The Block plan, which was incorporated into Colorado College’s curriculum in 1970, allows a student to take one course at a time. Each block is 3.5 weeks, beginning on a Monday and ending on a Wednesday four weeks later. Then there is a 4.5 day block-break, so students can decompress after the intensity of the immersion and go skiing near Pike’s Peak, rafting on the Colorado River, or visiting the four corners to study the Anasazi Indian remnants.
Classes meet daily from 9 am till 12 noon, with the balance of the day filled with lab work, field trips, research sessions or any format that the teacher feels best suits the subject matter. If you assume for each hour spent in class, a student spends 2-3 hours in preparation, each evening contains at least 6 hours of homework. The block requires intense labor, but then college is not easy, nor intended to be.
Each block contains 54 hours of classes, not including the supplementary activities that might accompany the class. Under the quarter system, a standard class, which on average is 1.6 hours, meets twice a week for 10 weeks, totals 32 hours. Under the semester system, the standard class is 1.3 hours, twice a week, for 16 weeks, and totals 41.6 hours.
These numbers tell us that the Colorado College block contains substantially more time in its 3.5 weeks than a comparable semester course. By the end of the semester, a Colorado College student has taken 4 blocks of courses, amounting to 216 hours of class time, while the student in a semester program has totaled 166 hours among a four class course load.
Granted, the Block Plan is not perfect. Certain subjects cannot be studied adequately within 1 block increments. Foreign languages fall into this category. A student notes in her blog on the Colorado College website that learning Mandarin in 3.5 weeks is too limiting. The Physics department is equally in a quandary about how to negotiate the block time constraints. For these subjects students often take 2-3 block increments to better address these demands.
Some students worry that the Block Plan is not be well perceived by graduate schools. According to a former instructor at Colorado College, “I have never heard that graduate schools think there is a lack of rigor in the block system…block participants show dynamic energy coupled with the ability to focus…” Colorado College’s website mentions not only do 86% of students graduate in 5 years, but 71% attend graduate school within 5 years of graduation. Furthermore, its alumni have accumulated 14 Rhodes Scholarships, 31 Fulbright Fellowships, and one Nobel Prize. Apparently something is sinking in over those 3 ½ weeks.
Another aspect of the block that can be considered either positively or negatively, is that in 3.5 weeks you either really delve fabulously deep into a subject, or, if the class doesn’t meet expectations, it’s over fairly quickly.
If the idea of going to a school that incorporates the block plan is appealing, and Colorado College is outside your scope, there are a handful of other colleges that use the block. Cornell College in Iowa—founded by the itinerant Cornell, whose other namesake university is in Ithaca; another is the University of Montana Western, a member of WUE (Western University Exchange), the only public university in the country to offer a block program, which it calls ‘Experience One,’ Its annual tuition cost to a California resident is $4,635.
While the Block plan isn’t for everyone, it’s perfect for many. A study by Macquarie University in Sydney, which implemented block in its graduate school, concluded that those unfamiliar with block have the ‘most reservations about the format,’ while those experienced with it rarely express dissatisfaction.
Be bold, break from the familiar, and discover that focusing on one course at a time might prove a luxury worth partaking of a block of four edifying years.
]]>If their thoughts turn to Massachusetts colleges they might include the red bricks of Harvard, the eclectic mixture of buildings at MIT, the bucolic campuses of Amherst and Williams, or the alluring charms of Wellesley, Mount Holyoke or Smith. However, Worcester warrants consideration with its bevy of over 15 colleges including Worcester Polytechnic, Clark University, and, of course, Holy Cross.
Founded in 1843, Holy Cross is the oldest Catholic college in New England. With 2,900 undergraduates, and an admissions rate of 34%, Holy Cross has a freshman seminar program, Montserrat, which integrates topics and writing in small classes that build professor student collaboration. Its Honors Program is especially challenging, though it is limited to 36 students from each entering class, requiring a senior thesis which is published in house and presented at a year-end conference.
The 174-acre campus is a registered arboretum (something Holy Cross shares with Carleton, Haverford, and Swarthmore, to name a few).
Though Holy Cross is not a research university, it is part of the Worcester Consortium which includes 12 universities and colleges throughout the Worcester area including the University of Massachusetts Medical School and the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. Beyond this, it offers a 3-2 dual engineering degree with Dartmouth and Columbia, and a 5-year BS/MBA program with Clark University.
Though Holy Cross has strong departments in English, history, economics, and accounting, the Political Science and Classics departments are probably among the finest in the country. All political science majors take introductory courses in American government, political philosophy, comparative politics, and international relations. The upper division courses are uniformly taught by outstanding faculty, such as Denise Schaeffer, who teaches a course in Political Philosophy. In the Rate My Professor website, one student wrote, “This woman is amazing. She's completely brilliant and got me interested in political philosophy when I thought I would hate it.” The 432 Holy Cross professors collectively earned a rating of 3.77 out of 5.0. Holy Cross’s Classics department is one of the strongest and largest in the country according to CollegeGuide.org. Two professors not only help students with their Latin and Greek, but take students during spring break to Italy to capture the glory of Rome first hand. The department even holds chariot races for local Worcester high school students.
Two things I admire about Holy Cross are its 95% freshman retention rate and its 89% 4-year graduation rate, which matches the graduation rates of Williams, Yale, Duke, Annapolis, and Columbia.
So, what does it take to gain admission into this impressive Jesuit liberal arts college? First, according to Ann McDermott (’79) the director of admissions, in her article in the New York Times, “How One Evaluates a Transcript,” your transcript must pass muster. Foremost, the admissions office is looking for candidates who have not tried to protect their GPAs by taking easy courses. Rather they want candidates who are not afraid of taking risks or even sacrificing a grade in the quest to quench a limitless curiosity.
In answer to the question is it better to get an “A” in a college preparatory (CP) course, instead of a “B” or possible “C” in an AP or IB HL course, she wants to see the ‘hard earned’ “C.” Challenge yourself in high school, and chances are you’ll do the same in college and beyond. That is the type of candidate Holy Cross seeks. The transcript will also show evidence that you’ve planned ahead: your course choices will allow you to build strengths across your education, leaving you with multiple options for potential majors and fields of exploration.
If you have the right stuff, and your transcript confirms your capabilities, you might be invited to become a Holy Cross Crusader and join in the next chariot race to become the new Ben-Hur of Worcester. That might make the 2500 mile trek to Worcester a racier adventure.
]]>Cooper wanted to create a college, ‘equal to the best’ yet ‘open and free to all’ regardless of sex, wealth, or social status. Cooper Union is comprised of three schools: Irwin Chanin School of Architecture, the School of Art, and Albert Nerkin School of Engineering.
The engineering school offers both bachelors and masters degrees in chemical, electrical, mechanical, and civil engineering. Thomas Edison is a notable former student.
The architecture school, ranked among the five top architecture programs in the country, offers a five-year Bachelor of Architecture degree. Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio, architects of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Redevelopment project, and the expansion of the Julliard School and the School of American Ballet, are Cooper graduates.
The School of Art’s 4-year BFA degree allows students to select courses from any of the school’s departments thereby creating their own program of study. Focus is on imagination and creativity. Milton Glaser is a famous alumnus whose graphic designs brand DC Comics, Target, and JetBlue.
With the endowment of the land under the Chrysler Building in 1902, Cooper Union had sufficient funding to be tuition free through two world wars, a depression, and even the devastating crash of 2008; however, 2013 will put an end to its111 years of free tuition, leaving Cooper’s faculty, students, and future applicants shaking their heads in dismay— what happened?
What happened were miscalculations in managing its endowment. First, 84% of Cooper’s $667 million endowment is in one asset, the land under the Chrysler Building. John Michaelson, Chairman of Cooper’s investment committee stated having so much money in one asset, “is against everything I stand for”. Emory University in Atlanta, which in 2001 had over 60% of its endowment in Coca Cola stock, sold and diversified. Yet, Cooper’s board appears to have a sentimental attachment to the Chrysler Building, describing it as a ‘gift from the children of Peter Cooper.’ In 2006 the 666 Fifth Avenue Building, which doesn’t compare to the Chrysler building, sold for $1.8 billion; Cooper never explored the market.
When Cooper needed to upgrade the engineering facilities, instead of first arranging for a donor, Cooper built a $166 million building using the Chrysler Building as collateral, and then went searching for a donor—no one has come forward. In 2008, Cooper’s portfolio (excluding the Chrysler Building) was $169 million. By the end of 2012 it had sunk to $86 million and Cooper’s operations suffered a cash flow shortfall of $13 million.
This left Cooper Union with two funding alternatives: donations (alumni contributions), and tuition. Cooper has not nurtured a charitable alumni base. It’s not easy to do. UCLA Anderson School of Management, to offset state funding declines is developing alumni giving; it takes time. This leaves raising tuition. Though Cooper’s consultants recommended charging a maximum 25% of posted tuition (listed at $38,500 a year) Mark Epstein and his Board of Directors elected to charge 50% (Olin School of Engineering transitioned from tuition free in 2010 to charging 50%-a precedent had already been set).
In April, Mark Epstein announced, “The time has come to set our institution on a path that will enable it to survive and thrive well into the future.” Cooper’s President, Jamshed Bharucha, asked faculty for advice on future revenue streams. When the Art School faculty refused to comply, early acceptance letters to art school applicants were not sent out. Mauricio Higuera, a senior art student, while protesting the tuition decision, told a group of about 200 students assembled at the Great Hall, where Lincoln had once given his Cooper Union Address: “For 150 years this building, these columns, has held a dream, a dream for free education for all. I propose we all join hands and give this institution a big hug, because it needs it.” The crowd encircled the building and complied.
]]>UCLA led the UC System inundation by garnering over 80,000 applications (99,000 if you add in the transfers from community college). To gain a sense of the size of this application flurry, the total population of Santa Monica is 90,000. The number of in-state freshmen applying was 55,000, of which 9,539 were admitted. This brought the in-state admit rate to 17.4%, just below last year’s highly competitive 17.8%. UCLA’s in-state admissions rate is closing in on Cornell’s, 15.5%, and is slightly more competitive than Tufts 18%. UCLA has the further distinction of admitting over 40% of its current class from out-of-state, comparable to last year. Sadly, for upcoming California applicants, this is becoming more pronounced each year.
Gaining admissions to Berkeley also remained challenging. This year the median weighted GPA was 4.37 (un-weighted 3.9) with an average SAT score of 2077. Though the median figures aren’t much different from last year’s, the number of applicants again set record levels, with over 67,600 applications and a final admissions rate of 20.8%. Of the 14,100 admits, more than 4,800 were from out-of-state, or about a third of the admissions pie. Each of these 4800 (though, of course not all of them will attend) amount to an out-of-state tuition premium of $23,000— this amounts to a potential $112,000,000 for the UC coffers. It’s not hard to imagine that the number of out-of –state admits will continue its steady climb.
UC San Diego, to round out the top three UC campuses, also saw a record 67,400 applications this year, a mere 300 fewer than Berkeley. Of the 24,782 admission offers, 8,216 were out-of-state and international candidates, a third of the total.
Despite these rising numbers, UC admissions decisions continue to be made ‘holistically’ across 14 criteria listed on the UC Admission’s site, some of which include: GPA in all a-g courses completed by the end of junior year; standardized test scores—either SAT or ACT with writing (note the 2 required SAT Subject tests were eliminated with this fall’s classes—though the admissions site does reference that the engineering colleges at UCB, UCLA, UCR, and UCSB still recommend Math 2C and a science subject test of choice be submitted); number and performance in courses beyond the a-g courses; number of AP and Honors courses taken; outstanding performance in one or two academic areas; ELC identification...
If UCLA begins its application review process on December 1st, and finishes by late March, it has 115-120 days to read 80,000 applications. That means each and every day the admissions department must read between 660-695 applications. UCSD, which again had over 67,000 applications, claims two readers review every application. Obviously, some late night oil was burned in La Jolla over the last several months.
Keep in mind that each UC campus has its own formula for how it reviews candidates. For example, UCSD looks for a range of personal qualities beyond what was already mentioned above such as intellectual independence, maturity, and motivation, as well as overcoming hardships and employment experience. You can take a look at how individual campuses evaluate candidates at http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/freshman/profiles/index.html.
Clearly no calculator can predict admissions to a UC campus. Certainly scores and grades work as a filter, if a candidate is too far outside expected averages. Yet a lot also rides on your activities, talents, intellectual curiosity, and capabilities, likely gleaned from your two personal statements. All this might get you into UCLA, or even Tufts: but it’s a whole lot colder in Medford, Massachusetts.
]]>Since 1975 the Common App has brought uniformity to the admissions process. After all, once you’ve inputted your extensive list of extracurricular activities (you’re allowed to list 10 on the Common Application) in one application, what a waste to have to do the same thing to yet another application, and then another. The Common App allows you do this just once for all its member schools.
The Common App’s 4th revision (which is why it is called C4), announced on 8 February 2013, will be available online on 1 August 2013. Overall it appears that the Common Application is attempting to apply metrics to track feedback from members and applicants and build them into the application on an ongoing basis. C4, in effect, will be a sentient document that will constantly morph to the needs of the users. There is some innovative thinking in C4.
Let’s look at some of the more prominent changes C4 offers:
Last year, approximately 690,000 applicants submitted 2.8 million applications through the Common Application site. That’s an average of over 4 applications per applicant. This is impressive, but when you consider that most public schools still have their own application (though over the recent years the Common App has added UNC-Chapel Hill, University of Michigan, with Purdue joining this year), and that there are 2,774 4-year institutions in the US (though keep in mind the Common Application is now international in scope with four UK and one Austrian university added this year), the Common Application is still not all that common.
Certainly there are still selective campuses that do not use the Common Application. MIT and Georgetown immediately come to mind. Georgetown refuses to use the Common Application because, according to Charlie Deacon, the Director of Admissions, “We don't have the Common App because we think that each person is unique and each school is unique.”
In any case, most applicants have too few hours in a day to accommodate too many unique schools. The Common Application represents substantial labor savings. That alone makes it uncommonly applicable to your admissions efforts.
]]>For the first time since the SAT’s inaugural administration in 1926, another test, the ACT, was administered to more students. Though the ACT nosed ahead by a mere 2,000 students, the repercussions are still reverberating throughout the College Board headquarters in New York City. By fall of last year, the College Board had selected a new president, David Coleman. By February, Coleman wrote to his fellow board members: “While the SAT is the best standardized measure of college and career readiness currently available, the College Board has a responsibility to the millions of students we serve each year to ensure that our programs are continuously evaluated and enhanced…” (www.insidehighered.com, 10 April 2013, College Board Announces Plans to Redesign the SAT by Scott Jaschik)
No specifics were given.
The last, and only time, the SAT was overhauled was in 2005, when it discarded the analogy section and added the writing section, at the request of the University of California.
By 2008, the National Association of College Admissions Counselors (NACAC) released a report suggesting colleges should reconsider the need for standardized tests. Over the same period of time, over 80 additional 4-year colleges adopted test-optional or test flexible policies. Today over 38% of all four-year colleges are either test flexible or test optional and the list contains such highly selective schools as Middlebury, NYU, and Wake Forest.
Obviously the 2005 overhaul did not effectively qualm the concerns of the test-taking market. This was reflected most starkly in the comments by Robert Schaeffer, the director of Fair Test and an inveterate critic of the SAT: “…the previous attempt to create a ‘new Coke’ was rejected by the marketplace, so it became necessary to ‘reformulate’ the product once again in order to remain competitive with the ACT.” (Ibid.)
Though we can only speculate at what the new SAT will be like, there are a few clues as to what might lie ahead.
David Coleman who attended Yale, studied English literature at Oxford on a Rhodes and co-founded, in 2007, the Student Achievement Partners, a non-profit organization involved in developing Common Core standards, appears intent on incorporating these Common Core standards into the SAT. (A Common Standard for reading at the 11-12th grade level, for example, would be, “Determine two or more central ideas of a text and analyze their development.” The full suite of Common Core standards can be found at http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/CCRA/R.) He wrote in his College Board February missive: “The improved SAT will strongly focus on the core knowledge and skills that evidence shows are most important to prepare students for the rigors of college and career.”
That, however, is what the ACT has been doing for decades with its ‘College Readiness Standards’ across its entire suite of tests: EXPLORE, PLAN, and the ACT. When hearing of the proposed SAT redesign, a spokesman for the ACT commented that the, “ACT was founded 54 years ago because ETS and College Board rejected EF Lindquist’s proposal to change the SAT from an aptitude test to an achievement test. Dr. Lindquist, along with co-founder Ted McCarrell subsequently decided to develop his own achievement test, which became the ACT in 1959…” (Ibid.)
Coleman, in a 2011 speech at the Brookings Institute, prior to his becoming president of the College Board, also noted weaknesses in the essay portion of the SAT. Rather than allow students to blithely supply their own examples he felt source examples should be added for students to review and edit to make their arguments more cogent and exacting.
Another redesign within eight years of its last overhaul indicates the SAT is undergoing an identity crisis. Initially, the SAT stood for Scholastic Aptitude Test. The IQ association, and the scorn that brought, led the College Board to change the acronym to Scholastic Assessment Test. Now it’s just the SAT. Possibly in the future it will mirror the ACT—which makes you wonder whether test-takers will then clamor for SAT Classic.
With this redesign, the College Board will lose much more than a quarter point if it makes the wrong choice.
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Research into best undergraduate educational practices by the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU) yielded a list of ten: 1st Year Seminars; Required Common Courses; Learning Communities; Writing Intensive Courses; Collaborative Projects; Undergraduate Research; Global Learning; Community-Based Learning; Internships; and, Capstone Projects. The full list, along with a quick synopsis of each practice, can be downloaded at the AACU website: http://www.aacu.org/leap/documents/hip_tables.pdf.
When researching a college, a rule of thumb is the more ‘best practices’ offered, the more engaged its undergraduates are and the better prepared they will be upon graduation.
Of the ten best practices, five, which might be considered the paramount ‘best practices,’ are frequently found at many schools, at least many of the schools I have researched over the last year, and warrant more detail:
First Year Seminars: While some first year seminars might cover orientation or study skills, most are geared towards small seminar classes consisting of fewer than 15 students, taught by a professor, featuring specific topics or readings that require close examination, discussion, analysis, and extensive writing assignments. The small size encourages participation, frequent encounters with the professor, and again, lots of writing that is carefully developed and critiqued. The 2009 National Survey on First-Year Seminars notes over 87% of universities currently offer 1st year seminars. Brown University, for example, has dozens of 1st year seminars for its freshmen. Many state universities, especially Honor’s Programs such as Barrett’s Honors College at Arizona State University, offer first year seminars as well.
Writing-intensive Courses: The importance of learning to write well, and extensively, cannot be overemphasized. Richard Light, a professor from Harvard’s School of Education, draws a direct correlation between the amount of writing in a course and its level of student engagement. Student writing doesn’t need to be restricted to just a course, but can and should be interdisciplinary. Most universities also have writing centers that supply aid to all undergraduates in need: Swarthmore College’s writing center will assist in anything from a 5-paragraph essay to an esoteric physics research paper.
Undergraduate Research: If you’re planning to apply to medical school, or most graduate programs for that matter, conducting undergraduate research is essential. Learning how research is funded, conducted, and published is fast becoming the rite of passage in many undergraduate schools. Most of the departments in Boston University offer numerous opportunities for undergraduate research. Pomona College and Swarthmore require all undergraduates to conduct independent research with a faculty mentors before graduating.
Internships: Gaining internships with companies or institutions prior to graduation is also fast becoming the rigor at many schools. Over 86% of Clarkson College’s (NY) recent graduating class participated in internships. Some, such as Northeastern (MA) and Kalamazoo (MI), have full-fledged coop programs that integrate work experience into their curriculum. In departments such as communication at Northwestern and Boston College, working in the media is expected by majors before the end of junior year. The more internships/work experience students gain, the better.
Capstone courses and projects: Mastery of a subject is best demonstrated through an honor’s thesis, comprehensive exams, and independent projects requiring application of core concepts of a discipline. Reed College requires most its undergraduates take a comprehensive exam in their junior year followed by a capstone research thesis that is presented and defended before a panel of professors from Reed and outside universities. In essence a bachelor’s from Reed signifies capabilities similar to those of PhDs.
The more rigorous the ‘best practices’ offered by universities you have under the microscope, the better prepared you will be to meet and surmount the challenges encountered beyond college
Best results arise from best practices: they’re worth looking for in any college under consideration.
]]>Andrew Roberts, an assistant professor of Political Science at Northwestern University, addresses this very question in his The Thinking Student’s Guide to College, 75 Tips for Getting a Better Education, He begins by explaining how a university works, how to best approach professors, and how to work within the university to derive the best education.
If you are about to launch your undergraduate career, read it. The tips surrounding ‘Choosing a Major’ alone are worth the price: sample a lot of departments, choose a major you love, preferably one of the smaller majors, make sure the major is well structured, write a senior thesis, and attend a departmental lecture weekly. Solid advice abounds. Here are a few choice portions warranting review.
The first question all students need to know is ‘How does a University Work?” I suppose a mission statement is vaguely helpful, but to discover the true mission of anything is to follow the money. At many universities, that money is being spent on research. The reason is research, through awards (such as the Nobel Prize), publications, citations, peer reviews (p.11 Roberts) is easy to track and prestigious. As Professor Roberts makes eminently clear, universities have an insatiable thirst for ‘prestige.’ Teaching is not discounted, but it’s very difficult to measure its efficacy, or assign it prestige.
Teaching undergraduates is something most tenured professors perform, and some make considerable efforts to do it well, yet, most professors aren’t trained in teaching. Professor Roberts cites a survey indicating “only 8% of professors have taken advantage of research on teaching methods.” (P.15 Roberts)
Regardless of how attentive a university might be to undergraduate education, Professor Roberts tips you off on how to gain the most from the class offerings. During the class shopping period (usually the first two weeks of the semester) visit multiple classes and trust your gut on your impressions of the syllabus and professor. Search among the classes by taking a variety of subjects and venturing into areas that initially might not appear of interest. Steer clear of the big lecture classes (they’re often a bad value) and take smaller, seminar like classes with hefty writing requirements. Also, fill your schedule with as many upper division, or graduate level classes as you can handle. That is where most of the high quality teaching and learning takes place. One other piece of information offered by Professor Roberts is to ask some of your professors what classes they recommend: they know where the gems are hidden.
It’s important to get to know at least one or two professors well during your college career. You’ll invariably need a recommendation whether you go on to graduate school or join the workforce. The best way to get to know a professor is to show an interest in the professor’s field of research and study. Visiting each of your professors during office hours is one good way to build credibility among a department. Surprisingly, few undergraduates do this, and even fewer are prepared to chat about the subject material knowledgeably when they do show up. Doing this will show you have initiative and intellectual curiosity, two attributes always in short supply.
A professor’s existence is her work. If you take an active interest in knowing portions of her research, and show a capable understanding and appreciation of her specialty, that will help you gain credibility and improve your chances for being mentored in independent research projects, getting recommended for internships, or even working with a professor as a research assistant. A lot builds upon getting to know your professors; besides, many are brilliant and intriguing individuals—making their acquaintance that much more appealing.
Understanding a university, and how it works, and in particular how to develop a working relationship with some of its professors is probably more valuable than most of the courses you’ll attend. In any field of work, knowing the institution and the people is never an easy matter. Learn to do this as an undergraduate, under the tutelage of Andrew Roberts, and you’re likely to gain a better education in university and life.
]]>To pay for college, most students have to borrow. In 2012, the average student graduated with over $26,000 of debt. That would buy a 2014 Subaru Forester sport utility 2.5i and still leave enough money to tour the Rockies for a month. All told, total college debt amounts to over a trillion dollars, and it is relentlessly rising.
College borrowing outstrips credit card debt, and as this mountain of debt accumulates, one in five households now carry student debt, so rises the default rate. According to Bloomberg Business Week (September 29th, 2012) 11% of public school and 7.5% of private students are defaulting on their student loans. This is a scary proposition because most student loans are difficult to discharge, even in bankruptcy.
Obviously the best course is to avoid loans altogether. If you haven’t dived into the admissions process yet, keep in mind that it’s worth your while to find colleges which are affordable. One affordability litmus test is to first estimate your effective family contribution (EFC) to get a sense of what colleges are expecting you to pay. The College Board has an online calculator where you can do this, https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/pay-for-college/paying-your-share/expected-family-contribution-calculator#efc_status.
Then go to each of your college’s financial aid sites, find its ‘net price calculator,’ and use it to calculate your cost of attendance (subtracting potential aid awards). If your EFC is less than your COA, you qualify for need based financial aid; however, this doesn’t guarantee you’re going to get any.
If, academically, you find yourself in the 75th percentile of an entering college class (in terms of GPA and test scores), most colleges are going to figure out a way to get you to enroll—that’s when their wallets open. A strong academic track record is your best means for getting subsidized. If you’re a borderline applicant, they might not offer much.
Then the landscape of loans must be surveyed and considered. The best loans are federal student loans. Stafford direct subsidized loans (which are usually reserved for students from low income families) are at interest rates well below commercial banking rates. Better still the government pays interest on the loan while the student is enrolled. Loan repayments do not begin until 6 months after graduation. A student, however, over four years can borrow only $31,000 through this source.
There are unsubsidized Stafford loans in which repayment begins when the loan is disbursed, federal direct loans, and Federal Plus loans, which currently have interest rate at 7.9% and a 4% fee depending on the amount of the loan.
Federal Plus loans (aka Parent Plus Loans) can cover up to the total cost of attendance (COA) at an institution. These should be compared to home equity loans (in which you will be able to deduct interest charges.) Additionally, if you’re looking among commercial loans, take the time to apply for multiple loans through a site such as Alltuition.com. or Finaid.org. The key, as in most ventures in life, is to create as many options as possible. With borrowing money this is even more important because various terms, interest rates, and fees can affect the total price of the loan by thousands of dollars.
Be aware that many colleges have merit-based scholarships. Often, once your application is accepted, the school will let you know about opportunities, but just as often, they won’t. One place to uncover potential merit aid is at www.meritaid.com. For example, at University of Pacific in Stockton, Meritaid.com lists 32 scholarships. This could defray some of the loan burdens.
As with any effort, the more knowledge you have about your financial aid situation, and the alternative need-based and merit-based grants and scholarships, and the array of loans, and their pitfalls, the better you will negotiate the college financial aid process. Always question college financial aid offices about anything you don’t understand. Furthermore, if something is proposed that doesn’t make intuitive sense, seek an expert—and a number of them can be discovered online. Learn the ropes so that you’re not left hanging with an exorbitant, onerous load of debt upon graduation.
]]>Thirty one years after Ohio joined the union, Oberlin opened its doors, soon to become one of the most progressive colleges in the country. It served as a stop for the Underground Railroad, became the first college in the United States to admit African Americans and adopt coeducation. To this day Oberlin, just 30 miles southwest of Cleveland, with extensive resources across its 440-acre campus, is still very much at the forefront of academics and independent action.
Oberlin is ranked 10th in producing PhD candidates, per capita, across all disciplines, in the country. Since its inception, Oberlin has produced more alumni who have earned PhDs than any other liberal arts college: three of whom have earned Nobel Prizes.
Oberlin begins by offering a First-Year Seminar Program. Each seminar is capped at 14 students and taught by professors (as are all classes), who encourage critical and creative thinking through discussions and essays. The seminar program seeks to produce a community of independent learners with insatiable intellectual curiosity. Then it sets them loose among the 47 majors offered.
Within environmental studies, for example, Oberlin takes its role as teacher and practitioner seriously. The Adam Joseph Lewis Center for Environmental Studies derives half its energy from renewable resources while treating and recycling most of its water for landscaping and sanitation use. This effort in sustainability extends to its dorms, each of which has a monitor and display to constantly compare real time versus historic energy use.
For a school of 2,900, Oberlin has an endowment of $700 million, which calculates out to $235,000 per student, ranking 49th in the country. This, in turn, supports a student-faculty ratio of 11:1 (Arts and Sciences) and 8:1 (Conservatory of Music). Three-quarters of the classes have fewer than 20 students. Even more striking, Oberlin’s administrative staff numbers 1,058, which means the ratio of administrators to students is 1:3. That probably matches, or betters, the ratio of staff to customer at some of the finest hotels in the world.
Yet, there is a surfeit of facilities to administer:
The cost of attendance (COA) for the 2013-2014 year is just under $60,000. As you would expect, 82% of the students receive financial aid, with the average grant and scholarship package of $22,500, which would bring the price down to around $38,000 annually. In Kiplinger’s Best Value for Liberal Arts Colleges, Oberlin ranked 44, with students graduating $16,000 in debt. Possibly not a bad deal for what could undeniably be the best four years of your life.
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