Stanford Announces the Largest Increase Ever in Financial Aid for Undergraduates

An update today from Stanford University reflects the continued changes that are taking place in financial aid programs as the cost of a private education soars, and endowments continue to grow. Public pressure has intensified to adjust financial aid programs to reflect these large endowments, and many institutions are making similar announcements.

"Stanford University today announced the largest increase in its history for its financial aid program for undergraduates.

Under the new program, parents with incomes of less than $100,000 will no longer pay tuition. Parents with incomes of less than $60,000 will not be expected to pay tuition or contribute to the costs of room, board and other expenses.

The program also eliminates the need for student loans.

Other significant enhancements have been made to the program that will benefit aid recipients at all levels of income. "

Read more details on their website.

Princeton Announces Plans for a Gap Year

Princeton University has announced that they will be offering a program to eventually send a tenth of their newly admitted students to a year of social service work in a foreign country before arriving on campus as freshmen. More colleges are seeing the value of this maturing experience, but this will be the first time it has been formalized as part of the admission process. Many admissions offices extol the value of the gap year, as they see students who have deferred for this reason arriving on campus more focused, mature and ready to study. In fact, Williams Fitzsimmons, Dean of Admission at Harvard College has posted an article on the Harvard admissions website that highlights the benefit of taking time off before college. For more reading on this topic, take a look at these articles in the Columbia Chronicle and the Harvard Crimson.

Some universities including NYU have been offering a freshman year abroad at their programs in England and Italy with much success, and students who are mature enough to take advantage of these programs have benefited greatly. In addition, many students who were initially disappointed by being offered a spring semester "late start" to freshman year tell me that it was the best thing that ever happened to them, as they arrived with more direction, focus and enthusiasm.

Update from the University of Washington Admissions Office

A recent update from the admissions office at the UW included these notes: The UW Seattle received nearly 20,000 freshman applications for autumn quarter 2008, a 12% increase over last year. The freshman class for this coming autumn will also increase in size. Last year approximately 5,300 freshmen students enrolled. This year the plan is to enroll 5,500. So, while the applicant pool is larger, the class will also be larger.

While some students have already heard about their UW Seattle admission status, most will not hear until the end of March or, if more time is needed to complete the assessments of all these applications, early April.

The College Visit

Touring the engineering facilities at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts

Planning college visits can be complicated, but with some pre-planning you can make the most of what should be a valuable and fun process. Make sure that your list of schools is balanced, with visits to schools that are more solid as well as those in your stretch category. A common mistake families make is to visit schools that are all in the stretch category, but it is equally important to get to know those schools which will be a great fit and also more likely to accept you. Another tool to help plan your trip is our new beta version of CollegeLocations.com, an interactive map of colleges where you can see where colleges are in relation to each other.

Tours and information sessions are usually offered twice a day during weekdays, but it is important to check the college's "visit us" page to make sure they are available the day you are visiting. Check the admissions page for each school and see if pre-registration is required for either the tour or information session.

Many families ask if visiting two colleges in one day is too much, but this depends on the proximity and also the depth to which a student wants to go on the visit. Some families arrive on a campus where they intended to spend a full day, only to have the student decide instantly that they do not even want to get out of the car. This is a sure sign that it should be off the list. Flexibility is an absolute must; don't waste time if the student cannot imagine himself/herself at the school.

Spring is an ideal time to visit most colleges as students will be on campus and you can get a much better feel for the college. Your best resource is often a student from your high school who is attending that college, so make sure to ask your counselor if there are students you can contact at the college. They will be a great source of more candid information. College admissions offices can also give you names of current students from your area who might be willing to meet with you during your visit. Try going beyond the standard programs and consider doing the following:

• Eat at the dining facility (some colleges will give vouchers to families for a free lunch)
• Read the bulletin boards and pick up a student newspaper
• Try to see a dorm that you didn't see on the tour
• Schedule an interview if the admission office is willing to do this
• Wander around the campus by yourself
  
• Ask a student why he/she chose this college
  
• Browse in the college bookstore
  
• Listen to students to hear what they are talking--or complaining--about
• Ask a student what he/she likes/does not like about the college
• Walk or drive around the community surrounding the campus
• Ask a student what he/she does on weekends
  

The Common Application Adds More Members

The Common Application recently announced the admission of 23 new members (8 of which are public institutions, identified by *) to the Common Application membership association for next year. This brings the total membership to 339 (25 of which are public institutions) for the 2008-2009 academic year. The new members:

• Canisius College (NY)
• Culver-Stockton College (MO)*
• Curry College (MA)
• Hamline University (MN)
• Hood College (MD)
• Illinois College (IL)
• Immaculata University (PA)
• Lees-McRae College (NC)
• Loyola Marymount University (CA)
• Lycoming College (PA)
• Lynn University (FL)
• St. Edwards University (TX)
• State University of New York, College of Oneonta (NY)*
• Stony Brook University (NY)*
• SUNY Cortland (NY)*
• SUNY Fredonia (NY)*
• SUNY New Paltz (NY)*
• University of Chicago (IL)
• University of Massachusetts Boston (MA)*
• University of Maine at Machias (ME)*
• University of Notre Dame (IN)
• University of Virginia (VA)*
• Wentworth Institute of Technology (MA)

Choosing a College

For those of you who are in the process of building your college lists, read this helpful article to help you narrow your choices. Finding a college that provides a well-structured program to help students find direction to their lives and also offers a plan to help them achieve that goal is becoming increasingly important as more students graduate without a clear focus, and return home.