Category Archives: Higher Ed

Net Price Calculators: Financial Lit or Decreased Aspiration?

Posted on by jesskry
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Last Friday marked the deadline for colleges and universities to have their Net Price Calculators live in accordance with the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008.  The template must include the following, at a minimum:

  • Data elements to approximate the student’s Expected Family Contribution (EFC), such as income, number in family, and dependency status or factors that estimate dependency status
  • Estimated total price of attendance;
  • Estimated tuition and fees;
  • Estimated room and board;
  • Estimated books and supplies;
  • Estimated other expenses (personal expenses, transportation, etc.);
  • Estimated total grant aid;
  • Estimated net price;
  • Percent of the cohort (full-time, first-time students) that received grant aid; and
  • Caveats and disclaimers, as indicated in the HEOA.
What this does not take into account, as many who work in higher ed know, is extenuating circumstances, changes in status, accuracy of information and academic standing to say the least.

 

With the economic downturn and schools fighting for the dwindling college going – and college affording – population, the NPC requirement may actually hinder students from applying to schools that they could afford and aspire to attend. Aspiration has repeatedly been a determining factor in college completion (see previous post and research).

 

Further, how long until we see resources that price total cost of attendance across several schools? Will this take into account academic standing, reputation of the school, etc?
What if we created tools that let you know the job outlook for your intended profession/major in the city you anticipate working? If you received a BA in English in Boston, what would the job outlook be for you? Then discuss cost of attendance, fit and financial requirements.

 

Would this be a better way to determine if the cost of attendance was ‘worth it’?

 

Blog Change Up: Access, Retention & Success

Posted on by jesskry
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Those that know me professionally for the past 3 years know me as ‘Jess the Social Media/Analytics Chick’. Like many in higher ed, my personal goals and passions expand far beyond this one skill set. In a previous life, I was deeply immersed in the work of education reform – at the early education level, straight through the college completion level. My love of this work and the people who do it has led me back into this territory.

The work I’m doing at Suffolk is changing. No longer are we doing ‘whats new’ or ‘whats now’. Now, more than ever, we need to research, plan, predict and change to suit the ever-changing dynamics and needs of the students in our education system. With demographic change being constant, the economy dependent upon skilled laborers and our elderly generation becoming larger with the baby boomers, we can no longer afford the status quo. We need to effect change, not only for the common good, but for the benefit and the welfare of the country. If not for those who are changing the system, we’ll continue to produce drop out factories, provide financial aid to for-profit universities who over promise and under deliver and deny our largest – and fastest –  growing demographic the education they need to supply much-needed taxes, income and labor to sustain our economy.

With all this said, its time for me to start blogging again, and to take on the work that I started 10 years ago. I’ll be blogging on college access, retention and success, including readiness and financial literacy from now on. I’m hoping this will also be of great interest to those who know me as a digital marketer, as I use these skills to complete these strategies.

Universities need to be cognizant of who they are accepting and financially supporting, how they are making these decisions, and how they contribute to continued and still widening achievement gaps. One of the largest places we can see and begin to change this, I believe, is in our marketing.

How Much is Too Much?

Posted on by jesskry
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Recently, I began a Social Media Street team at our University. The theory behind this being: a) who knows the university and experiences it like students?, b) who better to attend events to ‘cover’ them from a student perspective?, c) why not create a work-study job that actually caters to creativity and involvement on campus?

I found a variety of students to create content that showcases their experience: at Suffolk, in classes, as part of student involvement and in Boston. Students are to create something with photography, a blog, video or whatever else they can come up with. This will be fed into our social media networks and possibly, the university website.

As I chose students, I began to wonder, how much content is too much? Will we have too much? I’ve seen blogs become overkill on other sites and feared that happening with ours.

As we continue to try to manage student created content, how do we determine how much is too much and how much is the right balance? How have you managed student created content?