College Students Beware of Financial Aid Scams
College Students Beware of Financial Aid Scams
In the recent article 15 Common Financial Aid Scams to Watch Out For, the author points out that college students may be a vulnerable demographic. So-called financial aid experts may be out to take advantage of those looking for legitimate ways to finance their education. Watch out for some of the following wording: Unclaimed Money, Buy Now, Application Fees, Free Seminar, and Guaranteed. For the complete list of scams with explanations, click here.
Finaid.org claims, “Every year, several hundred thousand students and parents are defrauded by scholarship scams. The victims of these scams lose more than $100 million annually.” There is some protection against fraud. The Scholarship Fraud Protection Act of 2000 has increased the penalties for this fraud, including a maximum fine of $500,000 and jail time.
If you feel you have been scammed, you have recourse. According to the Finaid.org site, “The following organizations can help you determine whether an offer is legitimate. They will tell you whether they have received any complaints about the company, or whether it’s currently under investigation. They can also provide you with additional information or assistance.
National Fraud Information Center (NFIC)
In addition to providing helpful information, the NFIC will pass your complaints along to the appropriate authorities, such as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and your state’s Attorney General’s Office. The NFIC also maintains a toll-free hotline at 1-800-876-7060.”
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Top 100 Vocabulary Words That Adults Should Know
Educators often use words with meanings that students may not fully understand. Rather than looking foolish and asking for an explanation, students may go through years of schooling and not truly grasp the meaning of important terminology.
After consulting with a past English teacher, my sister, Lesley Hamilton, and a future English teacher, my daughter, Terra Rothpletz, we came up with a list of 100 words that are dispersed by educators but not necessarily understood by students. Rather than list the definitions here, I thought it might be better to just include the link so that you could test yourself. Look at the following words and see how well you do. To find out the definitions, just click on the word.
- Acquiesce
- Acronym
- Ambiguity
- Analogy
- Anachronism
- Andragogy
- Antithesis
- Antonym
- Articulate
- Assonance
- Benchmarking
- Brainstorming
- Circumspect
- Clandestine
- Cognition
- Collaborate
- Colloquial
- Connotation
- Contrived
- Conundrum
- Correlation
- Criterion
- Cumulative
- Curriculum
- Deference
- Developmental
- Dialect
- Diction
- Didactic
- Dissertation
- Divergent
- Egregious
- Eloquence
- Emergent
- Empathy
- Enigma
- Epitome
- Epiphany
- Epitaph
- Erudite
- Existential
- Exponential
- Formative
- Holistic
- Homonym
- Hubris
- Hyperbole
- Incongruous
- Infamy
- Initiation
- Innate
- Intellectual
- Interactive
- Irony
- Jargon
- Juxtaposition
- Malapropism
- Magnanimous
- Mentor
- Metaphor
- Meticulous
- Mnemonic
- Monologue
- Motif
- Myriad
- Nemesis
- Nominal
- Norms
- Obfuscate
- Obtuse
- Onomatopoeia
- Ostentatious
- Oxymoron
- Paradox
- Paraphrase
- Pedantic
- Pedagogy
- Perusal
- Phonemes
- Phonological
- Plagiarism
- Plethora
- Posthumously
- Preposition
- Pretentious
- Pseudonym
- References
- Reflection
- Rubric
- Sardonic
- Satire
- Simile
- Soliloquy
- Superfluous
- Syntax
- Thesis
- Validity
- Vernacular
- Virtual
- Vocational
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How to Respond Effectively in Online Discussions
Online college students often find that they are required to answer discussion questions in class. With the popularity of texting and the lack of formality used when writing an email, many students are lacking the necessary skills to write an appropriate posting.
Online schools often require that postings are substantive. In other words, the postings should be substantial and have sufficient content to answer questions in depth. Students may be given guidelines or a minimum word count to guide them. However, when responding to fellow students’ postings, there are usually not specific word count requirements. Therefore, it is important for students to respond in a way that is not merely showing their agreement or disagreement with what is being discussed.
A good rule of thumb is to support what the student has said with at least one sentence. That doesn’t mean the student has to agree with the statement; they just have to support the fact that the student has made their point.
Then after supporting them, the student can disagree or agree with the topic at hand. They should include several more sentences explaining their position on the topic. They could give examples and cite sources.
A good way to end the discussion would be with a question that is either addressed to the original student or one that could be addressed to the class in order to bring more participants into the discussion.
It is extremely important that students write in complete sentences, use correct grammar, check spelling and punctuate correctly. For additional help with writing skills, please check out the following links:
Can Spell Check Make Things Worse?
Top 15 Writing and Grammar Mistakes
Gainful Employment Rule: Effect on For-Profit Schools and Graduation Rates
For-profit education is beginning to feel the squeeze. July 2, 2012 marks the day that the U.S. Department of Education rule goes into effect. This rule restricts students from using government aid to pay for schooling that doesn’t include occupations that have a strong entry-level salary.
This isn’t the only issue that for-profits are facing. A loophole has been close that would allow schools to financially reward admission counselors for enrolling students. This is one of the reasons enrollment is down at some of the major for-profit universities. This has also led these universities to increase tuition to cover their losses.
The programs that are considered not high paying enough to meet the Gainful Employment rule will be shut down. The New York Times reported that accounts for only about 5% of these schools’ programs. What happens to the students already enrolled in them? The Arizona Republic reported that they are allowed to continue with the program under the “teach out” rule.
Many for-profit universities are implementing new programs to help face their new challenges including: orientation programs to improve retention, trying to bolster brand awareness, and finding ways to comply with the July deadline to meet the Gainful Employment Rule.
Many of the guidelines that are changing now are to protect students and to be sure that they are graduating with degrees that will be worth their expense. Politics Daily reported that a study completed by the Committee of Health Labor Education and Pensions found “94.4 percent of students attending for-profit schools take out loans, compared to 16.6 percent attending community college and 44.3 percent enrolled in traditional four-year public schools. Much of that money comes from federal Pell Grants, which help low-income applicants attend schools of higher education, but is often never returned if they don’t graduate.”
It is important that students are able to complete their programs, not only to pay back the loans, but to move ahead in their careers. The New York Times claimed, The report, “Subprime Opportunity,” by the Education Trust, found that in 2008, only 22 percent of the first-time, full-time bachelor’s degree students at for-profit colleges over all graduate within six years, compared with 55 percent at public institutions and 65 percent at private nonprofit colleges.
For now, for-profit colleges are making some needed changes. The Arizona Republic reported that Peter Wahlstrom of Morningsar, who tracks major for-profit education companies, stated, “What you are trying to do is create a solid program based on academic quality, which, in turn, helps with student outcomes. That helps with retention, that helps with enrollment, and that eventually helps with financial results.”
Related Articles
- “For-Profit Schools File Lawsuit to Stave Off Regulations” and related posts (indypendent.org)
- Obama Urged To Back Regulations On For-Profit Colleges (huffingtonpost.com)
- For-profit schools ask court to stop new rules (reuters.com)
Wall Street Journal Partners with Unigo to Create a Site that Offers Potential College Students Some Sound Advice
The Wall Street Journal has teamed up with Unigo’s student correspondents from more than 2000 colleges across America to produce a site they call WSJ on Campus. If you are not familiar with Unigo, you can watch a video that explains what they do by clicking here. Their system helps student match their interests and values with appropriate universities. Their offer help to prospective students by providing reviews written by past students regarding the schools they have attended. This information is used to help prospective students decide which school is best for them.
If you to go to WSJ On Campus, you will find that they offer the following information about getting prepared for college:
- What matters when choosing a school
- What it will really be like when you get to college
- The perfect school for you
- Are Ivy schools are really worth it
- How to master the admissions essay
- How to deal with school’s turning your requests for admission down
- How to prepare for the SAT
- What to do if you can’t go to your first choice school
They also offer the following information about what to expect once you get there:
- How to choose the right classes
- How to choose the right major
- Who earns the most money
- How to handle doing the assignments
- Understanding academics
- How to succeed in your Freshman year
- How to get an A on your papers
- How to use textbooks on your iPhone
I tried searching by online, online colleges, distance learning and other terms but found no information about online education on the site. I even typed in some of the top online universities to see if they would come up and there was nothing. It appears this site is very helpful if you are considering going to a traditional college but not so helpful if you want to use it to choose an online university. Even if you do decide to attend an online college or university, you can learn a lot from their articles about how to be a successful student.
For more information about being a successful online student, click here.