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!

Weekly Update: February 13

Happy (early) Valentine’s Day!

If you’re interested in learning about some college-specific Valentine’s traditions, don’t miss our post from last year: Schooled in Love: Fun Valentine's Day Facts From College Campuses

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

BROWN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS HUNGER STRIKE TO PROTEST CONFLICT IN GAZA

Campus debates and protests related to the war in Gaza continue. Last week, American University imposed a ban on indoor protests at the school in the wake of ongoing campus conflict. This week, Brown University is in the spotlight, with eighteen students on day seven of a hunger strike (at the time of publication), calling for the school to “‘divest from the genocide in Gaza,’ and allow them to make their case to the university’s governing board,” according to The Washington Post. Brown’s president, Christina Paxson, maintains that the university should not be making decisions about its endowment in response to political issues.

COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES RESPOND TO NEW TIMING OF FAFSA DATA

Problems with the rollout of the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) have been widely reported, and have created major problems not just for students and families, but also for colleges and universities around the country. Once the delayed information reaches colleges, the schools will still need to scramble to put financial aid packages together. Some colleges have already extended their commitment deadlines from May 1 to June 1 in response, so that students have enough time to make educated decisions once the delayed information reaches them. The University of California system has moved their deadline to May 15 for all nine UC campuses, with the exception of out-of-state and international students accepted to UC Berkeley.

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION RESPONDS TO FAFSA DEBACLE

Now, the U.S. Department of Education (which oversees the FAFSA) has established a $50 million fund to help schools deal with the backlog—and backlash. The Department will also provide a “concierge service” for schools. “A senior department official said all historically Black and tribal colleges will have the opportunity to get direct support from the agency,” the article says. Colleges seem pretty underwhelmed by the response so far. The article quotes Kiely Fletcher, Vice President for Enrollment Management at the University of Illinois at Chicago (and the first institution to extend its commitment deadline to June 1) as saying “While we appreciate the secretary providing an updated timetable, the partial measures do little to alleviate the burden and anxiety expressed by students, their parents and higher ed professionals.”

CONGRESS RESPONDS TO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION OVER FAFSA DELAYS

Today, the leaders of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, and the House Committee on Education and the Workforce responded to Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona’s announcement that the department will provide additional supports for high schools as they work with students and families to complete and submit the FAFSA and for colleges as they prepare financial aid packages. In addition to committee leaders Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Patty Murray (D-WA) and Representative Robert “Bobby” Scott (D-VA), 106 senators and representatives co-signed the letter, which asks the Secretary of Education to clarify how the department will minimize the impact of these delays — especially for those students most in need of financial aid. The letter poses a set of seven questions that Congress wants answered. The letter concludes by asking if there are any “specific requests that Congress can respond to in order to help address related issues moving forward.”

LOCAL EFFECTS OF FAFSA DELAYS FELT AT DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

One of the largest impacts in our local area will be felt at the DC Tuition Assistance Grant (DCTAG) program. DCTAG is administered through the D.C. Office of the State Superintendent of Education and provides scholarships to D.C. residents to offset the cost of attending one of 300 participating colleges and universities. The aim is to help D.C. families with the cost of college as there is not an in-state option for D.C. residents. Because of the U.S. Department of Education's announcement that programs and schools will not receive the data from the FAFSA until mid-March, DCTAG has delayed opening the application until March 11, 2024.

VANDERBILT AND CORNELL EXTEND TEST-OPTIONAL ADMISSIONS

On the heels of Dartmouth’s announcement last week about reinstating standardized testing in the admission process, Cornell University and Vanderbilt University reported that they will each extend their test-optional admissions policies established during the pandemic. Cornell extended their policy for one more year. Several of Cornell’s schools have already adjusted admissions policy to “test free,” meaning they will not consider standardized test scores at any point in the admission process. Vanderbilt has extended their policy for three additional years in order to conduct internal research before making a permanent decision.

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

Following Dartmouth College’s aforementioned testing announcement, Inside Higher Ed interviewed Vice President and Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid, Lee Coffin. Coffin makes the point several times that the decision came after an internal study of admissions data for the last few years at Dartmouth. It was a decision made for Dartmouth using data from Dartmouth and is not intended to be a bellwether decision in the standardized testing controversy. Of course, though (as Coffin acknowledges), when an Ivy League university makes an announcement like this, it draws attention from all constituents.

A debate about the value of a college degree versus technical, vocational, and other skilled labor and career training has been going on quietly for the last several years, because leaders are struggling to assess the value of CTE programs. Unfortunately, standard ways of tracking outcomes and collecting data don’t apply, as it’s hard to match up workforce data with protected student records. This week, The Washington Post weighed in on the struggle. “States that do connect school and work data, such as Florida and Maryland, have found that taking career courses in high school can lead some students to earn higher wages after graduation,” Wall writes. But with data hard to come by, and some of it contradictory, it seems as if the debate will carry on a while longer. For now, as the College Board makes clear, getting education beyond a high school diploma is crucial to economic success, and a college degree is one of the best investments a family can make.

In “Legacy Admissions May Not Be at Odds With Diversity,” Wall Street Journal columnist Jason Riley addresses an aspect of the debate over legacy admissions that has attracted comparatively little attention: the negative effects ending the practice might have on minority students. Riley argues that “ending the practice might undercut the left’s campus diversity objectives.” He writes: “Affirmative-action policies have been in place for a half-century. Hundreds of thousands of black students have matriculated at selective colleges and universities across the country, and their children stand to benefit from legacy admissions. Now that race-conscious admission policies have been banned, legacies are one way for schools to maintain a racially mixed student body without violating the Supreme Court’s decision.” Riley also notes that some leaders at HBCUs have expressed anxiety about legal bans of legacy consideration. He quotes Brenda Allen, the president of Lincoln University, a small black college in Pennsylvania, who notes: “People have generations of folks who go to these institutions. My school is like that. We recruit family members … Being able to recruit legacies is important, especially at HBCUs.”

Snowplow, bulldozer, helicopter — we have all read the various research, news coverage, and parenting advice columns that discuss the pros and cons of super involved parenting. The New York Times published a story this week about two new surveys which suggest that there is more to the story when it comes to this style of parenting. In fact, the surveys show that “nine in 10 parents rate their relationships with their young adult children as good or excellent, and so do eight in 10 young adults.” Many past researchers have studied the negative effects of intense parenting on the child — they are less self-reliant, more frequently live at home, and continue to be financially dependent on their parents well into their late twenties; however, these surveys indicate that closer relationships between parents and their adult children can be beneficial to both. In some families with young adults living at home, three-quarters of them contributed to the family expenses and one-third of adult children helped support their parents financially.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

In recognition of President’s Day, our office will be closed on Monday, February 19 and will reopen on Tuesday, February 20. Wishing everyone an enjoyable long weekend!

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