Top Universities Partner With Online Provider to Create For-Credit Courses

Schools such as Duke and Northwestern will provide online courses at a yet-to-be-determined cost.

A new online educationplatform featuring courses from some of the country's top-ranked universities will be available to students for college credit starting in fall 2013. Semester Online is a partnership between a consortium of schools and the online education provider 2U Inc.—formerly known as 2tor—that will deliver university-accredited courses through a virtual classroom environment.

Participating universities include Brandeis University, Duke University, Emory University, Northwestern University,University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill, University of Notre Dame, University of Rochester, Vanderbilt University, Wake Forest University, and Washington University in St. Louis. Academically qualified students who are "attending consortium schools as well as other top schools across the country" will be eligible to take courses through the platform, according to today's press release announcing the partnership.

While this is 2U's first venture into the undergraduate space, the online provider has partnered with graduate schools since its founding in 2008; graduate programs currently offered through 2U include USC Rossier Online, Nursing@Georgetown, and MBA@UNC, among others.

[Learn three career reasons why students get online MBA's.]

The look and feel of the new undergraduate courses will be similar to the site's current grad offerings, says Chip Paucek, cofounder and CEO of 2U. "For us, we believe that this initiative will be defined by its rigor. You've got high-quality courses with intense, small class sizes. When you're in the platform, it's a very intimate process."

The courses through 2U are set up much like standard online courses, which include asynchronous content such as prerecorded lectures and reading materials provided by a university professor for students to review each week. But unlike other online programs, students are still required to attend a virtual classroom at a scheduled time once a week, Paucek says.

"You have to go to class," he notes. "Once you've consumed that asynchronous content, you go to class. And when you're in class … the professor is in one [video] square, and the rest of the students are in other squares."

This announcement follows recent news regarding Coursera, a platform for massive open online courses (MOOCs), which announced a partnership to provide a limited number of courses through Antioch University for college credit. Coursera, which partners with 33 colleges and universities to deliver asynchronous courses through its platform, allows unlimited enrollment in its own courses at no cost to the user; completion of a course currently results in a certificate, not college credit.

[Find options for free online education programs.]

Peter Lange, provost for Duke University, notes that Duke has partnered with both Coursera and 2U. "We've been very open to experimenting with different ways to improve our on-campus teaching and learning," Lange says. But while he believes Coursera has allowed Duke faculty members to expand their courses to a wider audience, he's not sold on the "fully online" experience.

"We haven't believed that the fully asynchronous, no face-to-face aspect was going to be a format that would be particularly attractive to us," Lange says. "There's a whole lot of interaction you can't do in an asynchronous course."

The weekly "in-class" video component of 2U's Semester Online, along with the schools Duke would be joining, is what ultimately enticed the institution to enter the consortium, he notes. "The schools offering those courses are very high-quality schools in which we have a high degree of confidence in the faculty and the fact that the faculty teach students like our students," Lange adds.

[Discover how to tell the good online education programs from the bad.]

With the official launch months away, and specific courses yet to be determined, the cost of each course is also still in question. Although 2U's Paucek says that the online courses will be "slightly less" than its in-class counterparts, Lange expects Semester Online courses to be "pretty close" in cost to in-class courses.

"In a Semester Online course, there are fixed costs that go with a course every time that you teach it," Lange says. "It's a high-quality operation. Online education does not necessarily have to be inexpensive."

Source : usnews.com

Some Colleges Help Students Avoid, Handle Debt

Now that President Obama has earned reelection, the Student Loan Ranger is anxious to see if he'll be able to fulfill his promises to address colleges' soaring tuition and skyrocketing student debt balance.

For example, you may remember a promise to hold schools accountable for costs. And the Student Loan Ranger hopes the administration will require schools to adopt initiatives like the Financial Aid Shopping Sheet and College Scorecard.

[See what financial aid could change in next year.]

There are also a few things schools could do—which some are already doing—to help students.

One of the best ways to ensure students aren't laden with student debt is to minimize the need to borrow. One ambitious method has been put at place at schools including Davidson College in North Carolina, which instituted a "no loans" financial aid policy in 2007.

At Davidson, loans aren't included in students' financial aid award letters (although families may still borrow loans), and demonstrated need is funded through grants and student employment.

[See the colleges that claim to meet full financial need.]

Of course, this requires a fair amount of resources; Davidson must raise $70 million to permanently endow the policy. But schools that reduce the need for student loans are doing a lot to free students from heavy debt burdens.

It's also important to ensure students are in a better position to repay their student loans by providing the support necessary for them to complete college. As Education Sector reported in February, borrowers who drop out face higher loan default rates, in addition to higher unemployment and lower incomes. Some schools, including St. John's College in Maryland and Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina, are providing tailored support services to students through graduation.

Larger-scale efforts like the State University of New York's plan to prevent student loan borrowers from defaulting also help. As Inside Higher Ed notes, SUNY may be the first to implement measures system-wide. While SUNY is not trying to convince students to borrow less, it will provide more information to students (including by using the model Financial Aid Shopping Sheet, which it adopted earlier this year), and identify risk factors and provide support services to students who have a greater risk of defaulting throughout their college career.

SUNY also will share information with the Department of Education about the impact of certain factors and strategies that can be used to prevent these students from defaulting to help develop broad-scale policies.

Of course, focusing only on default rates can lead schools to opt out of the federal aid system, according to the Project on Student Debt, putting their students in a worse situation by denying them access to the important borrower protections for federal loans and crucial need-based aid like Pell grants.

[Learn more about paying for college.]

To help, measures to encourage responsible student loan borrowing and prevent defaults are being undertaken by some community colleges, as detailed in a report commissioned by the Institute for College Access and Success (TICAS) and the California Community Colleges Student Financial Aid Administrators Association.

Based on its findings, the report identifies important steps schools can take, including: "Ensure students know that loans are available;" "Provide guidance to help students understand the implications of their borrowing decisions;" "Coordinate … to make students' academic success the top priority;" and "Require additional counseling for students who may be at risk."

But, as the report notes, there are measures that governments are better able to undertake. It encourages them to: "Provide better funding for financial aid administration;" "Communicate positive practices to colleges;" "Provide an information clearinghouse for student borrowers;" "Supplement colleges' technological capabilities;" and "Directly assist colleges with default management activities," among other things.

Students should know as much as they can before borrowing. Something small every school can do to help is work on its net price calculator. TICAS has reported many net price calculators are still difficult to find and use.

[Experiment with net price calculators for the top 300 colleges.] 

Students should also evaluate how they'll repay loans before they borrow. Equal Justice Works provides free webinars and sells a new e-book, "Take Control of Your Future," that can help.

Radhika Singh Miller is a program manager for Educational Debt Relief and Outreach at Equal Justice Works. She has served on student loan committees in the Department of Education's negotiated rulemaking focusing on the College Cost Reduction and Access Act (CCRAA) and other debt relief initiatives. Radhika graduated from Loyola Law School Los Angeles. Prior to joining Equal Justice Works, she was a staff attorney at the Partnership for Civil Justice, focusing on constitutional and civil rights litigation and advocacy.

Source : usnews.com

Striking the Perfect Tone in MBA Essays

Finding the right balance between confidence and humility is one of the critical challenges you will face in crafting your b-school essays and in delivering answers to admissions interviewers.

No one likes a blowhard, but at the same time, no one else is going to "toot your horn" in your MBA application either. It's all about your attitude, which will permeate your essays and set the tone for the way the admissions committee views you.

One of the key questions applicants often have is how confident they should try to appear. When you tell a story lauding your achievements to the admissions official across the table, that person's visual cues can help you know when to scale back the confidence by one or two levels.

With b-school essays, you have one shot to craft your message, and admissions committee members with diverse personality types and differing levels of acceptance and patience for bravado will read your prose.

Likewise, some applicants face the dilemma of how much of an "expert" to paint themselves as in their field. It is critical to portray yourself as someone from whom your classmates can learn.

Many business schools are case study-oriented; the quality of the education is essentially determined by the content the students contribute in the classroom. Additionally, offline conversations are a huge part of the learning process for both academic subjects as well as issues related to career choices.

[Find out which MBA programs are worth the investment.]

However, the "I've seen it all" attitude is definitely not something b-schools are looking for from their typical 25-to-30-year-old applicant. Even as you highlight the fascinating experiences you've had and the cutting-edge knowledge you possess, make sure you take careful stock of what you want to learn, both from your professors and your fellow students.

The people who take the best advantage of business school are those who come in with a high level of curiosity and a willingness to absorb new information like a sponge. In short, the appropriate balance is struck when you have a developed a detailed awareness of what you have to teach and what you have to learn.

So, how can you highlight your business and leadership achievements without sounding like you think you are God's gift to commerce? Here are three pointers:

1. Acknowledge the team: NASCAR drivers use the "we" technique to a fault. "We were running great today. When we took that first turn, our car was running perfectly."

You don't want to sound like a cliché, but positioning your achievements as team achievements works wonders. Plus, your abilities as a business leader will ultimately be more dependent on your abilities to achieve in a team format than in an individual setting.

[Learn how to convince MBA admissions officials you've done your research.]

2. Balance your portfolio of essays: You will probably have more license to emphasize your impressive achievements in some of your essays if you gain credibility in others by being honest and open about failures, weaknesses, and doubts.

If you just highlight how the incredible amount of work you pitched into an entrepreneurial venture led to its success, you shouldn't half-heartedly chime in with "sometimes I work too hard" as a personal or professional weakness in another essay.

3. Highlight mentors: If you are shining the spotlight on your leadership capabilities, make sure you also acknowledge people in your academic, extracurricular, or work settings from whom you learned some of these skills. This works equally well for hard skills—such as finance and negotiation—and for "soft" skills, such as leadership, communication, and mentoring abilities. Doing so shows you are good at recognizing the strengths in others and know how to learn from them.

[Read about how online MBA students may face challenges finding mentors.]

It's also important that folks who come from positions and industries lacking that "glamour" factor don't downplay their accomplishments. Certain high-profile investment banks and consulting firms are definitely the main feeder companies to American business schools, but it is often the people who come from less well-represented areas that have the most to teach the section or study group.

You may have run a T-shirt shack. Or conducted accounting audits for sketchy firms. Or monitored quality control at a Senegalese ball bearing plant. Rest assured, you do have valuable things to teach your classmates. The trick comes in thinking through what those lessons are and showing you have an unusual perspective on them.

Source : usnews.com

Study: Online Learning Outcomes Similar to Classroom Results

Universities with shrinking budgets could consider online education to save money.

Critics of online learning claim that students are exposed to an inferior education when compared to traditional in-class instruction, but a recent study from Ithaka S+R, a strategic consulting and research nonprofit, questions this notion.
The report, "Interactive Learning Online at Public Universities: Evidence from Randomized Trials," notes that students who utilize interactive online learning—or hybrid learning—produce equivalent, or better, results than students participating in face-to-face education.
[See why some college professors fear the growth of online education.]
Monitoring 605 college students taking the same introductory statistics course at six public universities—including the University at Albany—SUNY, SUNY Institute of Technology—Utica/Rome, the University of Maryland—Baltimore County, Towson University, CUNY—Baruch College, and CUNY—City College—during fall 2011, researchers split the students into two groups. One group completed the course in a traditional format, while the second group completed an online component complemented with an hour of in-class instruction each week.
Students were asked to complete a series of tests before and after the course, and researchers found that "hybrid-format students did perform slightly better than traditional format students" on outcomes including final exam scores and overall course pass rates, according to the report.
[Learn why blending online and in-class instruction may be most effective.]
The report's authors note that while the students who participated in the hybrid group performed marginally better than students in the traditional group overall, the differences in learning outcomes are not "statistically significant" between the two groups. And although the researchers were able to successfully randomize students in both groups, based on factors including age, gender, ethnicity, academic background, and family income, they could not control for differences in teacher quality.
Students learn more from active discussions than from traditional lectures, and they need instructors who can engage them in the material, notes Diane Johnson, assistant director of faculty services at the Center for Online Learning at Florida's St. Leo University, who has spent more than 12 years teaching online, traditional, and hybrid courses.
"Teacher quality is still a very important part of success in an online course, but so, too, is the course design," Johnson says. "Despite the delivery mechanism of the class, faculty members need to show students they care and that they aren't just a number. The ones that do this will help students to learn."
With universities facing shrinking budgets, this report may make the case for higher education professionals to consider plans to implement more courses with an online component—and to train faculty members to lead these interactive learning communities.
"Online learning … holds the promise of broadening access to higher education to more individuals, while also lowering costs for students," notes Deanna Marcum, managing director of Ithaka S+R, in the report's preface. "The results of this study are remarkable; they show comparable learning outcomes for this basic [statistics] course, with a promise of cost savings and productivity gains over time."

Source : usnews.com

12 Reasons to Be Thankful You Are a Teacher

Teaching is not a profession known for instant gratification. Sometimes, we teachers can feel completely unappreciated.  

Dubbed a “thankless job”, teaching comes with many daily challenges. Grading, meetings, more grading, planning and the seemingly hundreds of tasks we are charged with can make us feel frustrated and burned out.  More often than not, we take on much more than our job description.  Everything from improving student’s academic abilities to making up for their inadequate home life leads to a feeling of overwhelm and negativity.

In  his 2009 Reader’s Digest article, “How to Be Thankful and Improve Your Life”, David Hochman discovers that “life gets better when you adopt and attitude of gratitude.”  In other words, look at life from the “half full” point of view instead of the “half empty” one. Take time to appreciate yourself and the positive aspects of your profession.  

Here are 12 unexpected reasons to be thankful for being a teacher.

Teachers, Be Thankful For...

1.  Your heavy teacher’s bag...

because it symbolizes your employment.  Take a moment to think about how many people you know who have been laid off.  According to The Wall Street Journal, there were over two million people collecting unemployment in early October. Be grateful you are not one of them.

2.  The deductions from your paycheck...

which account for your health insurance.  Insurance is expensive.  Many of our students go without medical attention, medication or glasses.  In fact, The US Census Bureau tallied nearly 50 million people without health insurance in 2010.  Appreciate your health coverage.  

3.  Monday mornings...

because they come after weekends and holidays off.   Not everyone is fortunate enough to have weekends and holidays off.  Many of our spouses may be required to work Columbus Day, Veteran’s Day and even Thanksgiving or Christmas.  Feel fortunate to have these days off from work.

4.  Rising at an early hour...

since going to work early means you can leave early.  Although most of us take work home at night or on weekends, the actual hours we are required to be "at the office" allow us to be home at a reasonable hour.  Welcome the idea that you can get home before dinner actually begins.

5.  Parent meetings...

because they are an opportunity to reach out to parents and students.  Meeting with parents is a chance to connect with a family and demonstrate your willingness to help.  Take advantage of the possibility that may make a positive impact upon parent and student.     

6.  Student loan statements...

which are invoices for an educational investment.  A good percentage of the  world’s population does not have the opportunity to seek higher educated. Be thankful for yours.

7. Wearing an ID...

which can be very useful.  Yes, it is annoying - getting caught on everything and constantly misplaced - but flashing your school ID can get you discounts at many retail stores.  Money saved is certainly something to be thankful for.

8. A noisy classroom...

which signifies productivity.  Learn to embrace the racket that comes with learning.  Noisy students are discussion books or significant classroom topics. Be thankful that your students are excited to learn.

9. The pile of unread books on your desk...

because it is evidence that you can read. According to a 2009 USA Today article, a federal study found that one in seven US adults cannot read well enough to comprehend a newspaper article.  Acknowledge that the ability to read makes your life better.

10. A full email inbox...

which symbolizes your ability to communicate. Out of all the email or voicemail correspondence we get, there will be a “thank you” from a parent or a commendation for a job well done.  Appreciate the ability to  communicate.

11.  A lesson that doesn’t follow the script...

because it means your students are thinking. Embrace those teachable moments that may not be part of the master plan.  Pride your self on being confident enough to teach off the cuff once in a while.

12.  Challenging students...

who help you become a better teacher.   Meeting a challenge only makes us stronger and helps us learn more about ourselves.  Be thankful for the opportunity to grow as a person and as an educator.

Help Students Show Gratitude

Share your new found “attitude of gratitude” with your students.  

As the holiday season nears, use this Letter of Gratitude Lesson to share the true meaning of giving thanks with your classes.  The lesson is designed for upper grades, but includes suggestions of how to adapt it to younger students as well.  It incorporates reading and writing and giving thanks.

Source : teachhub.com

College Professors Fearful of Online Education Growth

A recent study reflects faculty members' anxieties and doubts about online courses.

Online education continues its meteoric rise on college campuses, and many faculty members are frightened by its growth and prevalence, notes a recent study by Inside Higher Ed and the Babson Survey Research Group, which has spent more than a decade studying online education.

The report, which surveyed 4,564 faculty members, reveals that 58 percent of respondents "described themselves as filled more with fear than with excitement" over the growth of online courses within higher education.

The fears of college faculty are sustained by the consistent rise in popularity of online education during the past decade. The number of college students enrolled in at least one online course increased for the ninth straight year, with more than 6.1 million students taking an online course during fall 2010—a 10.1 percent increase over fall 2009, according to a separate Babson report.

[Read about free online education programs that are flooding the market.]

While some of these fears could be attributed to professors not seeing the benefits of digital education, others may worry that instructors could be replaced altogether by online courses, says Dan Johnson, a senior lecturer at Wake Forest University.

"It's the idea of being able to do with technology what has been done with people in the past," Johnson says. "There is a very real fear that this will be cutting into the education system and actually not just supplementing instructors but replacing them."

Although opinions differ between professors who have worked with an online component and those who have not, 66 percent of all faculty members surveyed say that the learning outcomes of online courses are inferior, compared to traditional courses. Among faculty members who teach online courses exclusively, 39 percent note that online courses produce inferior learning outcomes.

[See how online education may transform higher education.]

But instead of making comparisons on learning outcomes between online courses and classroom courses, educators should base opinions on the actual course design, says Diane Johnson, assistant director of faculty services at the Center for Online Learning at St. Leo University.

"It's all based on how the course is designed," she says. "You can't compare one course with another without looking at instructional design, whether it's face to face or online."

Wake Forest's Johnson agrees, noting that educators are making judgments and comparisons between traditional courses and online courses, when each requires "different assessments and evaluations."

"I could easily put together a series of assessments that would look at online [courses] versus brick-and-mortar [courses], and you would see much better outcomes for online," he says. "I could also create a different set of evaluations, and we would clearly see better benefits in a brick-and-mortar environment. We just don't know what we're looking for."

[Explore five tips before you pursue an online education.]

The future of online education looks bright, though, according to some full-time professors—which accounted for roughly three-fourths of all faculty surveyed. Forty percent reported that online courses have the potential to match in-class instruction for learning outcomes.

But, much like in face-to-face learning environments, the success of the course is dependent on the quality of the instructor, notes Julanna Gilbert, executive director of the Office of Teaching and Learning at the University of Denver.

"For the future, it's about getting enough people enough professional development so they can also teach high-quality online courses," Gilbert says. "You still need a faculty member because you still need feedback."

[Discover four technology must haves for online students.]

In order for faculty members to fully embrace online education in traditional settings, though, they must stop resisting these changes in technology, Wake Forest's Johnson says.

"We can argue against it all we want," he says. "But if we're spending all our time arguing … we lose the ability to help shape it so that it goes in the direction that's helpful for the students. We can turn online learning into a marvel of the 21st century, or we can turn it into a horrible mistake."

Source :  usnews.com

Interest in Online Courses Could Be Peaking

A study shows that interest in online courses has remained flat in recent years.

When Cedrick Alexander was reviewing the courses he needed in order to complete his journalism degree at the University of Alabama, he found that some classes that fit his schedule were only offered online.

"If I would have had the option, I would have probably gone with in-class options," says Alexander, who is in the process of finishing his degree. "The reason I took online courses was because they were the only ones available, [and] with time commitments, they worked for me."

Alexander notes that there were some benefits to taking classes online, beyond the flexibility. "Online classes make you more accountable for your learning, instead of relying on guidance or instruction," he says. "But I definitely appreciated the in-class experience more just because it allowed me to have more interaction with instructors and students."

[Find out why these students chose online education.]

According to a recent report from Eduventures, a higher education research and consulting firm, which surveyed 1,500 U.S. adults between the ages of 18 and 70, a majority of prospective students prefer the in-class experience compared to an online-only or majority-online course.

In fact, just 38 percent of respondents noted that they prefer online courses, which is up only 1 percent from 2006. But, whether it is due to the convenience of online courses or increased options for online classes, the report shows that while adults prefer in-class instruction, 28 percent of respondents are enrolled in an online course, up from 18 percent in 2006.

"The good news is that there is still a significant gap between preference and participation," the report's authors write. "The bad news is that the gap is shrinking, and cautions that unless online delivery develops a broader value proposition, long-term growth may prove elusive."

The fact that adult preferences for online courses have remained relatively stagnant between 2006 and 2012 may be due to the lack of information people have regarding the technological advancements in education, notes Coursera cofounder and Stanford University professor Andrew Ng.

"For a long time, online education has had a mixed reputation," Ng says. "A couple years ago, it was challenging to find high quality courses. Even today, many people do not know about the high quality offerings that are available to them."

[Consider this before you pay for an online degree.]

For Arizona State University graduate student Megan Goodrich, online courses have been a prominent fixture in her academic career­: She took nearly 20 online courses during high school and as an undergraduate at Florida State University.

"Online classes are more acceptable than they were a couple years ago," Goodrich says. "I had to self-teach myself through these courses, though. You're able to get ahead [in online courses] but I don't feel like I was learning. If you're going to school to learn, go to class and don't take it online."

Goodrich's assessment of online courses compared to in-class courses aligns with what the majority of respondents noted in the Eduventures study. According to the report, only 7 percent of adults view online delivery as superior to in-class delivery, up from 1 percent in 2006.

"Both ratios are low in absolute terms, and reiterate that to date online higher education fundamentally embodied convenience rather than broader value-add," the report's authors write, "but the improved ratio may be an encouraging sign that online sophistication is increasing."

[See how online learning outcomes are similar to classroom results.]

Coursera's Ng says that many online courses already rival that of large classrooms and, in fact, a "website can be made to be much more interactive than a large lecture hall.

"For a 400 student course, the online experience is that every week, students watch two hours of video of me lecturing and then they do homework," he notes. "The live classroom turns out to be only slightly better. With a class of 400 students, there really isn't that much one-on-one interaction with students."

Although perceptions and preferences among adults lean heavily toward in-class instruction, Ng believes the growth of massive open online courses, provided by companies such as Coursea, edX, and Udacity, will change outlooks in the long term.

[Discover free options for online education programs.]

Coursera alone has 33 member schools, including Stanford, Princeton University, and the University of Pennsylvania, offering free online courses, and the company recently announced that it passed 1 million student enrollments. Having top-ranked universities offer courses through the online delivery model will ultimately have a strong influence on adults' perspectives on online education, Ng says.

"We all trust prestigious universities to have high standards," he notes. "From a student perspective, if you go online and take a class through Princeton, there's something reassuring that it's a Princeton course. When you put on a résumé that you took a course from a Princeton professor, that means something."

Source : usnews.com

3 Steps for International Students to Make U.S. Tuition Payments

Currency exchange and wire transfer fees can add up when paying for a U.S. college education.

Iker Marcaide was shocked to learn in 2008 that sending a tuition payment to MIT's Sloan School of Management via his Spanish bank account would cost more than $1,500. "The fee the bank charged to exchange currency, plus the wire fees, added more than 3 percent to a tuition bill that already topped $50,000," says Marcaide. "Plus, the money wire was lost for several weeks."

The next year, Marcaide started peerTransfer to secure lower group exchange rates for international students. Banks or wire services charge varying percentages to exchange one currency for another. For instance, a student who exchanges Canadian dollars for U.S. dollars when exchange rates are even would still pay a percentage of the exchange rate for the transaction, he says. The wire fee for transferring money is an additional cost.

If Marcaide had found a wire service with similar rates to peerTransfer when he attended MIT, he would have paid less than $750 dollars to exchange currency.

[Learn how international students can cut U.S. college costs.]

International students should follow the tips below to pay the lowest currency exchange fees possible on their tuition payments, while ensuring their payments arrive on time.

1. Only consider university-approved wire services: Students should find out which wire service their school works with by E-mailing the campus bursar or accounting office, says Iowa State University International Recruiter Timothy Tesar. They can also find this information on the university's site, notes Western Union's Vice President of University Solutions Ben Kavalec.

Universities verify the legitimacy of companies they choose to work with, according to Tesar. Given that students are sending substantial amounts of money via these wire transfers, they need to trust that the funds won't get lost or stolen, he notes. Compare the total cost of currency exchange between the wire service your university uses and your home bank, experts recommend.

[Start saving for an American education early.]

2. Wire tuition payments directly to universities: Because of the potential for accruing fees from two different banks, wire money directly from your country's bank or through a wire service to the university the student will attend, Tesar recommends.

This limits the likelihood of lost funds and eliminates the possibility of additional fees charged by a U.S. bank. Generally, schools will charge little to no fees to accept payments from banks or wire services, he says.

Often, the price is higher if students choose to wire funds from home bank accounts to a U.S. bank, peerTransfer's Marcaide adds. For example, a Canadian student exchanged Canadian dollars to U.S. dollars at a one-to-one exchange rate. The home bank added a 3 percent fee on a $10,000 transfer ($300); meanwhile, the student had set up a bank account in the United States to receive the money, which charged another $300. A student who once had $10,000 available to pay for tuition suddenly had $9,400.

[Learn about additional international student fees.]

3. Confirm exact fees and payment arrival: Whether you choose a wire service or a bank, confirm all possible charges and the exact date of arrival for the payment, says Marcaide.

Sometimes a bank will utilize an intermediary bank in the middle of the transaction that charges its own additional wiring fee. If students are unaware of this charge, they won't wire enough money to cover tuition—and the result could be an enrollment block by the school, he cautions. A late payment could lead to the same problem.

"We ensure that the amount that the student is expecting the school to receive is received, taking care of all potential fees that could happen in the process," Marcaide notes of peerTransfer's service. It's important that any bank or wire service that students choose do the same, he recommends.

Reyna Gobel, frequently quoted as an expert on student loans and college costs, is the author of "Graduation Debt: How To Manage Student Loans And Live Your Life" and "How Smart Students Pay for School: The Best Way to Save for College, Get the Right Loans, and Repay Debt." She has appeared on PBS's Nightly Business Report and speaks regularly at CollegeWeekLive.

Source :  usnews.com

 

An International Student's Guide to U.S. Scholarships

The idea of the "American Dream" means many things to many people, but one of its most common—and important—elements is the ability to further one's self by getting a college education. And for students born outside the United States, scholarships can be an invaluable help toward achieving that dream. Whether you're a new immigrant, a student going on to graduate school, or a learner returning to college, there's international scholarship assistance out there for your studies in the United States.

Before you do any scholarship searching, it's important to know that you should never have to pay to find or apply for scholarships. If a scholarship search engine or application asks you for a credit card or other financial information before you can use it, stay away. Reputable scholarships never charge to apply, and there are plenty of excellent free search engines. (Scholarship Experts, in particular, features a search specific to international students.)

[Learn more about studying in the United States.]

One of your best sources of financial aid will be the college you attend. If you were born outside the United States but are now a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, start by looking at colleges within the state where you live. Generally speaking, state residents pay a much lower tuition rate than out-of-state residents.

For example, a year of tuition and fees at the University of Virginia costs around $12,000 for students who live in Virginia, and around $36,000 for those who don't. Establishing residency in a state can instantly cut a great deal off of your ultimate college price tag.

If you don't live in the United States, you can do some very thorough research on colleges and financial aid opportunities at EducationUSA. This service of the U.S. Department of State and the Institute of International Education provides a ton of online information; there is also a frequently updated list of financial aid opportunities and, most usefully, a guide to advising centers in countries around the world, where you can meet face-to-face with experts in your country that can help you search schools, translate information, and learn about your options.

You should also take a look at ForeignBorn.com for useful information on applying to schools, obtaining a student visa, and more.

[See which colleges offer international students the most financial aid.]

No matter where you live, or decide to go to school, your college's financial aid office (and its website) should be your next stop. Most colleges have scholarship programs specifically for international students attending their institutions. To use just one example, the University of Oregon awards more than $1 million each year to students born outside the United States.

You'll notice on that page that some of this funding is for students from specific countries, some is open to students worldwide, and some requires that you study a certain field or do specific customer service—it can be confusing, but college admissions officers and financial aid experts are there to help you find as much money as you qualify for.

These resources will go a long way in helping with your education in the United States, no matter where you're from; you can also seek out opportunities specific to your country or even your gender. If you're a native of a Latin American or Caribbean nation, check out the listing of scholarships provided by the Organization of American States's Leo. S. Rowe Pan American Fund. The fund exists to provide interest-free student loans to students, and this brochure also features a useful listing of scholarship opportunities (starting on page 5), sorted by your country of residence.

If you live in one of the 17 countries (across four continents) where the Aga Khan Foundation has a presence, and you're doing graduate or postgraduate work, don't miss out on the Foundation's International Scholarship Programme, though note that awards made through this program are 50 percent scholarship and 50 percent loan, so you will have to pay part of the award back over time.

[See more ways to find scholarships for international students.]

And, finally, if you're a female graduate student and a non-U.S. resident, the venerable AAUW International Fellowship provides a tremendous opportunity; in 2011, the fellowship program awarded nearly $1 million to women dedicated to improving life in their home countries. This highly competitive program usually opens in August for the next academic year, so keep it in mind if you're an exemplary grad or postgrad student.

Matt Konrad has been with Scholarship America since 2005. He is an alumnus of the University of Minnesota and a former scholarship recipient.

Source : usnews.com

Child’s Education, but Parents’ Crushing Loans

When Michele Fitzgerald and her daughter, Jenni, go out for dinner, Jenni pays. When they get haircuts, Jenni pays. When they buy groceries, Jenni pays

It has been six years since Ms. Fitzgerald — broke, unemployed and in default on the $18,000 in loans she took out for Jenni’s college education — became a boomerang mom, moving into her daughter’s townhouse apartment in Hingham, Mass.

Jenni pays the rent.

For Jenni, 35, the student loans and the education they bought have worked out: she has a good job in public relations and is paying down the loans in her name. But for her mother, 60, the parental debt has been disastrous.

“It’s not easy,” Ms. Fitzgerald said. “Jenni feels the guilt and I feel the burden.”

There are record numbers of student borrowers in financial distress, according to federal data. But millions of parents who have taken out loans to pay for their children’s college education make up a less visible generation in debt. For the most part, these parents did well enough through midlife to take on sizable loans, but some have since fallen on tough times because of the recession, health problems, job loss or lives that took a sudden hard turn.

And unlike the angry students who have recently taken to the streets to protest their indebtedness, most of these parents are too ashamed to draw attention to themselves.

“You don’t want your children, much less your neighbors and friends, knowing that even though you’re living in a nice house, and you’ve been able to hold onto your job, your retirement money’s gone, you can’t pay your debts,” said a woman in Connecticut who took out $57,000 in federal loans. Between tough times at work and a divorce, she is now teetering on default.

In the first three months of this year, the number of borrowers of student loans age 60 and older was 2.2 million, a figure that has tripled since 2005. That makes them the fastest-growing age group for college debt. All told, those borrowers owed $43 billion, up from $8 billion seven years ago, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Almost 10 percent of the borrowers over 60 were at least 90 days delinquent on their payments during the first quarter of 2012, compared with 6 percent in 2005. And more and more of those with unpaid federal student debt are losing a portion of their Social Security benefits to the government — nearly 119,000 through September, compared with 60,000 for all of 2007 and 23,996 in 2001, according to the Treasury Department’s Financial Management Service.

The federal government does not track how many of these older borrowers were taking out loans for their own education rather than for that of their children. But financial analysts say that loans for children are the likely source of almost all the debt. Even adjusted for inflation, so-called Parent PLUS loans — one piece of the pie for parents of all ages — have more than doubled to $10.4 billion since 2000. Colleges often encourage parents to get Parent PLUS loans, to make it possible for their children to enroll. But many borrow more than they can afford to pay back — and discover, too late, that the flexibility of income-based repayment is available only to student borrowers.

Many families with good credit turn to private student loans, with parents co-signing for their children. But those private loans also offer little flexibility in repayment.

The consequences of such debt can be dire because borrowers over 60 have less time — and fewer opportunities — than younger borrowers to get their financial lives back on track. Some, like Ms. Fitzgerald, are forced to move in with their children. Others face an unexpectedly pinched retirement. Still others have gone into bankruptcy, after using all their assets to try to pay the student debt, which is difficult to discharge under any circumstances.

The anguish over college debt has put a severe strain on many family relationships. Parents and students alike say parental debt can be the uncomfortable, unmentionable elephant in the room. Many parents feel they have not fulfilled a basic obligation, while others quietly resent that their children’s education has landed the family in such difficult territory.

Soon after borrowing the money for Jenni’s education, Ms. Fitzgerald divorced and lost her corporate job. She worked part-time jobs and subsisted on food stamps and public assistance.

Source : nytimes.com

College Credit Eyed for Online Courses

While massive open online courses, or MOOCs, are still in their early days, the race has begun to integrate them into traditional colleges — by making them eligible for transfer credits, and by putting them to use in introductory and remedial courses

On Tuesday, the American Council on Education, the leading umbrella group for higher education, and Coursera, a Silicon Valley MOOC provider, announced a pilot project to determine whether some free online courses are similar enough to traditional college courses that they should be eligible for credit.

The council’s credit evaluation process will begin early next year, using faculty teams to begin to assess how much students who successfully complete Coursera MOOCs have learned. Students who want to take the free classes for credit would have to pay a fee to take an identity-verified, proctored exam. If the faculty team deems the course worthy of academic credit, students who do well could pay for a transcript to submit to the college of their choice. Colleges are not required to accept those credits, but similar transcripts are already accepted by 2,000 United States colleges and universities for training courses offered by the military or by employers.

Coursera, founded last year by two Stanford computer professors, Daphne Koller and Andrew Ng, has 33 university partners and nearly two million students, who currently can earn certificates of completion, but not academic credit, for their work.

“I feel strongly that degrees are really valuable to people, and having MOOCs allow for credit down the line will increase the number of students with the confidence and wherewithal to complete degrees,” Professor Koller said. “If you’re a random student from another country, what are your chances of being admitted to a university here? But if you can show you’re a motivated student who’s completing five courses and done well on the proctored exam, I think a university would pay attention.”

The project is being watched closely by higher-education experts who expect MOOCs to broaden access to higher education and bring down the costs.

“With the additional benefits of ACE credit recommendation for Coursera courses, students will have an unprecedented opportunity to obtain recognized credentials for their work,” said William G. Bowen, the former president of Princeton University and the Mellon Foundation, and senior adviser to Ithaka, a nonprofit group devoted to digital technologies in higher education.

Also on Tuesday, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced 13 grants, totaling more than $3 million, for MOOC research. The grants are intended to encourage the development of MOOCs in introductory courses, like developmental math and writing, to see how they might be integrated into community colleges to bolster completion, and to develop a pathway for MOOC transfer credit.

While there is some overlap between the Coursera project and the Gates grants, only four of the nine schools that received grants are putting their MOOCs on Coursera, while the others use different platforms.

The largest grants go to three groups — the American council, Ithaka and the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities — that will explore the credit issue, consider a possible consortium for collaborating on digital courseware, and research the University of Maryland’s experience with MOOCs.

“It certainly appears that there is potential here, and we ought to kick all the tires and see what we can learn,” said Molly Corbett Broad, the president of the American council

Source : nytimes.com

Enrollment in Charter Schools Is Increasing

Although charter schools engender fierce debate — most recently over ballot measures in Georgia and Washington State — their ranks are growing rapidly, according to a new report. Between 2010-11 and 2011-12, the number of students in charter schools increased close to 13 percent, to just over two million. 

The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, a nonprofit advocacy group, released the report on Wednesday. It showed that in some cities, charter schools — which are publicly financed but privately operated — enroll a significant proportion of public school students.

New Orleans, where the city’s schools were essentially destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, leads the nation in the proportion of students in charter schools, at 70 percent. But in six other districts, including Detroit, Washington, D.C., and St. Louis, more than 30 percent of public school students attend a charter school.

According to the report, in 110 school districts, at least 10 percent of students now attend public charter schools, up from 96 a year earlier.

“To the extent families are in need of other options, growth does indicate there is something missing in the public school system,” said Nina Rees, chief executive of the National Alliance.

Opponents argue that charters drain public resources from traditional schools, and tend to attract motivated students, leaving behind those harder to educate.

The performance of charter schools has been mixed, with some helping students achieve higher test results than traditional neighborhood schools, but many others delivering similar, or worse, results.

The fate of a ballot measure in Washington allowing charter schools in the state for the first time has not been determined. In Georgia, a measure creating a new state commission to approve charter schools passed.

In New York City, just over 48,000 — or about 5 percent — of public school students attended charter schools in 2011-12, up 24 percent from the previous year.

Source : nytimes.com