Zac Bissonnette, in his excellent book Debt-Free U: How I Paid for an Outstanding College Education Without Loans, Scholarships, or Mooching off My Parents, debunks the overly hyped U.S. News & World Report college ranking, metric by metric. Then he notes: But the larger problem with ranking colleges is that it is based on the premise that attending college is like an amusement park ride: a passive experience where the student picks the most thrilling ride he can handle, straps in, and holds on to his digital camera. College is nothing like that....What they get out of their education is … [Read more...] about The College “Ranking” Systems
Thriving at College
College Students and Credit Card Debt
Know someone headed off to college this fall? Encourage them to learn how to make a budget, limit their spending, and watch out for temptations posed by credit cards. About 70% of college students have at least one credit card. Of these, more than 90% are carrying debt of over $4,100 on average. In 2004, seven out of ten freshmen had a zero credit card balance. Today, that figure is only one in seven. (Data from Marty Lundlum, Kris Tilker, David Ritter, Tammy Cowart, Wichu Xu, Brittany C. Smith, “Financial Literacy and Credit Cards: A Multi Campus Survey,” International Journal of … [Read more...] about College Students and Credit Card Debt
Gov. Mitch Daniels to become President of Purdue University?
That's the rumor, according to the Washington Post and local reports. Purdue officials are to vote on their next President this Thursday, after which the result will be announced in a news release. The new president will hold a press conference on Friday. Gov. Daniels completes his term as Governor of Indiana in January 2013. This would be a huge win for Purdue, in my opinion. Update: The rumor was true. … [Read more...] about Gov. Mitch Daniels to become President of Purdue University?
Update on the “College-For-All Crusade”
I previously linked to Robert J. Samuelson's Washington Post op-ed which argued that we should "drop the college-for-all crusade." Samuelson summarizes his argument as follows: -- The lowering of college entrance requirements, except at elite schools (in 2008, about 20 percent of four-year schools had "open admissions" policies, meaning that virtually anyone with a high-school diploma could get in). -- The dumbing down of college standards (one study I cited found that about a third of college seniors hadn't improved their analytical skills). -- Much human and financial waste -- the … [Read more...] about Update on the “College-For-All Crusade”
Bill O’Reilly on Youth Entitlement
Yesterday, I posted on Kay Wills Wyma's new book Cleaning House: A Mom’s Twelve-Month Experiment to Rid Her Home of Youth Entitlement. I just saw that Bill O'Reilly of FOX News has taken on the subject of youth entitlement, quoting a recent high school graduation speech by David McCullough Jr. (son of the famous author of John Adams and other works). Here's the O'Reilly clip: Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com Disclaimer: While I thought the McCullough's speech (video here) was excellent in many respects, his observations on marriage were a bit disappointing and statistically … [Read more...] about Bill O’Reilly on Youth Entitlement
Cleaning House: Getting Rid of Youth Entitlement (Kay Wills Wyma)
I just received what looks like a very timely resource: Cleaning House: A Mom's Twelve-Month Experiment to Rid Her Home of Youth Entitlement by Kay Wills Wyma. Lots of contemporary books (like this one and this one, which both influenced this other one) have highlighted a sense of entitlement among young adults in our day. The theory is that it starts in childhood. From the publisher's press release for Cleaning House: While today's well-intentioned parents are doing all they can to facilitate their children's rise to greatness, parents are realizing that the hovering is backfiring. Now, … [Read more...] about Cleaning House: Getting Rid of Youth Entitlement (Kay Wills Wyma)