Category Archives: The Costs and Benefits of Higher Education

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.

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

The Virginia Festival of the Book – A Wonderful Experience

Coaching, Events, First Generation College Students, Higher Education, Media Appearances, Mentoring Students, Success In College, The Costs and Benefits of Higher Education, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

In March, Donna and I were presenting authors at the Virginia Festival of the Book.  I participated in three events.  On Wednesday March 16th, I talked with fifty students at Albemarle High School about preparing for success in college.  Several of the students told me how much they appreciated the advice and how I shared it with them and the teachers were glad to hear their messages reinforced by someone the students enjoyed listening to.

Wednesday evening, I was one of two panelists discussing the adolescent mindset and the best ways to help students prepare for and have a successful college experience leading to graduation in four years with good grades and good job prospects.  There was a standing room only audience who had sons and daughters in college or preparing to go so they were quite interested in our presentations.  They demonstrated their interest by purchasing all the books I had brought for sale!

Finally, Sunday morning I briefly discussed College In Four Years at the Links of Charlottesville brunch for Festival authors who wrote books relevant to African Americans and/or people of color.  I told the audience of 200 about the value of the book for students and parents and how it could be instrumental in helping them work together for success in college.  The message resonated with them and they also purchased every book available for sale.

In addition to these presentations, I will be sharing more information with students in Charlottesville high schools in May.

Needless to say, I am thankful for the opportunity to participate in the Virginia Festival of the Book and thrilled with the reception College In Four Years got at all the events and with an opportunity to share information with more students in May.  Take a look at the pictures below from the events.

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The beginning of a great event!
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My talk with students at Albemarle High School.
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The Sawyer Authors!
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My panel discussion on the teenage mindset and higher education with Dr. Florence Jensen (The teenage Brain: Planning for Success in High School, College, and Beyond) and our moderator Ms. Elizabeth Benedict.

 

 

 

Who Are State Colleges and Universities For?

First Generation College Students, Higher Education, 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

I recently read an article about a disturbing trend in student demographics at state colleges and universities.  Schools have been increasing the number of out-of-state students they accept and reducing the number of in-state students they accept.  This is being done for money.  Out-of-state students pay more tuition so schools want more of them to enhance their revenue each year.  The result is that they are excluding more and more in-state students.  At the University of Alabama, for example, 72% of freshman students were in state in 2004.  In 2014, only 36% of incoming freshman students were from Alabama.  If this trend continues, it will make college less attainable and affordable for state residents who support flagship state universities with their tax dollars.

 

Dr. Granville M. Sawyer, Jr. Appears on The Thornton Business Hour Wednesday, January 20, 11:00 AM, WOL 1450 AM

Book Review, Coaching, Events, First Generation College Students, Higher Education, Media Appearances, Mentoring Students, Success In College, The Costs and Benefits of Higher Education, Uncategorized, , , , , , , ,

Pat Thornton
I’ll be the guest of Pat Thornton, on her radio show, The Thornton Business Hour on WOL 1450 AM tomorrow January 20th at 11:00. You can also listen to the live stream at  http://woldcnews.newsone.com/ if you are outside of the listening area.

Pat and I will be talking about how to earn a college degree in less time with less stress for less money.  If you would like to leave a comment or a question that you would like for me to answer during the show please do so in the comments section below and tag it #ThorntonBusinessHour.

African America: What The Media Don’t Tell You

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

John BullockI recently read a report done by the Neilsen Corporation on African American consumers in America which they titled “The Untold Story”.  There is so much important information in this report that I am going to do a series of four posts on it.  This post is an overview of the report and includes some very interesting statistics.

First of all, our numbers in America are increasing.  From 2000 to 2014 the African American population in American grew 35% faster than the overall population of the country and more than twice as fast as the white population in America.  You need look no further to better understand  the anger and fear some white people are feeling as shown in the news media on a regular basis. By 2060, Nielsen estimates that the Black population in America will be 74.5 million comprising 17.9% of the total U.S. population.

We are also becoming more educated.  The percentage of Black high school graduates enrolled in college was 70.9% exceeding that of both Whites and Hispanics.  Also, the high school graduation rate rose to over 70% outpacing all other groups in America.

We are also making and spending more money.  The percentage of black households making over $200,000 a year increased by 138% and African American income growth rates outpaced that of non-Hispanic Whites at every annual household income level above $60,000.  The result is that African American consumers spend 1 trillion 100 billion dollars annually!

This is not the picture of African America you will see in the media but it is the truth – it is who we really are in America today.  I’ll share more information with you in the next post.  In the meantime, let me know what you think about these surprising facts.  I’d like to hear from you.

In addition to the blog posts, I am going to begin podcasting my content in an effort to share information with more people.  If you are interested in subscribing, please let me know in your comments about this post below.

How Good Is That High School Diploma?

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

I’ve been reading with some concern about accountability for k-12 education going back to the individual states as a result of No Child Left Behind being discontinued.  This will make national evaluations of high school students’ abilities harder.  Every high school graduate should have some idea of how he/she compares with graduates from other high schools across the nation because the market for jobs is national and becoming more international every day.  Allowing states to be individually responsible for assessing what their students know and can do will make this more difficult.  An article from the New York Times shows why this is so important.

How can we ensure that all students get the quality public school education they deserve?  Let me know what you think.