Weekly Update: May 30

Not long now, everybody! The end of the school year is almost here! Just hang on a little bit longer!

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

NORTHEASTERN: NYC STYLE

Marymount Manhattan College, a small liberal arts school in New York City known for their theater programs, just announced a merger with Northeastern University. After the merger, Marymount Manhattan will be renamed Northeastern University-New York City. This will probably open up more opportunities for Northeastern applicants, who are often given the option to begin their studies at Northeastern at an alternate campus if they aren’t admitted through the traditional process. The merger still needs approval from regulators and accreditation agencies, which could take up to two years.

WANTED: COLLEGE PRESIDENTS

It’s not a job for the “faint of heart”, says Rev. John I. (or as students know him, “Father”) Jenkins, head of the University of Notre Dame for the past 19 years. As he gets ready to step down next month, the school will be looking for new leadership — as are many schools across the country! Along with Harvard, UPenn, Yale, Cornell, and UCLA, among others, 12 of the 58 private colleges in Massachusetts are currently without a president. The pressure to be as politically savvy as possible and of the highest academic caliber as possible is a tough blend to find, but seems to be what is now needed to qualify. Few will make the cut, but will even fewer apply?

THE PRICE OF PROTESTING

The administration at Trinity College Dublin has now rescinded a bill they presented to the Student Union. They had originally claimed that students had cost the university €214K ($232K) in “lost revenue” due to student protests. The university asserted that the protests blocked the entrance to the Book of Kells, a 1,200 year old illustrated manuscript, which attracts over half a million tourists each year. Student groups decried the school’s attempt to silence student voices.

A COLLEGE AND IT’S PROTESTORS COMPROMISED AND CONGRESS DIDN’T LIKE THAT

After a week of protests at Northwestern University with an encampment on the school’s green, the president and the students found a compromise and the protest ended. Unlike many other campus’ protests, this one was fairly peaceful. Students disbanded, removing all the tents except for one aid tent, and no arrests were made. Apparently, the U.S. Congress did not like this and demanded that Northwestern’s president, Michael Schill, present himself before Congress this Thursday. Evidently, “some members are expected to rake him over the coals for making a deal with students instead of bringing the hammer down.”

COLLEGE ATHLETES MAY FINALLY GET THEIR DUES

We’ve covered issues relating to NIL (name, image, and likeness) for years, and the latest update comes in the form of an agreement stemming from three antitrust lawsuits alleging $2.8 billion in damages. Now, however, current and former athletes may soon get paid! That said, details are still in the works with the lawyers, and it could take months before the agreement is finally considered settled. The agreement does not take on the issue of employment — the NCAA will likely continue to try and persuade Congress to pass a bill that would keep athletes from becoming employees.

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

What does it mean to be a “sell out”? For a long time, the term had the connotation of being someone who has traded in their moral values or integrity in exchange for more immediate gratification — perhaps money, or something else just as vulgar. But, like all human thoughts and ideas, meanings change with time. This article in the New York Times points a post-structuralist finger at young people and examines how they are re-defining the notion of “selling out”. If you go straight for the big bucks in order to position yourself in a place of power and influence to someday help make the world a better place, have you really sold out?

And to rebel against the “old” ideas of what it takes or requires to make the world better — or even to decide what “better” is — is all part of dismantling the false notion of structuralism in the first place. And kids these days do seem to be doing just that!  Paging Foucault and Derrida! But seriously, given the instability in the world for the past 20+ years — 9-11, wars, recessions, political divisions, a pandemic, more economic uncertainty — it’s not unreasonable for young people to try and do everything they can to establish a little bit of security for themselves while also trying to balance their strong desire to also create something better. While this article focuses on “elite” college students, I would posit that the desire to have stability and the power to change things for the better is not only limited to the students who attend “highly rejective” schools.

Sticking with the idea about jobs after college, Jeff Selingo’s latest newsletter reflects on how now, more than ever, people are debating the “value” of college — perhaps even to the point of wondering if college could ever guarantee a job as part of their education!

As summer gets closer, are you lining up your summer reading? Are they beach books? Romance? Something with some international intrigue or an adventure to the other reaches of the solar system? Maybe it’s the time when you are free to dig into some dense classics or the long list of “should’ve read” books you keep tacked to your bulletin board. This piece in the Washington Post is a lovely ode to the joy of reading — something we hope everyone finds time to do.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

Speaking of summer reading — did you know that some college applications ask students to share lists of books they’ve read recently? This is also a common interview question! The beginning of summer is a great time for rising seniors to get a head start and make sure they have a few books to discuss if needed.

Students shouldn’t just mention any books, though — It’s always really helpful if at least a few of the texts can be connected to their individual interests, as a way to strengthen their narrative. To make sure all of our rising seniors are prepared, we have been working on putting together our 2024 Summer Reading List, with recommendations broken down by interest — stay tuned for that!

Lastly, as this year’s admission cycle winds down, college offices around the country are already thinking about next year and what it will bring. As we have already mentioned a number of times, this year’s FAFSA nightmare (still ongoing) and last year’s Supreme Court ruling are likely to change the way admissions officers shape their incoming freshman classes.

One aspect that has become significantly more relevant in recent months involves geography, and zip codes in particular. I have never heard so many admissions officers discuss the impact of applicant zip codes as I have lately! No kidding, it’s a huge topic right now. I would bet that the average parent has absolutely no concept of what a big impact zip codes are having behind the scenes (the thought process is that students from certain zip codes have distinct advantages over those from other zip codes, and that incorporating zip codes into the decision-making process is a legal way to achieve a more diverse class).

I was happy to weigh in on this for U.S. News readers last week — check out How Your Hometown Could Affect Your College Prospects — it explores how colleges will use geographic methods to grow a diverse student body.

This is so Vienna-specific, but every time I hear the zip code discussion I think about the nuances of 22182 and it makes my head spin. For what it’s worth, the admissions officers have been very clear about how they are assessing applicants in the context of their home zip code, not their school zip code.

As a 22182 resident, I’m zoned to Colvin Run, Cooper, and Langley. Arguably some of the best schools in the state. I chose to live here specifically for the schools and the opportunities for my children.

Yet there is a whole other part of 22182 on the other side of Tysons that is so, so, different in terms of racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity. And some students from that area attend an elementary school that is ranked 3/10 on GreatSchools. But it’s the same zip code!

While this is a local example, there have got to be so many other places like this across the country. It really makes me wonder about the consequences of this newfound emphasis on zip code and how it will impact students in zip codes like 22182. Only time will tell!

Can’t wait to start your reading? Look at some of these past posts; you’re sure to find a book you love!

Weekly Update x2: May 15

Coming in with a double weekly update since we didn’t post last week!

The end of the second week of AP exams draws near, and we wish good luck to all who took or are still getting ready to take their exams! We know that some students will also have their own schools’ exams to look forward to in the coming weeks. Here’s to happy and productive studying for everyone! 🤞🍀

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE LAST 2 WEEKS

COLLEGES STRUGGLE WITH HOW TO PROCEED WITH GRADUATION CEREMONIES

As campus protests continue, many colleges faced challenges in determining how to hold graduation ceremonies without the chaos – or if that’s even possible! Columbia University canceled their main commencement event and instead held smaller ceremonies for each of their colleges - but a few protesters were present regardless.

From the University of Virginia, to the University of Michigan, to Indiana University and beyond, clashes between police and protesters mean that university administrators are walking the line between free speech and campus safety. For some, this involved carrying on with ceremonies despite clashes, and others, like University of Southern California, canceled them altogether. 

FRATERNITIES TAKE UNEXPECTED CENTER STAGE AT SOME COLLEGE PROTESTS

At the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity found themselves defending the U.S. flag as protesters attempted to replace it with a Palestinian flag. They were successful in doing so the first time, but the fraternity brothers managed to hoist the U.S. flag back in place and keep it from being taken down a second time. The White House called their actions admirable, and a gofundme by an independent source unrelated to UNC or the fraternity has raised over $500,000 to throw a “rager” for them.

On the campus of Ole Miss, a student who was captured on video making racist taunts at a Black student was expelled from the Phi Delta Theta fraternity. They found that “the action in question was offensive, outside the bounds of this discourse, and contradictory to our values.” 

ARRESTS CONTINUE ACROSS US COLLEGE CAMPUSES

The tally of how many arrests have taken place on US college campuses in the past weeks vary, with estimates around 2,800 at the time this post was written. Many professors have also been arrested.

The police in Hanover, NH released a statement about the 90 Dartmouth students arrested, while over in Durham, NH, a reluctant Chief of Police also made arrests at the University of New Hampshire.

WHO ARE THE CAMPUS PROTESTERS, ANYWAY?

Protests continue on campuses around the country and as arrests are made, university administrators and local police forces are finding that not everyone involved in the encampments, building take-overs, or marches are actual students or part of the school at all. Of the 112 arrested two weeks ago at Columbia University, 29% were not affiliated with the schools. At City College in Manhattan, 60% of 170 people arrested were not members of the school community. This makes us wonder how actions taken by the police and administrations may change going forward, if at all.

ANOTHER COLLEGE LOSES ITS PRESIDENT

Cornell University is the fourth Ivy League university, after Harvard, UPenn, and Yale, to lose their president within this past year. Dr. Martha Pollack recently resigned, in a move that seemed to surprise everyone at the university, and she will depart July 1. The search is on at all of these institutions for new leadership, a process that can take months or even years to complete.

MORE COLLEGE PRESIDENTS ARE UNDER THE MICROSCOPE

As colleges end their semesters and graduation ceremonies take place, some in altered forms or alternative settings, people are probing the methods used by university administrations, campus safety officers and local police forces in dealing with protestors on their campuses.

The president of the University of Virginia is defending his approach to use the local police to arrest a number of protestors even as others, including some faculty, express concern that it was too aggressive.

Across the country, it appears that faculty are placing their university presidents under greater scrutiny, as more members are holding “no-confidence” votes. UCLA faculty will continue to deliberate this week on the matter and Columbia University faculty are considering whether to make a “no-confidence” motion. University of Southern California, Barnard, UMass, and Emory faculties have all come down with a no-confidence or censure vote for their presidents in the past few weeks.

BEST ARTICLES OF THE LAST 2 WEEKS

As college counselors, we tell students to find schools that “fit” them — explaining that the time and effort spent searching and researching will lead to the right institution that will be their home for the next four (or maybe more!) years of their lives. Unfortunately, sometimes students get fixated on finding the “perfect” school and then panic when they fail to hear an angelic choir and heralding trumpets go off — even though they have toured dozens of amazing schools.

The reality is that there is no one perfect school! In fact, there may be several fantastic schools for each student, all a bit different and each with their own unique attributes, opportunities, and challenges. And the “challenges” part is just as important to a great college experience as the other two. Very often it’s when students are outside their comfort zone that the real growth happens: where they can expand their horizons and push themselves in new directions. This New York Times piece does a nice job of talking about the way some students can surprise those around them as they reveal how multifaceted they are. We encourage all students to find the schools that will make them feel comfortable, yet also just uncomfortable enough to grow in new and exciting ways. 

Paying for college these days is no joke! With questions about return on investment, the value of a college education, and the realization that college-related debt is proving to be a life-long albatross around a whole generation’s neck, it’s important to find new degree paths. For a long time, community colleges have been that path.

Unfortunately, they have also been looked down on and seen as “not good enough” for someone who did well in high school; it just wasn’t seen as a truly “academic” path. But the good news is that this stereotype is finally being overcome and the myth: busted!  This article shares how a California student with a 4.5 GPA chose the community college path for her first two years of college before transferring to a four-year school. The author notes, “[s]having two years off the costs of a four-year degree can save a student anywhere between $65,000 to $180,000 or more. That’s life-changing money for someone starting out.”

We actually live in one of the best areas in the country for guaranteed transfer opportunities, with NOVA's Guaranteed Admission Agreements in Virginia and University of Maryland’s Transfer Advantage Program. Both of these offer smart ways for students to be able to earn degrees from highly selective schools that may not have been realistic options directly out of high school. Additionally, for other students, these programs can make the attainment of a four-year degree a reality perhaps otherwise thought out of reach. We encourage our students to consider all of their options: both where they can get in today, and where they can graduate down the road.

Almost all of us have smartphones. And teens these days have never known a world without social media, selfies, or the algorithms that control their daily feeds. We are also at a time where mental health is at the forefront of our news, our culture and our health care. The question is: are all these things related? This author wonders if it really is the phones, as new data shows some changes in that line of thinking. However, it also shows how some of the more distressing news — an increase in suicide in teens and adults — seems to be a uniquely American trend. What is the role of culture on how we consume and relate to social media, our mental health and each other?

Visiting college campuses can be a fun, exciting and sometimes daunting experience. What are you looking for? Ivy covered brick? Expansive green quads? Modern buildings? Large, leafy trees? What makes a college campus beautiful is very much in the eye of the beholder, but see if you agree with this list of 37 of the Most Beautiful Campuses in the World! Did your favorite campus make the cut?

As a student and family research schools, an important question to ask is what new and innovative programs are they developing for an ever-changing future? How are they preparing students for jobs that may not even exist yet? Lehigh University has announced an exciting new undergraduate major that will begin taking applicants in Fall 2024 for admission in 2025: a BS in Integrated Business and Health. Housed jointly in the College of Business and the College of Health, the new Lehigh program is described as: The inter-college interdisciplinary program in Business and Health, Integrated Business and Health (IBH), trains students to become leaders in the health industry by developing an understanding of the core principles of business alongside an in-depth knowledge of health economics and policy. The program prepares future leaders of the health industry to better understand and address the vital conditions that shape community health and promote health equity.

“No,” is a complete sentence, but saying no to your child can be hard. So how do you have the conversation that the college your son or daughter wants to attend is just too expensive? This Washington Post article offers some strategies for having this difficult conversation. Working with your child to see the long-term benefits and get past the more immediate gratification can be a challenge, but chances are, they will thank you in the long run. Being able to graduate with little to no debt could shape their future for the better.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

I spent last week in Connecticut, attending the Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA) Annual Conference. This is a great opportunity for professional development and networking with some of the country's best educational consultants, in addition to many undergraduate and graduate admissions officers. Fun fact: I currently serve on the organization's finance committee and in past years have served on the business practices committee.

In addition to attending breakout sessions including "Out of the Mouths of Deans: An Interview With Admissions Leaders from Selective Colleges" and "How to Stand Out When A is an Average Grade," I have also been making time to visit colleges. Fairfield ended up to be a surprise favorite - I’ll be back next week with a recap of everything I learned!

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Lastly, I wanted to mention that William & Mary just released their interview slots for the upcoming summer. If you plan to apply to W&M, you should definitely take advantage of this opportunity and sign up. They fill VERY quickly, so don’t wait!

Interested in reading more on ROI? Check out the posts below!

Weekly Update: May 1

It’s National Decision Day!

May 1 used to mark the end of the college admissions cycle in a given year, but not this year — everything is just completely up in the air because of all of the FAFSA issues.

And the most interesting part is the widespread nature of the impact: most of our clients don’t apply for need-based financial aid, so you’d think it wouldn’t matter for them, right? Wrong. The drawn-out timeline and increased reliance on waitlists is impacting everyone.

Not to mention the fact that colleges and universities across the country are experiencing absolute chaos right now in terms of student protests (more on that below). There’s only so much tear gas and riot gear that high school seniors can see on tv before they begin to reconsider the type of school community with which they’d like to affiliate. And that goes both ways - the protests are very appealing to some and very unappealing to others!

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

COLUMBIA CRACKS DOWN AFTER BUILDING TAKEOVER

The situation at Columbia escalated significantly over the last week as professional protest consultants worked to exacerbate (and, it is suspected, to fund) the encampment of student protesters. The group then ultimately occupied, vandalized, and blockaded a campus building, Hamilton Hall.

Mayor Eric Adams issued a “shelter in place” order on campus and brought in over 100 NYPD police officers dressed in riot gear, who arrested over 230 students at Columbia last night. These students now face expulsion from the university. He explained: “This is a global problem, that [the] young are being influenced by those who are professionals and radicalizing our children. And I'm not going to allow that to happen.”

At this point, the campus is closed to everyone except for essential staff and students who live in residence halls, with only one campus access point.

HUNDREDS OF ADDITIONAL PROTESTS CONTINUE AROUND THE COUNTRY

While we are hopeful that the situation at Columbia will begin to improve over the next few days, similar demonstrations continue to rage on at many other campuses around the country. From state troopers in riot gear at the University of Texas at Austin to UCLA to UNC and more, nearly 400 demonstrations have taken place and continue to occur at schools all around the country. These have resulted in consequences ranging from suspensions, expulsions, cancelled classes and disrupted graduation ceremonies — a particularly unfortunate situation for a cohort of students that missed their high school graduation ceremonies during the Covid-19 outbreak in the spring of 2020.

STILL NEED A HOME FOR NEXT YEAR? YOU’RE IN LUCK

Whether you’re dealing with waitlist uncertainty, financial aid confusion, or protest fear, more students than ever have begun to reconsider their college choices for the upcoming year. We definitely don’t recommend making hasty decisions about this kind of thing, but there are a few circumstances in which a pivot may make sense. Fortunately, the National Association for College Admission Counseling posts a list of colleges with spaces remaining this fall. The list has over 200 options at the moment, although it is updated daily. Check it out - there are some good choices here, including Colorado State, Ithaca, Rollins, St. Joseph’s and more!

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

Shout out to my mom for sending me this article, which was a great one! Noting that "something feels distinctly off on Ivy League campuses” after years of increasing student entitlement that culminated in the recent protests, Forbes announced a list of twenty “New Ivies,” universities “producing the hard-working high achievers that employers crave.”

But students and parents shouldn’t get too excited — the acceptance rates at the private schools on the list are still extremely low, and the public school acceptance rates incorporate individual state legislation that makes the shared statistics largely non-representative for most applicants.

On the private side, they seem to have forgotten to include a certain school in St. Louis, but I’ll forgive that: the list includes many great options, ranging from Vanderbilt and Emory to Notre Dame, Georgetown, Boston College and more. I was also somewhat surprised that Duke and NYU were not on the list (probably too many protesters). The public institutions include all the usual suspects, including Michigan, UNC, Florida, Wisconsin, and of course our DMV favorites UVA and UMD. The only one that surprised me a little bit was SUNY Binghamton, a school to which we rarely have any students apply. I would have expected to see a mention of Indiana or UGA over Binghamton.

Speaking of public schools - Nate Silver is no exception to everyone singing their praises this year. In a recent blog post, he too reflected on the idea that state schools are often a better choice for most students than top-tier Ivy League programs (especially those going to “find themselves”).

One item that I wanted to clarify: he gave a few exceptions of students who might benefit from going to top-tier Ivy League programs, and one of those had to do with students planning to study law: “I’d … tell them to go with the elite private college,” he wrote, “If (i) they had a high degree of confidence in what they wanted to do with their degree and (ii) it was in a field like law that regards the credential as particularly valuable.”

He’s referring to law school here, not undergrad — students planning to attend law school later are actually one of the prime examples of those who do not need to pick an undergraduate school based on name, but their law school name is very important.

And lastly — I have tried to stop posting the generic articles that discuss how crazy this year’s college admissions process was, because we have covered all of the reasons for the craziness quite a few times already and I know that all of you get it by now. This morning, however, I read a great take in the New York Times and just couldn’t help myself from sharing it, so here we go: This Is Peak College Admissions Insanity.

I really agree with the idea that institutional certainty and applicant certainty have a negative correlation, with the events of the last several years increasing the potential to manipulate institutional certainty like never before. Unfortunately, this has left applicant certainty at an all time low.

Additionally, I think it’s eye-opening to recognize that even with advantaged “applicants … whose parents had taken the wise precaution of being rich,” their wealth wasn’t enough to get them where they wanted to be! Yes, the Visi student they profiled was ultimately admitted to Dartmouth, her father’s alma mater, which is amazing. She had some other great options as well. Still, look where she wasn’t admitted - even as a full-pay student with “stellar grades” at one of the top high schools in the D.C. area and a perfect ACT score. And we can’t even chalk this up to demonstrated interest, because she applied ED to Duke. Yet it wasn’t enough!

The uncertainty is out. of. control., and the truth is that we just don’t know where a student will get in anymore. We typically know where they won’t get in, but when it comes to qualified applicants, we have no clue. Could we have predicted that this girl would not have gotten into Duke ED but that she got into Johns Hopkins RD? No way. All we can do is make sure they have an ironclad strategy and do every single little thing right, and then we just have to let the chips fall where they may. But an important part of that strategy is making sure that students’ lists are extensive and balanced enough to have choices, no matter what happens.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

I posted on social media this morning about a new interview trend that’s giving me a lot of pause. A new question making the rounds asks students about their go-to Starbucks order, with the idea that (a) they would not have prepared for this question in advance, and (b) an excessively-complicated order is likely to reflect a high-maintenance, entitled personality.

As a loyal Starbucks consumer, you can find me almost every morning dropping by one of the Vienna/Tysons locations: Spring Hill, Pike 7, or Maple Ave. So I have really thought about this quite a bit since I learned about the trend — probably too much for my own good — and I am just not down with the idea that a Starbucks order can always be an accurate measure of personality.

First, like I mentioned, I just don’t think there’s any truth to it, at least anecdotally. Some of the most high-maintenance people I know have very simple Starbucks orders. And some of the most easygoing people I know have rather complicated orders.

But beyond that, I think that one of the reasons I’ve continued to feel bothered by this trend is that it’s just another reminder that nothing is sacred anymore! It’s frustrating that today’s high school and college students have to come up with a strategy for their COFFEE ORDER so as not to offend or rub someone the wrong way. As if ordering an $8 latte every morning isn’t bothersome enough to lots of people in its own right.

And the choices feel pretty lose-lose: if you order oat milk, you’re suddenly identifying as a liberal environmentalist (I just like the taste..). If you prefer a skinny vanilla latte, you might be accidentally fat shaming someone. If you say you just like plain coffee, they know you’re lying. Ultimately, I decided the safest approach is to respond that your order is an iced coffee with sugar or stevia. It’s plain, but not too plain. Relatively inoffensive, as far as these things go. NO MENTION OF OAT MILK!

P.S. When Starbucks got rid of sugar-free hazelnut in 2017 (such a sad time that was) I got sick of having sugar-free vanilla all the time. So I began to mix various seasonal sauces and syrups with sugar-free-vanilla — like two pumps of each — to incorporate some variation while cutting down on the calories. Only in the fall and winter, because I don’t love the spring/summer seasonal flavors. You can call me high maintenance, but I’d like to think it makes me an out-of-the-box problem-solver :)

Weekly Update: April 9

For those of you in the DC area, I hope you had a chance to see the solar eclipse yesterday! (Or maybe felt the earthquake on Friday!?) 

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

MARCH MADNESS COMES TO AN END

On Sunday, it seemed like the entire country (with the possible exception of the state of South Carolina 🙂) was cheering on Caitlin Clark and University of Iowa. Unfortunately, it was not to be, and South Carolina finished their undefeated season by winning the NCAA women’s championship game 87-75. And last night, UConn won the men’s championship game (for the second year in a row!) by beating Purdue 75-60.

NAIA BANS TRANSGENDER WOMEN FROM WOMEN’S SPORTS

On Monday, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics voted unanimously to ban transgender women from women’s sports. “Only students whose biological sex is female” will be allowed to participate. If you haven’t heard of the NAIA, you aren’t alone: the organization is significantly smaller than the NCAA and includes schools that aren’t really on most of our students’ radar. However, this ruling may still be significant for the greater population, as some believe that it could serve as a precedent of sorts for the NCAA.

AT $95,000 PER YEAR, IS COLLEGE A GOOD INVESTMENT?

The annual cost of tuition, board, meals and other expenses at a number of private colleges has exceeded $90,000 this year, which calculates to over $1 million to send three children to college! But don’t let these numbers discourage you: many colleges with large endowments offer generous financial assistance to make attendance affordable, with some students paying just 10% of the advertised rate. Financial aid experts advise making decisions based on the actual cost that you have to pay (after financial aid is factored in), and not the perceived cost.  

Other colleges with price tags now exceeding $90,000 include USC at $95,000; Harvey Mudd at $93,000; UPenn at $92,000; Brown at $92,000; Dartmouth at $91,000; and BU at $90,000. Is college worth the investment? In general, we believe the answer is yes, with the caveat that it is important to borrow in moderation (can’t emphasize this enough!), pay close attention to the ROI of individual majors, and complete degree programs in their entirety.

NEW SURVEYS SHOWS JEWISH COLLEGE CHOICES AFFECTED BY OCT. 7

A recent survey this March by Hillel International, involving over 400 Jewish parents of high school juniors and seniors, showed that 96% are “concerned about the increase in antisemitic incidents on college campuses since October 7.” 19% even said they are questioning whether or not to send their children to college at all. 87% said that October 7 had an “impact” on how they chose a college for their child, and 64% said they are avoiding certain schools altogether because of a perceived rise in antisemitism on that campus.  

Hillel International president and CEO Adam Lehman stated that rather than avoiding certain colleges and “self-ghettoizing,” the Jewish community should focus on fixing the campus climate at schools. Julia Jassey, the CEO of Jewish on Campus, stated: “The last thing that I would ever tell a parent or student is not to go to a certain school because it is antisemitic. All that will do is self-select ourselves out of spaces where we want to be … It’s really more important that when students go to school, they’re educated about what antisemitism is, how to combat it, and what to do when they experience it.”

VANDERBILT IN EARLY DISCUSSIONS TO OPEN CAMPUS IN WEST PALM BEACH

Vanderbilt University is considering opening a second campus in downtown West Palm Beach, Florida, that would enroll around 1,000 students and feature a business school and a college of computer science. Vanderbilt Chancellor Daniel Diermeier has high hopes for this dream campus, and sees an opportunity to capitalize on Palm Beach County’s growing reputation as “Wall Street South” to provide students with jobs in finance. He said that a West Palm Beach campus could “turbocharge” the creation of new businesses established by graduates, creating an innovation industry and transforming the city into a major destination. 

Diermeier envisions that Vanderbilt’s impact on West Palm Beach could be similar to Stanford’s impact on Silicon Valley, resulting in an explosion of business and innovative technology companies. The school is in the preliminary stages of meeting with county commissioners and asking local businesses to co-invest. A recent event attended by Gov. Ron DeSantis raised $100 million for the venture.

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

Is college football over as we know it?  An article in The Athletic last week said that a group dubbed the “Super League” may be shaking things up in the near future. The group, officially called “College Sports Tomorrow” (CST), is trying to implement a new system that would replace the NCAA and the College Football Playoff, as well as provide a solution for lawsuits involving NIL and transfer portal issues.  The CST structure would eliminate the conference structure and create one entity. 

This centralized college league would negotiate not only for TV broadcasting deals, but also negotiate with any prospective union that would represent players in lawsuits. Colleges are particularly concerned with the House v. NCAA class action lawsuit, which could have the NCAA and power conferences on the hook for billions.  

Some criticize the notion, saying that CST is trying to “buy college football.” Leagues have been hesitant, and some have cancelled meetings with CST so as not to upset their current multi-million-dollar broadcast deals with ESPN and Fox. CST leaders, however, assert that time is of the essence; their goal is to get ahead of foreseeable legal challenges and “lead from the front, not behind.” 

Speaking of college sports, how about North Carolina State!?  Although they lost to Purdue over the weekend, they made it to the Final Four, leaving fans “thunderstruck,” as the New York Times put it. Often referred to by neighboring basketball powerhouses Duke and UNC as the “little brother,” NC State emerged as the country’s Cinderella team, winning nine straight games, including a 26-14 victory over Duke. It was the first time the Wolfpack made it to the national semifinals since they won the national title in 1983. 

In the 1950’s, the team was considered the best in the ACC. Their men’s basketball team was the team that started the tradition of cutting down the net as a victory souvenir. However, a big setback occurred in 1989, when the NCAA placed the team on probation for two years and barred it from the 1990 tournament for violations that included misuse of complimentary tickets and sneakers provided to players. Despite their loss on Saturday, it was thrilling to see an underdog back in the limelight.  

I came across an intriguing article in Forbes that cautioned against college education becoming like a luxury brand – an expensive badge of status reserved for the privileged few. The author wrote that an undergraduate degree (especially one at a top university) provides professional opportunities and upward social mobility, and people are willing to spend a small fortune for it. Luxury products are expensive because they are assumed to be high quality, with intrinsic value, and also carry prestigious, identifiable imagery. These qualities are perceived to be transferred from the products to the person wearing it. In this sense, the author believes, a college education has become very much like a Gucci bag.  

Yet the demand for luxury is slowing, as evidenced by softening sales from brands like Gucci. The brand reported a 20% decline in the first quarter of 2024, due to its out-of-reach pricing and alternative options, which are becoming more culturally valuable. This is a warning bell for higher education: as college tuition rises, more alternatives to college are presenting themselves. 

Social media influencers provide a potentially lucrative career path without school debt, and the massive shortage of trade jobs has led to a premium in salaries for skilled labor (again, without the debt). Some experts think that innovations in technologies like blockchain authentications could gain status akin to a college degree when it comes to hiring. If luxury is any indication, higher ed needs to evolve!

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

Our juniors are continuing to finalize their lists during their second round of college counseling check-in meetings, which just started this week. In case you were wondering, we haven’t seen any particular increase in student interest in UConn or Iowa this year after March Madness (South Carolina and Purdue were already popular options!).

One of the challenges that a lot of our students face involves the difficulty of visiting colleges in person without missing school. It’s particularly tough at this time of year, now that spring break is over and the clock is ticking - college students typically finish up their classes in late April or the first week of May, and the whole vibe changes on campus after that point. Don’t forget that Saturdays are still an option, though! A prospective student will get a much better sense of a campus community on a Saturday during the spring than on a weekday during exam week or the summer.

Have a great rest of the week - we have some amazing weather ahead!

ROI: What are we really measuring?

I posted about a Georgetown study on Higher Education ROI on our Facebook page a few weeks back and promised to follow up with a blog post. I think there’s a lot of interesting information here, and while it may be surprising at first to hear about Maine Maritime Academy and the pharmacy schools, it brought up another point that I’ve thought a lot about lately: that it’s important to realize that when we consider these issues, we are looking at averages.

It’s absolutely correct that the average income of a pharmacist is higher than the average liberal arts graduate. There’s a whole sub-set of fields like this - engineering is another great example - where the starting salaries are high and remain consistent, without much risk of the student ending up unemployed or underemployed.

However, averages don’t tell the whole story. How many engineers or pharmacists do you know in the top 1%? I almost feel badly writing this out because I do not think that high incomes should necessarily be everyone’s goal (I have a master’s degree in education for goodness’ sake!) but if we’re going to use salary information as a ranking metric, I think we need to differentiate between the chance of achieving financial stability and the chance of becoming a high-income earner.

I know that the definitions of these are probably different for everyone, but let’s say for our purposes, a financially stable professional might bring in about $100k in the DC area and a high-income earner might bring in about $300k+ in the DC area. Give or take.

How would these rankings look if instead of taking the average incomes of graduates - which clearly speak to stability - they took the percentage of alumni earning more than $300k? Oh, and if they performed cost-of-living adjustments (I can dream, right? All my readers know how passionately I feel about cost of living adjustments!). I think this would give us very different results. No way would the Maine Maritime Academy come out on top, in my opinion - or the pharmacy schools.

Yes, there’s no question that liberal arts degrees bear more risk as opposed to pre-professional degrees. No doubt about it. But I really do believe that by and large, they also offer the most reward. When I look at myself, an English major with a master’s degree in education, I know that on paper I should probably be making a tenth of what I actually earn. On the other hand, though, maybe it was my relatively low income potential that led me into entrepreneurship. If I had a solid six-figure engineering job at age 25, would I have taken the risk of losing that income? Again, just speaking for myself here, but I don’t think I would have.

I think that the Wealth-X list provides a good point of comparison that comes a little closer to the point I’m trying to make, although we have to keep in mind that people with a net worth exceeding $30m are not exactly the norm. But I do enjoy this statistic: “University of Chicago and University of Virginia share the distinction of having the most UHNW [ultra high net worth] alumni with self-made wealth.” YES! That is right about what I would have guessed.

Now, how about just regular high net worth alumni? Time for someone to perform that study!