Monthly Archives: January 2012

Vassar College made a mistake on its website and informed 76 students that they had been admitted via the college’s early acceptance program. Then it had to backtrack and tell them that they hadn’t. 

The president’s proposal, which he hinted at during his annual State of the Union Address earlier in the week, would reward states that were able to keep tuition down. Plus, colleges that achieved “efficiency” would be eligible for extra funding as part of what the president called a “First in the World Competition.” The new plan would cost $1 billion to implement.

We just found the huge, immense and overwhelming database of college trivia that Inside College has made available on its website. Don’t even look at it unless you are ready to spend hours clicking around and discovering all kinds of amazing facts about American colleges and the famous people who went to them.

If Ellen DeGeneres is reading this post, we have a suggestion. Ellen, why not invite other deserving students onto your show too, and showcase their need to find college funding? If hundreds of smart students get scholarships like Samantha did, we will all feel not just good, but great.

If you’re applying to a college that offers you a chance to have an interview with an alumnus or alumna who attended the school, should you schedule one? The answer is, yes. Alumni interviews can only improve your chances of getting into a college. They represent an opportunity that is all upside, with no downside.

If you’re applying to college and need financial aid, chances are that you have filled out a FAFSA and spoken with the financial aid officers at the colleges where you are applying. Those are important things to do. But there are other sources of financial aid that most people overlook. Here are some unusual sources of funding that StraighterLine has uncovered for you . . . 

As recently as 2005, most of the students who applied early admission to Ivy League and other top-tier American colleges were from prestigious prep schools and top public high schools. Now that has changed. According to “As a Broader Group Seeks Early Admission, Rejections Rise in the East,” a new article in The New York Times by Richard Pérez-Peña and Jenny Anderson, the early admissions process has become overrun by applicants from public and foreign high schools.

Gretchen Whitmer, the Michigan State Senate’s Democratic leader, must be wearing a jaunty green cap and carrying a bow and arrows this week, because she wants rich corporations to pay college tuition for Michigan students. Under her Michigan 2020 Plan, Michigan high school graduates who attend Michigan community colleges and state institutions would have all their tuition and associated costs paid for by closing some of the tax loopholes that allow corporations to pay less in taxes.

“Going the Distance: Online Education in the United States 2011,” reports the results of the ninth annual survey of American online education conducted by the Babson Survey Research Group and the College Board. The report is comprehensive, based on responses from more than 2,500 educational institutions and academic leaders.

If you describe your online education and make it part of a success story, it can become an asset as you look for jobs. So speak up with pride about the fact that you have been a distance learner. It can set you apart and give you an edge in a time when companies are looking for ambitious, well-qualified employees.  

Majoring in Debt, a series of posts on The Huffington Post, serves as a kind of public forum where college grads can report how much money they owe on college loans. just visited Majoring in Debt for the first time in several months, and found a new series of debt profiles and stories. Here are some highlights. . . . 

Lots of considerations come into play when you’re picking a college. You want a college that you can afford, a college that offers the program of study that you are looking for, and a college that has a good track record of placing graduates in jobs. But there is another critical factor too. It is known as “fit.” It means that you want a college where you feel at home.