No Sucker Left Behind

Going to College Before You Go to College

2009-10-25T11:00:00.003-04:00

Good article here from Brian O'Connor about how to lower your college costs by getting college credit before you get to college. This is a topic that I discuss in my book, and it's good to see articles promoting the same ideas. I also like this bit of advice, that students and parents often don't consider:

"[There should be] no waffling around about a major, [such as] starting with art history, going to pre-med for a month, and then switching to accounting. Students need to pick a direction and stick with it [in order to graduate as quickly as possible, with the lowest costs]."

Binghamton Lecturer Critical of Athletics Is Fired

2009-10-12T22:01:00.002-04:00

This New York Times article reports that a SUNY Binghamton instructor was fired after saying that the athletic department was pressuring her to give higher grades to the athletes. The University denies that she was fired specifically for this reason, and I believe that she has since been rehired. Now why aren't more instructors speaking out about these kinds of practices?

Underworked Faculty and Overstaffed Administration

2009-09-16T05:55:00.002-04:00

Dick Morris has posted a very interesting essay about why tuition prices are unnecessarily expensive at most schools, and what York College in Pennsylvania is doing to keep costs down.

I Love College - Asher Roth

2009-09-15T06:56:00.002-04:00

This blog needs more hip hop videos.

Crossing the Finish Line: Completing College at America's Public Universities

2009-09-09T21:45:00.001-04:00

This is a new book by William Bowen, Matthew Chingos, and Michael McPherson. It's getting a lot of press coverage, but I haven't read it and so I can't vouch for its usefulness. I'm a bit skeptical about it, because it only focuses on public colleges, and only 21 of them at that. But I'm open-minded and would love to hear if this book adds anything new to the debate about college value and college graduation rates.

2009 Tuition Increase is Higher Than Ever

2009-09-05T08:47:00.002-04:00

Andrew Gillen at the Center for College Affordability and Productivity reports a startling fact:

Since general inflation is actually negative this year for all items -- while college prices have increased -- tuition prices have gone up by 9% at public colleges and by 8% at private colleges (compared to last year, after adjusting for inflation).

This increase is the highest ever for private colleges, and the second-highest ever for public colleges.

You can read his analysis here.

In a Recession, Is College Worth It?

2009-08-31T06:09:00.000-04:00

I'm happy to say that I was quoted today in the USA Today cover story, "In a Recession, Is College Worth It?"

It's a great article that only omitted one piece of important information: higher college costs do not usually lead to higher payoffs! So, you can get a degree at an accredited institution that employers will recognize -- but it can be helpful to do that while spending as little on the degree as possible.

College Athletes Sue NCAA

2009-08-29T09:36:00.002-04:00

The athletes have finally realized that if the NCAA is going to profit from their image, they should get a piece of the profits. Article here.

Downturn Dims Prospects Even at Top Law Schools

2009-08-29T09:31:00.001-04:00

The New York Times reports here that law school may be a horrible investment right now, with jobs for new lawyers almost impossible to find, even at the most respected schools.

What Will They Learn?

2009-08-29T09:04:00.003-04:00

There's a very interesting new site called What Will They Learn from the American Council of Trustees and Alumni. This site rates the academic quality of 100 colleges, based simply on graduation requirements. And what it says is shocking (at least to anyone who hasn't read my book). For example, Harvard gets a D and CUNY gets an A. Check it out at the link above; this could be the best new education website of the year, just because it forces people to look at schools in a new way.

Will the Real Cornell University Please Stand Up?

2009-08-29T09:02:00.003-04:00

Great blog post here from Richard Vedder, about how difficult it is to assess college quality, and why highly-ranked colleges may not be that great.

How Web-Savvy Edupunks Are Transforming American Higher Education

2009-08-29T08:56:00.002-04:00

New article in Fast Company by Anya Kamenetz. Includes information about free online courses, Wiki universities, and Facebook-style tutoring groups.

Hacking Education

2009-08-29T08:53:00.002-04:00

Anya Kamenetz has announced the name of her new book, arriving in 2010. It will be called "Hacking Education: Higher Education in the Digital Age," and it will focus on how technology and the Internet are impacting higher ed.

Textbook Rentals Becoming Widespread?

2009-08-15T10:36:00.002-04:00

Great new article from the New York Times called "Textbook Publisher to Rent to College Students." According to the article, the following companies may soon start large textbook rental programs: Cengage Learning, Follett Higher Education Group, McGraw-Hill, and Barnes & Noble.

Safe Start

2009-08-11T06:37:00.000-04:00

There's a new lending program for student loans called Safe Start (or SafeStart), but no one yet knows how helpful this program will be for students. To learn more, visit this page at Student Lending Analytics.

Making Reform Work: The Case for Transforming American Higher Education

2009-08-05T05:51:00.000-04:00

Although I have not yet read this new book, I am hearing good things about "Making Reform Work: The Case for Transforming American Higher Education." This book was written by University of Pennsylvania professor Robert Zemsky, and it is said to contain some good suggestions, such as shortening the college experience to three years. I will keep my eyes open for reviews of this book and post them here if I find them.

College Grad Sues College

2009-08-02T16:57:00.001-04:00

Trina Thompson graduated from Monroe College but cannot find a job, so she is suing the school to get a refund of her $70,000. Full article here.

ForgiveStudentLoanDebt.com

2009-07-31T06:18:00.001-04:00

Check out this site, Forgive Student Loan Debt, by Robert Applebaum, if you haven't seen it yet.

Book Review

2009-07-28T20:07:00.002-04:00

I am happy to say that Nate Desmond has written a very favorable review of the NSLB book on his blog, DebtFreeScholar.com. You can find the review here. And check out his blog for some valuable tips.

Enrollment to Drop at a Third of Private Colleges

2009-07-21T06:43:00.002-04:00

This new article from Bloomberg reports on a new study from the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU). The study, called the "Survey on the Impact of the Economic Recession on Fall 2009 Enrollment, Financial Aid and Budgeting at Independent Colleges and Universities," says that:

* 14% of colleges expect enrollment to drop this year, including one-third of private colleges; and

* Fall semester deposits are down in 44% of colleges, compared to last year.

I don't want to say I told you so, but....

Almost every day, an American newspaper publishes an article about the unaffordability of college. And yet, colleges are mostly silent on the issue, and haven't prepared for it even though it was easily predictable. Maybe it's time for the colleges to create some real affordability initiatives....

Before College, Costly Advice Just on Getting In

2009-07-19T20:20:00.002-04:00

New article here from the New York Times.

Question: if a student uses a high-paid adviser to help them craft their college applications and essays, should they be required to disclose this fact on their applications?

Med School Payoffs

2009-07-19T19:39:00.003-04:00

I found a couple of new articles about medical school. This article talks about the very high level of debt that med students graduate with, and this article talks about how their career choices are limited by high debt and wildly varying salaries based on the specialty track they choose. The problem for us is that this punishing combination is producing fewer primary care physicians, such as internal medicine and pediatrics....

The College Board Exposed

2009-07-18T19:02:00.002-04:00

This article from The Big Money at Slate.com could be the best article ever written about The College Board. The article exposes the extreme profits and near-monopoly enjoyed by this so-called "non-profit" organization.

Debt Slapped

2009-07-18T10:56:00.001-04:00

A very cool website from Washington State Department of Financial Institutions. Check it out here.

BEVOnomics

2009-07-18T10:26:00.002-04:00

UT Austin has a nice financial literacy site here that features the following pdf guides:

Credit & Loan Vocabulary (PDF)
Finding $$$ Tips (PDF)
How to Calculate Interest (PDF)
How to Write a Check (PDF)
How to Use a Check Register (PDF)
What Will Your Loan Really Cost? (PDF)
2008-2009 UT Austin Dates & City of Austin Events (PDF)
Balancing Your Checkbook Using Your Online Statement: Worksheet (PDF)
Balancing Your Checkbook Using Your Online Statement: Sample (PDF)
References & Helpful Websites (PDF)
Saving $$$ Tips (PDF)
Savings Comparison Over Time (PDF)
Payoffs Over Time (PDF)
Creating a Savings Plan (PDF)
Tips for Using this Spending Plan (PDF)
Spending Plan Worksheet (PDF)
Things to Look for in a Credit Card (PDF)