High School Counselor Week

A looming ‘demographic cliff’: Fewer college students and ultimately fewer graduates
NPR – January 8, 2025
This “demographic cliff” has been predicted ever since Americans started having fewer babies at the advent of the Great Recession around the end of 2007. Demographers say it will finally arrive nationwide in the fall of this year. That’s when recruiting offices will begin to confront the long-anticipated drop-off in the number of applicants from among the next class of high school seniors. But the downturn isn’t just a problem for universities and colleges. It’s a looming crisis for the economy, with fewer graduates eventually coming through the pipeline to fill jobs that require college educations.

Tuition has fallen significantly at many colleges, research indicates
ABC News – January 8, 2025
The cost of college keeps spiraling ever higher, right? Not necessarily. New research indicates students are paying significantly less to attend public universities than they were a decade ago. And tuition increases at private colleges have finally slowed after years of hefty rises. Figures compiled by the nonprofit College Board indicate the average student attending an in-state public university this year faces a tuition bill of $11,610, which is down 4% from a decade earlier when taking inflation into account. But the real savings come in what the average student actually pays after getting grants and financial aid. That’s down 40% over the decade, from $4,140 to $2,480 annually, according to the data.

Schools Spend Millions on a Safety Measure to Stop Bullets. It Doesn’t Work.
MSN – December 22, 2024
The Wall Street Journal found that more than $100 million has been spent for the purchase and installation of window film at school districts nationwide. The film is attractive to school officials because it is a fraction of the cost of bulletproof glass. Window-film dealers who sell to school districts claim their product is the answer to school shootings, cashing in on false or exaggerated claims of ballistic protection. While window film can slow down attackers trying to shoot their way in, numerous field tests show it is hardly an effective bullet stopper altogether, and would have failed to prevent the fatal shooting in Madison this past month.

Which Of America’s Top Colleges Limit AP And IB Course Credit?
Forbes – December 23, 2024
Americans can reduce the cost of tuition in various ways, but among the most popular is earning course credit for work done before finishing high school. Students who successfully complete AP or IB courses in high school could save anywhere between 12.5% and 25% of the total cost of the degree. However, a recent study looked at which of the top 150 colleges and universities were the most and least generous when awarding advanced college course credits. The data makes clear that many institutions of higher education place limits on the use of AP and IB credit toward a degree, thus curtailing ways that students can save. More than half of the 150 schools surveyed cap the total amount of credit students can apply to their degree, in some cases at levels just below the number needed to finish a semester or two early. Seventy-five don’t accept scores in all subject areas, and almost half have hiked the minimum score to earn credit.

Opinion: Parents have way more influence than they realize in shaping their children’s success
The Hechinger Report – January 7, 2025
Parents can be tricky for administrators to manage. They love their kids dearly, but the way that love gets expressed to school leaders can sometimes be less than constructive. But parents aren’t powerless. They have way more influence than they — and administrators — realize, especially when it comes to disengaged students. So, school leaders who are struggling with disengaged students don’t have to try and turn things around all on their own. Partnering with parents can help. Here are three easy strategies.

Report: Kids Check Out of School as They Get Older, and Parents Are in the Dark
The 74 – January 6, 2025
American parents are far more bullish about the quality of learning in schools than their kids, according to a new report from the Brookings Institution. While substantially less than half of all high schoolers say that they believe they’re learning a lot each day, over 70% of parents say they are. The figures point to a failure not only to keep students engaged in school, but also to keep families informed about the true state of their children’s learning.

Expert advises how to navigate the college decision process
MSN – January 7, 2025
As high school seniors continue to receive their early decision and early action notifications there are several things students and parents need to know before they make one of the biggest decisions of their lives. From negotiating financial aid offers, to making the most of virtual accepted students days, Eric Sherman of IvyWise provides tips on navigating the college decision process.

How To Use College Admissions Tours To Unlock Hidden Insights
Forbes – January 4, 2025
For students navigating the college admissions process, tours are a valuable opportunity to learn about schools in a way that brochures and websites simply can’t convey. But there’s a common mistake: students attending tours without a plan and let their parents take the lead. The result is a missed opportunity to gain the insights they need to determine if a school is truly a good fit. In this guide, I’ll share how students can take control of their college visits, ask game-changing questions, and walk away with clarity and confidence about where they want to apply.

The Movement Against Legacy Admissions Is Expanding to More States and Universities
Teen Vogue – January 2, 2025
There’s a growing movement by state legislatures and institutions to do away with legacy admissions, with California recently becoming the second state, after Maryland, to pass legislation banning the practice at private and public universities. A 2022 Pew Research Center survey found that 75% of Americans believe legacy status should not be a factor in college admissions. They argue that ending the practice will expand opportunities for all students, a move they say is increasingly urgent in the wake of affirmative action’s demise.

I was a low-income student, so college never seemed feasible. That changed when I took a college class as a high schooler.
Business Insider – January 1, 2025
As a low-income student, I didn’t think college was for me. I then enrolled in a college class as a high schooler, and it changed everything. I was side-by-side with college students and gleefully joined freshmen for an introductory English class. The professor was nice and supportive, and the process demystified college for me. Assignments that initially sounded intimidating, like papers and finals, weren’t so different from my high school classwork. Most importantly, this opportunity gave me the confidence as a low-income student to realize that I could handle college classes. It also exposed me to new ways of living. I was integrated into a community that highlighted different realities for me.

Should the U.S. Regulate Cost of Attendance?
Inside Higher Ed – January 8, 2025
For nearly four decades, the federal government had no authority to regulate cost of attendance, a figure calculated by colleges and universities that estimates how much a student will pay to attend the institution. COA, which includes tuition and course materials as well as living costs like housing and food, impacts how much aid a student can receive, meaning miscalculations can have major consequences for a student’s ability to go to college. But a provision in the FAFSA Simplification Act passed in 2020 reversed that restriction, allowing the Education Department to begin regulating cost of attendance if it so chooses. Now, advocates for college affordability and basic needs access are calling on the department to take advantage of that power.

What do FAFSA completion rates look like post-pandemic?
Higher Ed Dive – January 8, 2025
Recently, researchers at The Century Foundation looked closely at completion rates for the FAFSA and cataloged some surprising trends. Among them: Completion rates for low-income students have mostly rebounded after dips seen during the pandemic, while completion rates for most other income groups have declined. Middle-income students, in particular, still have lower completion rates than they did pre-pandemic. While reaching middle income families remains a difficult problem to solve, the rebound of FAFSA completion for low-income students and families is a promising signal for policymakers who have been trying to get those rates up.