Counseling to College & Measuring Success

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October 13, 2017 – Here’s our weekly roundup of education news you may have missed. Stories cover how school counselors and advisers work to prepare students for college. Higher ed coverage looks at measuring success for talented students with financial need.

We are currently accepting applications for our Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship, a program for community college students, and our College Scholarship Program for high school seniors. Both scholarships provide up to $40,000 per year, along with opportunities for internships, study abroad, and graduate school funding.

Youth-serving nonprofits in the Washington, DC metropolitan area (including parts of Northern Virginia and Maryland) may apply now to our Good Neighbor Grants program.

 

Elementary & Secondary Education:

  • Low-income and first-generation students often need assistance during the summer between high school graduation and the first day of college to complete the financial aid process. The Chronicle of Higher Education writes that unfortunately, “many applicants don’t have a college counselor like Ms. Powers, who kept working after her contract ended, on July 1, who made colorful handouts for her students, and who tried to give them her full attention even when she was tired.”
  • Many high schools are getting a head start on college preparation with the help of College Advising Corps. The Detroit Free Press explains how the program’s college advisers help support school counselors and assist students through the complex application process.

 

Higher Education:

  • The Washington Post ranks how well state flagships and other prominent public institutions graduate students with financial need. The University of Virginia is at the top of the list, with a 93 percent graduation rate for Pell Grant-qualified students.
  • The Education Department’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) now reports institutional graduation rates for part-time and non-first-time students, reports Inside Higher Ed. Previously, IPEDS only reported data on first-time, full-time students.
  • The American Council on Education’s Higher Education Today blog features the findings of a new report: “grants targeting low-income students have a substantial benefit, and the Pell Grant pays for itself through quickly realized financial gains for the public.”

 

Cooke Foundation Highlights:

  • In RealClearEducation, Executive Director Harold O. Levy and former North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue explain how individuals and economies miss out when rural, Hispanic, and Latinx students are under-identified for gifted programs.
  • Levy also describes the importance of social mobility in a commentary for Fox News.
  • Bloomberg editorial outlines how elite institutions can enroll more students with financial need, and cites Cooke Foundation research: “Ninety percent of high-achieving, low-income students who attend selective colleges receive degrees, compared to 56 percent of similar students who enroll at less competitive schools.”

 

Social Media Spotlight:

 

 

There’s a lot of cool things about #CookeScholars – one of them is how eager they are to help spread the word about our #scholarship programs. There’s less than two weeks left for #communitycollege students to apply for the Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship Program, so there’s no time to waste! Keep working and don’t let this #opportunity pass you by! Repost from @mariavalen_31 ?What a better way to kick-off the Fall than by helping to recruit the next generation of Cooke Scholars? ? ✨Wepa for more scholars from BCC ✨Wepa for remembering to take a picture #TheCrazierThePoseTheMoreChancesToGetTheScholarship #7AndCounting #ThinkBig #WorkHard #Achieve #AndDance #ThriveTogether #JKCF #CORP #WednesdayWisdom

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