If voters approve a tax increase on November’s ballot, then the UC will freeze tuition at current amounts–$12,192. (The UC Regents discussed the possibility of a 6% tuition increase for 2012-13 at their last meeting and were expected to vote on the increase in July. That vote will not be called.) However, if voters DO…
CA Budget Affects Cal Grants for Private, Non Profit Colleges
Proposed reductions in funding for the Cal Grant program, in the current 2013 Fiscal budget plan, would reduce private, non-profit university student’s grants by 17% by 2014 to $8,056 per year. (Examples of private non-profit colleges are the University of Pacific or University of Southern California.) Current Cal Grants for private, non-profit university students are…
Maybe a Summer-Slide Is Just What the Doctor Ordered?
Annually, this is the time of year parents and teachers share concerns that students forget academic concepts, since they’re not in school several months. It’s often called, “Summer-Slide.” Yet, how much does consistency affect students’ comprehension and academic progress?
Possible Rise In Student Loan Interest Rate Could Be Postponed.
According the Wall Street Journal, “Senate leaders said Tuesday they had reached a tentative deal to keep most student-loan interest rates at 3.4% for another year, preventing the rates from doubling on Sunday and potentially resolving a contentious election-year issue.” Presidential politics again rules the day, but of course anything can happen, and sooner or later the…
Seeking to understand your purpose
Reading about the death of Ray Bradbury a few weeks ago led me again to wonder about the purpose of life. Having been alive for 47 years, one thinks this question would have been answered by now, but here I am still wondering. Maybe it is this wondering that keeps me searching for something innovative,…
“Honey, Fire Up the Chopper!”
When it’s time for kids to move to college, it might be more complex to let go than you think. A lifetime of “taxi-ing” to every soccer practice and tournament in Timbucktoo, emailing teachers daily, tutoring homework, staying up late to put the clothes in the dryer ” ‘ cuz I gotta wear that shirt,…
Reading Does Not Make You a Nerd
It’s summer. Hot (read: reason to stay inside). No school (read: students have LOTS of free time, for which their parents’ intentions and their own intentions may differ). So, its the season for numerous media articles lamenting “summer slide” or students “forgetting” the academic information from the previous school year to features of popular…
Student Loan Costs Set to Rise
Note of importance regarding new student loans: According to Bloomberg news, if Congress does not act by July 1st, all new student loans will carry an interest rate of 6.8 percent versus the existing rate of 3.4 percent. For all those entering the student loan market this fall plan accordingly, for what looks like an average…
Being Special in a Sea of Special
Wow. In a time when it seems every 5 year old knows what “self-esteem” means, David McCullough Jr. reminded us of our basic human equanimity. “…even if you’re one in a million, on a planet of 6.8 billion that means there are nearly 7,000 people just like you. ” Boy, that either fries your hide…
College Transportation Blues?
A car, insurance, gas, general maintenance for wear and tear (not to mention possible tickets) and time lost trying to find parking can be a hassle for most college students. To save money (or because of a university bans freshmen from bringing cars for their first year), students have for years chosen to rely on…
Standardized Testing: The Good, The Bad and A Hmmmm…Moment
Bob Schaeffer of FairTest, an organization committed to a fair use of standardized testing in K-12 schools and college admissions, recently spoke with Creative Marbles about assessments. Our conversation reminded me of questions I’ve been asking since I was a beginning teacher, “How do we know (i.e. grasp clearly in the mind) what another has…
What’s Unemployment Got to Do With Picking Colleges for Application?
Forecasting job prospects based on location of the college is another criteria for prospective applicants and their parents to consider, before deciding to apply. If unemployment in general is high in a particular state, does a student and family want to invest their limited capital and 4-5 years of effort in a college, when they…
Financial Aid 101: Are You Financially Literate?
Paying for college seems out of the ordinary, given the total amount, which creates the “wake-me-up-from-a-dead-sleep-gasping-for-air” feeling. However, with some foresight, families can approach college expenses together and with less nervousness. Art Baird, Creative Marbles CEO and financial aid expert, and Jill Yoshikawa, Partner of the Educational Division at Creative Marbles, recorded a recent conversation…
College Reputation: The Inheritance of Graduates
A recent promotion (see below) on the University of San Francisco’s Facebook page got me thinking about the reputation of the college in relation to career prospects, especially since many students (and their parents) seek college degrees for greater future job security.
Will the $10 Billion Deficit in Pension Obligations Affect the Quality of UC Education?
The perfect storm: increasing numbers of qualified high school graduates for UC admissions, baby boomers maturing to retirement, who were promised generous pensions–which UC administrators did not fund for 20 years starting in the early 1990’s–and current reductions in state funding for higher education–all put pressure to increase tuition–while at the same time real wages…