September 2010 Archives

The debate over the flow of federal dollars to for-profit colleges took on a partisan tone today as lawmakers exchanged barbs at a hearing of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions.

At the third in a series of hearings on federal investments in for-profit education, some of the witnesses and senators criticized the parts of the sector for using high-pressure recruiting tactics, providing misleading job-placement statistics, and leaving students with mountains of debt.

"While I agree, at their best, non-profit colleges may indeed offer an alternative model for higher education, this committee's ongoing investigation has brought to light, disturbing practices that appear to be systemic to the industry," said Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, the committee's chairman. "And it raises serious questions about the enormous taxpayer investment in these schools."

Sen. Mike Enzi of Wyoming, the committee's ranking Republican, was more critical of the hearings. He said the interests of the nation's students were not being served by the hearings and called for the committee to work on a solution to what he called the real problems facing students pursuing higher education. "Students are taking on too much debt, loan defaults are too high, and it is too difficult to find jobs or even complete a program of study. Tuition continues to rise in all sectors of higher education faster than the rate of inflation, putting the dream of a college education out of reach for many of our most financially vulnerable students," Enzi said. "It is naïve to think that these problems are limited to just the for-profit sector."

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said that there appeared to be opposition to anything with a profit motive and that proprietary college provide flexible courses at night and online that were responsive to the job market. "I regret that this debate has exemplified the sharp division between our two parties and philosophies," he said, adding that there might be a different agenda in the Senate in January, after the mid-term elections. McCain said the chairman of the committee had pointed out the abuses in the system "ad nauseam."

Harkin said he never anticipated the hearings would devolve into partisan politics. He asked if McCain was implying that a Republican takeover would mean the issue would die. "I hope that's not the case," Harkin said. "I think something needs to be done."

Harkin released a report at the hearing today that analyzed 16 for-profit schools and highlighted the debt load of their students and the profits of the companies. Highlights included:

• More than 95 percent of students at the two-year for-profit schools and 93 percent at the four-year for-profit schools took out student loans in 2007, while only 16.6 percent of students attending community colleges and 44.3 percent at public four-year institutions did so.
• At the for-profit schools, 57 percent of students who entered between July 2008 and June 2009 have withdrawn. Over a three year period, an estimated 1.9 million students have left the 16 for-profit schools.
• Profit margins at the schools ranged from 16 percent to 37 percent, with the majority of revenue coming from the federal government.

Students too often leave for-profit colleges with debt, but not a diploma, Harkin said. "It's turned higher education into a high-stakes gamble for students," he said. "Going to college is like going to a casino where the deck is stacked against you."

Another hearing is slated for December. Harkin said he anticipates coming up with proposed legislative changes next year.

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It's going to take some creativity to meet President Obama's goal of leading the world in the highest proportion of college graduates by 2020.

Virginia is joining a handful of states trying one innovative approach to boost completion rates by supporting kids before they set foot on a college campus and encouraging savings for higher education. This fall, the commonwealth will pilot The Virginia 529 Early Commitment Program designed to motivate low- and moderate-income high school students to prepare for higher education and reward their efforts with money toward tuition.

Students who meet the pledge to maintain their grades, exhibit good behavior, complete community service hours, and take a financial literacy course, can earn up to $2,000 in the state's 529 College Savings Plan to be used toward college expenses.

Speaking at the College Savings Foundation 2010 Summit in Washington on Wednesday, Mary Morris, chief executive officer of the Virginia College Savings Plan, said the program hopes to motivate students to take the appropriate high school coursework to be ready for college and provide a road map to plug them into financial aid opportunities. The goal is "to help families understand that college is accessible, attainable, and affordable," Morris said.

The program will be piloted at five Virginia schools—two rural, two inner city, and one suburban. The schools were selected based on experience with counselors from the partner organization, GRASP (Great Aspirations Scholarship Program). The counselors will provide support to students and help build bridges between the K-12 and higher education systems, Morris explained.

"We were looking for something we could sustain and still make a meaningful contribution," Morris said. "We still wanted to have that aspirational piece. We hope this is one more incentive to keep them in school."

Students who meet the criteria at the end of 10th grade will get a 529 account with $500 in it. After 11th grade, another $500 will be added, and another $500 will go in after graduation. If students attended a Virginia public school, they also could receive a $500 bonus for a total of $2,000 that could be used toward any postsecondary education.

Saving for college not only creates greater financial stability, but it also creates expectations for attending and completing colleges, Morris said.

To make sure the program is working, the state will track high school performance and graduation rates, college applications and acceptances, enrollment/completion, and financial aid awarded.

Other Early Commitment Programs include Colorado College Invest, Indiana's 21st Century Scholars, Oklahoma Promise, Wisconsin Covenant and Washington College Bound.

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Four U.S. cities will receive $3 million each in grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for programs to improve college graduation rates, the foundation announced today.

New York City; San Francisco; Mesa, Ariz.; and Riverside, Calif., will receive the funds as part of the Communities Learning in Partnership Initiative, led by the National League of Cities' Institute for Youth, Education, and Families.

The money will flow in over the next three years and be used to align academic standards between high school and college, strengthen data systems, implement early assessment and college prep strategies, and create support systems to help boost college completion rates in the four cities.

"Education is absolutely the gateway to opportunity, and it's never been more true than it is today," said Allan Golston, president of the U.S. Program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. "A high school diploma is no longer enough. Education beyond high school is critical for young people to have a livable wage and for the country to complete in the global economy."

The grants emphasize partnerships among cities, community colleges, and public school systems to come up with solutions to help students be successful in postsecondary education.

Hilary Pennington, director of education, postsecondary success, and special initiatives for the U.S. Program at Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, applauded the mayors of the four chosen cities for being willing to set goals and have their progress publicly tracked. The grant winners recognize that K-12 and postsecondary systems need to work together and that building broad stakeholder networks is critical to success, she told reporters in a conference call announcing the grant winners.

In San Francisco, about 27 percent of ninth graders go on to earn postsecondary credentials. The new citywide partnership between the City College of San Francisco and the San Francisco Unified School District
will focus on aligning high school and college curriculum, providing better counseling to help students navigate through college, and enhancing work experiences tied to education to increase graduation rates. The goal is to increase the college completion rate by 20 percent over the next 10 years.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom said these types of partnerships help build capacity and create pathways for excellence. "There is nothing more important than creating a college-going culture," he said today. "This grant will help us in that effort. ... It's time for real innovation and new collaboration."

Dennis Walcott, New York City's deputy mayor for education and community development, said the Gates Foundation money will help improve efforts to define college readiness and align common academic standards between the K-12 system and the City University of New York. It also will support better coordination in advising. Now, about 10 percent of students enrolled as freshman at CUNY earn a degree three years later. The aim is to increase that to 25 percent by 2020.

Mesa has one of the largest school districts in Arizona and the largest community college, yet there is a huge gap in getting students to move into postsecondary education. Mesa Mayor Scott Smith called this a "perplexing problem" that hurts the city's ability to attract quality jobs. The Gates grant money will focus especially on helping low-income students succeed in college. Mesa Community College will partner with the Mesa Public Schools and the city with the goal of increasing college graduation rates from 8 percent to 16 percent in 10 years.

Riverside's grant money will be invested in improving early assessment and accelerated college prep strategies for students. The city, school, and college partners also will bring employers to advise students, and establish a public information hub for improving college success. Associate degree completion is the immediate goal in Riverside, with a target of 20 percent completion by 2013, up from the current rate of 14 percent.

Seven cities had applied for the four competitive grants. Pennington said it would not be an annual competition.

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The U.S. Department of Education announced that its proposed regulations intended to hold for-profit colleges accountable for preparing students for gainful employment will be released in two phases—delaying some of the rules to give more time for public comment.

The regulations dealing with eligibility to receive federal student aid will be issued in early 2011 and would go into effect in July 2012. The for-profit college sector has been lobbying hard for the department to reconsider the proposal, and the DOE plans to host several meetings and public hearings to clarify comments received so far.

Regulations on 13 other issues, including some related to gainful employment, are still set to be published Nov. 1 and would go into effect July 1, 2011. These rules are designed to protect students from aggressive or misleading recruiting practices and to provide better information about the effectiveness of career college and training programs.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan maintains that the department is moving forward on the gainful employment regulations, but additional time is needed to be as thoughtful as possible in crafting the rules.

"While a majority of career colleges play a vital role in training our workforce to be globally competitive, some bad actors are saddling students with debt they cannot afford in exchange for degrees and certificates they cannot use," he said in a written statement. "These schools and their investors benefit from billions of dollars in taxpayers subsidies, and in return, taxpayers have a right to know that all of these programs are providing solid preparation for a job."

The proposal for rules to reign in for-profit colleges came on the heels of a GAO report outlining deceptive recruiting practices at many schools.

On a related note: Kaplan Higher Education, one of the schools that would be affected by the new DOE gainful employment regulations, today announced a debt-free trial program where students can try out classes before having to pay tuition.

The "Kaplan Commitment" program would let prospective students can take classes for an introductory period to see if the coursework meets their needs before they would have to make a financial commitment. The company also would help assess the students to see if they would likely be successful in their chosen field of study.

Students who don't pass the academic evaluation or choose to withdraw from the program within the specified time would not have to pay for the coursework. The provisional admittance program is designed in part to lower the risk that the federal government lends money unnecessarily to students, according to the company press release.

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Hard-working kids put together a college application with test scores, grades, essays, and lists of activities. While all those things matter, it doesn't hurt to mention your mom or dad happened to attend that school. It can boost your chances for admission by 20 percent. Is that fair?

Today, the issue was discussed at a forum in Washington, in conjunction with the release of the book Affirmative Action for the Rich: Legacy Preferences in College Admissions, edited by Richard Kahlenberg, senior fellow at the Century Foundation. Are legacy preferences immoral? Un-American? Or is the concern overblown? Academics, policy experts, and attorneys weighed in at the National Press Club, and the debate is sure to continue as the book makes the rounds.

"Legacy preferences are extensive and have considerable bite," said Kahlenberg. Nearly three-quarters of elite national institutions grant legacy preferences. And it's not just a tiebreaker. Research suggests that the weight is significant, adding the equivalent of 160 SAT points to a candidate's record.

The notion of getting preference because of your lineage is arguably "un-American," at odds with the fundamental design of our democracy, said Kahlenberg. Yet, interestingly, it is almost an entirely American tradition that is virtually unknown in other parts of the world.

Polls find that around 75 percent of Americans oppose legacy preferences. And some campuses, such as Texas A&M and the University of Arizona, are abandoning legacy preferences. Yet, legislative efforts to stop the practice have not been successful.

Legacy preferences hurt children of color, said John Brittain, a professor at the University of the District of Columbia Law School and a former chief counsel and senior deputy director for the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights. First-generation, minority students without a family history at a school miss out on the advantage, he said. While underrepresented minorities make up 12.5 percent of the applicant pool at selective colleges, they account for 6.7 percent of the legacy pool. "Legacy preference is the biggest affirmative action in the nation today—far more benefit from it than from racial or ethnic affirmative action," Brittain said.

Case law in the United States supports the concept that children should not be discriminated against or punished based on the birth or behavior of their parents, noted Steve Shadowen, an attorney with the law firm Hangley Aronchick Segal & Pudlin. He suggested that legacy preferences are clearly unconstitutional as practiced at state universities.

Chad Coffman, the president of Winnemac Consulting, a Chicago-based research firm, studied the top 100 national universities from 1997 to 2007 to look at the impact of legacy preferences on alumni giving. Controlling for the size of the alumni population, wealth of the families and other factors, the study found that legacy preferences were not linked to increased donations—casting doubt on the financial justification for the practice.

What's really important to success is not what college you go to, but that you do go to college, said Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, president emeritus and professor of public service at George Washington University. "This is all nonsense," he said in his opening remarks. Students apply to many colleges, and if they don't get into one, they can go to another and still get a good education, he said.

All criteria used by an admissions officer are vulnerable, said Trachtenberg. Some say SAT tests are flawed, grade points averages differ by high school, and letters of recommendation are arbitrary. The process is "discretionary" and an effort is made to craft a class and create a community, said Trachtenberg. It's true that if someone benefits from legacy preferences, someone else loses, he said. But it's a matter of degree. Too much preference is not good, he said, but some is not a problem: "It's gray. It's not black and white. I don't see this as an absolute issue. It's not life and death."

Kahlenberg noted, however, that selective schools spend more money per student and have higher graduation rates. Research also shows that their graduates make more money, and 54 percent of leaders in corporate American and 42 percent of leaders in government come from 12 elite institutions. For a related issue brief on legacy preferences by Kahlenberg, click here.

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The president is calling for it. The economy is demanding it. Yet, the percentage of Americans earning college degrees is not climbing as quickly as many hoped.

A report released today by the Lumina Foundation for Education, an independent, Indianapolis-based foundation that advocates expanded access and success in education beyond high school, shows the rate of higher education attainment was virtually stagnant from 2007 to 2008. In 2007, 37.7 percent of Americans between the ages of 25 and 64 had two- or four-year college degrees; in 2008, the figure was 37.9 percent.

This year's report includes data and profiles on college completion for individual states and counties. (Click here.)

The report, A Stronger Nation Through Higher Education, chronicles progress toward the Lumina Foundation's "Big Goal" that 60 percent of Americans hold post-secondary degrees or certificates by 2025—an increase of 23 million graduates above current rates. President Obama has also set a goal to restore America's lead in the number of college graduates by the 2020.

Americans need to boost their education to keep up with the competitive, global, knowledge-based economy, says Anthony Carnevale, director of the Georgetown University Center on Education and Workforce, which released a report in June on the topic. His findings predict that by the year 2018, the nation will have a shortage of 3 million workers with the necessary postsecondary degrees to fill the jobs of the future.

"You don't go anywhere anymore in the American economy or any modern economy without going to some postsecondary education or training first," says Carnevale. "This is relatively new in the United States." In the past two recessions, people with high school degrees or less were three times more likely to be unemployed long term that those with more education, he noted.

Still, the Lumina Foundation says a 50 percent increase in college graduates in 15 years is a realistic time frame. Dewayne Matthews, vice president for public policy and strategy at Lumina, notes that it would take an increase of 280,000 degrees each year until 2025. That is not unprecedented, he says, pointing out that colleges dramatically increased capacity in the 1950s and the 1970s.

To grow the number of college grads, the Lumina Foundation suggests reaching out to working adults who never finished their degrees. More than 37 million Americans (22 percent of the workforce) have attended some college but have not completed a degree, the report notes. Focus should also be on low-income, first-generation students of color, who continue to lag in college completion but are becoming a larger share of the potential student pool.

What can high schools do to help America reach the "Big Goal"? Students need to be better prepared academically, socially and financially, says Jane Kramer, a program officer for the Lumina Foundation. High schools should do more to expand dual enrollment, Advanced Placement, and International Baccalaureate programs, she says. Teachers need to set high expectation for performance and push rigorous courses.

There needs to be greater conversations between high schools and colleges aligning curriculum so fewer students arrive on campus in need of remedial courses, Kramer adds. Teachers need to coordinate with after school and summer enrichment programs to share information about students to boost their performance.

Schools also should take some responsibility for helping families navigate through the financial aid system and provide "wrap around" services to support first-generation students who may not be familiar with the college process.

High schools that have been successful in preparing students for college have set concrete goals, such as increasing the number of minority students by a certain percentage in a specific time period.

"Colleges need to step up, too," adds Kramer. "That's their pipeline—the students who will come to them and pay tuition."

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Dual-enrollment programs are considered a promising approach for boosting college completion rates. These programs, such as one I wrote about recently in Indiana, often allow high school students to earn college credits without leaving their high school campuses.

Now the president of Brevard Community College in Florida is questioning whether students are getting the true college experience this way.

Florida Today reported yesterday that Brevard Community College President Jim Drake is considering requiring most dual-enrollment students to take courses on the BCC campus. He suggests that taking classes on campus, taught by college professors, is a more enriching experience.

Melinda Mechur Karp, a senior research associate with Community College Research Center at Columbia University in New York, says there has always been some skepticism about high school-based dual enrollment. "There is this idea that it's not as rigorous because they are high school teachers, or it's not real college," she says. "It's a very common concern. As dual enrollment grows on high school campuses, not that I call it a backlash, but it becomes a more prominent question."

While Karp does not know if there is a formal movement to take dual-enrollment back to the college campus, it is a frequently raised issue, and the discussion in Florida is not an outlier. The growth in dual-enrollment programs is happening at high schools because of the logistical advantage and the ability to offer it to more students, she adds.

High schools teachers need to switch the mindset and structure clearly when it comes to dual-enrollment classes. It's more than just an AP class that has college content, says Karp. Dual enrollment is supposed to be a college course with a syllabus, tests three times a semester, different norms, and a collegiate atmosphere. Karp suggests high schools be proactive to work with their sponsoring institutions to select and train the right teachers for dual-enrollment courses.

As dual enrollment expands, there is also an issue of money. One of the big perks of a dual-enrollment program is that it saves the high school student money by racking up college credits without paying tuition. The Florida Today article notes that in that state, the law requires tuition and fees be waived for dual-enrollment programs, and BCC is missing out on nearly $11.5 million in the past five years. The programs can also cost school districts in textbooks and transportation. The public school system and the community college split the cost of the instructors in the Brevard dual-enrollment program.

With dual-enrollment programs, colleges can boost enrollment without a lot of expense. But after a certain point, Karps notes there is no more return for enrolling students. Campuses cap out and don't get more state aid. Plus, they need to leave room for traditional students. Typically, high school-based dual-enrollment programs make more sense financially, adds Karp.

This week, the superintendent of the Brevard Public Schools and the BCC president will meet to discuss the issues. It's unclear whether money, space, or something else is the driving force in the proposal to shift all courses to the college campus, says Christine Davis, director of communications and public information for the district. About one in five dual-enrollment courses is offered in the high school, usually when classes are full on campus or lab space is required, she said.

The dual-enrollment program in Brevard has saved families about $6 million a year, with 116 students graduating last year with both high school and two-year college diplomas. "Dual enrollment has been one of our very high interest programs and highly supported by our families," says Davis, "They are always happy when they get the bill and they owe zero."

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While for-profit colleges are concerned about the impact of proposed federal gainful employment regulations, a report released today by an independent non-profit suggests that few programs would actually be cut off from federal financial aid.

Just 4 percent of programs would be deemed ineligible for federal student aid funds if the current gainful employment rules were enacted, according to the report, "Are you Gainfully Employed? Setting Standards for For-Profit Degrees," by Ben Miller, a policy analyst for Education Sector, a think tank based in Washington, D.C.

Under the U.S. Department of Education proposal, a program is ineligible if the repayment rate of its graduates is below 35 percent and the annual loan payment is both above 12 percent of average annual earnings and 30 percent of discretionary income.

Of the remaining programs, the Education Sector analysis estimates 15 percent would be restricted, 65 percent would be eligible with a debt warning, and 16 percent would be fully eligible, the report estimates.

Programs required to post a debt warning must alert potential students to the likelihood that enrolling would be hazardous to their financial health, Miller writes. "The gainful employment standard would not lead to a wholesale shutdown of the for-profit sector," writes Miller. "But it would force many for-profits to substantially change their pricing and approach to student debt."

The analysis looked at 12,662 programs offered at 2,667 colleges and universities, reviewing the cost to attend and repayment rates.

These findings aren't much different from the DOE projections. It estimated that 5 percent of programs would be deemed ineligible, 8 percent would be restricted, 48 percent would be eligible with a debt warning, and 39 percent would be fully eligible.

Much of the focus in the debate has been on institutions, but the report suggests that individual programs within those institutions may vary widely in how they measure up to the gainful employment standard. Some may be unaffected while others become ineligible for federal student aid.

Of the programs analyzed in the Education Sector report, programs most likely to be affected are those tied to high-tech fields, such as e-commerce or graphic design, or those jobs with low starting salaries, such as medical assistant or chef. The marketing pitches to these programs often tout the benefits of an entire industry, rather than the reality of a specific job, which can be entry-level with low pay and poor investments for students.

Debate over the proposed rules has been lively over the past two months. Critics of the gainful employment standard have claimed it would eliminate quality programs and attack freedom and individual liberty, the Education Sector report notes. Community colleges are concerned they are being swept into the oversight that was intended to clean up the for-profit sector.

Public comment in the federal gainful employment rules wrapped up on Sept. 9. A final decision is expected in November.

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Community Colleges struck it big when candidate Barack Obama chose Joe Biden as a running mate. Along with the deal came Biden's wife, Jill, a community college professor and advocate for this growing sector of higher education.

Today, word is out that Mrs. Biden will convene the first White House summit on community colleges on Oct. 5. It will provide a forum for community college administrators, business leaders, philanthropists, government officials, and students to discuss how these schools can help in President Obama's vision of making the U.S. the most educated workforce in the world.

All this comes at a critical time. There is a desperate need to innovate at community colleges, with enrollment up nearly 17 percent in the past two years, dwindling public funding, and completion rates at 40 percent. A majority of students enter community college unprepared academically, and campuses are looking for ways to improve developmental education programs, which are critical to student success.

It will be interesting to see who is invited to the White House summit and, more importantly, what will come out of it.

UPDATE: For the official White House announcement and to view a video about the summit, go here.

The White House is asking the public to submit thoughts, questions, and challenges for discussion as part of the summit dialogue. You also can submit a video via YouTube or through the White House webform about how the community college experience has affected your life. There will be an online dialogue set up for interested parties to discuss ideas for community colleges, and people are encouraged to host groups or watch the live webcast of the plenary session of the summit.

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Women have long earned the majority of master's degrees in the United States. Now, they also lead men in new doctoral degrees.

According to a report released today by the Council of Graduate Schools, women earned 50.4 percent of doctorates in the 2008-2009 academic year—a one-year increase of 6.3 percent for women compared to 1 percent for men. Women were more likely to receive a Ph.D. in health sciences (70 percent) and education (67 percent), while men dominated doctorates in engineering (78 percent) and math/computer science (73 percent.).

Women currently represent 60 percent of all Americans with master's degrees. The breakdown by field is similar to that for doctorates.

Today's report, Graduate Enrollment and Degrees, 1999-2009, shows that the number of new students at U.S. graduate schools grew 5.5 percent from 2008 to 2009, compared to 4.5 percent the previous year.

It also shows that men are catching up. Growth in both first-time and total graduate enrollment in 2009 was higher for men than for women, reversing a long-term trend. Enrollment among men increased 6.7 percent, compared to 4.7 percent for women. Over the past 10 years, first-time enrollment for women grew by an annual average of 5.2 percent, compared to 4.2 percent for men.

The growing number of students going to graduate school reflects the increasing necessity of a graduate degree to successfully compete in a 21st-century knowledge-based economy, according to the Council of Graduate Schools.

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The tougher the classes you take in high school, the better you are likely to do on the SAT.

Findings released today by the College Board showed that students in the class of 2010 who took a core curriculum—defined as four or more years of English, three or more years of math, three or more years of natural science, and three or more years of social science and history—scored, on average, 151 points higher on the SAT than those who did not.

"Students who take rigorous courses perform better on the SAT and perform better in college and beyond," said Laurence Bunin, senior vice president of College Connection & Success of the College Board, in a press conference today. "There are no shortcuts, tricks or ways to cram for the SAT. Not surprisingly, students who are the most academically prepared for college are the very ones who achieve the greatest success on the SAT."

However, simply taking a set of classes in a core curriculum does not guarantee mastery of a subject matter, he added. The rigor of those classes varies widely across high schools. The College Board has been involved in crafting the Common Core State Standards Initiative in an effort to better align curriculum and prepare students for college said Bunin. "It is vital that we establish common college- and career-readiness standards in English/language arts and mathematics that are evidence-based and internationally benchmarked," Bunin said.

The report today also showed that students who took honors or AP courses performed better on the SAT. The Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test helps students and educators identify students' academic strengths and weaknesses earlier in the high school, said Bunin. The results show on average that those who took the PSAT/NMSQT had a combined score 146 points higher on average than students who did not take the test.

Overall scores on the SAT this year remained flat, with a slight increase in math performance, while reading and writing scores were stable.

Looking back over the past few years, however, a clear dip in writing skills is apparent. The writing section of the SAT was first introduced in 2005. In 2006 when the first writing scores were available, the average score was 497. Today it is 492. Writing also is the most predictive section of the SAT, added Bunin.

"Writing is an important part of college success and is critical to just about every job and career field," he said. It is a proficiency that educators recognize as an important 21st-century skill, Bunin said. "Developing these skills is critical to both college and career readiness, which is why this downward trend needs to be reversed. Writing needs to be a higher priority in secondary and K-12 education."

After a decade of education reform and flat SAT scores, does that mean No Child Left Behind been a failure? "It certainly hasn't accomplished what we must accomplish. We don't have enough students going to college," said College Board President Gaston Caperton. "We have to add a lot more rigor. Kids have to work harder. They have to be more engaged and committed. It's a great problem in this country. It's something we all have to work on."

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Everyone deserves a second chance, right? Especially when it comes to something as important, and potentially transforming, as a college degree.

Some colleges in the Philadelphia area are now operating on that philosophy. An article in the Philadelphia Inquirer this week describes several schools that have academic forgiveness programs that allow returning students to start over and reset their grade point averages.

Administrators at Camden County College were among those welcoming back drop outs, while Community College of Philadelphia, Bucks County Community College, Rutgers University, and Rowan University were described as reaching out to students who left campuses because of academic struggles.

College leaders say higher education is vital in today's job market, and programs that let students start over can make all the difference in their future. Giving students a second chance could help increase students' degree and certificate completion rates, helping the country meet President Obama's goal of regaining the lead in college graduates. Today, just 40 percent of those who enter community college finish with a degree.

George Boggs, president and chief executive officer for the American Association of Community Colleges, says academic forgiveness programs are fairly common and a good idea.

"Many young people start college unprepared and often lack the maturity and perhaps motivation to do well. All too often, they drop out, leaving a trail of withdraw grades that turn into failures," says Boggs. "Academic forgiveness programs can give them a fresh start and help them to complete their programs and become more productive citizens."

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With nearly one in three students failing to graduate from high school each year, President Obama has labeled the dropout crisis "a problem we cannot afford to accept and cannot afford to ignore."

Jobs for the Future, a Boston-based education policy organization, is calling for immediate and drastic action to address the challenge in two reports released today: Six Pillars of Effective Dropout Prevention and Recovery and Reinventing Alternative Education. The reports include assessments of current state policies and proposals for improvement.

New federal legislation requiring states to develop more accurate ways of counting dropouts and holding districts more accountable for improving results has "created an environment ripe for action," according to JFF. There appears to be some momentum on the issues with 36 states and the District of Columbia have enacting new dropout legislation since 2002.

The six dropout-related state policy elements that JFF recommends are:

1. Raise the compulsory age to 18 and require students to stay in school until they earn a diploma
2. Enhance data collection in counting and accounting for dropouts
3. Help districts with low graduation rates implement far-reaching reforms
4. Create and sustain vehicles for developing "back on track" models
5. Include "off-track" students in strategies for accelerating high school completion and preparation for postsecondary success
6. Provide stable funding for systemic reform

1. Broaden eligibility guidelines
2. Clarify state and district roles and responsibilities
3. Strengthen accountability for results
4. Increase support for innovation
5. Provide staff incentives
6. Enhance student support services
7. Enrich funding

Posted by Caralee Adams at 11:36 AM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

We can talk about all the issues surrounding the transition from high school to college, from admissions requirements to enrollment trends to the search process, but what most families are thinking about these days is money. How are we going to pay for what can be more than $200,000 for a college education at a private school?

Janet Bodnar wrote a column for Kiplinger's Personal Finance about choosing a college as an economic decision as well as an academic one. In her column, 7 Strategies to Avoid the Student-Debt Trap, she explains the importance of having a frank talk with teens about what their family can afford and what the teens will be expected to contribute. She's an advocate of considering colleges that are a good value and choosing a marketable major.

Bodnar also encourages families to save and pay as they go, as much as they can, to avoid racking up massive debt. With college expenses so high these days, there is no sidestepping the fact that money is a huge factor in choosing a school, and kids need to be part of that discussion.

I've long been a fan of Bodnar's smart, no-nonsense advice when it comes to kids and money. (Full disclosure: Bodnar and I both contributed chapters to a book about raising teens a couple of years ago.) I like how she wants to empower kids to manage their own money, giving teenagers an allowance to pay for everything from their lunches to their own clothes. It may be hard for many parents to give up this control, but in the long run, it can help kids learn to budget and understand limits.

The Washington Post had a good story on Sunday about teaching kids to get in the habit of saving. Managing debt and money indeed starts at home.

Writing about personal finance over the years, as well as education, I too have become a big proponent of teaching kids to be money savvy. It may seem like a bother that you just don't have time for. But it's worth it when you see your children comparison shop and turn down an item because they determine on their own that it's not worth it. Or, when they have pride in the growing ledger in their savings account as they make a deposit at the bank. Soon they are on their own making what you hope are infrequent withdrawals with an ATM card from their hard-earned savings.

If we don't show our kids how to handle their finances, how can we expect them to make ends meet at college and beyond? We have to model smart money management by saving for college and keeping budgets in mind when selecting the best college to attend.

Posted by Caralee Adams at 8:01 AM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

The proposed gainful-employments rules aimed at reigning in for-profit colleges may also affect other sectors of higher education, namely community colleges.

"Unfortunately, there is a high probability that community colleges will be swept along with the for-profits into a category that will subject the institutions to greater regulation and reporting requirements," writes George Boggs, president and chief executive officer of the American Association of Community Colleges in a Sept. 2 update to board members.

AACC has joined with other higher education groups to submit letters of concern to the Department of Education's proposed gainful-employment rules designed to crack down on abuses in the for-profit education industry.

Boggs urges community college leaders to take the time to contact the department prior to Sept. 9 for public comment to let the regulators know how the rules will affect their institutions and students. While the proposed regulations are complex, Boggs worries that the regulations would limit a college's ability to respond quickly to the needs of its community by requiring federal approval of programs and would add costly reporting requirements.

AACC, along with several other associations, has signed a letter sent by the American Council on Education and has joined with the Association of Community College Trustees in sending a separate letter to the Department of Education.

In a conference call last month to go over the rules with the department, community college leaders learned that 30,000 of the 50,000 programs potentially covered by the gainful-employment rules were community college programs.

Much of the drive for more oversight was linked to the concern that for-profits were increasingly supported with federal student loans that graduates have not been able to repay. Community college leaders point to the 2008 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS) that shows just 5 percent of students in certificate programs at public 2-year certificate programs borrowed federal loans in 2008 compared with 77 percent at for-profits. About 84 percent of private for-profit students in certificate programs borrowed at all in 2008, compared with 21 percent at public 4-year institutions, 45 percent of those at private not-for-profits, and 9 percent at public two-year colleges.

While many feel community colleges will be required to abide by the proposed rules, if they are adopted, leaders in the field are hoping others will voice their concern in public comment ending next week.

Sandra Kurtinitis, president of The Community College of Baltimore County, says she initially had not paid close attention to the gainful-employment proposal because she didn't think it would directly affect the school. But she is following it now as it might require some additional data collection on graduates and their jobs. While accountability is a good thing, Kurtinitis says response to graduate follow-up surveys is not high, and she thinks it would be a challenge to track students. With 74,000 students in 100 associate degree programs and 200 substantial certificate programs, being required to do this additional data collection would be very significant, says Kurtinitis.

The additional regulation would likely mean adding staff in the research office, which would be difficult as the college is beginning the year with $2.6 million less than last. "We would do it, of course. But it's an unfortunate time to ramp up the energy to approach collecting the data," she says. Kurtinitis says she hopes ACCT and others weighing in on the issue might make a difference, but for now, community colleges will have to wait and see.

Posted by Caralee Adams at 9:27 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today said a new generation of assessments being developed for K-12 students will more accurately reflect higher-level thinking, give timely feedback to teachers, and better prepare students for college.

Speaking at Achieve's Annual American Diploma Project Network Leadership Team Meeting in Alexandria, Va., Duncan spoke about the hope for improved testing that will result from the $330 million awarded earlier today to the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) and the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) as part of the Race to the Top competition.

While not ushering in "education nirvana," Duncan said the development of better assessments aligned with rigorous standards will be an "absolute game changer in K-12 education."

It also has the potential to benefit higher education, as better alignment of curricula could reduce the need for remedial instruction in college. Duncan said the team reviewing the applications was "stunned and thrilled" at both grant winners buy-in from public colleges to work with high schools to define what it means to be college ready. Too often, expectations for high school graduation don't translate into the skills needed for incoming college freshmen, he said.

The new assessments are expected to reflect a shift in looking beyond K-12 to what students need to know.

"Assessments will help set a consistent, high bar for success nationwide instead of misleading students, parents, and school leaders into thinking that students are ready for college when, in fact, they aren't even close," said Duncan. "We have to stop lying and have to start telling the truth."

Rather than multiple-choice, bubble tests, the new approach to assessments will look at complex learning and critical-thinking skills. The hope is that this will drive innovative curricula, rather than dumbing down content, as has happened in the past to make schools' scores look better. By providing immediate feedback, teachers are supposed to be able to tailor instruction appropriately for better student outcomes.

Duncan called for a celebration of this milestone today, as work begins on developing the new assessments, although they won't be ready for classrooms until 2014-15.

Posted by Caralee Adams at 12:21 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend