Posts Tagged ‘university financial aid’
Friday College Town Hall
In Friday College Town Hall, we post a question about college, and you leave an answer in the comment field.
Today’s question:
Total outstanding student debt has passed $1 trillion, more than the nation’s credit card debt.
Do you think students are fully aware of the scale of debt they’ll accrue paying for college before they’re already standing knee deep in it?
Have a thought or an answer? Leave a reply below.
We’ve also asked our @Cappex Twitter followers to chime in! Here’s what people are saying on Twitter:
The 10 Most Expensive Private Colleges
Last week we gave you the list of the ten least expensive private schools. Today, from US News, we bring you the 10 most expensive private colleges.
Before you take a looksy and get all choked up because your dream school costs $40,000 a year, remember that doesn’t mean you can’t apply for merit aid and scholarships to lower that price by whole lot.
Without any further delay, here are the top 10 most expensive private colleges:
1. Connecticut College
Tuition and fees 2010-2011: $43,990
Cool fact: Chartered in 1911, the founding of the college was a response to Wesleyan University’s decision to stop admitting women.
2. Columbia University
Tuition and fees 2010-2011: $43,304
Cool fact: Columbia is the oldest university of higher learning in the state of New York.
3. Vassar College
Tuition and fees: $43,190
Cool fact: Vassar has a student organization called The Barefoot Monkeys, which is aCircus Arts, Firespinning, and Juggling Club. You will not only be paying for a multidisciplinary education, but also some old school entertainment.
4. St. John’s College (MD)
Tuition and fees: $42,592
Cool fact: Founded originally in 1696 as a preparatory school, it received a collegiate charter in 1784, making it one of the oldest colleges in the United States.
5. Trinity College
Tuition and fees: $42,420
Cool fact: Trinity has a student to faculty ratio of 10:1.
6. Bucknell University
Tuition and fees: $42,342
Cool fact: The sixth president of the university, David Jayne Hill, had an epic mustache.
7. St. John’s College (NM)
Tuition and fees: $42,192
Cool fact: Both St. John’s College campuses are known for their Great Books Program where student-led discussion is the basis for most classes and teachers take a non-directive role.
8. Wesleyan University
Tuition and fees: $42,084
Cool fact: Wesleyan offers a BA/MA Program in the sciences leading to a Bachelor’s degree in the fourth year and a Master’s degree in the fifth year. Tuition for the fifth year of the Master’s degree is waived.
9. Bard College at Simon’s Rock
Tuition and fees: $41,990
Cool fact: Simon’s Rock is an “early college”, designed for students to enroll immediately after completing the tenth or eleventh grade, rather than after graduating from high school.
10. Carnegie Mellon University
Tuition and fees: $41,940
Cool fact: John Forbes Nash, the subject of A Beautiful Mind and winner of the 1994 Noble Prize in Economics, was a 1948 graduate.
How much does tuition price affect your college decision? Leave a comment!
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10 Most Economically Diverse Colleges
The Chronicle of Higher Education reported on whether colleges and universities are living up to their economically diverse stance for their student body.During the past decade, the country’s wealthiest and most elite colleges have faced heightened pressure to serve more low-income students. So are they doing it?
The Chronicle looked at which schools the students receiving Pell Grants–federal aid for students who generally come from families with annual incomes of less than $40,000–are attending, and the news is that Pell Grant students are still significantly less represented at the wealthiest colleges than they are at public and nonprofit four-year colleges nationwide
Here are the 10 most economically diverse colleges and the percentage of Pell Grant recipients attending each one according to the Chronicle:
1. University of California Los Angeles – 30.7%
2. Smith College – 23.6%
3. The University of Texas at Austin – 21.4%
4. Michigan State University – 18.8%
5. Ohio State University – 17.8%
6. University of Washington – 17.4%
7. Case Western Reserve University – 17.3%
8. Texas A&M University – 16.2%
9. Amherst College – 15.9%
10. University of Southern California – 15.6%
Need help paying for college? Find tons of scholarships here!
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Studying abroad: Is it Worth Leaving Your College Campus for?
Getting into your college of choice might be one of your proudest accomplishments. Considering the time it took to find the perfect college for you, get the grades, score high enough on the ACT or SAT, send in all of your admissions materials and figure out how to pay for college, is it really worth it to leave your college campus for a study abroad program? An article in USA Today suggests that maybe staying on campus is as valuable, if not more so, than leaving campus for a foreign experience:
Academics:
Remember high school? You spent days polishing your application essays and nights worrying about a rejection letter from the university of your dreams. You’re at that university now, paying a small fortune for the small class sizes, award-winning professors and diverse, gifted classmates that you dreamed about two or three years ago. And now you’re trying to leave?You have probably already started taking those advantages for granted. Unless you’re considering a semester at Oxford, you might be unpleasantly surprised at the academics at your host school. There’s a reason foreigners come to America’s universities – they really are the best in the world.Classes:
As budgets are cut, so are class schedules. Unless you’re in the biggest major on campus, there are classes that are offered very infrequently – classes that you’ll miss out on. It might be the seminar on women in journalism or on South American popular revolutions. Ever since the spring of my first year, I had been yearning to take a class on natural language processing (don’t ask – it’s really nerdy). I would have missed out on the chance to take that course if I had gone abroad. The kicker is that your junior year is when you start having enough priority to register for the classes that filled up when you were a freshman or a sophomore.
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Traditional Language Programs in Universities Have Declined Steadily Over Decades
Bonjour! Hola! Ciao!
Fewer and fewer undergraduate students are saying “Hello” to the Romanic Language majors. According to The Chronicle of Higher Education college undergraduate majors in German and the Romance languages have been vanishing from American higher-education:
In the 1970-71 academic year, Romance-language majors were offered by close to 76 percent of American four-year colleges. But by 2005-6, only about 59 percent offered them. German programs saw a similar decline: In 1970-71, about 44 percent of colleges offered the major, but in 2005-6, just under 27 percent did so. Leaving aside “secretarial science,” those are by far the largest relative declines discovered by the Riverside scholars.
Would you ever study the romantic languages?
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5 Ways to Network and Make Friends in College
If you’re a high school senior, you have less than a semester left of school and your highly anticipated start of college is on the horizon. After spending 4 years in high school, you might want to prep yourself for the changes you’ll experience going away to college. And one of the biggest changes is making new friends.
This post from the Uloop blog gives college students 5 easy ways to network and make friends in college:
Switch It Up
Although it is very easy to be a part of the same organizations that you have been a part of for your entire life, it is more beneficial to branch out to various organizations that have different backgrounds, connections, and client bases than your own. For example, even if you are not politically driven it may be rather prudent to join Young Republicans, Campus Democrats, etc. Or on the flip-side, if you have been a part of a politically affiliated organization for a long time, then maybe you should switch it up and join the Adventure Club or Fencing Club. By doing this, your face and name gain recognition across demographics.Approach the Unfamiliar
Oftentimes people get so wrapped up in their own lives that they forget that there are six billion other people on the planet. Yes, friendships are amazing, especially the lifelong ones. However, someone that you have known since pre-school will not vanish if you do not hang out with them for a couple days. Be approachable and approach those that you don’t know. For example, if someone is wearing a shirt that says “Combat Airsoft” you may feign interest in order to spark a conversation which could lead to a friendship. No one ever got anywhere by staying in their shell, and neither should you.
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3 Valentine’s Day Ideas a Student Can Afford
Happy Valentine’s Day! Here are some Cappex words of wisdom on how to woo your Valentine on a serious student budget.
3 Valentine Ideas for College or High School Students on a Budget:
1. Snail Mail – Not even college admissions use the ole’ U.S. Postal Service anymore. Everything is digital, even college acceptance letters! But, receiving a sweet letter in the mail that is not a bill is definitely a treat. So make your own card, buy a stamp, write your heart out to your Valentine, and you’ll only be out 44 cents!
2. Cook a Dinner at Home – You don’t have to go out to enjoy a decadent Valentine’s dinner with your Valentine. If you’re a college or high school student on a budget, you don’t need to impress your Valentine with a fancy French dinner, just cook up something at home! Not only will you save moolah, but you will impress your Valentine with your new found culinary skills. *Hint* Easy recipes are as simple to find on the Internet as scholarships are using Cappex.com!
3. Picture You Two Together - If you want to present your Valentine with a nicely wrapped gift but still stay on your college or high school student budget, a picture frame is the way to go. You can find affordable picture frames at tons of places. Plus, the most personal part of the gift is the picture you place inside. It’s an affordable gift that has meaning to it, and it’s definitely better than your other affordable and personlized option: the illustrious mix-tape.
So happy Valentine’s Day! And if none of the above options work for you, why not find some scholarships to save your Valentine money on college? That’s probably the best Valentine they’ll ever get!
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Crazy College Stories: College Professor Sticks A Camera in His Head Only to Find Camera is Not Wanted
It’s time for, drum roll please, a crazy college story! College and university life is definitely the time for trying new things, but where does it go too far? 
Would sticking a camera in your skull suffice to say the experience has “gone too far”? At New York University, arts professor Wafaa Bilal, recently implanted a camera in the back of his head only to realize his body did not want it. According to The Huffington Post, “[Bilal] underwent surgery on Friday after his body rejected one of the titanium posts anchoring the device to his skull.” The article goes on explaining:
Late last year, Bilal had the digital camera inserted into a two-inch hole drilled into the back of his head. According to The Chronicle of High Education, the body-modification artist who performed the surgery also installed three posts between Bilal’s skin and skull to root the setup in place.
Bilal intended to wear the camera around for a year as part of an art project, titled “The 3rd I,” commissioned for the opening of the Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, reports the AP. “But the setup caused constant pain, because his body rejected one of the posts, despite treatment with antibiotics and steroids,” The Chronicle now writes.
The troublesome post has been removed, but the other two remain. “I’m determined to continue with [the project],” Mr. Bilal said, according to The Chronicle.
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5 Things Every College-Bound Senior Needs to Do Before Spring Break Ends
With some quality time off of school, make sure you take advantage of this low-stress period to accomplish some big priorities, like, COLLEGE.
Here are 5 things every college-bound senior needs to do before Spring Break ends:
1. Visit Your Schools in Question: If you’re unsure about which college or university is the right match for you, you might to avoid simply flipping a coin. “Heads? Okay, State it is!” Make an informed decision, not a random one. If the schools in question are in close proximity to you, take a mini trip during Spring Break to remind yourself why you liked them in the first place, or even, why one school might actually be a better fit.
2. Contact Current College Students: By Spring Break your senior year, you’ve probably done considerable college research already. But since the deadline to making a decision is approaching, finding out about nitty gritty stuff might help your decision-making. Send an email or a Facebook message to a friend, or a friend of a friend, or person you had gym class with junior year who’s already enrolled and attending a school you’re interested in. Ask questions about the social life, how much homework they have, where they like to hang out on campus. For many, college is a passion and they’d be more than willing to chat with you about it.
3. Find Scholarships!!!!: A break from a school gives you the perfect opportunity to dig up as many scholarships as you can. If you’ve already received your financial aid award letter, you’ll know how much more of your tuition you’ll have to cover. Finding scholarships is a great way to cover a big portion, if not all, of your tuition. There are easy-to apply-to-scholarships out there, especially on Cappex.com, so get going!
4. Talk with Your Family or Guidance Counselor: Flesh out your college or university options with people who are looking out for your best interest and education. Go over your choices, the different tuitions, locations, and find out what your biggest advocates think about your college choices. Since higher education is such a big and important decision, and a costly one, listening to input from people who want to see you succeed can help you make the right choice.
5. Avoid Going Crazy Waiting for an Acceptance Letter: The final word of wisdom we hope to instill in you is to avoid mental breakdowns over an acceptance letter. Many acceptance letters arrive over Spring Break, so try to avoid biting your nails off or freaking out your friends with your anxiety. Getting into a school or not will not make or break you. No matter where you land, you are in charge of making your college career what it is. So relax ,and enjoy your Spring Break.
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5 Easy Ways to Keep Your College Roommate Happy and Make Your University Experience All the Better
Probably the last thing on your mind while you’re searching for and applying to colleges is who your roommate will eventually be. But, the reality is that after the admissions process, in most situations, you’ll have to live with a stranger your freshman year in a college dorm room.
Whether you wind up becoming best friends with your roommate or cordial acquaintances, here is some advice from ULOOP.com on how to maintain a good relationship with your college roommate:
Do have roommate nights. Grab a bowl of popcorn, sit on the couch, or your extra long twin bed, and put in a chick-flick. My roommates and I always have Gossip Girl Mondays. Having these nights keeps your bond strong; it’s an easy way to break away from some of the stress of school, especially when it’s midterm week and you don’t say a word to your roommate because you’re cramming for your Chemistry test.
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