Lab Notes is a blog designed for enrollment management professionals that focuses on current issues, events, and perspectives that impact their work. Receive the latest news direct to your inbox each week by subscribing to the Lab Notes E-Newsletter.
EDUCATING LATINO PARENTS IS KEY TO LATINO STUDENT SUCCESS
While Latino high school graduates are beginning to catch up to (and in some cases surpass) their white peers in terms of enrolling in college, they are still far behind where they need to be. That’s because their issues begin much earlier and, in many cases, prevent them from ever getting to the point of high school graduation.
ARE “HAVE NOTS” IGNORED BY ELITE INSTITUTIONS?
In anticipation of the Supreme Court’s decision on the University of Texas at Austin’s admissions policies, many opponents of race-based admissions are calling for colleges to focus on enrolling more low-income students as an alternative to affirmative action. But do the nation’s best colleges—public or private—really want to enroll larger numbers of socioeconomically disadvantage students? The research says ‘no.’
YOUR WEBSITE MAY BE COSTING YOU APPLICANTS
Is your website easy to interpret and intuitive to navigate? Is it clearly and concisely worded? Is it thought-provoking and relevant? If your website isn’t all three of these things, potential students may leave without ever submitting an inquiry form, or completing an application.
CAUTION: HAZARDOUS SUMMER AHEAD
The summer between high school and college can be a perilous time for college-bound students, but also provides an opportunity for learning. Many of these students will increase their alcohol use. Others will struggle with misconceptions about what college life has in store for them. And for some, the realization of what college will really cost finally begin to sink in. Proactive colleges are now putting programs and strategies in place to address these issues and many others that can impact the transition to life on campus.
SURPRISE! GRADUATING WITH DEBT IS A REALITY
Fidelity recently released a “Cost Conscious College Graduates Study” that examined how the cost of college and the resulting debt load impact college choice and future financial decisions. The essence of the report is summarized in this quote from Keith Bernhardt, Fidelity’s Vice President of College Planning: “The number of graduates reporting surprise by the level of student debt they have accumulated is a big concern and shows that there is a considerable need for families to better understand the total cost of college.”
“STRUCTURED INTERVENTIONS” GENERATE DOLLARS, REDUCE ATTRITION
If you could invest less than $200,000 in a set of students and end up with a return on that investment of more than $660,000 in tuition payments, while also solving a nagging attrition problem would you do it? That’s exactly what happened at Georgia State University based on some serious data mining and a willingness to invest in students who were “most likely to succeed.”
THE REALITY OF COMPETITIVE COLLEGE ADMISSION
Much to the surprise of many parents—and guidance counselors—admission to the nation’s most competitive colleges requires more than straight A’s, perfect ACT scores, a boatload of extracurriculars, and a commitment to community service to get in. That’s the story of Tanner McArdle, the “complete package” who didn’t get into Stanford, his dream school.
COST TRANSPARENCY VIA A NET PRICE GUARANTEE
The University of Dayton was seeking a way to make the cost of college more transparent to students and families. The goal was to give families a clear picture of the costs they would bear so that they would be better prepared to bear them. The result is a guarantee: that students in this year’s incoming class will pay the same amount in each of their four years at Dayton.
COLLEGE SEARCH, PART DEUX: THE ROOMMATE
By now, most students have made their final decisions about where they will be attending college come Fall. While parents will continue to navigate the many financial decisions yet to be made, many students still face one major decision related to enrollment: choosing a roommate.
SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS DOES INFLUENCE COLLEGE CHOICE
New research by sociologist Alexandria Walton Radford has found that, while 79% of “well-off” high school valedictorians apply to at least one highly selective college, only half of middle- and low-income valedictorians do. The difference: students apply to schools they know about, and wealthier students are more likely to know someone who knows something about (or has attended) a highly selective college.
EARLY INTERVENTION INCREASES COLLEGE ENROLLMENT
A new study by the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) has confirmed what most us already knew: that providing college counseling to high school students in the freshmen year could significantly improve the number of students who go on to attend college. This was especially true among students whose parents didn’t attend college. Now the question becomes how to act on this information. Continue Reading »
DECLINES IN ENROLLMENT REFLECT STRONGER ECONOMY
Fewer people sought to enroll at colleges and universities this spring when compared to the spring of 2012, according to a new report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center that was released last week. That’s bad news for institutions of higher education, but it’s also a sign that our economy is improving and providing more opportunity in the workforce.
FINANCIAL AID LITERACY STILL LACKING AMONG STUDENTS
A new report by America’s Promise Alliance reveals that, in spite of the abundance of financial aid resources, many high school students still don’t consider how they will pay for college until after they are accepted. This may be due in part to a lack of simplified financial aid information available to students and parents as well as a lack of transparency into how the financial aid process works. Continue Reading »
THE GLOBAL REACH OF SOCIAL NETWORKS
Would it surprise you to know that more than half of all Internet users worldwide use Facebook, making it the most-used social network around the world? As you assess your school’s social media strategy, it’s also worth noting that Google+, YouTube and Twitter are a distant second, third and fourth in terms of usage. However, Twitter has the distinction of being the fastest-growing social network. Continue Reading »
THE HOPELESSNESS OF THE WAIT LIST
Wait lists at some colleges have become the place to put those applicants colleges don’t want to admit, but don’t want to deny either. That practice is giving students false hope, says Jenna Johnson in the Washington Post. Continue Reading »
CALIFORNIA DIGS DEEPER FOR DIVERSITY
California voters abolished affirmative action in 1996. Initially, the number of blacks and Latinos enrolled in the state’s universities fell. However, by last fall, the percentage of black students enrolling at state universities had returned to affirmative action levels, and the percentage of Latinos actually surpassed the previous levels. So how did they do it?
