The reports revealed 6 major findings:
-Most of the U.S. population growth over the next 20 years will be in the South.
More than half of the United States’ population growth over the next 20 years will be in        the 16 SREB states.

-Hispanic students represent the lion’s share of projected population  growth.
Hispanics will account for 28% of the region’s high school grads by 2018.  Black and Hispanic college enrollment levels are expected to increase to 44 percent by 2014 and to 48 percent by 2018.

-The percentage of Black college students finally exceeds the percentage of Blacks in the region’s population
Black undergraduate enrollment has risen 52 percent to 21% of total college student enrollment, while the Black population sits at roughly 19%.  Nationally, the percentage of Black college students lags behind their population percentage.

-College enrollment rates of Hispanic students lags behind that of Blacks and Whites.
Despite the increase in number of Hispanic students, the college-going rate of Hispanic 18- to 24-year-olds (25 percent) lagged behind the rates for black students (33 percent) and white students (43 percent) in the U.S. in 2005.

-Women and minorities lead growth in degrees.
Women and minorities accounted for most of the SREB region’s increases in degrees awarded from 1995 to 2005, representing 69 percent and 42 percent, respectively, of the total increase in bachelor’s degrees.

-Increased minority college enrollment may threaten gains in educational attainment.
If the educational attainment levels of Blacks and Hispanics do not improve, the increases in minority student enrollment (and the resulting increase in the number of students in the region from middle- and lower income families), the rising cost of college tuition and the increase in the number of jobs requiring bachelors degrees may converge to cause a reversal of educational progress in the region.  SREB predicts that “efforts to ensure that affordable college opportunities are available to all students will be increasingly important to the region’s and nation’s continued education progress”.

Other Interesting Findings
The majority of the Black student enrollment increases have occurred at public universities and two-year colleges, rather than at historically black institutions, which traditionally have educated the bulk of black students in the South.  Black enrollment in historically black institutions has slipped from 26 percent to 19 percent over the last decade.

Reaction to the SREB Findings
None of SREB’s findings should come as a big surprise given all of the debate over immigration, which has unfortunately focused almost solely on Hispanics, and the debate over the No Child Left Behind Act, our president’s attempt at improving the educational opportunities and outcomes of the nation’s poorest students.

Additionally, the fact that more minorities and women are earning degrees and becoming more affluent is also nothing new.

Finally, the Board’s finding that more Black students are enrolling in colleges in the South are not surprising given that Blacks are relocating back to the South in record numbers, citing reasons that include lower costs of living and being nearer to family members (especially post-911 and Katrina).

The fact that most of the new enrollment is not going to historically black colleges is also no surprising, and not indicative of any decline in their quality or attractiveness.  Instead, the numbers represent a move toward lower cost tuition.

Read SREB’s full report.

Junior and community colleges still offer these great benefits, but, in response to the demands throngs of students ages 18-24, they are now attempting to provide a more authentic college experience by adding or expanding athletic programs.  Students–both those interested in playing sports and those who simply want to cheer them on–are responding by enrolling in greater numbers to those community and junior colleges that boast athletic teams.  And that’s just what the colleges’ presidents had in mind.

The National Junior College Athletics Association has reportedly added more than 40 colleges since 2003, ten of those in 2006 alone, bringing their total membership to 500 colleges.

Here’s a sampling of the new additions:

2006

• Arkansas Baptist College (Little Rock, Ark.)
• Berean Institute (Philadelphia)
• Coastal Bend College (Beeville, Tex.)
• Guilford Technical Community College (Jamestown, N.C.)
• Jackson Community College (Jackson, Mich.)
• Little Big Horn College (Crow Agency, Mont.)
• Marion Military Institute (Marion, Ala.)
• Mayland Community College (Spruce Pine, N.C.)
• Simmons College of Kentucky (Louisville, Ky.)
• University of South Carolina at Lancaster (Lancaster, S.C.)

Find junior and community college athletic programs in your state!

Skip it!

Use your summer to kick the tires at a few colleges. There’s no better time than summer to take a road trip to check out campuses you’ve only read about and seen in catalogs. It’s summer for college students too, so many of the campuses will be a bit deserted, but you’ll still be able to get a good “feel” for the campus, the dorms, the classrooms, libraries, some of the professors and the surrounding cities and towns.

During the school year, the admissions offices at every college offer student-led tours, weekend visits and course audits. Most of this stuff is not available after May 31 because the students who lead and facilitate the tours and overnight visits have gone home for the summer.

Don’t despair. Summer programs abound. Many colleges offer summer “preview” programs, or summer institutes and weekend workshops for high school students and other prospective undergrads. These programs are generally focused on particular segments of students–minority or female students, or students interested in engineering–and designed to introduce students in the community to which they might belong if they attend the college. They are also, of course, great recruiting tools: There is nothing more seductive than spending the night in a drafty old building named after a rich dead guy, eating nondescript food in a dining hall that reminds you of your elementary school (remember standing in line with your plastic tray, your applesauce and your half-pint carton of chocolate milk?), staying up and out all night with people you barely know but feel amazingly close to, wearing your PJ’s to class, falling asleep in the “stacks” of an architecturally-stunning old library, and finding yourself among the lucky few who scored a seat in the classroom of the best professor in your major.

I attended several of these summer programs during my sophomore, junior and senior years. They gave me an up-close and personal preview of life at the colleges I was considering applying to. I also met cool people who ultimately became my friends once when I enrolled in college. Needless to say, I highly recommend attending a few of them.

Excited? Good.

Now, the bad news: If you haven’t already applied, you may not be able to get into the program of your choice at this late date. And, most of the programs are not free. In fact, some of them are very expensive.

I know. I know. You think I got you all excited for nothing. But, that’s not so; there are still plenty of colleges still accepting applicants. While they may not be your top-choice schools, they can still offer you valuable insight into college life. They can show you what you don’t like, which is as important as knowing what you do like when choosing a college.

More good news: Many of the programs offer financial aid (Apply early to get the most consideration).

Here are a few:

• Search Summer Programs
• Summer Discovery Programs for high school and middle school students – Apply now!
• Carnegie Mellon Pre-College Program – Jun 7 (application)
• Union College of NY FivePoints Summer Residential Program for 8-12 graders -Apply now!
• Johns Hopkins Summer Programs – Jun 20 (for commuter students) (Application)
• Johns Hopkins Engineering Innovation Program – Apply Now!
• Johns Hopkins Summer Intensive ESL Program – Apply Now!
• Colorado College College Ahead! Program – (Application)

Now, allow me to further redeem myself by telling you that not finding a summer program is not the end of the world, or the summer. You can build your own summer campus tour.

Here’s how:

1. Make a list of the colleges you are thinking of applying to
2. If you have more than 10, whittle it down (that’s way too many!)
3. Rank the colleges based on how badly you want to attend them (1=”My Absolute First Choice”)
4. Review your top 5, crossing out any schools that you cannot visit this summer (either because they are too far away and your car won’t make it or because you can’t afford a plane ticket). You don’t have to give up on these schools; we’re just narrowing this summer’s campus tour list.
5. If all of your top 5 are too far away, choose others from your top 10.
6. Try to visit 3-5 colleges this summer
7. Complete the “Build-Your-Own Summer College Tour” Worksheet
8. Grab your best friend or mom or dad and hit the road!

Men are disappearing!

The number of men on college campuses has been on the decline since 1979.  Currently, the average college student body is 42% male and 58% female.  On campuses such as the University of San Francisco, the numbers are even more shocking; only 37% male!

To make matters worse, educators and researchers alike believe the trend will continue based on the fact that young girls perform better in both elementary and high school, are more likely to be a member of an honors society, more likely to be valedictorian, and more likely to be accepted into top-tier colleges.

Boys, on the other hand, appear to be getting the message that college is not cool.  Researchers speculate that the influence of sports and entertainment figures, many of whom skipped college and went on to become millionaires anyway, on young boys and men is to blame for fewer men choosing to attend college.

Other speculate that a lack of interest in scholarly subjects and parental expectations have also lead young men to opt out of college.

The influence of these and other factors on male college attendance is even greater in African-American and Hispanic communities; the ratio of women to men attending college is nearly 2 to 1!

Many sociologists are concerned about the societal implications of this imbalance.  Others are concerned that colleges will establish covert affirmative action programs to admit more male applicants than female applicants, despite their relative qualifications.  The latter fear is echoed by high-achieving young women and their parents.

Spellings has proposed assessments for colleges.  These assessments would ensure that colleges were providing students a quality education, one that would not only lead to a degree, but also ensure that students had the skills needed to compete for jobs in the global economy.  Additionally, colleges failing to earn a certain score or meet a certain standard could be cut off from their life’s blood–federal financial aid.  Schools who consistently fail to meet standards would not be able to offer financial aid to students, potentially leading top students to attend rival colleges.

Currently, students and parents rely on magazine and web rankings of colleges to identify colleges to which they will apply.  These rankings are largely based on the schools’ reputations, features or benefits identified by the schools, and/or the votes of students and faculty; not on whether or not the students actually graduate, or whether they have the skills required to fill jobs in the local or global job market.  Spellings proposes to position assessment scores as competitors, or at least counterpoints, to magazine and web rankings.  All college assessment scores will be published on the web to allow students to compare them to those provided by other publishers.

While educators aren’t in love with rankings published by U.S. News & World Report (the publisher of the most influential rankings), they are equally leery of Spellings’ proposal of college assessments.  The contention appears to center on just how strict the standards might be, and the consequences of failure: Some colleges will go under, and/or be forced to turn away talented students from low-income families because they would not be able to offer financial aid.

Spellings insists that published assessment scores will create transparency and accountability.  Her goal appears to be two-fold:  Help students select colleges that actually prepare them for success, and ensure that taxpayers’ dollars are not wasted.

Negotiations begin again April 24, with the federal rules expected to take force by July 2008.Related Article

This turn of events appears to be due to the intense competition for talent, a big increase in the number of undergraduate business programs that have cropped up to meet this need, and the significant improvement in the quality of undergraduate business schools. All of this is good news for those of you planning to set the business world on fire.

On the other hand, competition to get into undergraduate business programs is stiffer, and top schools are becoming more selective as we speak. In 2005, only 16% of the 4,200 who applied to top undergrad B-schools were accepted. Scarier than the tiny percentage is that fact that the average SAT score for these applicants was 1448 (The average score for all test-takers who intended to major in business was 1006).

This is not meant to discourage, only to prepare you. Like the senior statesman, the graduate MBA, the programs are more rigorous and more determined to get the country’s top high school graduates. So, if this is your dream, start working on it ASAP. These programs only stand to become more competitive as we all continue to jump on the millionaire-in-a-minute bandwagon.

Okay, without further ado…The Top 10 Undergraduate Business Schools.

1. University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)
2. University of Virginia (McIntyre)
3. Notre Dame (Mendoza)
4. MIT (Sloan)
5. Emory (Gorleta)
6. Michigan (Ross)
7. NYU (Stern)
8. Brigham Young (Marriott)
9. University of Texas (McCombs)
10. University of Indiana (Kelley)

Want more? Check out BusinessWeek’s 2006 list (PDF).

Recently, House Speaker Glenn Cummings (D-Portland) of Maine proposed a bill requiring every school in the state to impose the college application requirement.

Read the full story.

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The “Pelican Promise” program would provide additional funding to students already receiving TOPS, Pell grants, and various other fee waivers and grants available to low-income students.

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