.
+ The flagship schools, among other public universities, have made the most substantial investments in career services. Counselors are assigned to specific majors and/or schools. So, more specialized advice can be offered to students who want to be a teacher, engineer, financial analyst, and so on.
+ These schools also offer the larger job fairs and on-campus recruitment programs. Small schools try to compete with larger schools by working together to run similar events, but the state school may end up with more employers anyway. There are simply more candidates for them to choose from.
+ The larger schools offer opportunities to lead large organizations. Being an editor on a college daily or president of College Democrats or College Republicans at a large state university is a very big deal. I know of college paper editors who have gone on to very successful careers in law, journalism, PR and advertising Political operatives such as David Plouffe (University of Delaware) and Karl Rove (University of Utah) got their start on large public college campuses.
+ They have their own graduate and professional schools. An excellent student (3.3 or better) at the home state university can usually gain admission to their graduate or professional schools. They have the best idea of the quality of the undergraduate education of these students.
+ Students have the most mobility. They can go home or stay at school all year long. This is easier for the job search, and there are fewer worries about subletting an off-campus apartment.
+ Students will excellent grades can always transfer to the elite private school for their last two years of college. Or they can go to a good out-of-state university that offers a major they want.
+ No one will question why you went to there. Aside from employers who exclusively recruit elite schools--and there are very few--every potential networking contact or employer will believe that you went to a very good school.
I believe that every good-to-excellent student should have their home state university on their list. It will be the safe school for some, the first-choice for others.
Some students may be able to earn enough merit or need-based aid to get a bargain, others will pay less than they'd spend on a private school. But even if your student decides to go elsewhere, admission to the home state university will have broadened their choices.
Like Bissonette, I went to my home state flagship university, in this case Rutgers. I agree with his main points, but there are other considerations, too.
Bissonnette's main points about the home state university:
+ Families can take advantage of subsidies. As taxpayers they already help to reduce the cost for students to attend the state university.
+ Attending an elite private school versus a state school does not result in higher earnings over time.
+ The home state university offers the highest return on investment, even of salaries of elite private school graduates are initially higher.
+ State schools have honors colleges that can offer the small college experience at a lower price than private liberal arts schools.
+ Large state schools offer a larger choice of courses and majors.
+ Large state schools typically have a more diverse student body.
+ Large state schools are in college towns that offer the greatest selection of activities and events.
+ Large state schools have the largest alumni associations.
To these points, I would add:
+ State politicians have a vested interest in trying to keep their public universities accessible and affordable. They appoint their boards of governors and become responsible for excessive tuition increases. They can intervene to impose caps on tuition increases in difficult times, or negotiate with the schools to limit them. Elected officials have no such power over private colleges.
+ The flagship schools, among other public universities, have made the most substantial investments in career services. Counselors are assigned to specific majors and/or schools. So, more specialized advice can be offered to students who want to be a teacher, engineer, financial analyst, and so on.
+ These schools also offer the larger job fairs and on-campus recruitment programs. Small schools try to compete with larger schools by working together to run similar events, but the state school may end up with more employers anyway. There are simply more candidates for them to choose from.
+ The larger schools offer opportunities to lead large organizations. Being an editor on a college daily or president of College Democrats or College Republicans at a large state university is a very big deal. I know of college paper editors who have gone on to very successful careers in law, journalism, PR and advertising Political operatives such as David Plouffe (University of Delaware) and Karl Rove (University of Utah) got their start on large public college campuses.
+ They have their own graduate and professional schools. An excellent student (3.3 or better) at the home state university can usually gain admission to their graduate or professional schools. They have the best idea of the quality of the undergraduate education of these students.
+ Students have the most mobility. They can go home or stay at school all year long. This is easier for the job search, and there are fewer worries about subletting an off-campus apartment.
+ Students will excellent grades can always transfer to the elite private school for their last two years of college. Or they can go to a good out-of-state university that offers a major they want.
+ No one will question why you went to there. Aside from employers who exclusively recruit elite schools--and there are very few--every potential networking contact or employer will believe that you went to a very good school.
I believe that every good-to-excellent student should have their home state university on their list. It will be the safe school for some, the first-choice for others.
Some students may be able to earn enough merit or need-based aid to get a bargain, others will pay less than they'd spend on a private school. But even if your student decides to go elsewhere, admission to the home state university will have broadened their choices.
Book Review: Debt-Free U, How I Paid For an Outstanding College Education Without Loans, Scholarships, or Mooching Off My Parents by Zac Bissonnette
This is a very unique book: a guide to financing college written for parents by a current college student. But its a book that my parents would have loved.
A senior at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, and a financial columnist for AOL, Zac Bissonnette helps parents finance college on the cheap. He makes several interesting and valid points, some of which I will add to, and in some cases, refute, in my future posts. Among his points:
+ Anyone involved with a college who has a vested interest in lying to you will. The author uses this point to mainly include admissions and financial aid officers at schools known for high student indebtedness.
+ Avoid all student loans, excluding those with below-market interest rates (the federal Perkins Loan program) and government loans with interest subsidies. Especially avoid the Parents PLUS loans, as well as private loans.
I agree, but I have also commented that the borrowing limits for the subsidized programs have not come close to keeping up with inflation in college costs. For example, in 1978, a freshman student and his parents could borrow up to $2,500 for a subsidized interest loan without taking a means test. Thirty two years later, the limit is only $3,500 and a mean's test is required.
+ A state-supported school in your home state can offer just as good an education as any privately supported four-year college or any publicly supported college in another state, especially if it has an honors college. I'm going to address this in my next post.
+ Depending on third parties: government, the college or scholarship funds, to help finance a college education places students and their families at considerable financial risk. There's no guarantee that those funds will always be available. Very good point and rarely stated.
+ Consider community college, especially if your student is not sure if they want to go to college or does not know what he wants to study. Completing community college courses after high school graduation and during summer months is also an effective way to save money. I've advocated community college in place of the senior year in some posts, so I partly agree. I don't advocate sending a bright and ambitious student to community college full-time when they are truly ready for a four-year public school and their family can finance it.
+ The combination of an in-expensive undergraduate school and an elite, but expensive, graduate school is more likely to increase earnings than the combination of an elite undergraduate school and an inexpensive graduate school.
This is a rarely stated and exceptionally valid point. I know several graduates of elite private schools who went to graduate school or law school at less elite state universities. Sometimes this was for academic or financial reasons. However, other times an employer paid the bill, so this point might be less valid for some.
+ The best way to pay for college is for students to work. Bissonnette infers that college students can work as many as 35 hours per week, attend school full-time and still have fun. But it takes an exceptionally mature student to realize that early enough to maintain excellent grades over four years.
It takes a very special student to write a book like this, not only someone who is industrious, but also someone who was not involved in the highly competitive race for a limited number of positions at the most selective schools. Approximately 2 million students begin their freshman year in college; less than three percent enter the top 25 universities or liberal arts colleges. If you believe the news coverage, thousands of disappointed students enter many very good schools.
Bissonnette's audience is not those students who have decided that they want to compete to make the elite, parental considerations be damned. His audience is the parents who are leery of leaving their son or daughter with the responsibility for over $40,000 in debts. Reading this book now, before filing applications for admission, could save them a lot of aggravation and money later.
From student-athlete to entrepreneur, an interview with Stephen Steinberg, CEO and Co-Founder, Raw Athletics
A lifelong hockey player, Stephen Steinberg understood first-hand how bad sports equipment could smell. Tired of the offensive odor coming from his hockey pads, he attempted to find a product that could neutralize it. No such product existed. So he sought to develop it.
The result, after considerable research, became Vapor Fresh, a sports equipment cleaning and deodorizing spray made from all-natural active ingredients designed for football, lacrosse and hockey pads as well as yoga mats.
A graduate of the University of Maryland, Steinberg co-founded Raw Athletics to market Vapor Fresh to sports equipment managers at high schools and colleges as well as professional teams.
Educated Quest would like to thank Stephen for answering a few questions on Raw Athletics and entrepreneurship.
1) You got the idea for Raw Athletics while playing hockey in college. Did you develop the product formula and the business plan while you were in school, or shortly after?
I came up with the idea at the end of my Freshman year. Being entrepreneurial-minded, random business ideas are always flowing through my head. My usual course of action is to jot them down on my growing list of ideas. I did the same thing with this idea, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that this business idea was viable and potentially very profitable -- so I took action.
There was a lag time between developing the idea and the execution of the idea. I developed the formula a few months later that summer. I had no previous experience with chemistry or product development, so most of my time was dedicated to researching ingredients and then guessing and checking formulations until I came up with something that I liked and wanted to use on my own equipment.
Eventually I had a professional product development laboratory check the soundness of the formula just to be sure that everything was fundamentally correct -- which it turned out to be.
It wasn't until a year later that I actually sat down and wrote out a business plan. It turned out to be about 25 pages, and was without a doubt a clear turning point for the business. Until then, I had all my visions, ideas and general plans in my head, but I had no facts, figures, detailed plans or benchmarks to help me guide the business through its start-up phase.
As an entrepreneur in a start-up, things can get overwhelming and hectic at times. Being able to refer back to a set plan-of-action; specific short, medium, and long-term goals; and useful market data helps you more easily stay on a successful path. I now write a new business plan every January.
2) Were there faculty or coaches at school who helped you develop the business?
I was very lucky to be a student at the University of Maryland. The University of Maryland strives to maintain a positive environment that supports and incubates student-run businesses.
There is a program in the business school called The Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship. Asher Epstein, Managing Director of the Dingman Center, is always available and willing to mentor any student with a business idea. The Dingman Center also has a strong team of Entrepreneurs-in-Residence and can help connect promising student-run start-ups with the capital they need to grow.
Without this program, I'm not sure if I would be where I am today. These types of programs should be the centerpieces of every business school in the nation.
3) How did you set out to get your first clients? Did you do that on your own or receive help from friends, former hockey teammates or other connections?
I set out to find my first clients by contacting as many collegiate equipment managers as I could via cold-calling and e-mailing. My theory was that as a college student, equipment managers of college sports would be able to relate to me and be willing to help.
At first I was not even aiming for sales. I simply wanted to get the product in the hands of as many equipment managers as possible in order to get necessary feedback. Fortunately, most equipment managers enjoyed Vapor Fresh so much that they voluntarily became satisfied, paying customers.
This type of sales strategy is different then what most start-ups aim to do. While other start-ups pretend to be bigger then they really are to attract customers and convert sales, I was actively promoting the fact that I was a college student just starting out a new business.
In the end, it turned out to work well as many people who were willing to help at first became loyal and satisfied customers later down the line.
4) How difficult is it to be become a preferred supplier to high school and college athletic departments?
Becoming the preferred supplier of these sports organizations is no different then becoming the preferred supplier of any other customer in any other industry. The key is to figure out the best way to get in touch with your customers, figure out what they want, and figure out the best medium to make your pitch.
For any start-up, I always suggest you look into attending annual trade shows, even if you are not setting up a booth. Getting to know your customers and your competition is half of the battle. I also recommend constructing your "value proposition" -- what exactly are you providing the customer? What's in it for them? This way you know exactly what you can provide and you can tailor your marketing efforts by focusing on that value-added.
Finally, you need to experiment with several marketing strategies. The most ideal situation is a mixture between online and offline marketing, but methods that work for some businesses might not work for others. Consider Google Adwords and Bing Advertising, direct mail campaigns, sponsoring industry events, cold-calling and referral incentives.
5) Do you plan to expand the product lines into other sports?
Absolutely. We have a new product coming out in November. Our third product should be coming out early 2011. Check our website around those times for more details.
Start-ups can obtain growth in two ways -- growing the market share of their current product line, or growing their product line. I usually recommend start-ups to remain focused and use all of their resources on one product before moving on to the next simply because it is very easy to lose focus on the immediate goals and get caught up in the idea of a prosperous future.
The result, after considerable research, became Vapor Fresh, a sports equipment cleaning and deodorizing spray made from all-natural active ingredients designed for football, lacrosse and hockey pads as well as yoga mats.
A graduate of the University of Maryland, Steinberg co-founded Raw Athletics to market Vapor Fresh to sports equipment managers at high schools and colleges as well as professional teams.
Educated Quest would like to thank Stephen for answering a few questions on Raw Athletics and entrepreneurship.
1) You got the idea for Raw Athletics while playing hockey in college. Did you develop the product formula and the business plan while you were in school, or shortly after?
I came up with the idea at the end of my Freshman year. Being entrepreneurial-minded, random business ideas are always flowing through my head. My usual course of action is to jot them down on my growing list of ideas. I did the same thing with this idea, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that this business idea was viable and potentially very profitable -- so I took action.
There was a lag time between developing the idea and the execution of the idea. I developed the formula a few months later that summer. I had no previous experience with chemistry or product development, so most of my time was dedicated to researching ingredients and then guessing and checking formulations until I came up with something that I liked and wanted to use on my own equipment.
Eventually I had a professional product development laboratory check the soundness of the formula just to be sure that everything was fundamentally correct -- which it turned out to be.
It wasn't until a year later that I actually sat down and wrote out a business plan. It turned out to be about 25 pages, and was without a doubt a clear turning point for the business. Until then, I had all my visions, ideas and general plans in my head, but I had no facts, figures, detailed plans or benchmarks to help me guide the business through its start-up phase.
As an entrepreneur in a start-up, things can get overwhelming and hectic at times. Being able to refer back to a set plan-of-action; specific short, medium, and long-term goals; and useful market data helps you more easily stay on a successful path. I now write a new business plan every January.
2) Were there faculty or coaches at school who helped you develop the business?
I was very lucky to be a student at the University of Maryland. The University of Maryland strives to maintain a positive environment that supports and incubates student-run businesses.
There is a program in the business school called The Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship. Asher Epstein, Managing Director of the Dingman Center, is always available and willing to mentor any student with a business idea. The Dingman Center also has a strong team of Entrepreneurs-in-Residence and can help connect promising student-run start-ups with the capital they need to grow.
Without this program, I'm not sure if I would be where I am today. These types of programs should be the centerpieces of every business school in the nation.
3) How did you set out to get your first clients? Did you do that on your own or receive help from friends, former hockey teammates or other connections?
I set out to find my first clients by contacting as many collegiate equipment managers as I could via cold-calling and e-mailing. My theory was that as a college student, equipment managers of college sports would be able to relate to me and be willing to help.
At first I was not even aiming for sales. I simply wanted to get the product in the hands of as many equipment managers as possible in order to get necessary feedback. Fortunately, most equipment managers enjoyed Vapor Fresh so much that they voluntarily became satisfied, paying customers.
This type of sales strategy is different then what most start-ups aim to do. While other start-ups pretend to be bigger then they really are to attract customers and convert sales, I was actively promoting the fact that I was a college student just starting out a new business.
In the end, it turned out to work well as many people who were willing to help at first became loyal and satisfied customers later down the line.
4) How difficult is it to be become a preferred supplier to high school and college athletic departments?
Becoming the preferred supplier of these sports organizations is no different then becoming the preferred supplier of any other customer in any other industry. The key is to figure out the best way to get in touch with your customers, figure out what they want, and figure out the best medium to make your pitch.
For any start-up, I always suggest you look into attending annual trade shows, even if you are not setting up a booth. Getting to know your customers and your competition is half of the battle. I also recommend constructing your "value proposition" -- what exactly are you providing the customer? What's in it for them? This way you know exactly what you can provide and you can tailor your marketing efforts by focusing on that value-added.
Finally, you need to experiment with several marketing strategies. The most ideal situation is a mixture between online and offline marketing, but methods that work for some businesses might not work for others. Consider Google Adwords and Bing Advertising, direct mail campaigns, sponsoring industry events, cold-calling and referral incentives.
5) Do you plan to expand the product lines into other sports?
Absolutely. We have a new product coming out in November. Our third product should be coming out early 2011. Check our website around those times for more details.
Start-ups can obtain growth in two ways -- growing the market share of their current product line, or growing their product line. I usually recommend start-ups to remain focused and use all of their resources on one product before moving on to the next simply because it is very easy to lose focus on the immediate goals and get caught up in the idea of a prosperous future.
Friday, August 27, 2010
A good primer on state school tuition practices
Today's Inside Higher Education has a very comprehensive story on tuition increases at public universities. Some states, such as California and North Carolina have double-digit increases in store for 2010-11, while others such as Missouri and New York are holding the line and not raising tuition at all.
Check out the story and my comments on colleges and cost management.
Check out the story and my comments on colleges and cost management.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Book Reviews: Life and science projects
This week's fiction book review theme is science projects. I finished two very good novels, one in hardcover, one in paperback; both likely available for e-readers.
Set in the late 1920's, Michael Byers's Percival's Planet revolves around a young man, Clyde Tombaugh, and the discovery of Pluto, which is now not a planet. While a high school senior, Tombaugh spends his free time from school and farming grinding the perfect lens for his telescope. He hopes to go to the University of Kansas financing his education by planting enough oats to cover the costs. But the oats are destroyed in a fire, so college is not an option.
A thousand miles away in Arizona, Harvard-trained astronomers at the Lowell Observatory begin their search for Planet X, once tracked by the late scientist/businessman Percival Lowell. A chance letter brings Tombaugh, seeking to find work and leave the farm, to Arizona.
There are many dynamics in this story, including complicated relationships that detract from the search in the sky, maybe too many to keep track of. What interested me is how Tombaugh gets and remains in the job he really wants for his fifteen minutes of fame. Having visited a planetarium recently, I was also curious as to how astronomers worked during the 1920's. This was not an easy read, but it had strong moments.
In Vestal McIntyre's Lake Overturn, science becomes the ticket for Enrique, a poor teenager living in an Idaho trailer park, to earn self-respect. He and his friend Gene, an even bigger misfit, design an experiment involving "lake overturn," a phenomenon by which deadly gases erupt from a lake's depths.
Enrique and Gene are into science at a junior high school where they are the targets of bullies and few teachers care, except for one, who notices Enrique's academic gifts. He also tries to make him more "masculine," encouraging him to go out for the track team.
Enrique and his older brother, Jay (aka Jesus), are raised by Lina, a single mom. Jay is also another bully to confront every day. He's been sent to live with his mother and brother after living in a home with wealthy foster parents.
I was somewhat of a misfit in grade school and high school, though I was never much into science; history and politics were more my thing. But Enrique and Gene's fascination with lake overturn, and science in general, as an escape from an unhappy daily life made this story very interesting. It was far less overwhelming than Percival's Planet.
While Enrique is intellectually curious, he is also likable. He tries to make friends, especially with the "science geeks" in high school. Some accept him, even like him, but they do not want to spend too much time with eight graders. They do not want to be shown up by them either. The saddest part of this story is that these boys live in a community that surrounds them with few examples in adults.
Set in the late 1920's, Michael Byers's Percival's Planet revolves around a young man, Clyde Tombaugh, and the discovery of Pluto, which is now not a planet. While a high school senior, Tombaugh spends his free time from school and farming grinding the perfect lens for his telescope. He hopes to go to the University of Kansas financing his education by planting enough oats to cover the costs. But the oats are destroyed in a fire, so college is not an option.
A thousand miles away in Arizona, Harvard-trained astronomers at the Lowell Observatory begin their search for Planet X, once tracked by the late scientist/businessman Percival Lowell. A chance letter brings Tombaugh, seeking to find work and leave the farm, to Arizona.
There are many dynamics in this story, including complicated relationships that detract from the search in the sky, maybe too many to keep track of. What interested me is how Tombaugh gets and remains in the job he really wants for his fifteen minutes of fame. Having visited a planetarium recently, I was also curious as to how astronomers worked during the 1920's. This was not an easy read, but it had strong moments.
In Vestal McIntyre's Lake Overturn, science becomes the ticket for Enrique, a poor teenager living in an Idaho trailer park, to earn self-respect. He and his friend Gene, an even bigger misfit, design an experiment involving "lake overturn," a phenomenon by which deadly gases erupt from a lake's depths.
Enrique and Gene are into science at a junior high school where they are the targets of bullies and few teachers care, except for one, who notices Enrique's academic gifts. He also tries to make him more "masculine," encouraging him to go out for the track team.
Enrique and his older brother, Jay (aka Jesus), are raised by Lina, a single mom. Jay is also another bully to confront every day. He's been sent to live with his mother and brother after living in a home with wealthy foster parents.
I was somewhat of a misfit in grade school and high school, though I was never much into science; history and politics were more my thing. But Enrique and Gene's fascination with lake overturn, and science in general, as an escape from an unhappy daily life made this story very interesting. It was far less overwhelming than Percival's Planet.
While Enrique is intellectually curious, he is also likable. He tries to make friends, especially with the "science geeks" in high school. Some accept him, even like him, but they do not want to spend too much time with eight graders. They do not want to be shown up by them either. The saddest part of this story is that these boys live in a community that surrounds them with few examples in adults.
Lessons from my two fabulous moms, guest post by the Classy Career Girl
The Classy Career Girl is a blogger who shares her journey through her last year of business school while she tries to balance work and school and finds the humor through it all.
I've been very impressed by her posts. I have featured her twice before. This week, asked her permission to run another post that she dedicated to her mother and her mother-in-law for Mother's Day.
A thank-you to the Classy Career Girl for granting permission to reprint this May post on Educated Quest. >
This week, I attended a seminar on the benefits of story telling during business presentations to grab attention and create an immediate connection.
In the book, Leading out Loud, authentic communication begins with asking yourself the following question: "What single value is so important that you would teach it to your children as the most important foundation of a happy life? Once you discover what matters most to you, you can convert it into inspiring others."
So to honor my mother and mother-in-law, I am going to tell you stories about the lessons they have taught me which have guided me through my life and career.
* Lesson #1: Honesty
I know you won't believe me but I once snuck out of the house in the middle of the night to hang out with my friends. Of course it was harmless fun and we did nothing but hang out outside my friend's house. Little did I know that my mother was completely aware that I had left and was waiting up for me to get home.
How she handled my little adventure made me learn the importance of being honest. She didn't yell or get mad but instead made me think about how I had hurt her when I lied and how she stayed awake all night worrying because she did not know where I was.
Applications in business: Without honesty there is no trust, without trust, no one will want to work for you or help you out when you need it.
* Lesson #2: Dedication
When I was younger, we lived only 5 minutes away from school. You would think then that I would have a short bus ride, right? Nope, I was the first to be picked up and last to be dropped off. I spent 45 minutes on the bus to and from school! One day, we had a substitute bus driver and he flew past my stop.
When he finally stopped, I jumped off and went behind the bus to begin my walk back home. I later realized that it was completely against the rules to walk behind the bus. This was the very first time (and of course the only time:) I got written up, detention and bus safety school.
At bus safety school, I had to ride around with the Principal teaching me how to correctly ride the bus. I was so upset and my mom was furious that I was in so much trouble for something so stupid. She called the Principal and told him how I was a good student and that I did not deserve the treatment I received.
The lesson that my mom taught me was to stand up for what you believe in and not give up. From the very beginning she was on my side and never wavered.
Applications in business: Employees need to be able to trust that their boss and co-workers have their back no matter what.
* Lesson #3: Inclusiveness
I have known my mother-in-law for 6 years now. From the very first day I met her she was warm, welcoming and inviting. She has taught me to be inclusive by welcoming me into the family from the very first day we met. My mother-in-law is always serving others whether it is her kids in her home economics class or her five kids and six grandkids.
No matter how many people she already has over for Thanksgiving dinner, if someone doesn't have a family to be with, they are more than welcome at her house. Here are some words that her students describe her as "Fun, energetic, sweet, always happy, nice, amazing teacher, generous, helpful, kind and fabulous cook." Doesn't she sound like an AWESOME mother-in-law!! Lucky me!:)
Applications in business: You need to ask your employees what their opinions are and involve them in business decisions. People want to help make a difference in the company and improve processes. Why not include them in important discussions rather than have the meetings behind closed doors?
I am not yet a mom but one day I hope to become a mom just like these two fabulous women. Happy Mother's Day Moms!! Thanks for teaching me these valuable life lessons. Love you!
About the author: Classy Career Girl is a Consultant by day and a MBA student by night. She blogs about her journey through business school while working full time and loves to research and write about career advice, work-life balance and stress management. You can read more about her journey on her website: ClassyCareerGirl.com.
I've been very impressed by her posts. I have featured her twice before. This week, asked her permission to run another post that she dedicated to her mother and her mother-in-law for Mother's Day.
A thank-you to the Classy Career Girl for granting permission to reprint this May post on Educated Quest. >
This week, I attended a seminar on the benefits of story telling during business presentations to grab attention and create an immediate connection.
In the book, Leading out Loud, authentic communication begins with asking yourself the following question: "What single value is so important that you would teach it to your children as the most important foundation of a happy life? Once you discover what matters most to you, you can convert it into inspiring others."
So to honor my mother and mother-in-law, I am going to tell you stories about the lessons they have taught me which have guided me through my life and career.
* Lesson #1: Honesty
I know you won't believe me but I once snuck out of the house in the middle of the night to hang out with my friends. Of course it was harmless fun and we did nothing but hang out outside my friend's house. Little did I know that my mother was completely aware that I had left and was waiting up for me to get home.
How she handled my little adventure made me learn the importance of being honest. She didn't yell or get mad but instead made me think about how I had hurt her when I lied and how she stayed awake all night worrying because she did not know where I was.
Applications in business: Without honesty there is no trust, without trust, no one will want to work for you or help you out when you need it.
* Lesson #2: Dedication
When I was younger, we lived only 5 minutes away from school. You would think then that I would have a short bus ride, right? Nope, I was the first to be picked up and last to be dropped off. I spent 45 minutes on the bus to and from school! One day, we had a substitute bus driver and he flew past my stop.
When he finally stopped, I jumped off and went behind the bus to begin my walk back home. I later realized that it was completely against the rules to walk behind the bus. This was the very first time (and of course the only time:) I got written up, detention and bus safety school.
At bus safety school, I had to ride around with the Principal teaching me how to correctly ride the bus. I was so upset and my mom was furious that I was in so much trouble for something so stupid. She called the Principal and told him how I was a good student and that I did not deserve the treatment I received.
The lesson that my mom taught me was to stand up for what you believe in and not give up. From the very beginning she was on my side and never wavered.
Applications in business: Employees need to be able to trust that their boss and co-workers have their back no matter what.
* Lesson #3: Inclusiveness
I have known my mother-in-law for 6 years now. From the very first day I met her she was warm, welcoming and inviting. She has taught me to be inclusive by welcoming me into the family from the very first day we met. My mother-in-law is always serving others whether it is her kids in her home economics class or her five kids and six grandkids.
No matter how many people she already has over for Thanksgiving dinner, if someone doesn't have a family to be with, they are more than welcome at her house. Here are some words that her students describe her as "Fun, energetic, sweet, always happy, nice, amazing teacher, generous, helpful, kind and fabulous cook." Doesn't she sound like an AWESOME mother-in-law!! Lucky me!:)
Applications in business: You need to ask your employees what their opinions are and involve them in business decisions. People want to help make a difference in the company and improve processes. Why not include them in important discussions rather than have the meetings behind closed doors?
I am not yet a mom but one day I hope to become a mom just like these two fabulous women. Happy Mother's Day Moms!! Thanks for teaching me these valuable life lessons. Love you!
About the author: Classy Career Girl is a Consultant by day and a MBA student by night. She blogs about her journey through business school while working full time and loves to research and write about career advice, work-life balance and stress management. You can read more about her journey on her website: ClassyCareerGirl.com.
One way to increase numbers of college graduates: Track down those who earned degrees and didn't know it
Today's Inside Higher Education has an interesting, but amusing, story. The Lumina Foundation, which invests in many higher education endeavors, is working with 35 community colleges and four-year institutions in six states — Louisiana, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin — so they can track down and retroactively award qualified students associate degrees who, for whatever reason, never received one.
This venture, called Project Win-Win, will run for three years. It will help the schools identify not only students who have satisfied degree requirements, but also those who are just short of completing their education. The major uncertainty: the quality of contact information that the schools have available on these students.
The venture is a good idea. It will cost Lumina $1.3 million, not a large sum in higher education spending, to help these schools track down their graduates and near-graduates. There's been some early success: a pilot with nine schools identified 600 students who had earned, but not received, their degrees.
But it makes me wonder, how did these students slip through the cracks in the first place?
When I went to Rutgers, students were required to pay all unpaid parking tickets, library fines and other charges before they could receive their diploma. I heard stories that near-graduates had $2,000 in outstanding parking tickets. One time, more than ten years after I graduated, I tried to get a copy of a transcript. The registrar's office refused, because I had an outstanding library fine on a book I borrowed as an alumnus.
I always thought student information systems worked the same way at all schools. Guess I was wrong. Kudos to the Lumina Foundation for catching on.
This venture, called Project Win-Win, will run for three years. It will help the schools identify not only students who have satisfied degree requirements, but also those who are just short of completing their education. The major uncertainty: the quality of contact information that the schools have available on these students.
The venture is a good idea. It will cost Lumina $1.3 million, not a large sum in higher education spending, to help these schools track down their graduates and near-graduates. There's been some early success: a pilot with nine schools identified 600 students who had earned, but not received, their degrees.
But it makes me wonder, how did these students slip through the cracks in the first place?
When I went to Rutgers, students were required to pay all unpaid parking tickets, library fines and other charges before they could receive their diploma. I heard stories that near-graduates had $2,000 in outstanding parking tickets. One time, more than ten years after I graduated, I tried to get a copy of a transcript. The registrar's office refused, because I had an outstanding library fine on a book I borrowed as an alumnus.
I always thought student information systems worked the same way at all schools. Guess I was wrong. Kudos to the Lumina Foundation for catching on.
New Jersey lost Race to the Top due to--clerical errors?
If nothing else, our governor, Chris Christie makes good copy. Yesterday he blamed the reviewers at the U.S. Department of Education for not selecting the Garden State to receive Race to the Top funding, although the defeat was supposedly due to a clerical error.
He said that the DOE reviewers were “checking boxes like mindless drones.”
One of 17 finalists in the second round for funding, New Jersey finished eleventh in the final review. Nine states were selected, including neighboring New York. Delaware, another neighboring state, was one of two winners last year.
I was not surprised New Jersey lost. While Governor Christie is an advocate for several of the intentions of Race to the Top: such as merit-based teacher pay, expanded charter schools and broad efforts to turn around low-performing schools, the state's teacher's union did not support his proposal.
The union, however, did try to compromise with the Christie administration before a final proposal was submitted to Washington. They proposed school-based merit rewards over merit pay programs for individual teachers. The belief was: if the school performed better, then all of the teachers should share in the rewards. Bret Schundler, the governor's education commissioner, agreed, but he was rebuked.
Had the teacher's union signed on to a proposal, a total of fourteen points would have been added to the state's application for funding, presumably enough to win the $400 million. But Governor Christie and the union have never come close to reaching any state of cooperation. This is the real problem.
Governor Christie asked teachers to accept a wage freeze and to pay one and a half percent towards the costs of their health care. The governor also tried to embarrass the union by mentioning that their president earned more than he did. The union has never fought back successfully. Not that the governor would have accepted a compromise.
Chris Christie, in the meantime, has become more popular in our state, and he's been talked up extensively by the Republican Party.
For now, Christie has the luxury of being confrontational. He was left with a gaping hole in the state's budget while he promised not to raise taxes. The largest share of the budget goes to schools, so that's where the largest cuts--over $1 billion--were made. No one likes this, least of all the teachers. But even Democrats knew that there was no choice.
I don't like to predict disaster, so suppose the governor turns out to be right: balance the budget without a tax increase and the state's economy will get better. Tax revenues and the state's bond rating will go up. State workers and teachers who have been asked to accept limited increases of 2 1/2 percent, will ask for more of the spoils. Governor Christie will refuse. Then who will want to be a teacher?
If not now, Governor Christie will need to reach out for more cooperation in better times. The union will need to compromise on health care to get better raises or a more equitable merit pay plan. Hopefully, good economic news will make Christie less of a blowhard and remind the union leadership that the voters do not see the teachers as an exception to the rules on pain and suffering.
He said that the DOE reviewers were “checking boxes like mindless drones.”
One of 17 finalists in the second round for funding, New Jersey finished eleventh in the final review. Nine states were selected, including neighboring New York. Delaware, another neighboring state, was one of two winners last year.
I was not surprised New Jersey lost. While Governor Christie is an advocate for several of the intentions of Race to the Top: such as merit-based teacher pay, expanded charter schools and broad efforts to turn around low-performing schools, the state's teacher's union did not support his proposal.
The union, however, did try to compromise with the Christie administration before a final proposal was submitted to Washington. They proposed school-based merit rewards over merit pay programs for individual teachers. The belief was: if the school performed better, then all of the teachers should share in the rewards. Bret Schundler, the governor's education commissioner, agreed, but he was rebuked.
Had the teacher's union signed on to a proposal, a total of fourteen points would have been added to the state's application for funding, presumably enough to win the $400 million. But Governor Christie and the union have never come close to reaching any state of cooperation. This is the real problem.
Governor Christie asked teachers to accept a wage freeze and to pay one and a half percent towards the costs of their health care. The governor also tried to embarrass the union by mentioning that their president earned more than he did. The union has never fought back successfully. Not that the governor would have accepted a compromise.
Chris Christie, in the meantime, has become more popular in our state, and he's been talked up extensively by the Republican Party.
For now, Christie has the luxury of being confrontational. He was left with a gaping hole in the state's budget while he promised not to raise taxes. The largest share of the budget goes to schools, so that's where the largest cuts--over $1 billion--were made. No one likes this, least of all the teachers. But even Democrats knew that there was no choice.
I don't like to predict disaster, so suppose the governor turns out to be right: balance the budget without a tax increase and the state's economy will get better. Tax revenues and the state's bond rating will go up. State workers and teachers who have been asked to accept limited increases of 2 1/2 percent, will ask for more of the spoils. Governor Christie will refuse. Then who will want to be a teacher?
If not now, Governor Christie will need to reach out for more cooperation in better times. The union will need to compromise on health care to get better raises or a more equitable merit pay plan. Hopefully, good economic news will make Christie less of a blowhard and remind the union leadership that the voters do not see the teachers as an exception to the rules on pain and suffering.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Book Review: Sending Your Child to College, The Prepared Parents Operational Manual
Sometimes the most obvious ideas lead to a book.
Marie Pinak Carr sent three daughters to college. Collectively, they have attended five schools for bachelors and graduate degrees: Boston University, Emory, Texas A&M, Georgetown and North Carolina State. The variety enabled mother and daughters to share in the process of writing a book, a how-to guide to help parents get students ready to move out for school.
This guide has less to do with academics than it does with managing money and the day to day costs of college life. It is well-organized and perfect for "helicopter parents" who may be pressed not to hover over their student's intellectual or social choices, but insist on being a partner when it comes to finances, life and health. It's a guide that is likely to remain on the shelf, with sweat-stained, well-thumbed pages, for several years.
I went to a Top 25 public university?
This week I picked up a copy of the 2011 U.S. News College Guide. I buy one every year and always do the same thing: go to the rankings of top public universities and see where Rutgers appears.
This year, my alma mater tied for 23rd with Clemson, Minnesota and Pitt. That's not bad company. I don't know if the Rutgers administration popped the bubbly when they got the news, but Clemson has been considered an "up and coming" school and Minnesota and Pitt have longer histories in major college towns. New Jersey has no city like Pittsburgh or Minneapolis within its borders.
U.S. News uses a point system to rank every school. The points are based on several things; the greatest weight is given to undergraduate academic reputation in the eyes of senior university administrators as well as guidance counselors at the top public high schools in the magazine's Best High Schools rankings. Freshman retention is given the second-highest weight.
What would it take for Rutgers to jump into the top ten public universities? A gain of eleven rating points.
That would put New Jersey's flagship university in a tie with Georgia Tech and the University of California-San Diego. And Rutgers would leapfrog over the University of Washington, the University of Texas-Austin, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Penn State and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, among others.
How could Rutgers get those extra points?
1) Attract better students who are more likely to graduate.
Rutgers works hard to get good students, especially in the Garden State, a place where more college-bound students head out-of-state. Only thing is, all of the top state universities are more popular than ever. They are more likely to be the first-choice school for their applicants.
If everyone gets better, probably no one moves up on this score. But it can't hurt the university's reputation.
2) Recruit California.
Six University of California campuses rank in the top 25 public schools. However, they have been forced to turn away students who would have been admitted two years ago.
What if you can offer the experience of going to a great school accessible to New York for less than the cost of a private college in the Golden State? Californians apply to Columbia and NYU, why not ask them to add Rutgers to their list?
3) Increase alumni giving.
If Rutgers could double its endowment, including commitments for scholarships, it could raise the discount rate to aid more students of limited or modest means. The more students you can aid, the more you will retain.
Clemson's alumni giving rate is reported as 28 percent, highest among the top 25 public schools. Rutgers is at 13 percent, similar to the other schools. Penn State and Purdue, Big 10 schools, have alumni giving rates of 22 and 21 percent.
At one point this spring, rumors circulated about Rutgers and the Big 10. While Rutgers would gain more money from the move, I don't know if the revenue teams would have gained more visibility. This season the road football schedule includes games in Tampa and Miami. I have to believe that there are more Rutgers alumni in those cities than there are in any Big Ten city, aside from Chicago.
4) Continue the Jersey Roots, Global Reach advertising campaign.
It features a lot of "did you know" facts about Rutgers. And it's probably one of the reasons that you've seen the Scarlet Knights take the Thursday night time slot for football games on ESPN. It's easier for a national audience to see your commercial when you're in the only college football game on TV.
5) Maintain a low and predictable rate of tuition increases.
When I went to Rutgers from 1978 to 1982 the tuition practically tripled from my freshman year to my senior year. I could not see how parents and students were able to plan for such increases, but student loan debts were approximately six months salary for most liberal arts graduates.
Today in-state tuition is approximately $12,000. Four years with room and board will exceed $100,000. If a family sends two kids to Rutgers over ten years, with no financial aid, they will have an expense close to a mortgage.
It's not likely that state government will step in and subsidize the university more. In fact, it's quite possible that thirty to forty percent of Rutgers parents can pay full tuition.
But nobody, rich or poor, likes surprises. Rutgers should consider a self-imposed five percent cap on tuition, but the university president should have the power to ask parents and students for a larger increase, or special fees. This is not an unusual practice in higher education.
It's not so important that Rutgers rank higher against its peer schools; the presidents of the other schools work very hard, too. It's important, however, to do everything you can to maintain a high standing, even in a weak economy.
This year, my alma mater tied for 23rd with Clemson, Minnesota and Pitt. That's not bad company. I don't know if the Rutgers administration popped the bubbly when they got the news, but Clemson has been considered an "up and coming" school and Minnesota and Pitt have longer histories in major college towns. New Jersey has no city like Pittsburgh or Minneapolis within its borders.
U.S. News uses a point system to rank every school. The points are based on several things; the greatest weight is given to undergraduate academic reputation in the eyes of senior university administrators as well as guidance counselors at the top public high schools in the magazine's Best High Schools rankings. Freshman retention is given the second-highest weight.
What would it take for Rutgers to jump into the top ten public universities? A gain of eleven rating points.
That would put New Jersey's flagship university in a tie with Georgia Tech and the University of California-San Diego. And Rutgers would leapfrog over the University of Washington, the University of Texas-Austin, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Penn State and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, among others.
How could Rutgers get those extra points?
1) Attract better students who are more likely to graduate.
Rutgers works hard to get good students, especially in the Garden State, a place where more college-bound students head out-of-state. Only thing is, all of the top state universities are more popular than ever. They are more likely to be the first-choice school for their applicants.
If everyone gets better, probably no one moves up on this score. But it can't hurt the university's reputation.
2) Recruit California.
Six University of California campuses rank in the top 25 public schools. However, they have been forced to turn away students who would have been admitted two years ago.
What if you can offer the experience of going to a great school accessible to New York for less than the cost of a private college in the Golden State? Californians apply to Columbia and NYU, why not ask them to add Rutgers to their list?
3) Increase alumni giving.
If Rutgers could double its endowment, including commitments for scholarships, it could raise the discount rate to aid more students of limited or modest means. The more students you can aid, the more you will retain.
Clemson's alumni giving rate is reported as 28 percent, highest among the top 25 public schools. Rutgers is at 13 percent, similar to the other schools. Penn State and Purdue, Big 10 schools, have alumni giving rates of 22 and 21 percent.
At one point this spring, rumors circulated about Rutgers and the Big 10. While Rutgers would gain more money from the move, I don't know if the revenue teams would have gained more visibility. This season the road football schedule includes games in Tampa and Miami. I have to believe that there are more Rutgers alumni in those cities than there are in any Big Ten city, aside from Chicago.
4) Continue the Jersey Roots, Global Reach advertising campaign.
It features a lot of "did you know" facts about Rutgers. And it's probably one of the reasons that you've seen the Scarlet Knights take the Thursday night time slot for football games on ESPN. It's easier for a national audience to see your commercial when you're in the only college football game on TV.
5) Maintain a low and predictable rate of tuition increases.
When I went to Rutgers from 1978 to 1982 the tuition practically tripled from my freshman year to my senior year. I could not see how parents and students were able to plan for such increases, but student loan debts were approximately six months salary for most liberal arts graduates.
Today in-state tuition is approximately $12,000. Four years with room and board will exceed $100,000. If a family sends two kids to Rutgers over ten years, with no financial aid, they will have an expense close to a mortgage.
It's not likely that state government will step in and subsidize the university more. In fact, it's quite possible that thirty to forty percent of Rutgers parents can pay full tuition.
But nobody, rich or poor, likes surprises. Rutgers should consider a self-imposed five percent cap on tuition, but the university president should have the power to ask parents and students for a larger increase, or special fees. This is not an unusual practice in higher education.
It's not so important that Rutgers rank higher against its peer schools; the presidents of the other schools work very hard, too. It's important, however, to do everything you can to maintain a high standing, even in a weak economy.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Q and A on Higher Ed with Kevin Maney, author of Trade-Off, The Ever-Present Tension Between Quality and Convenience
Kevin Maney, author of Trade-Off, covered the technology industry for USA Today for almost two decades. Also the author of The Maverick and His Machine, a biography of IBM founder Thomas Watson, Kevin has been a contributing editor to Conde Nast Portfolio and a contributor to The Atlantic, Wired, NPR, and ABC News NOW, among other broadcast, print and online media.
Trade Off is a very readable examination of the choice businesses and consumers make between fidelity (the quality of a consumer's experience) and convenience (the ease of getting and paying for a product).
Today, higher education offers more options between fidelity and convenience than ever before.
As one example, Kevin cites Harvard, the university that probably has the highest brand recognition among students, prospective college applicants, parents and employers. Harvard has high fidelity because you receive the living experience, the in-class experience and the opportunities associated with the alumni network. The aura of having graduated from Harvard is as important as the experiences of going to Harvard.
As a contrast, the University of Phoenix (UOP) is the largest online university with more students in a given year than Harvard has alumni. Online courses can be scheduled to correspond with full-time or part-time work schedules, especially for adult students. While UOP is extremely convenient, it offers little selectivity not the aura of accomplishment that goes with being a Harvard graduate. Therefore, it has little to no fidelity.
After I finished reading Trade-Off, I e-mailed Kevin some questions related to his work and the present and future of higher education. I would like to thank him for answering them so quickly.
1) You mention that a Harvard education has high "fidelity" for the personal experience of having gone to Harvard. Would you say that all schools that have strong brand recognition (for example: Amherst, Notre Dame, U of Michigan, Rutgers) could have more or less fidelity and why? Is high-fidelity too ambitious a goal for schools that are not as noted as Harvard and the other four?
I pretty much agree with your premise. Or to put it another way, lots of schools will flourish by being high fidelity. They'll have well-known brands and reputations. As years go by, the so-so schools will increasingly have their applicants siphoned off by lower-cost, high-convenience online educations, and I would bet that some of those schools will start to collapse.
2) Higher education has moved online in various forms: lectures, short courses, semester-long courses, even complete degrees. Yet academics who run public or private non-profit colleges sometimes take the position that the online experience should cost as much as the in-person experience of receiving an education. Do you agree, disagree and why?
Disagree. In fact, if they charge like that for online, they'll soon be put out of business by others charging much less.
3) Do you see the for-profit higher education institutions as the leaders in offering convenience, and, given recent attacks on their credibility, do you believe it is possible that public and private non-profit schools will catch up on becoming more convenient?
If this trajectory follows that same path as is described in "The Innovator's Dilemma" -- and I think it will -- then none of the existing institutions will wind up being the leaders in convenience education. It will come from newcomers and pioneers, people like Sal Khan.
4) Would you say that students who choose a lesser known school based on a merit-scholarship offer are making a choice based on fidelity (the prestige of an academic free-ride) or convenience (the savings to the student and his family)?
They're making a choice based on convenience when compared to other, more expensive high-fidelity universities they could attend, but going four years to a university is still a high-fidelity choice compared to taking courses online.
To be clear, though, a breakthrough convenient on-line university program still does not exist. It will. But not yet. There has yet to be a Napster of higher education.
5) Does a high ranking in a regional classification, which is done in U.S. News, give a college more fidelity, or does the ranking have no bearing on fidelity at all?
Perception is a part of fidelity. If a top ranking fuels the perception that a school is among the best, then it bestows more fidelity.
6) In the future, how do you believe that the working adult who earned his graduate degree based on convenience will fare against the person who earned his graduate degree from a school of high fidelity?
Are we talking about one year out of school or ten? One year out, employers might be wary of a high-convenience diploma. Ten years out, no manager worth his salt cares what school you went to. By then it's based on what you've proven you can do at work.
10 Lessons My Dad Taught Me in Business, a Guest Post by the Classy Career Girl
The Classy Career Girl is a blogger who shares her journey through her last year of business school while she tries to balance work and school and finds the humor through it all. I featured her last week in a guest post and asked her permission to run another post that she dedicated to her father for Father's Day.
While she is sending a message to her father, she also explains how her father has been important to her education. A thank-you to her for granting permission to reprint this post on Educated Quest. >
Happy Father's Day!! What a perfect day to tell you how my dad influenced me to be the business woman I am today. My dad is a pretty impressive financial guru and has been a stock broker, option day trader, entrepreneur and was even featured on an investment television show called Wall Street Week with Louis Rukeyser.
Thanks dad for teaching me these 10 lessons:
1. Money: Don't waste money. Every penny counts. Get deals. Use coupons. Be frugal. Use your money for what is important, don't waste it. Be risk averse with your investments.
2. Determination: Work your butt off. Hard work and determination will get you where you want to go.
3. Awareness: You must always know what is going on the world to predict the future of your business and investments. Read, read, read and strive to understand.
4. Toughness: Be firm and stand up for what you believe in. Don't let anyone take advantage of you.
5. Travel: Travel as much as possible to learn about other people and countries. Dad...where haven't you been?
6. Educate: Nothing is more important than learning. My dad was the first one in his family to graduate college and he could sit in a bookstore all day reading. My dad is the reason I finished college and hopefully in a few months...business school.
7. No Limits: My dad taught me that the sky is the limit. Why not start a business? What not call up Warren Buffet and personally ask him to invest in his business? My dad taught me that I can do anything and be anything I want to be.
8. Marriage & Family: My parents have been married for 31 years!! My dad has taught me that you have to work hard BUT it is very important to make time for your family. My parents take a "break" every night on the front porch. How cute is that?
9. Dance: Ok, my dad definitely didn't teach me how to dance and it really has nothing to do with business but he sure has some moves! Here's a photo of my parents and I dancing at my best friend's wedding. If you think these moves are great, wait until you hear him sing! :) His favorite song... Sherri...baby... (yes, he's got a falsetto like you wouldn't believe:)
10. Work doing what you love. I recently posted about how my brother taught me this but I think my dad has to get the credit for modeling this to my brother and I. Although his work is stressful sometimes, you can tell that he loves trading the stock market otherwise he would be retired by now!:)
Thanks dad for being the best dad in the world and helping me become the career gal I am today! Love you! xoxo
About the author: Classy Career Girl is a Consultant by day and a MBA student by night. She blogs about her journey through business school while working full time and loves to research and write about career advice, work-life balance and stress management. You can read more about her journey on her website: ClassyCareerGirl.com.
While she is sending a message to her father, she also explains how her father has been important to her education. A thank-you to her for granting permission to reprint this post on Educated Quest. >
Happy Father's Day!! What a perfect day to tell you how my dad influenced me to be the business woman I am today. My dad is a pretty impressive financial guru and has been a stock broker, option day trader, entrepreneur and was even featured on an investment television show called Wall Street Week with Louis Rukeyser.
Thanks dad for teaching me these 10 lessons:
1. Money: Don't waste money. Every penny counts. Get deals. Use coupons. Be frugal. Use your money for what is important, don't waste it. Be risk averse with your investments.
2. Determination: Work your butt off. Hard work and determination will get you where you want to go.
3. Awareness: You must always know what is going on the world to predict the future of your business and investments. Read, read, read and strive to understand.
4. Toughness: Be firm and stand up for what you believe in. Don't let anyone take advantage of you.
5. Travel: Travel as much as possible to learn about other people and countries. Dad...where haven't you been?
6. Educate: Nothing is more important than learning. My dad was the first one in his family to graduate college and he could sit in a bookstore all day reading. My dad is the reason I finished college and hopefully in a few months...business school.
7. No Limits: My dad taught me that the sky is the limit. Why not start a business? What not call up Warren Buffet and personally ask him to invest in his business? My dad taught me that I can do anything and be anything I want to be.
8. Marriage & Family: My parents have been married for 31 years!! My dad has taught me that you have to work hard BUT it is very important to make time for your family. My parents take a "break" every night on the front porch. How cute is that?
9. Dance: Ok, my dad definitely didn't teach me how to dance and it really has nothing to do with business but he sure has some moves! Here's a photo of my parents and I dancing at my best friend's wedding. If you think these moves are great, wait until you hear him sing! :) His favorite song... Sherri...baby... (yes, he's got a falsetto like you wouldn't believe:)
10. Work doing what you love. I recently posted about how my brother taught me this but I think my dad has to get the credit for modeling this to my brother and I. Although his work is stressful sometimes, you can tell that he loves trading the stock market otherwise he would be retired by now!:)
Thanks dad for being the best dad in the world and helping me become the career gal I am today! Love you! xoxo
About the author: Classy Career Girl is a Consultant by day and a MBA student by night. She blogs about her journey through business school while working full time and loves to research and write about career advice, work-life balance and stress management. You can read more about her journey on her website: ClassyCareerGirl.com.
Another consideration when selecting a college: Roommate selection
Friday's New York Times had an interesting piece about roommates, probably the most important influence a college will have on entering freshmen after they have selected a school.
This story compares the effectiveness of online services used by colleges to help students select their own roommate, as opposed to the college making the decision for them.
The online services, including URoomSurf.com which is independent of schools and unrestricted as well as Lifetopia.com and RoomBug.com which are restricted Web-based services contracted by the school, are becoming more popular. According to the story, eighty percent of colleges use these services to match roommates
The story compares advantages and disadvantages of a school-forced roommate match versus one made voluntarily by freshman students, but I come on the side of self-selection. Too many things in life, like neatness, musical tastes, study and party habits are not compatible.
The story quoted one student life administrator as saying:
“Getting rid of the random assignment of freshmen roommates is going to impoverish the experience of the residential college.”
and another:
“We want students to learn from this experience, and sometimes that involves negotiating differences."
I did not have the best freshman roommate experiences--I ended up changing dorms between semesters--so I lean towards self-selection in a secure Web environment.
I like the self-match process, but I also prefer that it be restricted to a service contracted by the school, so that the housing office has validated all of the students who wish to live on campus. I suggest that parents considering a college ask the admissions officers or student tour guides about the service they use.
It is easier, less expensive, and potentially less socially damaging to help students choose their roommates early. Every person has a better chance of coming into school with at least one new friend before their classes begin.
I also believe that negotiating differences is as much a part of floor life as room life. No matter who you choose as a roommate, you will still have neighbors with different viewpoints, upbringings and lifestyles. Residence life assistants will have a much easier job managing a floor if they can spend less time settling differences between incompatible roommates.
This story compares the effectiveness of online services used by colleges to help students select their own roommate, as opposed to the college making the decision for them.
The online services, including URoomSurf.com which is independent of schools and unrestricted as well as Lifetopia.com and RoomBug.com which are restricted Web-based services contracted by the school, are becoming more popular. According to the story, eighty percent of colleges use these services to match roommates
The story compares advantages and disadvantages of a school-forced roommate match versus one made voluntarily by freshman students, but I come on the side of self-selection. Too many things in life, like neatness, musical tastes, study and party habits are not compatible.
The story quoted one student life administrator as saying:
“Getting rid of the random assignment of freshmen roommates is going to impoverish the experience of the residential college.”
and another:
“We want students to learn from this experience, and sometimes that involves negotiating differences."
I did not have the best freshman roommate experiences--I ended up changing dorms between semesters--so I lean towards self-selection in a secure Web environment.
I like the self-match process, but I also prefer that it be restricted to a service contracted by the school, so that the housing office has validated all of the students who wish to live on campus. I suggest that parents considering a college ask the admissions officers or student tour guides about the service they use.
It is easier, less expensive, and potentially less socially damaging to help students choose their roommates early. Every person has a better chance of coming into school with at least one new friend before their classes begin.
I also believe that negotiating differences is as much a part of floor life as room life. No matter who you choose as a roommate, you will still have neighbors with different viewpoints, upbringings and lifestyles. Residence life assistants will have a much easier job managing a floor if they can spend less time settling differences between incompatible roommates.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Philly shows no brotherly love for bloggers
Today I read a story that the City of Philadelphia is trying to collect a $300 fee from each and every blogger; it's called a "business privilege license." Whether your blog is hosted at home in Philadelphia, or in the Philippines, if you live in Philadelphia, you must pay the fee.
Obviously, I want to make money from Educated Quest. I run ads for my books, affiliate with Amazon and IndieBound and run banners for other firms and services for that reason. I pay New Jersey and federal income tax on whatever I make from the site. But most bloggers are not me. They're hobbyists, not business people.
I cannot even imagine the effort city government would have to go through just to find each and every blogger, especially since Philadelphia is a major college town. Would a representative of city government actually put notices in student mail boxes at Drexel, Penn or Temple?
It would be one thing if city government wanted to create a virtual community and maintain linkages to various news posts. Philly would be a good city to try; it's leadership was willing to experiment with expanding free wi-fi. But all Philadelphia's bloggers know is that the money is to help keep the city from running into more budget problems.
One thing I've learned when meeting up with public agencies or non-profits trying to raise money is that you never win when you're desperate to take money any way you can. The voters see that as deceptive and petty. You win when you have a vision and you prove capable of sharing and selling it to the people who might pay.
Obviously, I want to make money from Educated Quest. I run ads for my books, affiliate with Amazon and IndieBound and run banners for other firms and services for that reason. I pay New Jersey and federal income tax on whatever I make from the site. But most bloggers are not me. They're hobbyists, not business people.
I cannot even imagine the effort city government would have to go through just to find each and every blogger, especially since Philadelphia is a major college town. Would a representative of city government actually put notices in student mail boxes at Drexel, Penn or Temple?
It would be one thing if city government wanted to create a virtual community and maintain linkages to various news posts. Philly would be a good city to try; it's leadership was willing to experiment with expanding free wi-fi. But all Philadelphia's bloggers know is that the money is to help keep the city from running into more budget problems.
One thing I've learned when meeting up with public agencies or non-profits trying to raise money is that you never win when you're desperate to take money any way you can. The voters see that as deceptive and petty. You win when you have a vision and you prove capable of sharing and selling it to the people who might pay.
Congressional candidate proposes to nickle and dime constituent services
I couldn't stop laughing at this story last week: Frankly, Holt challenger says, he spends too much that appears that appeared on NJ. com.
This story is one of several that covers the Congressional race between Rep. Rush Holt (D. NJ) and the challenger Scott Sipprelle, a hedge fund manager based in Princeton.
In this story Sipprelle goes after one of the most important roles that a Member of Congress must play: constituent communications.
Rep. Holt, according to the story, receives an allowance of $1.46 million for administration. This includes staffing his Washington D.C. office as well as his district office in West Windsor, New Jersey. It also includes his budget for constituent communications, direct mail pieces that he sends directly to voters, as well as e-mails and town meetings.
Direct mail, the major subject of this story, has accounted for $221,000 over the past nine months. Taking the average per month over the course of one year, Rep. Holt's office would spend an estimated $245,000 on print material and postage also known as franked mail.
Regardless of geography, each of the 435 U.S. Congressional districts, must have a population as close to equal size as possible. This is one reason why the House is also known as "the people's branch" of Congress. The average district serves approximately 650,000 people.
I don't believe that thirty eight cents per person year is an unreasonable amount for a Member of Congress to spend to communicate with their constituents. Besides, the amount is actually lower in an election year, because of a ninety day blackout rule.
Yet Scott Sipprelle believes that thirty eight cents is too much. He calls it "taxpayer subsidized campaigning."
Sipprelle at least acknowledges the blackout rule. Given that the 90 day period includes August, when Congress is historically out of session, Jewish High Holy Days and the start of school for many Americans, the blackout is not unreasonable.
But this challenger wants to extend the blackout to six months, probably so it runs before the primaries. That is less reasonable, because Congress casts votes from May through August. Why shouldn't a member of the House be able to tell his constituents how he voted and how his colleagues voted, too?
I'm sure Rep. Holt would be glad to cut the direct mail budget if all of his constituents could use e-mail, or if they could receive his newsletter on their mobile phone.
But not all voters, especially the most elderly, can regularly use their own computers or phones to collect political information. The best way to reach them is still through the mail.
And, further, most people consider their e-mail address to at least as private as their home address, and it is easy to change a personal or work e-mail so frequently that political groups might actually spend more just to obtain current addresses.
In addition to direct mail, representatives take personal constituent services quite seriously; it is quite often a reason why they are re-elected. Their staff does not ask if a citizen voted for their representative; members of the House must serve constituents equally. They must also provide an effective Website. Rep. Holt's site received a Bronze Mouse award from the Congressional Management Foundation.
Most important, a representative's Washington D.C. office, his district office and his campaign headquarters must be separated. So must his office and campaign Websites. Constituent communications can never be mistaken for campaign communications.
Yet Scott Sipprelle wants to cut the direct mail budget, as well as Congressional allowances, by 20 percent as a cost-saving measure. It was a shame that the reporter did not ask how he planned to communicate more effectively than Rep. Holt if his budget was cut by 20 percent.
Did Sipprelle plan to scrimp on constituent service? That's a fair question to ask anyone who wants to serve in the people's branch. To borrow a phrase from football legend Mike Ditka, a hedge fund manager should know better than to throw dimes as if they were manhole covers.
This story is one of several that covers the Congressional race between Rep. Rush Holt (D. NJ) and the challenger Scott Sipprelle, a hedge fund manager based in Princeton.
In this story Sipprelle goes after one of the most important roles that a Member of Congress must play: constituent communications.
Rep. Holt, according to the story, receives an allowance of $1.46 million for administration. This includes staffing his Washington D.C. office as well as his district office in West Windsor, New Jersey. It also includes his budget for constituent communications, direct mail pieces that he sends directly to voters, as well as e-mails and town meetings.
Direct mail, the major subject of this story, has accounted for $221,000 over the past nine months. Taking the average per month over the course of one year, Rep. Holt's office would spend an estimated $245,000 on print material and postage also known as franked mail.
Regardless of geography, each of the 435 U.S. Congressional districts, must have a population as close to equal size as possible. This is one reason why the House is also known as "the people's branch" of Congress. The average district serves approximately 650,000 people.
I don't believe that thirty eight cents per person year is an unreasonable amount for a Member of Congress to spend to communicate with their constituents. Besides, the amount is actually lower in an election year, because of a ninety day blackout rule.
Yet Scott Sipprelle believes that thirty eight cents is too much. He calls it "taxpayer subsidized campaigning."
Sipprelle at least acknowledges the blackout rule. Given that the 90 day period includes August, when Congress is historically out of session, Jewish High Holy Days and the start of school for many Americans, the blackout is not unreasonable.
But this challenger wants to extend the blackout to six months, probably so it runs before the primaries. That is less reasonable, because Congress casts votes from May through August. Why shouldn't a member of the House be able to tell his constituents how he voted and how his colleagues voted, too?
I'm sure Rep. Holt would be glad to cut the direct mail budget if all of his constituents could use e-mail, or if they could receive his newsletter on their mobile phone.
But not all voters, especially the most elderly, can regularly use their own computers or phones to collect political information. The best way to reach them is still through the mail.
And, further, most people consider their e-mail address to at least as private as their home address, and it is easy to change a personal or work e-mail so frequently that political groups might actually spend more just to obtain current addresses.
In addition to direct mail, representatives take personal constituent services quite seriously; it is quite often a reason why they are re-elected. Their staff does not ask if a citizen voted for their representative; members of the House must serve constituents equally. They must also provide an effective Website. Rep. Holt's site received a Bronze Mouse award from the Congressional Management Foundation.
Most important, a representative's Washington D.C. office, his district office and his campaign headquarters must be separated. So must his office and campaign Websites. Constituent communications can never be mistaken for campaign communications.
Yet Scott Sipprelle wants to cut the direct mail budget, as well as Congressional allowances, by 20 percent as a cost-saving measure. It was a shame that the reporter did not ask how he planned to communicate more effectively than Rep. Holt if his budget was cut by 20 percent.
Did Sipprelle plan to scrimp on constituent service? That's a fair question to ask anyone who wants to serve in the people's branch. To borrow a phrase from football legend Mike Ditka, a hedge fund manager should know better than to throw dimes as if they were manhole covers.
Book Review: The Five-Year Party, How Colleges Have Given Up On Educating Your Child and What You Can Do About It by Craig Brandon
The Five Year Party is intended for parents who are about to make a very difficult decision on the best college for their son or daughter.
Craig Brandon, like some other education writers also asks: is college really for all? He says: "no, it may not be worth it for the less studious students. It may be better for them to work or attend a community college first."
Brandon delves into several problems on-campus already well documented in the media: excessively high tuition and student loan debt, ambitious building projects, misleading reports about campus crime (especially rape), grade inflation, "dumbing down" of college-level courses, and more.
The author also supports the point: the financial advantage of a college education throughout a person's working life has gone down. More and more jobs performed by college graduates are being out-sourced and only the very best students will find jobs that match up with their major interests.
He adds that since tuition increases have been higher than inflation and student loan debt has increased dramatically, the financial advantage college marketers have touted as $1 million is actually less than $300,000, assuming the student has graduated with good grades and a reputable degree.
But Brandon takes an extra step. He calls some schools "sub-prime schools" or "sub-prime party schools." Yet aside from the public college where he previously taught and one regional state university, he does not develop a list of such schools.
After reading the book, I took sub-prime to mean a school of largely C/C+ students with low test scores, an expensive school that promises success but markets amenities instead; the school has little to no academic respect. A sub-prime school also leaves students mired in debt; some have become "super seniors" who have spent fifty percent more than students who graduated within four years.
Brandon adds that such a school may also report misleading crime statistics. In addition to rapes, drug-related incidents and fraternity-initiated incidents are not always reported as crimes.
I wish that the author had done more work identifying schools that he considered to be sub-prime. He mentions several schools as party schools: Penn State, being one example. Yet that school also ranks among U.S. News top 25 public research universities.
Among the Princeton Review's top 20 party schools for 2011 are eight of the top 25 state universities and two of the top 51 liberal arts colleges. The fifth ranked party school, Ole Miss, was praised for its liberal arts offerings in a book that I previously reviewed. Aside from Penn State, none of the Princeton Review top 20 is mentioned in Brandon's book. And he has not called Penn State sub-prime.
I understand what Craig Brandon was trying to say about sub-prime schools, and I believe that his intention is to help parents discover them on their own. He could have done some Googles on the important factors--indebtedness, crime incidents, test scores and graduation rates--to develop a list of sub-prime schools based on publicly available information and personal experience.
But if he didn't have the time to do it, is it realistic to expect parents to try? He tells parents to visit the schools and get the real story from the students. That will help, for sure. However, it would have been nice if he could have helped parents narrow their options before they plan their campus visits.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Market forces setting the course for for-profit schools.
Yesterday there were numerous stories that stocks in for-profit education corporations had taken a major hit following the release of a U.S. Department of Education report that shows that a majority of the nation's 181 publicly traded for-profit education firms had fewer than 35% of their student repaying their loans in a timely manner.
The market, as in the stock market, is reacting to the news. Strayer Education and Capella Education saw their share prices drop by eighteen and thirteen percent in one day. Upcoming Congressional hearings are also likely to shake up the sector.
But there is little need for hearings now. The major damage has already been done. And there are no winners, except for prospective students who had waited to put down tuition deposits.
The non-profit education sector will come out a loser as will publicly funded schools. There is no way to assess whether the quality of education at one is better than another.
For-profits hire non-tenured instructors, but public and non-profit schools rely on teachers who are no better qualified. What is worse: an educator with a master's degree in the field he is teaching or a graduate assistant who might not have a bachelor's degree? There will be movement to get private non-profit schools to justify their tuition charges and public schools to justify their subsidies.
The graduates of these for-profit schools will have doors closed to them, if for no other reason, because schools with low graduation rates and a poor history of student loan repayment get very bad publicity. Employers have been given more reason to question the legitimacy of their degrees. So will graduate schools in the public and non-profit education sectors. Those who have taken out loans are still obligated to repay them, even if their school closes.
The Department of Education will not come out smelling like a rose. True, they conducted an investigation, but more Pell Grant dollars and subsidized loans were made available to students at for-profit schools over the past year. Suppose those dollars are cut. Students who began college at one of these schools will have wasted a year. Credits are not easily transferable. The federal government and the schools will share blame.
But maybe some good will come out of the upcoming Congressional hearings. For-profits are still the least-cost provider; they can get a school up and running at a lower cost than government can. The tuition charge itself is less of a question than student indebtedness. I doubt that any act of government would force these schools to lower their tuition. That too, would negatively affect their share price.
These institutions will be forced to justify their value through their admissions marketing. I rarely see advertising or public relations that shows employer satisfaction in for-profits. Now these schools will be pressured to provide it. That will be exceptionally difficult, but it will be necessary for their survival.
However, I still believe these hearings will lead people to question how taxpayers subsidize public education. The for-profits earn profit margins. What would stop a state legislator from asking: if these people can make money, even if they cut their tuition, then why can't our public colleges make money, too?
Don't be surprised if state lawmakers on both sides of the aisle call for more cuts in higher education spending, even after the economy rebounds. Nothing changes policy and management practices more than a budget cut or a tuition freeze in good times. Legislators would like to see the voters pay more in income and sales taxes over college tuition.
The market, as in the stock market, is reacting to the news. Strayer Education and Capella Education saw their share prices drop by eighteen and thirteen percent in one day. Upcoming Congressional hearings are also likely to shake up the sector.
But there is little need for hearings now. The major damage has already been done. And there are no winners, except for prospective students who had waited to put down tuition deposits.
The non-profit education sector will come out a loser as will publicly funded schools. There is no way to assess whether the quality of education at one is better than another.
For-profits hire non-tenured instructors, but public and non-profit schools rely on teachers who are no better qualified. What is worse: an educator with a master's degree in the field he is teaching or a graduate assistant who might not have a bachelor's degree? There will be movement to get private non-profit schools to justify their tuition charges and public schools to justify their subsidies.
The graduates of these for-profit schools will have doors closed to them, if for no other reason, because schools with low graduation rates and a poor history of student loan repayment get very bad publicity. Employers have been given more reason to question the legitimacy of their degrees. So will graduate schools in the public and non-profit education sectors. Those who have taken out loans are still obligated to repay them, even if their school closes.
The Department of Education will not come out smelling like a rose. True, they conducted an investigation, but more Pell Grant dollars and subsidized loans were made available to students at for-profit schools over the past year. Suppose those dollars are cut. Students who began college at one of these schools will have wasted a year. Credits are not easily transferable. The federal government and the schools will share blame.
But maybe some good will come out of the upcoming Congressional hearings. For-profits are still the least-cost provider; they can get a school up and running at a lower cost than government can. The tuition charge itself is less of a question than student indebtedness. I doubt that any act of government would force these schools to lower their tuition. That too, would negatively affect their share price.
These institutions will be forced to justify their value through their admissions marketing. I rarely see advertising or public relations that shows employer satisfaction in for-profits. Now these schools will be pressured to provide it. That will be exceptionally difficult, but it will be necessary for their survival.
However, I still believe these hearings will lead people to question how taxpayers subsidize public education. The for-profits earn profit margins. What would stop a state legislator from asking: if these people can make money, even if they cut their tuition, then why can't our public colleges make money, too?
Don't be surprised if state lawmakers on both sides of the aisle call for more cuts in higher education spending, even after the economy rebounds. Nothing changes policy and management practices more than a budget cut or a tuition freeze in good times. Legislators would like to see the voters pay more in income and sales taxes over college tuition.
The legend of the VW Microbus
Yesterday I read a story in USA Today that Dharma, the VW van driven by Hurley in Lost, is up for auction. Eight thousand dollars is the opening bid. Hurley's van was a Seventies model, but the previous generation is more tied to an era of hippies and surfer dudes.
The Sixties were an era of muscle cars, stripped-down mid-sized machines with big, powerful engines for the street or the drag strip. The idea behind these cars was horsepower for the people, and they sold exceptionally well. But they were not the cars you typically found on the college campus.
The VW Microbus, however, was designed with space in mind, not power. With only 50 horsepower and a tall, flat face to the wind, the bus was as dangerous to drive as a muscle car. But you didn't buy a Microbus to go fast. You bought it to feel the wind in your face once you parked at the concert or the beach.
The Sixties Microbus (sorry Dead fans, I'm not calling it a van in this piece) had 23 windows and cloth sunroofs that opened to almost the full length of the vehicle. The front windows, called safari windows, popped open, too, for added ventilation. And, as you'll see from this Life magazine series, they became highly personalized.
The Microbus, which celebrated its 60th anniversary as a classic, was the second vehicle introduced by Volkswagen after the Beetle. Introduced in 1950, it took only twelve years for VW to sell a million buses. And unlike most vehicles, they appear to be "cooler" and more iconic as they age.
Volkswagen has designed concepts to bring back the Microbus; they adopted the Chrysler mini-van platform to make the Routan for the family market instead. The Kia Soul, the Scion XB, the Honda Element and the Nissan Cube were designed around a similar idea: a flat body that presents a blank canvas and opportunities for personalization, but no one would dream of taking seven people to the concert and sleeping over in any one of them.
The Sixties were an era of muscle cars, stripped-down mid-sized machines with big, powerful engines for the street or the drag strip. The idea behind these cars was horsepower for the people, and they sold exceptionally well. But they were not the cars you typically found on the college campus.
The VW Microbus, however, was designed with space in mind, not power. With only 50 horsepower and a tall, flat face to the wind, the bus was as dangerous to drive as a muscle car. But you didn't buy a Microbus to go fast. You bought it to feel the wind in your face once you parked at the concert or the beach.
The Sixties Microbus (sorry Dead fans, I'm not calling it a van in this piece) had 23 windows and cloth sunroofs that opened to almost the full length of the vehicle. The front windows, called safari windows, popped open, too, for added ventilation. And, as you'll see from this Life magazine series, they became highly personalized.
The Microbus, which celebrated its 60th anniversary as a classic, was the second vehicle introduced by Volkswagen after the Beetle. Introduced in 1950, it took only twelve years for VW to sell a million buses. And unlike most vehicles, they appear to be "cooler" and more iconic as they age.
Volkswagen has designed concepts to bring back the Microbus; they adopted the Chrysler mini-van platform to make the Routan for the family market instead. The Kia Soul, the Scion XB, the Honda Element and the Nissan Cube were designed around a similar idea: a flat body that presents a blank canvas and opportunities for personalization, but no one would dream of taking seven people to the concert and sleeping over in any one of them.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Ex-Philly Eagle wants athletic conferences to use their heads on concussions
Today I read that former Philadelphia Eagle Jon Runyan, now a Republican candidate for Congress in New Jersey's Third Congressional District, expressed his support for a bill on sports concussions that has been passed by our state assembly. The bill has been referred to the education committee in our state senate. It will probably pass; the Assembly voted unanimously.
Essentially this bill says, according to the story, that students who receive head injuries during a sports game must be removed from play until cleared by a doctor. Nothing wrong with that, as long as the doctor places medical ethics over repeated pressure by the injured player or his coach. That is the real problem within a highly competitive sports conference.
But I had to wonder, if this was such a no-brainer for a state legislature, then why didn't the athletic conferences take up the initiative on their own? Athletic conferences should put the health of the athlete first.
I've had the opportunity to listen to Chris Nowinski, a former Harvard football player and professional wrestler, who took the issue of concussions into his own hands. After being diagnosed with Post-Concussion Syndrome, Nowinski retired from wresting and researched his condition.
He authored a book called Head Games: Football’s Concussion Crisis and later founded the Sports Legacy Institute to advance research and education about the seriousness of concussions. The National Football League as well as World Wrestling Entertainment take Nowinski quite seriously. He has also asked current and retired athletes to donate their brains to research upon their death so the causes of concussions could be studied further.
I wish that I could calculate the value of the time spent to research, draft, introduce and pass the this concussion bill. I would be curious if it would be close to the cost to pay Nowinski to speak to every sports conference in New Jersey. My hunch is that the state would get their money's worth and the conference officials would get their act together.
Essentially this bill says, according to the story, that students who receive head injuries during a sports game must be removed from play until cleared by a doctor. Nothing wrong with that, as long as the doctor places medical ethics over repeated pressure by the injured player or his coach. That is the real problem within a highly competitive sports conference.
But I had to wonder, if this was such a no-brainer for a state legislature, then why didn't the athletic conferences take up the initiative on their own? Athletic conferences should put the health of the athlete first.
I've had the opportunity to listen to Chris Nowinski, a former Harvard football player and professional wrestler, who took the issue of concussions into his own hands. After being diagnosed with Post-Concussion Syndrome, Nowinski retired from wresting and researched his condition.
He authored a book called Head Games: Football’s Concussion Crisis and later founded the Sports Legacy Institute to advance research and education about the seriousness of concussions. The National Football League as well as World Wrestling Entertainment take Nowinski quite seriously. He has also asked current and retired athletes to donate their brains to research upon their death so the causes of concussions could be studied further.
I wish that I could calculate the value of the time spent to research, draft, introduce and pass the this concussion bill. I would be curious if it would be close to the cost to pay Nowinski to speak to every sports conference in New Jersey. My hunch is that the state would get their money's worth and the conference officials would get their act together.
Juggling Work While Finishing the MBA, a guest post by The Classy Career Girl
While the best known and most publicized graduate business programs are primarily tailored to full-time students, nearly two-thirds of all MBA students work while pursuing their degree part-time. For these people, handling work and school is a major juggling act. The work-life balance changes dramatically. However, those who succeed can find the same rewards, or better, as those students who left their jobs to pursue a MBA full-time.
The Classy Career Girl is a blogger who shares her journey through her last year of business school while she tries to balance work and school and tried to find the humor through it all. A thank you to her for this guest post.
Two years ago, I made the decision to get my MBA while continuing to work a full time job. Although the past two years have been a whirlwind, I am very happy I made the choice to continue my education.
I have found that although I currently have a job I love, I am now performing even better and also finding new opportunities that better match my interests and skills. I have also been fortunate enough to be able to keep my income and not have to worry about finding a job when I graduate.
Before starting school I tried to mentally prepare myself for this juggling act. But, the truth is I really had no idea what to expect. Here is what I wish someone would have told me before I made the leap:
1. Learn to Say No. You do not have to attend every networking event. Just go to as many as possible.
2. You will have to work extra hard to maintain your social life and previous friendships. But, the important friendships are worth it to maintain even if you only have an hour of free time every week.
3. Your management will take notice of how hard you are working and the knowledge that you are bringing to your job. I was promoted in my current company after only a year in school.
4. Technology makes the juggling act easier. Having access to my school email on my phone while I work allows me to stay connected with my group and make changes to projects at the last minute. With all of my classmates juggling so many responsibilities, it is almost impossible to get us all together in one location. Fortunately, Skype allows us to hold group meetings virtually. Also, don't worry if you have to travel frequently for your job. Professors are very understanding of work travel and my school even videotapes classes for us so we can watch them online when we return.
5. Schedule time out for a break because the to-do list will never end. Don't be afraid to take a day off from work or skip a class if you have to. It is impossible to get an A+ at both work and school, just do the best you can. Schedule a vacation, a day with no work or even a night to just enjoy a movie with your family.
6. Grad school consists of way too many group projects. I have learned that other people juggle their responsibilities differently than I do. I try to get work done as early as possible but others in my group wait until an hour before a paper is due to finish. I have learned to respect others juggling habits which has allowed me to be a better manager.
7. If your goal after grad school is to find another job, you will have a hard time fitting this into your busy schedule. It takes a lot of time to do informational interviews, meet with career advisors, apply for jobs and make your resume look great. But, if you make these things a top priority and plan them into your schedule, you should be able to find a great job once graduation rolls around.
8. Organization is key! Before you go to bed, figure out the plan for the next day. Look at your schedule and figure out what meetings you have, what is due and where you need to be when. For me, this means making sure I have all my school books and a change of clothes with me when I leave for work in the morning. I schedule some time each Sunday night to review my plan for the week. This helps me prioritize and be prepared when other tasks pop up at the last minute.
9. Keep your workout schedule. Don't let your responsibilities knock working out off your schedule. Working out will ease your stress and help you stay focused when you study. I trained for a marathon while going to school and it was actually the most productive quarter of my life because my work, running and school schedule was so organized and I felt great.
10. As crazy as life gets and when you have no idea how you will make it through the quarter, you will survive. It may be one of the hardest things you will ever do in your life but it will be over before you know it. If you can succeed in working and going to school, you can succeed in anything.
I hope this information has helped you see the benefits and struggles of going back to school while keeping your day job. It may be tough but I encourage you to take the leap because it can make a huge difference for your professional success.
About the author: Classy Career Girl is a Consultant by day and a MBA student by night. She blogs about her journey through business school while working full time and loves to research and write about career advice, work-life balance and stress management. You can read more about her journey on her website: ClassyCareerGirl.com.
The Classy Career Girl is a blogger who shares her journey through her last year of business school while she tries to balance work and school and tried to find the humor through it all. A thank you to her for this guest post.
Two years ago, I made the decision to get my MBA while continuing to work a full time job. Although the past two years have been a whirlwind, I am very happy I made the choice to continue my education.
I have found that although I currently have a job I love, I am now performing even better and also finding new opportunities that better match my interests and skills. I have also been fortunate enough to be able to keep my income and not have to worry about finding a job when I graduate.
Before starting school I tried to mentally prepare myself for this juggling act. But, the truth is I really had no idea what to expect. Here is what I wish someone would have told me before I made the leap:
1. Learn to Say No. You do not have to attend every networking event. Just go to as many as possible.
2. You will have to work extra hard to maintain your social life and previous friendships. But, the important friendships are worth it to maintain even if you only have an hour of free time every week.
3. Your management will take notice of how hard you are working and the knowledge that you are bringing to your job. I was promoted in my current company after only a year in school.
4. Technology makes the juggling act easier. Having access to my school email on my phone while I work allows me to stay connected with my group and make changes to projects at the last minute. With all of my classmates juggling so many responsibilities, it is almost impossible to get us all together in one location. Fortunately, Skype allows us to hold group meetings virtually. Also, don't worry if you have to travel frequently for your job. Professors are very understanding of work travel and my school even videotapes classes for us so we can watch them online when we return.
5. Schedule time out for a break because the to-do list will never end. Don't be afraid to take a day off from work or skip a class if you have to. It is impossible to get an A+ at both work and school, just do the best you can. Schedule a vacation, a day with no work or even a night to just enjoy a movie with your family.
6. Grad school consists of way too many group projects. I have learned that other people juggle their responsibilities differently than I do. I try to get work done as early as possible but others in my group wait until an hour before a paper is due to finish. I have learned to respect others juggling habits which has allowed me to be a better manager.
7. If your goal after grad school is to find another job, you will have a hard time fitting this into your busy schedule. It takes a lot of time to do informational interviews, meet with career advisors, apply for jobs and make your resume look great. But, if you make these things a top priority and plan them into your schedule, you should be able to find a great job once graduation rolls around.
8. Organization is key! Before you go to bed, figure out the plan for the next day. Look at your schedule and figure out what meetings you have, what is due and where you need to be when. For me, this means making sure I have all my school books and a change of clothes with me when I leave for work in the morning. I schedule some time each Sunday night to review my plan for the week. This helps me prioritize and be prepared when other tasks pop up at the last minute.
9. Keep your workout schedule. Don't let your responsibilities knock working out off your schedule. Working out will ease your stress and help you stay focused when you study. I trained for a marathon while going to school and it was actually the most productive quarter of my life because my work, running and school schedule was so organized and I felt great.
10. As crazy as life gets and when you have no idea how you will make it through the quarter, you will survive. It may be one of the hardest things you will ever do in your life but it will be over before you know it. If you can succeed in working and going to school, you can succeed in anything.
I hope this information has helped you see the benefits and struggles of going back to school while keeping your day job. It may be tough but I encourage you to take the leap because it can make a huge difference for your professional success.
About the author: Classy Career Girl is a Consultant by day and a MBA student by night. She blogs about her journey through business school while working full time and loves to research and write about career advice, work-life balance and stress management. You can read more about her journey on her website: ClassyCareerGirl.com.
Monday, August 16, 2010
A Story of Banned Books and the Birth of a Football Program
I read an interesting blog post today that connected John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath, and the image of Oklahomans it portrayed, to the rise of the University of Oklahoma Sooners as a college football power during the 1950s. If you're a college football fan, it's worth the read. To read more check out The Undefeated by Jim Dent, written eight years ago.
The post briefly summarizes the story of the Okies during the Dust Bowl era of the 1930's and how John Steinbeck came upon their story.
His tale, the Grapes of Wrath, was not, according to the post, met with warm welcome from either of its primary subjects, migrant Okies or the Californians who did not welcome them to the Golden State following their westward migration to find work. The Californians hated how it portrayed them as cold, heartless abusers and the Okies hated how it portrayed them as dirty and uneducated. However, as migrant workers left Oklahoma, a new class of business people made claims to its mineral riches.
After World War II, the University of Oklahoma regents became concerned that the image of the state, as created by the Grapes of Wrath, would force returning veterans to look elsewhere for work or an education. George Lynn Cross, the president of the university and Lloyd Noble, an oilman, agreed that football would help get the state back on track.
The two men found a coach, Jim Tatum, and an assistant, Bud Wilkinson, and gave them $125,000 to recruit returning veterans. In 1946, the coaches had started practice with 375 former soldiers; some had already played in college. Among them was Darryl Royal, who would become a legendary coach at Texas.
The Sooners began their post-war schedule at West Point; oddly enough it was at the same time that the musical Oklahoma debuted on Boardway. The Sooners lost to Army, still one of the best teams in college football, but finished 7-3 with a bowl bid.
Coach Tatum left a year later to take the head coaching job at Maryland, while Wilkinson was promoted to lead the Sooners. He went on to win thirteen conference championships, three national titles and 47 consecutive games over five seasons. The regents also liked Wilkinson because he exuded class. He wore suits on the sidelines and was considered quite well read for a football coach. He did not resemble the "hayseed" perception that had been associated with Okies for a generation. However, the post pointed out that the over-aggressive recruiting led the NCAA to get into the compliance business.
The post briefly summarizes the story of the Okies during the Dust Bowl era of the 1930's and how John Steinbeck came upon their story.
His tale, the Grapes of Wrath, was not, according to the post, met with warm welcome from either of its primary subjects, migrant Okies or the Californians who did not welcome them to the Golden State following their westward migration to find work. The Californians hated how it portrayed them as cold, heartless abusers and the Okies hated how it portrayed them as dirty and uneducated. However, as migrant workers left Oklahoma, a new class of business people made claims to its mineral riches.
After World War II, the University of Oklahoma regents became concerned that the image of the state, as created by the Grapes of Wrath, would force returning veterans to look elsewhere for work or an education. George Lynn Cross, the president of the university and Lloyd Noble, an oilman, agreed that football would help get the state back on track.
The two men found a coach, Jim Tatum, and an assistant, Bud Wilkinson, and gave them $125,000 to recruit returning veterans. In 1946, the coaches had started practice with 375 former soldiers; some had already played in college. Among them was Darryl Royal, who would become a legendary coach at Texas.
The Sooners began their post-war schedule at West Point; oddly enough it was at the same time that the musical Oklahoma debuted on Boardway. The Sooners lost to Army, still one of the best teams in college football, but finished 7-3 with a bowl bid.
Coach Tatum left a year later to take the head coaching job at Maryland, while Wilkinson was promoted to lead the Sooners. He went on to win thirteen conference championships, three national titles and 47 consecutive games over five seasons. The regents also liked Wilkinson because he exuded class. He wore suits on the sidelines and was considered quite well read for a football coach. He did not resemble the "hayseed" perception that had been associated with Okies for a generation. However, the post pointed out that the over-aggressive recruiting led the NCAA to get into the compliance business.
Book Review--Higher Education?: How Colleges Are Wasting Our Money and Failing Our Kids---and What We Can Do About It by Andrew Hacker and Claudia Dreifus
Educators and politicians have no shortage of ideas to reform higher education, and these co-authors, who are writers as well as academics, are no exception. They conducted a road trip to many U.S. colleges, not only the Ivy League and top liberal arts schools, but also many lesser-known institutions such as Evergreen State College (WA), Florida Gulf Coast University and Raritan Valley Community College (in my home state of New Jersey). They attempted to learn if a quality education--where teachers teach, and students learn--could be achieved at a reasonable price.
Much of this book repeats oft-said indictments of higher education: college presidents are overpaid; parents place more emphasis on personal success and admission to a "Golden Dozen," a small set of exceptionally selective schools, than on learning; too many schools over-rely on low-paid adjuncts and teaching assistants to teach while their full-time faculty devote more time to their research; and, there is more emphasis on creature comforts and sports than academics. The co-authors are also strong believers in the value of a liberal arts education over pre-professional programs that lead to jobs upon graduation.
What makes this book stand out is interesting evidence that you won't find elsewhere. For instance, the co-authors obtained the list of the undergraduate colleges of over 3,700 applicants accepted to Harvard Law School from 2002 through 2008.
The first ten schools are in what they call the Golden Dozen: Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Amherst, Columbia, Cornell, Duke, Brown and Dartmouth. The other Golden Dozen schools, Williams and Penn, ranked 11th and 16th. The co-authors concluded that approximately half of accepted applicants came from the Golden Dozen, the rest from nearly 300 other schools.
Therefore, Harvard Law judges the education at the most-sought private colleges to be the best. Then, the authors go on, presenting Princeton's Class of 1973 as one example, to say that the Golden Dozen do not always deliver on their promise to educate national leaders.
Another interesting section is the colleges the authors liked best. Colleges of all orientations: private, public, two-year and four-year are there, though some standouts such as Western Oregon University may surprise you. Aside from MIT, which they included due to their kinder treatment of part-time instructors, either cost management or liberal arts are the major factors for their selection.
Hacker and Dreifus also offer solutions, though some, such as ending the $1 million college presidency as well as tenured appointments are unlikely to be implemented. They do, however, bring up many valid points: neither schools nor students should over-rely on loans to pay for their education; faculty needs to be more engaged; and, technology should not be dismissed out of hand as an aide to learning. They also suggest that medical schools, the most expensive units of the larger research universities, and pure research centers be spun off from their colleges.
I disagree with the authors primarily on their comments about pre-professional programs in areas such as business, engineering and nursing. While there are questions about the quality of instruction from campus to campus, these fields are chosen because they offer good-paying jobs that require only a bachelor's degree. Not everyone can or wants to continue on to graduate school to learn a field.
Employers of choice also favor students who have been trained in pre-professional programs, excluding students who have earned liberal arts degrees from the most selective schools. The authors did not touch on the value of cooperative education, which allows students to accumulate as much as two years work experience while pursuing a degree.
I do recommend this book, if only because it is more readable and less academic than similar volumes. It succeeds at providing a good introduction to the best and worst practices in education policy and management. However, readers should also take the authors regularly expressed biases into account.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Forbes Rankings Drop West Point from First to Fourth--But Does It Really Matter?
This week, Forbes Best College Rankings reached the news stands. Unlike the U.S. News rankings, Forbes does not separate big schools from small ones. Last year, West Point, the U.S. Military Academy came out number one. This year, Williams College (MA) got top honors, followed by Princeton and Amherst.
In addition to West Point ranking fourth, the U.S. Air Force Academy ranked 11th and the U.S. Naval Academy ranked 29th. The highest ranking public universities were the University of Virginia at 44th and the College of William and Mary at 46th.
Forbes ranks schools a little differently than the other magazines. Their methodology devotes the greatest weight to student satisfaction, followed by post-graduate success, student debt, four-year graduation rate and competitive awards earned by students.
By comparison, U.S. News places weights on academic "peer evaluation," an average six-year graduation rate, alumni giving, and freshman retention.
Not that these comparisons matter much among the leading private schools. The 2010 U.S. News guide also ranked Williams the top liberal arts college, followed by Amherst. It rated Princeton the second-best research university. U.S. News also held the liberal arts education at West Point and Annapolis in high regard; both ranked in the top twenty.
The students who can be accepted by the top 15 private liberal arts colleges, the top 15 private research universities or the military service academies have to think too much about published rankings.
They're the ones who need to visit the campuses and decide which school fits best. A successful future is a given if you work for it.
As I go further down the Forbes list, I get curious to see if any schools beyond brand names stand out. Here are some:
+ Centre College (KY), 46th among liberal arts in U.S. News, 24th in Forbes. Centre is one of the best liberal art schools in the Southeast, but admitted nearly two-thirds of all applicants. However, U.S. News shows an alumni giving rate of 60 percent.
+ Wabash College (IN), 54th among liberal arts in U.S. News, 42nd in Forbes. An all-male school, Wabash admits nearly half of all applicants.
+ Rhodes College (TN), 54th among liberal arts in U.S. News, 47th in Forbes. Admits approximately half of all applicants.
+ Lawrence University (WI), 59th among liberal arts in U.S. News, 50th in Forbes. Admits 41% of applicants.
+ Wofford College (SC), 62nd among liberal arts in U.S. News, 58th in Forbes. Admits 56% of all applicants. Also the smallest school to play Division 1 college football.
You don't need triple 700s, or even triple 650s on the SATs to gain admission into any of these schools, yet they rank highly under two totally different methodologies.
That made me think carefully about what a "best" college really is. It should be a place where you come out academically and intellectually better than you came in, and maybe have a direction to what you want to do in the future.
The A/A+ who gets into Harvard and the like is already very bright, and quite possibly very mature. You could probably hire most of their students before they completed college; the degree only acknowledges their intelligence, no matter the grades.
The B/B+ student who goes to any of those five liberal arts college listed above and leaves as an A-/A student is the probably the greater success story. And so is his college.
In addition to West Point ranking fourth, the U.S. Air Force Academy ranked 11th and the U.S. Naval Academy ranked 29th. The highest ranking public universities were the University of Virginia at 44th and the College of William and Mary at 46th.
Forbes ranks schools a little differently than the other magazines. Their methodology devotes the greatest weight to student satisfaction, followed by post-graduate success, student debt, four-year graduation rate and competitive awards earned by students.
By comparison, U.S. News places weights on academic "peer evaluation," an average six-year graduation rate, alumni giving, and freshman retention.
Not that these comparisons matter much among the leading private schools. The 2010 U.S. News guide also ranked Williams the top liberal arts college, followed by Amherst. It rated Princeton the second-best research university. U.S. News also held the liberal arts education at West Point and Annapolis in high regard; both ranked in the top twenty.
The students who can be accepted by the top 15 private liberal arts colleges, the top 15 private research universities or the military service academies have to think too much about published rankings.
They're the ones who need to visit the campuses and decide which school fits best. A successful future is a given if you work for it.
As I go further down the Forbes list, I get curious to see if any schools beyond brand names stand out. Here are some:
+ Centre College (KY), 46th among liberal arts in U.S. News, 24th in Forbes. Centre is one of the best liberal art schools in the Southeast, but admitted nearly two-thirds of all applicants. However, U.S. News shows an alumni giving rate of 60 percent.
+ Wabash College (IN), 54th among liberal arts in U.S. News, 42nd in Forbes. An all-male school, Wabash admits nearly half of all applicants.
+ Rhodes College (TN), 54th among liberal arts in U.S. News, 47th in Forbes. Admits approximately half of all applicants.
+ Lawrence University (WI), 59th among liberal arts in U.S. News, 50th in Forbes. Admits 41% of applicants.
+ Wofford College (SC), 62nd among liberal arts in U.S. News, 58th in Forbes. Admits 56% of all applicants. Also the smallest school to play Division 1 college football.
You don't need triple 700s, or even triple 650s on the SATs to gain admission into any of these schools, yet they rank highly under two totally different methodologies.
That made me think carefully about what a "best" college really is. It should be a place where you come out academically and intellectually better than you came in, and maybe have a direction to what you want to do in the future.
The A/A+ who gets into Harvard and the like is already very bright, and quite possibly very mature. You could probably hire most of their students before they completed college; the degree only acknowledges their intelligence, no matter the grades.
The B/B+ student who goes to any of those five liberal arts college listed above and leaves as an A-/A student is the probably the greater success story. And so is his college.
Should Community Colleges Continue Open Admissions?
Today I read a story in EdWeek where Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley has recommended that community colleges in his city discontinue open admissions.
Daley cites the costs of remedial education, approximately six percent of the total community college budget, as the reason for going in a different direction. Daley suggests that alternative high schools could deliver remedial education for less.
Daley has a point: every seat taken is one less available, so the students who are ready to do college work should be given priority. But here are the problems:
+ According to the EdWeek story, sixty percent of the students who enter a community college need at least one remedial course. Apply that figure to Chicago and you may end up closing the doors to too many students.
+ Not all community college students come into college directly from high school. Some have worked for several years or raised families. Neither the public school system nor the community colleges have adequately serviced this population. Coincidentally, this is a prime marketing target for the for-profit schools.
+ Not all community college students attend with the prospect of pursuing a degree.
Some students are sent to community college programs by their employers--and it is the employer's responsibility to assess their employee's skills. Others attend community college for enrichment or to earn a certificate after completing a few classes. Chances are many of these students would need remedial education if they were sent through the same placement process as full-time students.
This is the most solvable problem. Enrichment courses are sacrificed in bad times and the college asks the employer to assess the students.
However, I agree in principle with Mayor Daley, so I'd like to put these ideas on the table.
+ Start a set of charter high schools for working adults that operate day and night. Maybe one in each alderman's district.
These schools would be strictly academic and offer only college prep courses. Each student's skill levels would be assessed and each student would be entitled to an honest answer as to how they would fare in gaining admission. Some students will need more help than others. And the city would know who can be helped and who cannot.
Tuition would be free for adults on public assistance, either welfare or unemployment, but a charge could be assessed for others based on household income or for additional services to assist students such as on-site child care or transportation.
+ Admit the best high school juniors into the community colleges for their senior year.
Basically, this would reduce the number of high school seniors so that those who need remedial education can receive more attention from theit high school teachers.
The school system would pay the costs of tuition, fees, books and transportation for the better students to take college or pre-employment courses, up to 36 credits, for fifteen months. This action is cheaper than keeping them in high school while reducing the number of community college students who need remedial education.
Daley cites the costs of remedial education, approximately six percent of the total community college budget, as the reason for going in a different direction. Daley suggests that alternative high schools could deliver remedial education for less.
Daley has a point: every seat taken is one less available, so the students who are ready to do college work should be given priority. But here are the problems:
+ According to the EdWeek story, sixty percent of the students who enter a community college need at least one remedial course. Apply that figure to Chicago and you may end up closing the doors to too many students.
+ Not all community college students come into college directly from high school. Some have worked for several years or raised families. Neither the public school system nor the community colleges have adequately serviced this population. Coincidentally, this is a prime marketing target for the for-profit schools.
+ Not all community college students attend with the prospect of pursuing a degree.
Some students are sent to community college programs by their employers--and it is the employer's responsibility to assess their employee's skills. Others attend community college for enrichment or to earn a certificate after completing a few classes. Chances are many of these students would need remedial education if they were sent through the same placement process as full-time students.
This is the most solvable problem. Enrichment courses are sacrificed in bad times and the college asks the employer to assess the students.
However, I agree in principle with Mayor Daley, so I'd like to put these ideas on the table.
+ Start a set of charter high schools for working adults that operate day and night. Maybe one in each alderman's district.
These schools would be strictly academic and offer only college prep courses. Each student's skill levels would be assessed and each student would be entitled to an honest answer as to how they would fare in gaining admission. Some students will need more help than others. And the city would know who can be helped and who cannot.
Tuition would be free for adults on public assistance, either welfare or unemployment, but a charge could be assessed for others based on household income or for additional services to assist students such as on-site child care or transportation.
+ Admit the best high school juniors into the community colleges for their senior year.
Basically, this would reduce the number of high school seniors so that those who need remedial education can receive more attention from theit high school teachers.
The school system would pay the costs of tuition, fees, books and transportation for the better students to take college or pre-employment courses, up to 36 credits, for fifteen months. This action is cheaper than keeping them in high school while reducing the number of community college students who need remedial education.
Tea Party Candidate Questionnaire, Part Two
Today's USA Today cover story is about Tea Party candidates, also known as extremely fiscal conservatives; there is effort to say that they are not necessarily social issue conservatives. There is also a Tea Party Cause in the U.S. House of Representatives led by Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R. Minn).
Earlier this week, I had fun trying to develop the first five questions to ask a Tea Party candidate for the House or the U.S. Senate. So, I thought I'd add another five questions to see how a Tea Party candidate would handle "real world" situations.
6) You are a Member of Congress from New Jersey where, unlike most other states, the Congress and the state legislature do not come up for election in the same year. Your party held a primary for the state assembly and state senate seats and the Tea Party candidates lost, despite your efforts on their behalf. The opposing party is excited about their candidates and polls give them a 50-50 chance of victory. Do you:
a) Endorse the candidates of your party with enthusiasm and campaign for them?
b) Endorse the candidates of your party in a letter, but do not participate in their campaigns?
c) Refuse to endorse the candidates of your party and publicly say why?
d) Offer no endorsement and sit out the election?
5) Other (specify)
7) The Republican governor of your state, elected as a fiscal conservative, finds that she faces a budget deficit that is equal to practically one-third of the state budget. She has promised the voters that she will not to raise taxes and has submitted a budget calling for draconian cuts in all services.
The president, who is of the opposing party proposes financial assistance to help your state pay for teachers and state police officers, with relatively no strings attached. You opposed the president's bill, but it passed anyway. Now, your governor and the mayor of your largest city as you to get the money for your district. Do you:
a) Quietly ask for the money through the established process?
b) Ask for the money, then publicly complain about having to do it?
c) Refuse to ask for the money on principle
d) Agree to seek money for the police--they voted for you--but not the teachers, who didn't?
e) Other (specify)
8) A powerful member of the opposing party, a fiscal conservative like yourself,has proposed a bill with spending and debt restrictions that you like. However, in order for the bill to pass, it needs to be coupled to a bill to repeal "don't ask, don't tell," for the military. You have no opinion either way on don't ask, don't tell, but conservative voters in your district strongly oppose it. Do you:
a) Vote for the bill anyway and publicly explain your vote?
b) Vote for the bill anyway, but say nothing?
c) Vote against the bill, and denounce "don't ask, don't tell," or accuse the opposing party of being liberal or manipulative?
d) Vote against the bill and say something else, like "the spending restrictions weren't tough enough"?
e) Other (specify)
9) The president, a Democrat, has nominated a Republican from your state for a cabinet position. Your governor, a Republican like yourself, and a friend of the nominee, supports the nomination. The nominee, known as a moderate Republican, is considered a liberal by your fellow Tea Party members. Do you:
a) Oppose the nomination on principle?
b) Support the nominee because he is a son of your state as well as a member of your party?
c) Abstain from voting?
d) Other (specify)
10) A major disaster strikes in your district, leaving 200 people homeless and without food. The president, who you have opposed in the past, offers to declare the impacted area a disaster area and to provide any and all assistance at his disposal. You accept his help, so does the governor of your state, and things go well. You have previously lashed out at the president for his efforts on the BP oil spill in the past and you have suggested that the government cannot handle emergencies with any competence. Do you now:
a) Thank the president and the agencies that helped your citizens and admit that you were wrong?
b) Thank the president, but say that they could have done a better job?
c) Thank the president, but say that you still favor cutbacks in spending for some of the services that helped the people in your district?
d) Thank the president and come out as an advocate for the services that performed the best?
e) Other (specify)
I hope at least one Tea Party candidate will come forward and answer these questions. Regardless of party, the way a candidate talks and the way they act once they're in office is not always the same.
Earlier this week, I had fun trying to develop the first five questions to ask a Tea Party candidate for the House or the U.S. Senate. So, I thought I'd add another five questions to see how a Tea Party candidate would handle "real world" situations.
6) You are a Member of Congress from New Jersey where, unlike most other states, the Congress and the state legislature do not come up for election in the same year. Your party held a primary for the state assembly and state senate seats and the Tea Party candidates lost, despite your efforts on their behalf. The opposing party is excited about their candidates and polls give them a 50-50 chance of victory. Do you:
a) Endorse the candidates of your party with enthusiasm and campaign for them?
b) Endorse the candidates of your party in a letter, but do not participate in their campaigns?
c) Refuse to endorse the candidates of your party and publicly say why?
d) Offer no endorsement and sit out the election?
5) Other (specify)
7) The Republican governor of your state, elected as a fiscal conservative, finds that she faces a budget deficit that is equal to practically one-third of the state budget. She has promised the voters that she will not to raise taxes and has submitted a budget calling for draconian cuts in all services.
The president, who is of the opposing party proposes financial assistance to help your state pay for teachers and state police officers, with relatively no strings attached. You opposed the president's bill, but it passed anyway. Now, your governor and the mayor of your largest city as you to get the money for your district. Do you:
a) Quietly ask for the money through the established process?
b) Ask for the money, then publicly complain about having to do it?
c) Refuse to ask for the money on principle
d) Agree to seek money for the police--they voted for you--but not the teachers, who didn't?
e) Other (specify)
8) A powerful member of the opposing party, a fiscal conservative like yourself,has proposed a bill with spending and debt restrictions that you like. However, in order for the bill to pass, it needs to be coupled to a bill to repeal "don't ask, don't tell," for the military. You have no opinion either way on don't ask, don't tell, but conservative voters in your district strongly oppose it. Do you:
a) Vote for the bill anyway and publicly explain your vote?
b) Vote for the bill anyway, but say nothing?
c) Vote against the bill, and denounce "don't ask, don't tell," or accuse the opposing party of being liberal or manipulative?
d) Vote against the bill and say something else, like "the spending restrictions weren't tough enough"?
e) Other (specify)
9) The president, a Democrat, has nominated a Republican from your state for a cabinet position. Your governor, a Republican like yourself, and a friend of the nominee, supports the nomination. The nominee, known as a moderate Republican, is considered a liberal by your fellow Tea Party members. Do you:
a) Oppose the nomination on principle?
b) Support the nominee because he is a son of your state as well as a member of your party?
c) Abstain from voting?
d) Other (specify)
10) A major disaster strikes in your district, leaving 200 people homeless and without food. The president, who you have opposed in the past, offers to declare the impacted area a disaster area and to provide any and all assistance at his disposal. You accept his help, so does the governor of your state, and things go well. You have previously lashed out at the president for his efforts on the BP oil spill in the past and you have suggested that the government cannot handle emergencies with any competence. Do you now:
a) Thank the president and the agencies that helped your citizens and admit that you were wrong?
b) Thank the president, but say that they could have done a better job?
c) Thank the president, but say that you still favor cutbacks in spending for some of the services that helped the people in your district?
d) Thank the president and come out as an advocate for the services that performed the best?
e) Other (specify)
I hope at least one Tea Party candidate will come forward and answer these questions. Regardless of party, the way a candidate talks and the way they act once they're in office is not always the same.
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