Monday, November 23, 2009
Last post to FECSBA News Watch
This will be the last post to this blog. Thank you for your interest! There have been very few subscribers to these posts, however, and considering the time investment, I have decided not to continue doing them. If you would like to follow news of interest to families of early college students in the Bay area, I recommend using Google Alerts to collect these items in a news reader.
Some of the items I've regularly reviewed Alerts for include "early college" (put it in quotes to get instances where these two are found together), "city college of san francisco" (or any other particular colleges you are interested in), "community colleges," "UC Berkeley," and so on. You can view these in a news reader like Google Reader at your convenience.
Best of luck in pursuing early college opportunities for your children!
Jennifer Dees
Some of the items I've regularly reviewed Alerts for include "early college" (put it in quotes to get instances where these two are found together), "city college of san francisco" (or any other particular colleges you are interested in), "community colleges," "UC Berkeley," and so on. You can view these in a news reader like Google Reader at your convenience.
Best of luck in pursuing early college opportunities for your children!
Jennifer Dees
Friday, November 20, 2009
College reviews by gifted students
Imagine magazine, published by the Johns Hopkins University's Center for Talented Youth (CTY) program, offers a CD containing a collection of 45 university reviews from its archives. Each review combines contributions from multiple gifted students who have been part of CTY and who attended or now attend those colleges.
The CD includes reviews of these selective colleges and universities: Bowdoin; Brown; Caltech; Carleton; Carnegie Mellon; Case Western Reserve; Claremont McKenna; Columbia; Cornell; Dartmouth; Duke; Emory; Georgetown; Georgia Tech; Harvard; Harvey Mudd; Haverford; Johns Hopkins; Lehigh; MIT; Middlebury; NYU; Northwestern; Oberlin; Pomona; Princeton; Rice; Rose-Hulman; St. John's; Stanford; Tufts; UC-Berkeley; UCLA; UC San Diego; U. of Chicago; U. of Michigan; U. of Pennsylvania; USC; U. of Texas; U. of Virginia; U. of Wisconsin; Washington University; William & Mary; Williams; Yale.
To read a sample review or order the CD ($20) see the Imagine Web site.
The CD includes reviews of these selective colleges and universities: Bowdoin; Brown; Caltech; Carleton; Carnegie Mellon; Case Western Reserve; Claremont McKenna; Columbia; Cornell; Dartmouth; Duke; Emory; Georgetown; Georgia Tech; Harvard; Harvey Mudd; Haverford; Johns Hopkins; Lehigh; MIT; Middlebury; NYU; Northwestern; Oberlin; Pomona; Princeton; Rice; Rose-Hulman; St. John's; Stanford; Tufts; UC-Berkeley; UCLA; UC San Diego; U. of Chicago; U. of Michigan; U. of Pennsylvania; USC; U. of Texas; U. of Virginia; U. of Wisconsin; Washington University; William & Mary; Williams; Yale.
To read a sample review or order the CD ($20) see the Imagine Web site.
Labels: national
Thursday, November 19, 2009
College crisis is a disaster California can't afford
The San Diego Union-Tribune's business writer Dean Calbreath reports on the "education apocalypse" in the state of California. In "College Crisis is a Disaster California Can't Afford," he offers the following examples:
-- By 2014 there will be 640,000 more college applicants in California than colleges and universities have room to handle.
-- Colleges are already turning away students. The San Diego Community College District put between 10,000 and 20,000 on waiting lists this year.
-- By 2025, if current trends continue, 41 percent of jobs in California will require college degrees, while only 35 percent of Californians will have graduated from college, translating into a shortage of 1 million college-educated workers, according to the Public Policy Institute of California, or PPI, a think tank in San Francisco.
Already, among the 20 most populous states, California ranks 19th in the percentage of high school graduates who enroll directly in a four-year college or university; 18th in the percentage who enroll in any college, including community colleges; and 18th in the ratio of bachelor's degrees awarded to high school graduates. Although the state likes to promote its “highly educated work force” as a drawing card to high-tech firms, 44 other states have higher percentages of graduates in the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics).
FULL STORY
-- By 2014 there will be 640,000 more college applicants in California than colleges and universities have room to handle.
-- Colleges are already turning away students. The San Diego Community College District put between 10,000 and 20,000 on waiting lists this year.
-- By 2025, if current trends continue, 41 percent of jobs in California will require college degrees, while only 35 percent of Californians will have graduated from college, translating into a shortage of 1 million college-educated workers, according to the Public Policy Institute of California, or PPI, a think tank in San Francisco.
Already, among the 20 most populous states, California ranks 19th in the percentage of high school graduates who enroll directly in a four-year college or university; 18th in the percentage who enroll in any college, including community colleges; and 18th in the ratio of bachelor's degrees awarded to high school graduates. Although the state likes to promote its “highly educated work force” as a drawing card to high-tech firms, 44 other states have higher percentages of graduates in the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics).
FULL STORY
Students rage at fee hikes in UC system
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that "The UC regents are expected to put the final seal today on a hefty 32 percent tuition increase as students resume the protests that shut down their board meeting three times Wednesday and required campus police in riot gear to maintain calm."
Students protested at UCLA, at UC Berkeley, at UC Santa Cruz, and at some community colleges where students turned out in solidarity with the UC students. Fees at UCs will top $10,000 for the first time with the fee increase.
FULL STORY
Students protested at UCLA, at UC Berkeley, at UC Santa Cruz, and at some community colleges where students turned out in solidarity with the UC students. Fees at UCs will top $10,000 for the first time with the fee increase.
FULL STORY
Labels: Bay area, California, UC system
The Choice answers questions about community colleges
The New York Times blog "The Choice" has expert answers to questions about community colleges, including especially young students attending them before transferring to four-year universities, in "Answers About Community Colleges."
Labels: California community colleges, national
California community colleges may offer common assessments in 2010
The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that California community colleges will be encouraged to offer a common assessment in mathematics and English for incoming students starting in the fall of 2010, according to the system's chancellor, Jack Scott. The system's 110 campuses have long offered dozens of incompatible assessment tests, which Mr. Scott said had wasted money, muddied transfer pathways to universities, and made it more difficult for students to move from one community college to another.
Labels: California, California community colleges
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Californians see higher education budget cuts, fee hikes as big problems
A new poll by the Public Policy Institute of California finds that Californians give high grades to their public higher education systems, but they are worried about college costs and the impact of state budget cuts.
In the context of the state budget situation, most Californians place a very high (26%) or high (33%) priority on spending for public higher education, which at $12.2 billion is the third-largest area of spending in the budget. But residents split along partisan lines, with 67 percent of Democrats and 61 percent of independents putting a very high or high priority on spending in this area, compared to 42 percent of Republicans. The same percentage of Republicans (42%) puts a medium priority on higher education spending.
Given the high value that most Californians place on spending for higher education, what would they be willing to do to offset state spending cuts?
-- 68 percent are unwilling to increase student fees. Solid majorities across parties, regions, and demographic groups concur.
-- 56 percent are unwilling to pay higher taxes. Although 56 percent of Democrats are willing to pay higher taxes for this purpose, 58 percent of independents and 74 percent of Republicans are not.
-- 53 percent would support a higher education construction bond measure on the 2010 ballot. But support is lower among likely voters (46% yes, 47% no) for this hypothetical bond measure and would fall short of the simple majority threshold needed to pass such a measure.
FULL PRESS RELEASE (pdf, 56K)
In the context of the state budget situation, most Californians place a very high (26%) or high (33%) priority on spending for public higher education, which at $12.2 billion is the third-largest area of spending in the budget. But residents split along partisan lines, with 67 percent of Democrats and 61 percent of independents putting a very high or high priority on spending in this area, compared to 42 percent of Republicans. The same percentage of Republicans (42%) puts a medium priority on higher education spending.
Given the high value that most Californians place on spending for higher education, what would they be willing to do to offset state spending cuts?
-- 68 percent are unwilling to increase student fees. Solid majorities across parties, regions, and demographic groups concur.
-- 56 percent are unwilling to pay higher taxes. Although 56 percent of Democrats are willing to pay higher taxes for this purpose, 58 percent of independents and 74 percent of Republicans are not.
-- 53 percent would support a higher education construction bond measure on the 2010 ballot. But support is lower among likely voters (46% yes, 47% no) for this hypothetical bond measure and would fall short of the simple majority threshold needed to pass such a measure.
FULL PRESS RELEASE (pdf, 56K)
