Weekly Update: June 6

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

ART SCHOOLS SUFFER FROM TOUGH ECONOMIC TIMES AND LOW ENROLLMENT

Columbia College Chicago and the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, two well-respected arts schools, have both come into economic difficulties recently. With just a week’s notice, the University of the Arts sent out a message stating that the school would be closing June 7th, catching students and faculty completely by surprise. The university, home to approximately 1,125 students, had just enrolled next year’s new class. Area universities such as Temple University, Drexel University, and Moore College of Art and Design have all reached out to try and assist current and incoming students with transfer opportunities. 

Columbia College Chicago, also with little notice, laid off 70 faculty members and eliminated 32 vacant staff positions due to financial worries and declining enrollment. The concerns of the college were not a secret, though; last month they announced that first-year enrollment was down 46% from last year and transfer deposits down 36%. “The advising office, library, admissions and enrollment, career center and the counseling services office were among the departments affected by layoffs,” said Lillian Gecker, co-membership chair of the Columbia staff union.

HARVARD WILL NO LONGER WEIGH IN ON GLOBAL AFFAIRS

A new policy is being put into place at Harvard, in which the university will no longer share an official opinion on issues that are “not relevant to the core function of the university”. While it will no longer share “statements of empathy” as it did for Ukraine and the attacks on October 7th by Hamas, it is also not becoming “neutral” on global issues, like the University of Chicago. Others, of course, believe that it’s impossible for a school such as Harvard to have true “institutional neutrality”. 

FAFSA ISSUES AND CHANGES IN JOB MARKET IMPACT COLLEGE  ENROLLMENT

Fewer job postings are listing formal educational requirements as employers have trouble filling positions. Listings with no degree requirements have gone up 4% over the last 4 years. A cascade of problems with the FAFSA, or Free Application for Federal Student Aid, this year, have seen a drop in the number of completed financial aid forms by almost 16%. The worry is that these two issues will have a stalling or even backsliding effect on what had been an increase in college enrollment over the last few years. While the numbers are not back to pre-pandemic rates, they are up 2.5% this spring after decades of decline. Some of the overall decline is due to lower birth rates and fewer students who may be attending college, but the increased price of four-year institutions has meant that the majority of that 2.5% increase is happening in community colleges. People are less willing to take on what can turn into life-long crippling debt just to attend a 4-year university.

WOMEN MAKE “FIRSTS” IN LEADERSHIP ROLES AT TWO UNIVERSITIES

Both Yale University and Winston-Salem State University hired their first female leaders in either school’s history. Dr. Maurie D. McInnis, former head of Stony Brook University, will become the new president of Yale University starting in July. She will be the first permanent female president of the school since its inception in 1701. 

The University of North Carolina Board of Governors elected Bonita J. Brown, an attorney,  to be the new chancellor of Winston-Salem State University. The HBCU, founded in 1892, is ranked as the number one school in the state for economic and social mobility (by the New York Times and US News & World Report. It is also considered a healthcare education powerhouse in the region. Congratulations to both!

AMERICAN UNIVERSITY ADDS EARLY ACTION

For students starting in the Fall of 2025, American University will offer Early Action application plans alongside their Regular, Early Decision I and Early Decision II plans. Unlike ED, EA is not binding; however, it allows applicants to apply early and get decisions early. This, in turn, suggests that students are interested and that they have done their research. For American University, EA will be due November 1 and EA applicants will receive their decisions by January 31.

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

Sonya recently reflected that she is so glad she didn’t grow up with social media or a smartphone. The pressure to conform at lightning speed and at such a granular level that apps like Snapchat and “Insta” apply to young people seems like such a daunting and bloody gauntlet to traverse, she explained. And to do it at the age when a person is probably at their most vulnerable and unsure of who they are and what they believe makes it a scarier prospect still.

(P.S. How do you even know if you grew up with social media or a smartphone? It’s not a completely cut-and-dry answer. I attended high school from 1999-2003, so I would think I qualify as having grown up with social media in its earliest forms, like AOL profiles and MySpace. Facebook came out during my freshman year of college, 2003-2004, and my peers were all just starting to get smartphones right around the time of our college graduation. This is on my mind right now because I am in the middle of reading The Anxious Generation, which you will find on our summer reading list soon!)

In any case, we found an interesting article which looks at teens around the country whose parents resisted pressure from the outside and inside the house to give their teen a smartphone, despite some being shown up to four slide deck presentations about the merits of doing so! Some had “dumb” phones for communication, but others didn’t even have that. I know that now it’s almost unimaginable to be out in the world without a smartphone, but this article suggests that their experience shows them to be more independent, more able to problem-solve and more capable of handling being bored and entertaining themselves. One of the more slightly ironic differences is that those without a phone also were able to be more “sociable” and had better coping skills when dealing with the public. Just the opposite seems to be the case for kids addicted to social media!

And staying on the theme of being sociable, dating as a teenager is also quite different now, in the age of smartphones, than it was ‘back in the day”: for better and/or worse. In this article about his son’s first girlfriend, the author talks about the generational differences in how we consume social media versus today’s teens; the impact that has had on attention spans; and ultimately how this has changed how young people communicate, compared to us “olds”!

In the last few posts we have talked about teens and summer jobs (and sometimes their first job) along with helping them navigate this new, adult responsibility. Nothing screams adult responsibility louder than taxes! Sometimes the expected amount of that first glorious paycheck and the reality of learning what net pay is can be stunning. This MarketWatch article shares the importance of talking to your teen about taxes and how this knowledge can lead to better overall personal financial management in the future.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

Since many of our juniors have finished drafting their Common App (R) personal essays and are now on to their supplemental work, we started putting together our Class of 2025 Supplemental Essay Database this past week!

A number of colleges have already finalized their essay prompts for the coming application cycle, including Georgetown and the University of Georgia. As a reminder, we are vigilant about checking for updated prompts on a nearly-daily basis throughout the summer so that our students can write their essays earlier than the official August 1 release date.

And of course, we are still deep in behind-the-scenes Common App (R) essay edits — just because the juniors are done with their work doesn’t mean we are all done with ours! I say this every year, but there is nothing more exciting to me than the moment when the essay really clicks into place.

Usually, the man responsible for that amazing-ness is none other than Alan, our essay coach who works solely behind the scenes helping those final edits be just a little bit more sparkly than they otherwise would be. We are super lucky to have him on our team!

He has this magical ability to shift a student’s own writing and voice around into different and unexpected ways — it really is an art! I could never do as good of a job as he does.

Have a great rest of your week, everyone!

WANT MORE ON HBCUs? CHECK OUT THESE POSTS!

Weekly Update: January 16

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM EASES REQUIREMENTS FOR JEWISH STUDENTS SEEKING TRANSFER DUE TO ANTISEMITIC FEARS

Florida State University System Chancellor Ray Rodrigues issued an emergency order this week for the state system to “remove barriers for undergraduate students who are seeking to transfer to a Florida university because of a well-founded fear of antisemitic or other religious discrimination, harassment, intimidation, or violence.” Rodrigues' action came after Florida Governor (and Republican presidential candidate) Ron DeSantis said in his annual State of the State that Jewish students would find Florida welcoming them “with open arms.”

NEW BILL INTRODUCED TO U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TO MAKE CHANGES TO FEDERAL GRANTS AND LOANS FOR STUDENTS

Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have introduced a bill intended to make major changes to how students pay for college. The “College Cost Reduction Act” includes a variety of changes to student loans, capping how much a student can borrow, making colleges potentially responsible for unpaid loans, and reforming the Pell Grant program (doubling it for many juniors and seniors), among other things. Some of the changes have bipartisan support, including Pell Grant reform, but it’s not clear yet how much support the full bill will attract.

EMORY UNIVERSITY’S FACULTY SENATE SEEKS ANSWERS AFTER INVESTIGATION INTO USE OF ATLANTA POLICE IN PEACEFUL STUDENT PROTEST

Wading into the recent conversation on many campuses about freedom of speech and assembly, this week The Chronicle of Higher Education examines a campus incident and subsequent university actions from last year. Students at Emory University staged a demonstration in April to bring attention to their concerns about the Atlanta Police Department and a new training facility it plans to build. The students organized the peaceful protest on the University Quad, but when some students decided to camp out overnight, the Open Expression Observer (a trained faculty or staff member acting on behalf of the dean of campus life) alerted the students that they needed to disperse or possibly face conduct violations and be forcibly removed by campus police. Sometime after midnight, the observer contacted the campus police, who in turn called the Atlanta Police, and dozens of officers from both departments dispersed the protest. Now, the school’s faculty and students want the university to explain itself.

UNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND RECEIVES $100 MILLION GIFT TO SUPPORT POOLED ENDOWMENT FOR HBCUS

Thirty-seven Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) got good news as the new year began. The United Negro College Fund is engaged in a $1 billion capital campaign that is to include at least $370 million for HBCU endowments. The Lilly Endowment Inc., a “private philanthropic foundation supporting the causes of religion, education and community development,” put a big dent in that goal with a $100 million gift toward that $370 million goal. According to Inside Higher Ed, the average HBCU endowment is only about $16 million, so an additional $10 million from the UNCF for each school would be truly meaningful. (For comparison, William and Mary’s endowment is almost $1.4 billion.)

SUNY CHANCELLOR AND BOARD OF TRUSTEES APPLAUD NY GOVERNOR’S PROPOSED GUARANTEED ADMISSION INITIATIVE

In New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s State of the State address on January 9, 2024, she announced her plan to offer direct admission to students in the top 10 percent of their graduating classes to State University of New York and City University of New York schools. In a statement released by the Chancellor and Board, “As we have seen in other states, this plan will advance equity while helping to retain our most talented students.” In addition, the governor is proposing legislation which will require every public school district to ensure all high school graduates complete the FAFSA or the NY State DREAM Act Application or sign a waiver attesting that they were made aware of the financial aid opportunities, but chose not to apply.

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

In response to the U.S. Supreme Court decision last June, James Murray Jr., a Ph.D. student at the University of Kentucky, argues that the end of race-based considerations in college admissions opens a door for reparations for the descendants of enslaved people in the form of educational consideration and tuition remission. Citing a variety of legal scholars—as well as questions from conservative Supreme Court Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh during oral arguments—Murray suggests that a person’s specific genealogical lineage should be examined, not that person’s racial makeup per se, to determine preferences and financial assistance up to full tuition. 

Arena BioWorks is a Cambridge, Massachusetts, startup company with interests in pharmaceuticals and biotechnology. On the face of it, there’s nothing unusual about that, but when The New York Times refers to company researchers as “a splinter group of scientists,” you can bet this is no ordinary startup. With half a billion dollars on hand, Arena BioWorks isn’t just filling its coffers with money—it’s luring academic researchers away from tenured and high-visibility jobs at prestigious universities. Paydays for some of these rock-star scientists are reputedly in the range of $10 million, not to mention the freedom to explore their areas of interest with a lot less bureaucracy than in a university setting. A single, deep-pocketed research company (funded by Michael Dell of Dell Computers and Boston Celtics owner Stephen Pagliuca, among others) probably isn’t going to blow up university research by itself. But it’s a sign that times are changing in biotech and colleges and universities probably need to start thinking differently about how they approach the care and feeding of science students and faculty, as well as their output. 

At the input end of things, Forbes blogger Brennan Barnard says students should start thinking differently about how they approach the college admission process. Calling on high schools students to “revolt against the idea that admission is a zero-sum game” and “resist the impulse to approach your studies as simply a means to an end”—maybe harder to do now, knowing there’s a $10 million biotech payday out there—he urges students not to let the prospect of admission to a given school or a given major dictate what courses and academic risks they take. He goes on to call for a measured approach (like the one we urge students to take) to things like testing and rankings. In short: “Revolt against a single definition of success and the notion that being admitted to any one college will guarantee contentment or thriving.”

As if to prove the value of Barnard’s advice, in his newsletter writer Jeff Selingo shares some “where are they now” type reporting about three students he followed through the admission process in his book “Who Gets In, and Why.” All members of their different schools’ classes of 2019, Grace (accepted at UCLA), Nicole (Northeastern University), and Chris (Gettysburg College) have followed a variety of paths since graduation. Love this!

The students’ stories show in vivid color that the acceptance and rejection letters are only the first steps in the next part of the story and that the costs (financial, emotional, and personal) of “success” in the process accumulate long after a high school senior crosses a stage to become a graduate. The stories he told in the book and the stories he tells now are worth reading, because there’s something in them for just about anyone applying to college today.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

As we approach the midpoint of the school year, our students are busy with midterm or final exams and papers, but juniors are making time for their first round of check-in meetings to make sure they are on track! Once the second semester begins, we recommend students and families begin to plan for college visits or revisits in February, March, and April.

Of course, college visit planning will look different depending on the students’ class years. Juniors should be researching colleges, attending virtual visits and information sessions, and beginning to make plans to take advantage of school breaks, long weekends, and in-service days for on-campus trips. As seniors receive admission decisions, they should make note of programming that schools are offering for accepted students and look ahead to March and April to get some visits on the calendar, especially if they have not yet been able to visit a school in person yet. Remember: it is not a good idea to commit to a school that you’ve never seen in real life!

And on a lighter note, who else has been watching RushTok this week? Panhellenic (sorority) recruitment has just finished up at so many schools, including Northwestern, Tulane, Villanova, Virginia Tech and fan favorite SMU, and some of us (cough) have been tuning in for all those #OOTDs. I just finished a meeting with a junior who knew more about each chapter’s reputation on the various campuses than some of the girls who attend the actual schools probably do—I was very impressed with her research :)

While you can learn a lot about a school’s culture through these videos, remember that you’re seeing content created for entertainment purposes - and some of these girls are professional content creators! So the stories they tell are not necessarily reflective of the typical student experience at each of the schools. Still, there’s no denying the amount of Cartier jewelry on the SMU campus— that’s for sure!

INTERESTED IN MORE TIPS ON COLLEGE VISITS? CHECK OUT THESE POSTS

Weekly Update: May 8

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

HACKERS THREATEN VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY

The emergency information system at Bluefield University, a small university in western Virginia, was hacked last week. Hackers sent a threat to all students and faculty, and students were told that unless the school paid a ransom, their full personal and admissions data would be leaked online. While hacks at educational institutions have become more common, this is the first time hackers have hijacked a school’s emergency alert system. Bluefield was one of five universities to have been allegedly hacked last week alone. 

NEW COLLEGE CREATED AT UT AUSTIN

The University of Texas System Board of Regents voted last week to create a new college at UT Austin. The unanimous vote created the School of Civic Leadership to house the Civitas Institute, a center created less than a year ago with the help of state leadership and conservative donors. The dean of the School of Civic Leadership will be hired by November, and have the responsibility of bringing on 20 new faculty members related to the Institute. 

VCU FACULTY PROTEST POTENTIAL LAYOFFS

VCU’s Focused Inquiry courses are meant to teach new students the skills they will need in college, like communication and problem-solving. But VCU is now proposing to cut about a third of the faculty in the Focused Inquiry department. Professors predict that the cuts will eliminate about 130 sections of these small seminar-style classes, which are often new students’ first opportunity to build a personal connection with their professors. The university’s United Campus Workers union has started a petition against the proposed cuts. 

HOWARD UNIVERSITY CHOOSES NEW PRESIDENT

Ben Vinson III will move from his current position as provost at Case Western on September 1 to become the new president of DC’s Howard University. Dr. Vinson’s academic work as a historian focuses on the African diaspora, particularly in Latin America. Dr. Vinson is returning to the DC area, where he has previously founded the Center for Africana Studies at Johns Hopkins and served as dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at GW.

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

Concerned about paying for college? Even seniors who have already committed to their schools (and current college students!) may still have a chance to increase their financial aid awards, particularly if their family’s income has recently changed. It isn’t too late to apply for financial aid and even some scholarships! This article covers the top five ways students can help mitigate the costs of college. 

The Washington Post published an article this week about the value of teaching students “civil discourse” in an effort to combat polarization and give students the skills to discuss potentially controversial issues. American University’s “Disagree with a Professor” series allows students to practice speaking up, voicing their opinions, and opposing ideas with which they disagree. This is just one civil discourse program - other colleges across the country are instituting similar ideas, like MIT’s “Dialogues Across Difference.” Here in Virginia, UVA has partnered with Heterodox Academy, a nonprofit that promotes “open inquiry” and “constructive disagreement,” while Virginia Tech, William & Mary, and George Mason have partnered with a different nonprofit, the Constructive Dialogue Institute. 

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

FCPS recently announced a partnership with Hazel Health, which will allow students and families to access free behavioral health services at home. Parents can opt in to receive a behavioral health assessment for their child, short-term counseling, and even help with transitioning to other providers in the community for the long-term.

We also want to share a great opportunity for any students interested in history: apply to join Mt. Vernon’s Student Advisory Board! This is a fun way to learn more about history while getting a behind-the-scenes look at how the museum works. Plus, it’s a great activity to add to an application or mention in an essay.

Anybody catch me on Fox News tonight? I was honored to be included as part of a special report on the impact of Covid on education and learning loss! Tonight was just the first part of the program, so you might see me on again soon.

And back at the office, we have had some exciting changes - Courtney’s last day was last week, and while we will miss her, we are so happy for her as she begins her career as a therapist. We are thrilled to announce that we’ve brought on our newest team member, Libby, to fill her shoes!

Our current clients may notice that some of their emails and reminders will come from Libby in the coming weeks, but don’t worry - you can still send any questions or concerns to the same admin@dccollegecounseling.com address and Libby or Donna will help you out!

Have a great week!

Weekly Update: September 23

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

FLORIDA A&M STUDENTS SUE THE STATE OF FLORIDA

Six students from Florida A&M, an HBCU in Tallahassee, FL, are suing the state of Florida for what they say is unequal funding and resources. As a public institution, Florida A&M receives state funding, but the students allege that FAMU does not receive fair funding compared to other state schools, like Florida State. The lawsuit is another example of how the issue of underfunding at HBCUs is becoming more and more salient across the country.

BOMB THREAT AT NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY

Students at Northeastern were instructed to shelter in place last night while police addressed a bomb threat at the Curry Student Center. And Northeastern wasn’t the only school facing threats this week - a University of Utah student was arrested on Wednesday after she threatened to detonate the nuclear reactor located on campus if Utah’s football team lost to San Diego State last Saturday. If you were wondering, Utah won the game 35-7. 

YESHIVA UNIVERSITY LGBTQ CLUB FINDS A COMPROMISE

We shared a couple of weeks ago about Yeshiva University’s attempt to bring a case to the Supreme Court against a Pride club on campus, arguing that recognizing the club would be against the university’s religious affiliation. The Supreme Court did not block the lower court’s order, meaning Yeshiva is still required to recognize the club. In response, Yeshiva put all undergraduate club activities on hold.

On Wednesday, the YU Pride Alliance agreed to a stay of the original court order in order to allow other student clubs to resume activities on campus.

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

Many families don’t realize when they initially start working with us that helping students ask for and receive excellent letters of recommendation is a core part of our process! We help all of our ongoing clients with everything from which teachers to the best way to phrase the question to preparing information for an awesome recommendation. Even if you’re not an ongoing client, though, you can pick up some tips from Colleen in this U.S. News article!  

With all the news about college football picking up this week (another sign of fall!), we found this WSJ article about college football eligibility an interesting read. 

A study published in Nature, the premier scientific journal, found that 20% of U.S. colleges and universities produce 80% of tenured college professors. In fact, one in eight professors got their degrees from Berkeley, Harvard, Michigan, Stanford, or Wisconsin. The study demonstrates that there is unequal access to faculty jobs and a lack of intellectual diversity among college professors. It also proves that as with many graduate degrees, including law and business, where you get your Ph.D. matters!

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

We highly recommend that students register for the College Fair on Sunday, October 16 at GMU’s EagleBank Arena. This is a great way to demonstrate interest and chat with representatives from more than 250 colleges and universities, including service academies. Check it out if you can!

We hope you have a fantastic weekend!

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