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How the Recession Is Changing Students' College Plans
Tweet Share on Facebook April 8, 2009 Comment (14)A recent survey found that the recession is forcing more than 70 percent of prospective college students to alter their plans for the upcoming school year, sometimes in drastic ways. When asked how their college plans might change, 53 percent of students said they are considering attending a less expensive college, and 47 percent said they are planning to work as freshmen. Many incoming freshmen are also likely to rely more heavily on financial aid counseling (43 percent) and to borrow more heavily (38 percent).
Thesurvey, which drew responses from 1,030 households representing a wide range of incomes in all 50 states, reveals the heightened anxiety of the 2009 freshman class. Only 28 percent of the respondents said the recession has no influence on their college enrollment plans. Longmire & Co., the educational consulting firm that conducted the survey, says there is also a great deal of parental confusion about financial aid. Only 17 percent of surveyed parents said that they are "extremely familiar" with aid available to them.
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Low-Income Students Receiving Vouchers Make Reading Gains
Tweet Share on Facebook April 7, 2009 Comment (2)A new study measuring the success of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, the nation's only federally funded voucher program, is reigniting a debate about whether vouchers can help raise achievement among low-income students.
The study, which was conducted by the U.S. Department of Education and released last week, compared the performance and satisfaction of District of Columbia students who received vouchers to attend private schools against students who remained enrolled in regular public schools. It found that overall, the voucher students were at least three months ahead of their public school peers in reading but performed at similar levels in math.
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The 5 Most Improved Urban School Districts for 2009
Tweet Share on Facebook April 2, 2009 Comment (4)Five school districts from California to Florida are in the running for an award that has been described as a Nobel Prize in education reform. The Broad Prize for Urban Education, as the award is officially known, is given each year to an urban school district that has made significant progress in raising achievement, especially among low-income and minority students. The award comes with $2 million in scholarships for the five finalists.
The finalists include the Aldine Independent School District in Houston, which has been a finalist the past three years; Broward County Public Schools in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., also a finalist last year; and Long Beach Unified School District in Southern California, which could become the first district to win the award a second time. The other finalists are the Socorro Independent School District in El Paso, Texas, and Gwinnett County Public Schools outside Atlanta.
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