Category Archives: First Generation College Students

This is information relevant to students who are the first in their families to go to college.

Examples of Excellence

Book Review, Coaching, First Generation College Students, Granville Sawyer, Higher Education, Non-traditional Students, Student Success

I read an article in the New York Times recently by Frank Bruni entitled A Surprising Path to the Ivy League. The story describes how Ms. Wadzanay Mayiseni from Zimbabwe was able to overcome tremendous obstacles to attend Columbia University thanks in part to the United Student Achievers Program. Mr. Bruni also briefly discusses other programs that are helping to get African Students into top American universities. All of the programs have many more students applying than can be accepted. We should all support these programs and know that the success stories are examples of excellence – strong indicators of the tremendous pool of talent in Africa that can benefit the world with just a little help from us.

Is Passing The Course Enough?

First Generation College Students, Granville Sawyer, Higher Education, Mentoring Students, Parents, Student Success, , , ,

© Stephen Coles on flickr

Having been in higher education for almost forty years, I have heard many reasons for students to go to college – some good and some not so good.  The focus is pretty much on getting a good paying job after graduation.  To do that, students take and pass courses until they’ve completed their requirements for graduation, so this is the focus – not learning anything or being able to use what was learned in the real world or even how to use it.

As an educator, I think we must shoulder some of the blame for this.  Too often, we present information to the students without really helping them understand why it’s important other than that it may be on the next test.  Because of this, the students retain information well enough to repeat it on the test and then forget it never really understanding its value.

This is not what we should do and this is not how learning takes place.  I tell my students that they are smart enough to learn the material, my job is to put it into context for them so they know how it fits with what else they should have learned and how to use the information after they graduate.  Put another way, I want them to be able to recognize an application of knowledge they obtained and know how to use that knowledge to solve real world problems and answer real world questions.  In the long run, this is what makes them valuable to an employer and to society in general – not what grades they got in college.  A few years after graduation, no one will ask them about their college experience any more.  They will want to know what they’ve done with what they learned since graduation.  Graduating may get them employed but what they learned while they were in school and how well they can use it will keep them employed.

Freshman Finance 101

Coaching, First Generation College Students, Higher Education, Success In College, Uncategorized, , ,

The focus for this fall’s college freshmen has, no doubt, been academic preparation to be accepted into their chosen college or university and to do well once they arrive.  There’s another important aspect of preparation for college that may not have gotten enough attention – financial preparation.  I don’t mean having enough money to pay for college even though that’s a tremendous challenge.  I’m referring to money college students will spend for other things.  Parents can’t send them everything they need or want.  The question is whether they’ll know how to manage the hundreds or thousands of dollars they spend in cash and with debit/credit cards during the school year whether they earn it or get it from home.

Parents, start teaching your college bound sons and daughters good money management skills before they graduate from high school.  We all know how challenging managing money is even if we know how to do it.  Every month, things happen that can derail our financial plans.  We’ve had time to learn how to deal with these events.  Typically, college bound high school seniors haven’t.

Help your sons and daughters practice good money management skills before they go to college also.  Knowing how to manage money and doing it well are not the same.   Help them get some practice at budgeting and spending their money based on their budget.   Also, strongly suggest that they take a course in personal finance to learn more about how to manage money now and after graduation.   Take a look at this article to read  about four things you can do now so your sons and daughters pass Freshman Finance 101 with flying colors and dollars to spare.

More Challenges For Minority Students in Higher Education

First Generation College Students, Higher Education, Mentoring Students, Success In College, Uncategorized, , ,

Picture this in your mind.  World class athletes line up for a 100-yard dash.  All of them are white except one who is Black.  When the gun sounds the white athletes bolt from their starting blocks and run as fast as they can.  The black runner, however, is held back until the other runners have gone 50 yards.  Then he is allowed to run and told “you’re equal now”.  When he asks about the 50-yard head start everyone else got, he’s told to make that up “on your own”.  That’s where we are in America since affirmative action programs have be eliminated in colleges and universities.  Although past racial injustices have not been addressed, blacks and other persons of color have been told to make up the huge gaps that remain “on their own”.  In a recent article from the New York times, Vivian Yee discusses what this “on your own” attitude can produce.  Its’s call the “ideal system” where every student will be evaluated with the same standards based on “merit” alone.  The level of preparation and/or ability resulting from minority students’ k-12 educations will not be considered in any way nor will there be any specific efforts to diversify enrollment.  This may be a reason why  the number of and percentage of minority students in higher education reached a plateau or began to decline in 2011.

Some schools, like Columbia however, have very intentionally worked hard at diversity and have increase minority enrollment and graduation in recent years.  Harvard, in fact, has the most diverse class in 380 years for this fall .  It has been shown that diversity improves educational outcomes at all levels.  I suggest that all parents and students making a college choice look more closely at diversity as a factor and let decision makers in higher education know diversity is important to you by choosing colleges that think it’s important too.

A New Way To Reduce The Cost Of A College Education

First Generation College Students, Granville Sawyer, Higher Education, Parents, Students, Success In College, ,

Several states offer free tuition programs for students to attend state colleges and universities.  The programs require various qualifiers including but not limited to state residency, maximum income cutoff, community service or attendance requirements and/or a minimum 2.5 grade point average in high school.  All programs also require parents and students to fill out the FAFSA form to assess financial need.  All the Places in the U.S. Where You Can Go to College for Free by Kaitlin Mulhere outlines 37 programs in 19 states.  One of these could reduce your cost of a college education by thousands of dollars.

Is An Ivy League Education Really Worth It?

First Generation College Students, Higher Education, Mentoring Students, Non-traditional Students, Success In College, The Costs and Benefits of Higher Education, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , ,

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From the U. S. Department of Education on Flikr

Should you send your son or daughter to an Ivy League college or university or another high quality school that does not have the prestige or the cost of the Ivies?  This is a question parents all over the country wrestle with every year as decisions about where students will be in the fall are made.  The choice of a college or university depends on many things the most important of which is the student.  Each family should send their son or daughter to the school the fits him or her best and that fits their budget for college.  In Ivy League or Bust? , Kristin Battista-Frazee’s recent article on Huffington Post does an excellent job of setting out the factors to be evaluated when making this important decision.  I strongly recommend that you read this article before deciding on a college or university.

 

 

More Concerns About For Profit Education

First Generation College Students, Higher Education, Non-traditional Students, The Costs and Benefits of Higher Education, Uncategorized, , , ,

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Secretary of Education John King From towerload.com

I read today that the Department of Education is considering terminating the accrediting authority of the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools .  As I mentioned in For Profit Schools Have A Built In Conflict, this will mean that all of the schools that this organization has accredited will not be able to receive federal funds for higher education.  It will also leave many students with thousands of dollars in school loans and no degree.

 

 

For Profit Schools Have A Built In Conflict Of Interest

First Generation College Students, Higher Education, Success In College, The Costs and Benefits of Higher Education, Uncategorized, , , ,

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By Fonna Seldu on Flikr

During my career in higher education, I’ve heard politicians and policy makers say that colleges and universities should be run more like businesses.  They would be more efficient and provide a better product for students and parents.  Articles have been written supporting this proposition as well. 

Everyone must be careful, however, in dealing with for profit colleges and universities whose mission is not education.  Their objective is to make money and provide a good return for investors.  This contrasts with the service mission of traditional colleges and universities to provide educational opportunities for their students.  This fundamental difference in mission must be taken into account when deciding where to invest your money for a college education.

“When Student Loans Outlive Failed Schools” describes what can happen when the profit motive becomes too important.  ITT Educational Services is a large for profit educational system with a presence in 39 states operating 128 campuses.  The company has not maintained the standards required to keep their accreditation from the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools which means they can no longer receive funds from federal school loan programs.  The federal government has demanded $44 million from ITT to cover refunds to students who will not get the educations paid for if the company goes out of business.  ITT has stated that if they lose accreditation this is exactly what will happen leaving students to shoulder the burden of paying off school loans which average $24,000 per student.

All for profit colleges and universities are not like ITT but they all have profit not education as their primary objective.  Do your homework before choosing one of these schools to ensure you get the education you paid for.

Yes, It Can Be Done

Coaching, First Generation College Students, Higher Education, Mentoring Students, Success In College, Uncategorized, , , , ,

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Baltimore Sun 6/12/2016

I recently read one of several troubling articles on the resegregation of public schools in America.  We seem to be headed back to separate but unequal all over again.  My question is does it have to be this way?  Are there examples of public schools that are doing an effective job of educating disadvantaged youth in the communities where they live?  The answer is yes.  This spring, The Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women (BYSYW – pronounced “Bliss”) graduated its first class of 60 young women who are all going to colleges such as Johns Hopkins with SAT scores significantly higher than the city public school average and over $487,000 in scholarships.

The school’s director of college advising stated that “In a perfect world, everybody would go to college.  In the BLSYW world, everybody creates a success plan.”  School administrators said that message is the legacy of the first graduating class.  Take a look at the article from the Baltimore Sun and let me know if you agree that this model needs to be expanded and emulated.

How To Reduce College Dropouts

First Generation College Students, Higher Education, Mentoring Students, New Technology For Education, Non-traditional Students, Success In College, The Costs and Benefits of Higher Education, Uncategorized, , , , , , , ,

Dropout PictureFollow the link below to read an interesting article on what some universities are doing to significantly reduce the number of students who start but don’t finish college.  How do you think these strategies would work at your college or university?

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/01/opinion/sunday/what-can-stop-kids-from-dropping-out.html?_r=0