A Couple of Trends @ the K-12/Postsecondary Interface

Here are a couple of recent items about trends at the interface between K-12 and postsecondary education:

Universities Go to School. Expanding missions and the charter school movement bring research institutions into the K-12 arena: "ASU has joined the growing ranks of large research institutions—Stanford; the University of California, San Diego; and The University of Chicago among them—that have extended their educational mission by creating local K-12 charter schools." (University Business)

New Approach Would Let High Schoolers Graduate Early. "In an experiment that could reshape American secondary education, high schools in eight states will introduce new courses next year, along with a battery of tests for sophomores, that will allow students who pass to get a diploma two years early and immediately enroll in community college." (The New York Times)

---

Regional SCUP Events! Enjoy the F2F company of your colleagues and peers at one of three SCUP regional conferences this spring:

• March 14–16: Baltimore, MD
• March 24–26: Cambridge, MA
• April 5–7, San Diego, CA

Successful Admissions Prospecting Tips from Presidents

Today's Campus repackages 9 brief interviews with campus presidents who excel in one way or another at admissions prospecting.

The combined ages of the nine campuses represented here may well approach a thousand years. Each shares a common characteristic--a hands-on president, who is intent on the school's remaining a strong competitor. Each knows the value of having a particular distinction. And each campus has mastered at least one admissions prospecting tactic.

These are really brief quotes apparently taken from longer interviews. Each paragraph has a bolded key phrase, and those are: articulation agreements, simultaneous dual admission and enrollment at more than one school, external partnerships, internet advertising agencies, carefully refined leads, recruiter motivation tactics, referrals from alums, focus on sustainability, location and employment assistance, and welcoming unusual combinations of studies.

---

Regional SCUP Events! Enjoy the F2F company of your colleagues and peers at one of three SCUP regional conferences this spring:

• March 14–16: Baltimore, MD
• March 24–26: Cambridge, MA
• April 5–7, San Diego, CA

What Are College Admission Counselors' Perspectives in 2009?

Today's Campus (formerly Greentree Gazette) shares a collection of very brief quotes from conversations it overheard at the National Association for College Admission Counseling annual meeting recently, in Baltimore. Some examples: "Using sophisticated econometric models, we predicted enrollment to be down 10 percent this year.  That didn’t happen." - Kevin Crockett, CEO, Noel-Levitz; and "This is not the bad year.  By the time everyone realized (in Spring 2009) that this economic situation was not a blip, they had already committed (for Fall 2009).  Next year will be the test."  -Brian Niles, CEO, Target X.

Why Aren't There More Poor Students at Rich Colleges?

US News & World Report has new data out on the numbers of poor students at rich colleges. The numbers are remarkably low. At least one analysis finds that well-qualified poor students have "sticker shock" and are unlikely to know how much financial aid they would qualify for at a rich school.

She found that low-income students who are qualified to attend selective schools
(based on their board scores and other measures) have a probability of applying
to such schools of just 8 percent. Once they apply, though, they’re likely to
get in and receive a generous financial aid package — and once they receive
their financial aid packages, they are very likely to enroll. But many such
students may be put off by sticker shock.
“A low-income student who applies
to Yale, Stanford, Harvard, Princeton is not going to pay a dime,” she said,
“but it’s not clear whether that message gets out to them.”

Leading Indicators Provide a Peek at the Fall Admissions Story

A NACAC study shows that students have more interest in public schools, including community colleges, than before the financial crisis. Despite the challenges this presents for admissions staff, they're getting their budgets cuts at public (46 percent of schools) and at privates (30 percent of schools).

Read about it here:
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/06/09/nacac

The top link is to the Inside Higher Ed story, this one is to the full report: "Effects of the Economy on the Admission Process, 2008-09, National Association for College Admission Counseling June 2009":
http://www.nacacnet.org/AboutNACAC/PressRoom/2009/Pages/EffectsoftheEconomy.aspx