SBCTC NEWS LINKS | Articles about – and of interest to – Washington state community and technical colleges
SYSTEM NEWS | OPINIONS
Editorial | College costs: comparing apples to apples
Higher-education costs and options for paying them are critical things students should know before they go. The Obama administration's smart solution: a standard one-page college shopping sheet. … Financial-aid-award letters often contain vague wording and euphemisms that blur the lines between scholarships, grants and loans. … Beyond transparency, there may be another benefit to daylighting college costs: the shock value. Seeing tuition and other costs in black and white might spur Washington state lawmakers to better address dwindling state support for higher education. In-state tuition at the University of Washington is expected to top $20,000 a year before the end of the decade.
The Seattle Times, August 1, 2012
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorials/2018827649_edit02collegecosts.html
Applying for scholarships pays off for Pierce College student
Elisa Hardesty’s tenacity and penchant for filling out college scholarship applications is one for the record books. Since January, the single mother from Puyallup who attends Pierce College has applied for nearly 100 scholarships. Her drive paid off when she was awarded the national Pearson Prize, a merit-based scholarship that recognizes students who give back to their community. The $10,000 scholarship was awarded to 20 applicants nationwide out of a pool of 18,000.
Hardesty was the only recipient in Washington state. … Fifty to 80 applicants were invited to a finalist round and asked to submit a two-minute YouTube video that described how they give back to their community. … After she earns an associate of arts degree in nursing at Pierce College, she plans to go to the University of Washington-Tacoma campus and earn a bachelor’s in nursing, and she wants to complete a master’s mid-wife program at the main UW campus in Seattle. Hardesty said she is the first person in her family to be a Department of Social and Health Services recipient, and her goal is to be the last in her family to be a recipient.
The Puyallup Herald, August 2, 2012
http://www.thenewstribune.com/2012/08/01/2236014/applying-for-scholarships-pays.html
Savvy college students turn to the web to rent, barter textbooks
The chances of today’s college students spending the first day of class in line waiting to pay hundreds of dollars for a few textbooks are waning. Students now have options: online bookstores, textbook rental services, and organized bartering websites. … Regardless of how easy it can be to get a book digitally on one of several different devices, some students still like having a physical book, which has made the rental textbook industry a strong competitor to traditional textbook sales. Within the last few years, renting books has expanded beyond a mere option that select sites offer. Now, according to Kristen Connely, the director of Bellevue College’s bookstore, rentals are the new normal. “The biggest difference [I've seen] between 2006 and 2012 is that course material rentals are now expected to be available, whereas in 2006 it was completely unexpected,” said Connely.
Consumer Media Network, August 2, 2012
http://www.cmn.com/2012/08/savvy-students-take-textbooks-to-the-next-level-renting/
TRENDS| HORIZONS | EDUCATION
Turning Young Alumni Into Donors
"Millennial" donors need to be reached through online and smartphone-accessible campaigns that provide tangible explanations of what impact their donations will have.
Inside Higher Ed, July 17, 2012 [link corrected]
Mind The Gap: Getting The Right Workers Into The Right Jobs
But there's a slightly puzzling trend in the numbers, Oslund said: The rate of new job openings has been outpacing the number of new hires. There could be a number of reasons for this, including geography. Unemployed workers aren't necessarily where the new jobs are, or have a hard time moving because of their underwater homes. Wages could be another reason: Workers who had good jobs don't necessarily want to settle for less pay. And there's also the notion of "skills gaps" in certain industries -- the debatable idea that not enough workers have the proper training for certain jobs. Our education system, some argue, isn't addressing the mismatch between the skills acquired by American workers and the skills needed. As seen in the map below, some cities, like Missoula, Mont., have an overabundance of highly educated workers, while others, like El Paso, Texas, don't have enough.
The Huffington Post, July 26, 2012
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/26/education-gap_n_1706526.html
These Days, Colleges Urge Young Alumni to Give ... Posthumously
The Chronicle of Higher Education, July 30, 2012
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Colleges freeze, reduce tuition as public balks at further price hikes
Some private universities, too, have agreed to stop raising their tuition, or even cut it, after being alarmed to discover their enrollments starting to slip. “The pushback is beginning,” says John McCardell Jr., president of the University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn., which last year cut tuition 10 percent and this year is promising to keep the cost unchanged for entering freshmen for four years. …“Price probably has more than nothing to do with that,” he says. Students and their families “are voting with their feet.” … Supply and demand have not traditionally affected the price of higher education. That’s because supply largely remained unchanged, while demand was ever-rising. But the number of high-school graduates, which peaked in 2009, is starting to decline. Enrollment fell at more than 40 percent of colleges and universities last year, according to the credit-rating firm Moody’s. At least 375 institutions still had space available for this fall when the admissions period was over, the largest number in a decade, the National Association for College Admission Counseling reports. … Colleges that are especially feeling the squeeze are those with small enrollments and endowments — and those are also the kinds of private colleges and universities that are maintaining their tuition levels to remain competitive.
NBC News, August 1, 2012
How Do You Develop a Wildly Successful Alumni Relations Effort?
They will tell you that best way to create a group of engaged, committed – and generous – alumni is to begin with a group of engaged, committed students.
So, to develop a wildly successful alumni relations effort, aim for a wildly successful student experience.
Inside Higher Ed, August 1, 2012
Finding your next job: Don’t be a jerk
The Chronicle of Higher Education, August 1, 2012
http://chronicle.com/blognetwork/castingoutnines/2012/08/01/finding-your-next-job-dont-be-a-jerk/
Education Tax Cut's Future Uncertain
The American Opportunity Tax Credit, as well as the student loan interest deduction and tax breaks for employer-provided education benefits, are set to expire at the end of 2012, and all were left out of a bill extending other tax breaks for higher education.
Inside Higher Ed, August 2, 2012
http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2012/08/02/education-tax-cuts-future-uncertain
A Summer Without Pell
A year after the year-round need-based grant was eliminated, community colleges and other institutions worry that the change will hurt student completion.
Inside Higher Ed, August 2, 2012
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/08/02/colleges-worry-about-elimination-summer-pell-grant
Who Gets the Credit?
The awarding of academic credit for prior learning expands in higher education, but the process remains misunderstood and controversial. A look at students who've given it a whirl.
Inside Higher Ed, August 2, 2012
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/08/02/look-students-who-have-earned-credit-prior-learning
C'mon, America, admit it: College isn't for everyone
[Editor’s peevish note: By ‘college’ they mean a traditional, residential baccalaureate institution. Dental assistants, LPNs, auto technicians, vintners, aircraft mechanics, computer programmers, apprentices, etc. also attend college.]
The Los Angeles Times, August 2, 2012
THURSDAY LITE NEWS (AND SHOPPING)
College Express
A four-year degree in three years? Why stop there? Carolyn Foster Segal asks, wryly.
Inside Higher Ed, August 2, 2012
http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2012/08/02/higher-education-express-lane-essay
More than 50 shades of gray
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