ACUHO-I News Blog

There are college students who find managing coursework easier than managing to bankroll food and shelter. National Public Radio did a report on a student who is in that situation. They talk to University of California-Los Angeles officials about the problem. It’s hard to identify and deal with, since students are reluctant to admit they’re in need of that kind of help, especially at places such as UCLA, where some people seem to have more money than they know what to do with. Students likely assume there isn’t anyone who can help anyway. So they quietly struggle, often dropping out. While not all students are homeless and hungry regularly, many have a hard time making their dollars last the whole term.

Have students at your institution had these issues, and what programs have been instituted to assist them? Have you found effective ways of identifying these students–or persuading them to identify themselves?

On Inside HigherEd: Who will show up in the fall? Liberal arts at community colleges, and averting another financial disaster.

THE EARLY WORD ON YIELD: For many colleges anxious about how many admitted applicants would send in deposits, the story this year is about different rates for different programs, measuring applicant interest, strategies other than money … and about money.

WHAT ADJUNCT IMPACT? New research challenges previous studies suggesting negative student outcomes from having more exposure to instructors off the tenure track.

THE POST-CRISIS MBA: Business schools look for ways to better prepare students — and avert future financial meltdowns.

APPLYING THE LIBERAL ARTS: Two-year colleges in Wisconsin are hoping to offer a different kind of baccalaureate degree to their students.

‘I COULD BE ILLEGAL’: With a boycott, name tags and numerous studies, education researchers aim to shift debate on immigrant students and to protest the new Arizona law.

Are young adults happily spending their parents’ money again? This article* says they are. This one** says they’re not. Both use the phrase  “The  Bank of Mom and Dad.”

What have you seen on your campus? Is discretionary spending beginning to tick up again?

To make it interesting, let’s handicap things:

* This article links to a page that, as of this posting, has a link to a story: “Girls With Tattoos: It’s not just a guy thing,” as if this is something new.

** This article links to a page with a link to a story: “How Barbie Got Her Geek On,” which Barbie is rumored to do every few years, and it never really happens.

Go here to read the report from ACUHO-I’s Innovation Summit, held in October 2009 after our inaugural Business Operations Conference. Your colleagues contributed ideas that have worked to reduce costs and stress on their campuses, and there may be suggestions there you can use as well. What’s worked for you? Contribute more ideas, or brainstorm, in the comments.

As of today, credit card issuers have to play by new federal rules when trying to entice college students (or anyone younger than 21) to sign on. Consumer advocates say the new rules are a good start.

The Credit CARD Act of 2009 restricts banks from offering credit to people under 21 unless an adult co-signs or the signer can show they are able to make the payment. Credit issuers cannot offer free gifts at campus events (team t-shirts at football games) as inducements to sign up.

For their part, institutions cannot collaborate with credit card issuers to offer institutional merch for credit card signees and the law puts restrictions on cards offered through alumni associations and similar.

The law encourages, but does not mandate, that the institution educate its students on responsible credit and money management. Does your institution do this? Does housing or residence life aid in this program? Let us know.

On a related note, the Talking Stick had a story on aiding students with money management; see that article here: Money Management TS

A study, discussed in the article “Parental Transfers, Student Achievement and the Labor Supply of College Students,” has determined what many student affairs administrators have likely figured out: Many college students work, and most of the four-year students work about 20 hours a week, mostly for daily necessities and spending money. The article, by Charlene Kalenkoski and Sabrina Wulff Pabilonia, will appear in the Journal of Population Economics.

The researchers found that 46% of students at four-year institutions and 72% at two-year institutions were employed during their initial semesters in college. Four-year students averaged 22 hours a week; two-year students averaged more than 30 hours. The researchers noted that if parental contributions dropped, the students’ working hours increased nominally–not nearly enough to make up the difference. They also found that attending a more expensive institution, or rising fees, did not prompt students to work significantly more. The researchers hypothesize that while many students do pay for their education, they’re doing it after the fact–by taking out loans during college and repaying them later. The structure of a job seems to be a benefit: Students who worked about 20 hours a week had higher GPAs than students who worked more, and students who didn’t work at all.

The National Retail Federation reports that families are spending more per college-bound student, but fewer people are planning to attend college this year, so overall back-to-college revenue is down. College students and their parents will spend an average of $618.12, up from last year’s average of $599.38. Total spending will decrease, by just over 30 million.

The National Retail Federation has something to say about this, of course: “The economy is forcing young adults to make hard decisions about which schools to attend, where to live, and what’s really a “necessity” for college,” says Tracy Mullin, President and CEO of the National Retail Federation. “This year, college students are just as focused as their parents on finding good deals and making smart choices with their money.”

Among the choices students are making is where to live. More students are opting to live at home rather than in residence halls or off-campus, according to the National Retail Federation. Of the respondents to the survey, 12.8% said the economy is affecting where their student lives this year. Students living at home will be 58.5% of the college population up from just over 54% last year and 49.1% in 2007. Students choosing to live in a residence hall make up 15.8% of the student population, down from 18%, and students living off-campus are down to 22.4% from 24.3%.

One question was left unanswered by the National Retail Foundation, but NPR came to the rescue: Are parents of incoming freshmen are still baffled by those extra-long sheets? (Yes.)

The Post-9/11 G.I. Bill is confusing. The Montgomery G.I. Bill works the same for each recipient: $1,321 per month, per veteran, regardless of where he or she goes to school or what he or she is studying. This system is imperfect in many ways, but one of its strengths is its simplicity. It’s very easy for a veterans to calculate their benefits and select an institution based on that.

The Post-9/11 G.I. Bill attempts to fix some of the flaws in the Montgomery plan (a public undergraduate degree in New York state will probably cost more than the same from South Dakota), but of course, this makes it more complicated as well. This Inside HigherEd article gowes through some of the details, and what the military is doing to counsel students-to-be. The Department of Veterans Affairs has a website to explain the benefits as well.

Let’s get the bad news over with, shall we?

The title subtly hints at the plot: Drowning in Debt: The Emerging Student Loan Crisis is a report from the Washington think tank The Education Sector. Their data is from the National Postsecondary Student Aid Survey. The authors, Erin Dillon and Kevin Carey,  found a slight increase from 2003-2004 to 2007-2008 in the proportion of students who took out loans. This isn’t really the bad news, though; the problem was that Dillon and Carey found that students are borrowing more, on average and that they are using private loan companies considerably more; up to 14% from 5%. The authors blame this on escalating tuition costs, and say the proposed changes designed to make federal grants and Perkins loans more widely available will not help this situation.

The National Consumer Law Center released a report this spring on private student loans, which also sounded the alarm about increasing student use of these services. Private loan servicers are not regulated as heavily as other private loan institutions. In addition, private loans are more expensive, with interest rates ranging from 11.5% to a credit-card-like 19%.

Patricia Steele, a research associate at the College Board, disputed the “hype” in the Education Sector report, saying that half of students don’t use any loans at all. Detractors point out that for the students who do take out loans, the ensuing effects on their lives and society matter quite a bit. Part of the problem seems to be how the numbers are crunched, and how well the students do post-college: Are their student loan payments a small detail as they find jobs and establish themselves financially, or are they burdensome, especially when the borrower is out of work or in other financial straits? This Chronicle of Higher Education article is considerably more cheerful, stating that while 65% of students leave higher education with debt, the average total is $20,000 — a chunk of change, but not overwhelming. About 8%, however, have totals of $40,000 or more.

On the upside, colleges and universities have responded to the economic situation by increasing the availability of institutional financial aid and reassessing pricing structures. As a result, most students are going to the sort of institution they think will be best for them, whether private or public, in-state or out-of-state, according to Maguire Associates, an educational consulting firm. The firm twice surveyed seniors, once to see what sorts of institutions to which they were applying and which they preferred, then again in May 2009, to see how the students’ plans had panned out.

The situation may be different for the younger brothers and sisters of the initial survey group. High school juniors were also surveyed early this year, and will be queried again when college enrollment time is neigh. Maguire Associates reports this group, with their university application process more steeped in the recession, is considerably more uncertain about their future prospects.

Colleges and universities hoping to save a few pennies (or a few hundred thousand) can read an article in last week’s New York Times’ Education section for inspiration: For Colleges, Small Cuts Add Up to Big Savings.

Schools are finding savings through attrition of products and services that are no longer popular (phone lines and voicemail), letting the cleaning slide a bit or providing fewer cushy services to students. Some of the money-saving changes might have been made anyway– cutting orientation by one day, challenging students to an energy-saving competition, eliminating cafeteria trays or providing admissions materials online–but they’re also saving hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Some of the money-saving ideas are more quirky than others. The article mentions a “virtual swim meet” between Dickinson College and Bryn Mawr College. The teams swam in their home pools, then compared times. Not meeting face-to-face saved $900.

A selection of college housing and student affairs headlines from InsideHigherEd.com. Look for these on a weekly basis in the ACUHO-I news blog.

THE FUTURE OF STUDENT LOANS: House hearing elicits widespread agreement that big changes are coming, and that a single federal loan program would make sense. But left unanswered: Is administration’s plan clearly the best option?:
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/05/22/loans

CREDIT LIMIT: Congress passes legislation that will help shield students from credit card companies’ aggressive tactics, but not everyone is cheering:
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/05/21/credit

LOST MEN ON CAMPUS: Scholars at national conference link issues of identity and masculinity to gender gaps in academic performance.
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/05/22/men

TEST PREP, TO WHAT END? New analysis from admissions group suggests that SAT coaching improves scores, but modestly. But study also finds that modest increases make a difference at many institutions:
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/05/20/testprep

The Chronicle of Higher Education‘s current issue offers an article that’s unfortunately timely and appros. Debt Bomb is Ticking discusses an unfortunate confluence of events: higher education institutions borrowed a lot of money to build and renovate structures (including residence halls). Thanks to the lackluster economy, the value of the assets held by the institutions have plummeted, leaving the institutions with a risky debt-to-assets ratio. An unbalanced ratio may violate the terms of the institution’s agreement (or covenant) with the bond holder or bank. In these circumstances, the loaning institution can demand repayment of all or part of the loan.

As with other elements of the declining economy, the effects can cascade. The US Department of Education uses financial data to determine institutions’ eligibility for federal student aid. Some of the debt swaps institutions made to hedge against rising interest rates on their debts have now become problematic, and unless interest rates change considerably by June, these transactions will have to be labeled liabilities in year-end financial statements.

This story, provided to National Public Radio by Youth Radio, illustrates the challenges some students have when facing colleges. For some young people, college is assumed, expected and anticipated. For them, it’s a place to get away from watchful parents and a time to explore careers and interests. But for others, such as Mayra Jimenez , higher education is an opportunity and a risk not to be taken lightly. On one hand, there’s the chance to make a better life for herself and her family. On the other hand, higher education is expensive, and she fears being forced to leave school for financial reasons, without a degree.

In an uncomfortable contrast, this New York Times story points out that in order to financially assist some students, colleges and universities have to get that money from wealthier applicants whose families can pay the full cost of higher education. As a result, applicants who can pay tuition outright are given closer consideration for admission.

Hard times make for greater interest in RA positions. So says a story in the The New York Times. According to the article, applications for 30 RA positions at Seton Hall University, in South Orange, NJ, jumped to 168 this year, from 104 two years ago. Other schools the Times mentioned saw similar increases.  Of course, the compensation–often free room and board, or a combination of discounts on both–is alluring, especially to students who need to cover their own expenses.

But the housing professionals quoted in the article, including ACUHO-I’s president, Norb Dunkel, stress that the job has more long-term benefits, and these outweigh the monetary gains. Given the multiple skills and long hours, RAs earn more in problem-solving, conflict resolution and crisis management than they do in money.

The question of how to recruit and compensate RAs is often on the minds of ACUHO-I members. Discuss the topic with your colleagues in our forums.

So you’ve probably heard something about a stimulus package that Congress is concocting, and you might have also gathered that some parts of it benefit higher education, specifically renovation of facilities (not new-build) in higher education.

But how can you educate yourself on how this legislation could benefit you and take advantage of these opportunities?  First, pay attention to ACUHO-I’s announcements and e-mails in the coming weeks.  Second, check out these Web sites, which make the legalease a bit easier to digest.

National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities NCEF has put together a great site on how the stimulus package affects school facilities. They neatly explain how the funds are allowed to be used.

Shovel Ready SCUP’s site’s title refers to the tight turnaround required by recipients of federal funds for renovation. Projects you wish to fund must be planned and “shovel-ready,” with only a few last-minute preparations to go. This is not the time to look for a new project. Instead, go through your list of renovation to-dos: energy-efficient windows to replace old, leaky ones; modernizing a building with new technology; or replacing an old roof. The major restrictions won’t affect residence halls much: monies cannot be used for sports facilites that charge admission or for a building in which worship services are held. The money also comes with use-it-or-lose-it time restrictions.

Keep an eye on the Chronicle of Higher Education, for stories such as this: The $7-Billion Patch for Campus Maintenance.

Also, talk to your colleagues through the ACUHO-I Social Network, and share tips and ideas on how to identify projects and get the money to make them happen.