The sentiments of a current second-year college student attending a public flagship university in California when reflecting on the perils of the academic meritocracy: Rewarding/punishing requires less effort [by faculty and students] though, making it the easier default [system for measuring academic performance]. Assigning expectations, whether positive or negative, is a low-effort path that leads…
So, said Warren Buffet, net worth $86 billion. Tuition can be a measurement of value, as in, “What’s the value of the education for the number of dollars exchanged?” When families question the “affordability” of a particular college, as in, “Do I have enough money to pay for X College?”, they’re in essence determining the value…
Updated: November 2020 from the original posted in July 2018 The short answer is yes…with an *. [See Below] But, like any life-impacting decision, the short answer doesn’t account for the complexities of choosing a college. And, the last three words are what’s most important to keep in mind: YOU, the applicant, are the one…
The 2021-22 Free Application for Federal Student Aid, commonly known as the FAFSA, which U.S. universities use to determine what, if any, financial assistance for families, opened on October 1, 2020. Parents and students can submit the form online, only requiring some time and patience to complete, what can, on first glance, be reminiscent of…
The Modern College, a place where students guided by mentors, supported by peers, experiment with adult responsibilities, free to discover their life’s purpose, only impersonates its Pre-COVID self. To mitigate health risks of the pandemic, in March and again in Fall 2020, university administrators are restricting students’ freedoms, for which they believe they must, yet,…
Caption: Jen Grantham/Getty Images/iStockphoto Although the causes behind the shrinking of the American middle class are complicated, the interdependent, economic relationship with the modern American educational industrial complex is not in doubt. As academic achievements plateau at the average, middle class families are spending more funds to supplement educational experiences, like extracurricular activities. Additionally, greater…
Federal student loan interest rates for the upcoming 2020-21 school year will be set lower than the 2019-20 school year. The 2020-21 rates will be as follows: Undergraduate Direct Loans: 2.75% Graduate Student Direct Loans: 4.3% Parent PLUS Loans: 5.3% Student loan interest rates are set annually and apply to any loan taken during that…
On May 11, administrators at Northwestern University, a 169 year old institution, ranked #9 National University according to US News & World Report with a $10.8 Billion endowment fund, announced expense reductions, including: furloughing 250 staff, halting hiring, suspending contributions to pensions, as well as cutting salaries for university administrators. For the second year in…
Last Thursday, May 14, California Governor Newsom announced 2020-21 budget revisions, including cuts to higher education, given the projected $54 billion loss of state revenues. Although he proposes a $376 million cut to the University of California (UC) system affecting 285,000 students and a $404 million cut affecting 500,000 California State University (CSU) students, the…
In my recent conversation with Ron Kroichick of the San Francisco Chronicle, I discussed the changes to the college admissions process starting in Fall 2021, as well as sentiment about the value of a college education. Although colleges are non-profit organizations, which in the collective culture are imagined to be altruistic endeavors where the potential…
In 2019, average state funding per full time college student was still lower than the 2009 levels, the beginning of The Great Financial Crisis. Given projected reductions in state revenues for 2020, higher education leaders will likely again experience reductions in state subsidies starting this fall, as we discussed earlier. Students would be wise to…
As state revenues shrink, the subsidies to public K-12 schools and higher education systems will shrink proportionately, effectively increasing the (or likelihood of) fiscal deficits for educational institutions. In a recent Bloomberg News article discussing the economic state of affairs in California, the fifth largest state economy in the United States: California Governor Gavin Newsom…
Amidst the COVID-19 health crisis disrupting educational and instructional continuity, students, parents, and educators are asking and being asked questions about the current educational process, which is also spurring discussions about the value of education. The following is a selection of education-related news stories from the past few weeks, offering insights about the shifts…
To date, thirteen of the top twenty-five US News & World Report nationally ranked universities, all adopted Pass/No Pass-style grading systems for the spring term, due to the COVID-19 health crisis: Although Pass/No Pass is the default system at UC Berkeley, University of Pennsylvania, Brown, Princeton and Yale, students can still “opt-in” to be awarded…
In Parts 1 and 2, sentiment amongst college students and prospective college students may already be declining, which could be exacerbated even further, as we weather the current global pandemic with closed college campuses and students dispersed to their childhood homes. Additionally, the last of the Millennials are now college graduates, but experiencing a current…
