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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"storyMajorUpdateDate\">\u003cstrong>Updated February 13, 2024 at 6:00 AM ET\u003c/strong>\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>Most days, Vanessa Cordova Ramirez wakes at 6 a.m. to take care of her little brother, walk the puppy, make breakfast, and tidy up her family’s Queens apartment before heading to school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She’s a planner. Otherwise, the 17-year-old says, she couldn’t manage schoolwork, extracurriculars, two jobs, and family responsibilities. “Life is a little hectic,” she admits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cordova Ramirez is in her final semester at Williamsburg Preparatory High School, and already has acceptances from all five of her top college choices. Location – a college near her family in New York City – was top priority, she says. But next on the list? Affordability. In order to make this dream come true she needs federal financial aid and scholarships.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a moment she’s been planning for years. But last month, when Cordova Ramirez and her mom sat down with a counselor to fill out the FAFSA, the form that will determine how much assistance she’ll receive, all they got was an error message.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>“They don’t have any solutions for us”\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Her family is not alone. This rejection has been a common error for students with parents who don’t have a Social Security number, says Kristin Azer, a college counselor at Williamsburg Prep.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In reporting this story, NPR spoke with families, counselors and advocates who shared similar problems. Among those impacted are permanent residents, green card holders or undocumented parents without a Social Security number.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the form opened in January, Azer, Cordova Ramirez and her mom have tried to complete the online application more than 20 times. Each time, they get the same error message, directing them to a phone number for any questions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve called the number. They don’t have any solutions for us,” says Azer. When they call, they get an automated message that provides old and outdated information. When she’s lucky enough to get a live person on the line, often after waiting on hold for hours, they tell her to try filling out the form again later.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Do you understand how frustrating that is?” she says. “You act like we have all the time in the world to just sit down and be like ‘Ah, time to apply for the FAFSA right now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Following NPR’s reporting, the U.S. Education Department said it was aware of the problem and that staff were meeting daily to resolve it. They recommended that students with parents who aren’t citizens should wait to fill out the form online, but were unable to provide any timeline for the fix.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s the latest in a series of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/63075/a-new-fafsa-setback-means-many-college-financial-aid-offers-wont-come-until-april\">problems with the FAFSA this year\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/62959/the-fafsa-rollout-has-been-rough-on-students-the-biggest-problem-is-yet-to-come\">The form rolled out months late\u003c/a>, setting colleges scrambling to get financial aid packages out in time. 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Beyond that, he adds, it raises serious concerns about online privacy:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Emailing a sensitive document like that is about as insecure as it gets. You might as well make [the required paperwork] into a paper airplane and toss it out the window.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>The long wait continues\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The Education Department did not respond to repeated requests for comment on the timetable for a fix, or about the reports of families being told to send photos of their passports through email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In past years, the general guidance with FAFSA has been for students to complete it as soon as possible. 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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In reporting this story, NPR spoke with families, counselors and advocates who shared similar problems. Among those impacted are permanent residents, green card holders or undocumented parents without a Social Security number.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the form opened in January, Azer, Cordova Ramirez and her mom have tried to complete the online application more than 20 times. Each time, they get the same error message, directing them to a phone number for any questions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve called the number. They don’t have any solutions for us,” says Azer. When they call, they get an automated message that provides old and outdated information. When she’s lucky enough to get a live person on the line, often after waiting on hold for hours, they tell her to try filling out the form again later.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Do you understand how frustrating that is?” she says. “You act like we have all the time in the world to just sit down and be like ‘Ah, time to apply for the FAFSA right now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Following NPR’s reporting, the U.S. Education Department said it was aware of the problem and that staff were meeting daily to resolve it. They recommended that students with parents who aren’t citizens should wait to fill out the form online, but were unable to provide any timeline for the fix.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s the latest in a series of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/63075/a-new-fafsa-setback-means-many-college-financial-aid-offers-wont-come-until-april\">problems with the FAFSA this year\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/62959/the-fafsa-rollout-has-been-rough-on-students-the-biggest-problem-is-yet-to-come\">The form rolled out months late\u003c/a>, setting colleges scrambling to get financial aid packages out in time. Even with the extra time to get it correct, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/63005/exclusive-the-education-department-says-it-will-fix-its-1-8-billion-fafsa-mistake\">NPR reported recently on a technicality\u003c/a> the department overlooked – potentially costing students almost $2 billion.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Concerns about bad advice\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The implications of this latest problem are huge, preventing families from getting essential access to money for college, or even making informed enrollment decisions about how much a college education will cost them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, there have been troubling reports of potentially risky workarounds – like asking students to take photos of their parents’ passports and email them to the Ed Department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“First of all, that assumes [the parents] have one,” says Bill Short, who runs a scholarship program for first-generation students at Saint Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y. Beyond that, he adds, it raises serious concerns about online privacy:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Emailing a sensitive document like that is about as insecure as it gets. You might as well make [the required paperwork] into a paper airplane and toss it out the window.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>The long wait continues\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The Education Department did not respond to repeated requests for comment on the timetable for a fix, or about the reports of families being told to send photos of their passports through email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In past years, the general guidance with FAFSA has been for students to complete it as soon as possible. Amid the current delays, some universities have pushed back enrollment deadlines from the usual May 1 to June 1, while others have made their deposits refundable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, the frustrations are mounting for students and their families as they watch “everybody else get a head start on you,” says Short.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You’re still standing in the starting line waiting for someone to say, ‘OK, now you can go,’ ” he adds. “Your perception is: ‘By the time I finally get there, they’re going to cross the finish line, and the money’s going to be gone.’ ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cordova Ramirez feels that frustration deeply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have done everything,” she says. “I’ve taken the extracurriculars. I’ve tried to make a good application for myself for colleges to be like, ‘Yes, that’s someone we want.'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every day, she asks herself the same questions, over and over: “Am I going [to college] now? Am I going to the school that I want? Am I going to pursue the career that I want? Am I going to be something in life?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Audio produced by: Janet Woojeong Lee and Mallory Yu\u003cbr>\nEdited by: Steve Drummond\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Yet+another+FAFSA+problem%3A+Many+noncitizens+can%27t+fill+it+out&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Dartmouth will again require SAT, ACT scores. Other colleges won't necessarily follow",
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"content": "\u003cp>Dartmouth College \u003ca href=\"https://admissions.dartmouth.edu/apply/update-testing-policy\">has announced\u003c/a> it will once again require applicants to submit standardized test scores, beginning with the next application cycle, for the class of 2029.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This comes after the Ivy League college, located in New Hampshire, opted to make test scores optional in 2020, citing the COVID-19 pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://home.dartmouth.edu/sites/home/files/2024-02/sat-undergrad-admissions.pdf\">A new study \u003c/a>conducted by the college found test scores could have helped less advantaged students, including first-generation students and students from low-income families, gain access to the school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We find ourselves missing out on some great students,” says Bruce Sacerdote, a Dartmouth economics professor and co-author of that study.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He says students from disadvantaged backgrounds submitted their test scores at far lower rates, but their scores were high enough that they might have helped the students get in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can see in the data: Oh wow, that student, boy, they had a 1450 … or a 1500 … We didn’t even know that. And they were not admitted to Dartmouth,” he says. “That is a really outstanding score. And, it would have been a great piece [of information] to have\u003cem>.\u003c/em>”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The study also found that test scores helped bring in students from high schools that didn’t already have a track record of sending students to Dartmouth.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>What works for Dartmouth won’t necessarily work for everyone\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The Dartmouth study challenges the long-standing criticism that standardized tests, like the ACT and the College Board’s SAT, hurt students from marginalized backgrounds when it comes to admissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://budgetmodel.wharton.upenn.edu/issues/2021/9/28/is-income-implicit-in-measures-of-student-ability\">Multiple\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/10/23/upshot/sat-inequality.html\">studies\u003c/a> have found a correlation between higher test scores and higher income. And in the high school class of 2020, Black and Latino students scored lower than white and Asian students on the math section of the SAT, \u003ca href=\"https://www.brookings.edu/articles/sat-math-scores-mirror-and-maintain-racial-inequity/\">according to the Brookings Institution\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A years-long movement to get rid of test requirements gained critical momentum when the pandemic hit and complicated students’ ability to take the exams.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The wave of test optional becomes a kind of tsunami,” says Harry Feder, executive director of FairTest, an advocacy organization that tracks test optional policies at colleges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://fairtest.org/test-optional-list/\">According to FairTest\u003c/a>, more than 1,900 U.S. colleges and universities are currently “test optional,” meaning students can decide whether they want to submit their standardized test scores with their applications. One of the largest public systems in the country, California State University, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/higher-education/2022/03/csu-entrance-requirement/\">removed\u003c/a> standardized testing from their admissions requirements in 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But many of the schools that went test optional during the pandemic are now weighing whether to keep those flexible testing policies. And experts stress those policies aren’t one size fits all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m concerned that other very different universities will join the bandwagon of the return to the SAT without themselves considering carefully whether the SAT aligns with their admissions objectives,” says Zachary Bleemer, an assistant professor in economics at Princeton University.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s done research looking at a program in California that admitted students with high GPAs and low test scores. They were able to take advantage of the universities’ opportunities and resources and turn them into a successful career that wouldn’t have happened if they hadn’t been admitted. Bleemer says that \u003cem>access \u003c/em>is kind of the point of a publicly funded college. A small, private college, like Dartmouth, may have different objectives.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>College applications are always up for interpretation\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Sacerdote, at Dartmouth, acknowledges the inequities in the admissions process. But he says those inequities exist in the larger education system – not just in tests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The job of an admissions office is to \u003cem>interpret \u003c/em>an application, including test scores – which means it all comes down to human judgment, and making sure application readers don’t get obsessed with the test the way culture sometimes does.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have a lot of experience that says that people misinterpret and over emphasize numbers,” says Andrew Ho, an education professor at Harvard University.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These are humans rendering judgments, right? And you hope that they have expertise. You \u003cem>trust \u003c/em>that they have expertise.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Or maybe, he says, you don’t.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Edited by: Nicole Cohen\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Dartmouth+will+again+require+SAT%2C+ACT+scores.+Other+colleges+won%27t+necessarily+follow&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Dartmouth College \u003ca href=\"https://admissions.dartmouth.edu/apply/update-testing-policy\">has announced\u003c/a> it will once again require applicants to submit standardized test scores, beginning with the next application cycle, for the class of 2029.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This comes after the Ivy League college, located in New Hampshire, opted to make test scores optional in 2020, citing the COVID-19 pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://home.dartmouth.edu/sites/home/files/2024-02/sat-undergrad-admissions.pdf\">A new study \u003c/a>conducted by the college found test scores could have helped less advantaged students, including first-generation students and students from low-income families, gain access to the school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We find ourselves missing out on some great students,” says Bruce Sacerdote, a Dartmouth economics professor and co-author of that study.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He says students from disadvantaged backgrounds submitted their test scores at far lower rates, but their scores were high enough that they might have helped the students get in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can see in the data: Oh wow, that student, boy, they had a 1450 … or a 1500 … We didn’t even know that. And they were not admitted to Dartmouth,” he says. “That is a really outstanding score. And, it would have been a great piece [of information] to have\u003cem>.\u003c/em>”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The study also found that test scores helped bring in students from high schools that didn’t already have a track record of sending students to Dartmouth.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>What works for Dartmouth won’t necessarily work for everyone\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The Dartmouth study challenges the long-standing criticism that standardized tests, like the ACT and the College Board’s SAT, hurt students from marginalized backgrounds when it comes to admissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://budgetmodel.wharton.upenn.edu/issues/2021/9/28/is-income-implicit-in-measures-of-student-ability\">Multiple\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/10/23/upshot/sat-inequality.html\">studies\u003c/a> have found a correlation between higher test scores and higher income. And in the high school class of 2020, Black and Latino students scored lower than white and Asian students on the math section of the SAT, \u003ca href=\"https://www.brookings.edu/articles/sat-math-scores-mirror-and-maintain-racial-inequity/\">according to the Brookings Institution\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A years-long movement to get rid of test requirements gained critical momentum when the pandemic hit and complicated students’ ability to take the exams.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The wave of test optional becomes a kind of tsunami,” says Harry Feder, executive director of FairTest, an advocacy organization that tracks test optional policies at colleges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://fairtest.org/test-optional-list/\">According to FairTest\u003c/a>, more than 1,900 U.S. colleges and universities are currently “test optional,” meaning students can decide whether they want to submit their standardized test scores with their applications. One of the largest public systems in the country, California State University, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/higher-education/2022/03/csu-entrance-requirement/\">removed\u003c/a> standardized testing from their admissions requirements in 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But many of the schools that went test optional during the pandemic are now weighing whether to keep those flexible testing policies. And experts stress those policies aren’t one size fits all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m concerned that other very different universities will join the bandwagon of the return to the SAT without themselves considering carefully whether the SAT aligns with their admissions objectives,” says Zachary Bleemer, an assistant professor in economics at Princeton University.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s done research looking at a program in California that admitted students with high GPAs and low test scores. They were able to take advantage of the universities’ opportunities and resources and turn them into a successful career that wouldn’t have happened if they hadn’t been admitted. Bleemer says that \u003cem>access \u003c/em>is kind of the point of a publicly funded college. A small, private college, like Dartmouth, may have different objectives.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>College applications are always up for interpretation\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Sacerdote, at Dartmouth, acknowledges the inequities in the admissions process. But he says those inequities exist in the larger education system – not just in tests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The job of an admissions office is to \u003cem>interpret \u003c/em>an application, including test scores – which means it all comes down to human judgment, and making sure application readers don’t get obsessed with the test the way culture sometimes does.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have a lot of experience that says that people misinterpret and over emphasize numbers,” says Andrew Ho, an education professor at Harvard University.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These are humans rendering judgments, right? And you hope that they have expertise. You \u003cem>trust \u003c/em>that they have expertise.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Or maybe, he says, you don’t.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Edited by: Nicole Cohen\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Dartmouth+will+again+require+SAT%2C+ACT+scores.+Other+colleges+won%27t+necessarily+follow&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "A new FAFSA setback means many college financial aid offers won't come until April",
"headTitle": "A new FAFSA setback means many college financial aid offers won’t come until April | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Families and students will have to wait even longer for financial aid offers from colleges and universities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Education announced yet another delay in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/01/09/1222664638/fafsa-student-financial-aid-college\">already-turbulent FAFSA\u003c/a> (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) timeline: The department says it won’t be sending students’ FAFSA data to schools until the first half of March. Previously, it had said it would start sending that data in late January.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For more than 17 million students, the FAFSA is the key to unlocking government dollars to help cover the cost of college, including federal student loans, work-study and Pell Grants for low-income students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This new, four-to-six-week delay puts schools in a difficult bind as colleges can’t determine what financial aid students should get until they receive the government’s FAFSA data.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There is some good news: One big reason for the delay is that \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/01/23/1226406495/families-colleges-remain-limbo-education-department-promises-fix-fafsa-mistake\">the department is fixing a $1.8 billion mistake in the FAFSA\u003c/a> that could have especially hurt lower-income students. Proceeding without a fix would have, at best, confused many lower-income borrowers. At worst, it would have taken money out of their pockets and likely discouraged some from enrolling in college.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When that fix was announced, Justin Draeger, president and CEO of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA), said it was “the right thing to do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Undersecretary of Education James Kvaal said in a statement Tuesday, “Updating our calculations will help students qualify for as much financial aid as possible. Thank you to the financial aid advisers, college counselors, and many others helping us put students first.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kvaal and the department know this delay will hit college financial aid offices especially hard and further compress their timeline for sending out financial aid offers. Draeger tells NPR that if schools don’t receive FAFSA data until early to mid-March, many of them likely won’t be able to send financial aid offers to students until April. For many of those students, that leaves less than a month before they’re expected to commit to a college.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Charles Conn, a top aid administrator at Cal Poly Pomona, tells NPR he is “relieved” the Education Department is fixing that $1.8 billion mistake, but “our hearts sank as we learned that schools will now not begin receiving FAFSA data until the first part of March, at the earliest.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s going to be difficult to get aid offers out to prospective students before April,” says Brad Barnett, the financial aid director at James Madison University in Virginia. “It’s unfortunate that these delays could impact whether a prospective student goes to college at all this fall, or at the very least where they go.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The problem for schools — which, by extension, is now a problem for families too — is that, because this year’s FAFSA is the result of \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/12/01/1216340219/the-updated-federal-student-aid-form-has-been-simplified#:~:text=NADWORNY%3A%20The%20form%20has%20been,easier%20to%20access%20financial%20information.\">a massive overhaul\u003c/a>, financial aid offices aren’t entirely sure what to expect from the data they’ll be receiving. Ideally, they’d like several weeks to understand the new datasets and do some quality control of the new financial aid process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Schools are furiously reworking their timelines to see just how quickly they could turn around financial aid offers for students, to get them accurate aid offers as soon as possible,” says Draeger of NASFAA. But he points out, “This could be more difficult for under-resourced institutions that lack the funding, staffing, or technology capabilities of their peers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This new setback gives schools very little room for error.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scott Skaro, the financial aid director at United Tribes Technical College, in North Dakota, says this new FAFSA timeline will be tough on tribal colleges, where more than 80% of students are low income and qualify for a federal Pell Grant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is pretty devastating news,” says Skaro.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s good, he says, that the department is acting to make sure students get all the aid they’re entitled to, but not being able to make aid offers to prospective students until April or May could also do real harm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our students rely on the peace of mind that comes with grant aid. And this uncertainty may lead them away from education. I don’t want the seniors of 2024 to be just a lost generation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He worries that the longer seniors have to wait to know if college is affordable, the harder it will be for some to resist “the temptations to just find some entry-level job and give up on additional schooling. I just worry how many there are out there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=A+new+FAFSA+setback+means+many+college+financial+aid+offers+won%27t+come+until+April&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Families and students will have to wait even longer for financial aid offers from colleges and universities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Education announced yet another delay in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/01/09/1222664638/fafsa-student-financial-aid-college\">already-turbulent FAFSA\u003c/a> (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) timeline: The department says it won’t be sending students’ FAFSA data to schools until the first half of March. Previously, it had said it would start sending that data in late January.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For more than 17 million students, the FAFSA is the key to unlocking government dollars to help cover the cost of college, including federal student loans, work-study and Pell Grants for low-income students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This new, four-to-six-week delay puts schools in a difficult bind as colleges can’t determine what financial aid students should get until they receive the government’s FAFSA data.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There is some good news: One big reason for the delay is that \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/01/23/1226406495/families-colleges-remain-limbo-education-department-promises-fix-fafsa-mistake\">the department is fixing a $1.8 billion mistake in the FAFSA\u003c/a> that could have especially hurt lower-income students. Proceeding without a fix would have, at best, confused many lower-income borrowers. At worst, it would have taken money out of their pockets and likely discouraged some from enrolling in college.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When that fix was announced, Justin Draeger, president and CEO of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA), said it was “the right thing to do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Undersecretary of Education James Kvaal said in a statement Tuesday, “Updating our calculations will help students qualify for as much financial aid as possible. Thank you to the financial aid advisers, college counselors, and many others helping us put students first.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kvaal and the department know this delay will hit college financial aid offices especially hard and further compress their timeline for sending out financial aid offers. Draeger tells NPR that if schools don’t receive FAFSA data until early to mid-March, many of them likely won’t be able to send financial aid offers to students until April. For many of those students, that leaves less than a month before they’re expected to commit to a college.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Charles Conn, a top aid administrator at Cal Poly Pomona, tells NPR he is “relieved” the Education Department is fixing that $1.8 billion mistake, but “our hearts sank as we learned that schools will now not begin receiving FAFSA data until the first part of March, at the earliest.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s going to be difficult to get aid offers out to prospective students before April,” says Brad Barnett, the financial aid director at James Madison University in Virginia. “It’s unfortunate that these delays could impact whether a prospective student goes to college at all this fall, or at the very least where they go.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The problem for schools — which, by extension, is now a problem for families too — is that, because this year’s FAFSA is the result of \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/12/01/1216340219/the-updated-federal-student-aid-form-has-been-simplified#:~:text=NADWORNY%3A%20The%20form%20has%20been,easier%20to%20access%20financial%20information.\">a massive overhaul\u003c/a>, financial aid offices aren’t entirely sure what to expect from the data they’ll be receiving. Ideally, they’d like several weeks to understand the new datasets and do some quality control of the new financial aid process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Schools are furiously reworking their timelines to see just how quickly they could turn around financial aid offers for students, to get them accurate aid offers as soon as possible,” says Draeger of NASFAA. But he points out, “This could be more difficult for under-resourced institutions that lack the funding, staffing, or technology capabilities of their peers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This new setback gives schools very little room for error.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scott Skaro, the financial aid director at United Tribes Technical College, in North Dakota, says this new FAFSA timeline will be tough on tribal colleges, where more than 80% of students are low income and qualify for a federal Pell Grant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is pretty devastating news,” says Skaro.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s good, he says, that the department is acting to make sure students get all the aid they’re entitled to, but not being able to make aid offers to prospective students until April or May could also do real harm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our students rely on the peace of mind that comes with grant aid. And this uncertainty may lead them away from education. I don’t want the seniors of 2024 to be just a lost generation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He worries that the longer seniors have to wait to know if college is affordable, the harder it will be for some to resist “the temptations to just find some entry-level job and give up on additional schooling. I just worry how many there are out there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=A+new+FAFSA+setback+means+many+college+financial+aid+offers+won%27t+come+until+April&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "The Education Department says it will fix its $1.8 billion FAFSA mistake",
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"content": "\u003cp>Families have a lot of questions right now about how much help they’ll get paying for college — questions that financial aid offices can’t yet answer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s because this year’s Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is months behind schedule. And to make things \u003cem>really\u003c/em> complicated, it includes a mistake that would have cost students $1.8 billion in federal student aid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/01/09/1222664638/fafsa-student-financial-aid-college\">We covered the mistake in detail here\u003c/a>. In a nutshell: The U.S. Education Department’s FAFSA math, for deciding how much aid a student should get, is wrong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In practice, this mistake would make some students and families appear to have more income than they really do, and that means they would get less aid than they should. And not just federal financial aid but also all sorts of state and school-based aid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Tuesday, a department spokesperson confirmed to NPR that the department will fix this mistake in time for the 2024-2025 award year, though the spokesperson could not provide details on how or how quickly the fix will be made. For the first time, the department also gave a sense of just how much federal student aid is at stake: $1.8 billion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to making higher education possible for more students, including through ensuring students qualify for as much financial aid as possible,” the spokesperson said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The FAFSA mistake had college financial aid offices worried\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>“The polite way to say it is, wow. I mean, I was shocked.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s how Brad Barnett, the financial aid director at James Madison University in Virginia, describes learning about the mistake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I get that there’s complexities in building and programming a new system. OK. But forgetting to put the right numbers into a table that now has created all this consternation and delays really surprised me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The FAFSA is new this year because Congress passed a law ordering the Education Department to make sweeping changes. The idea was to make it easier to fill out and to give more lower-income families access to federal aid. Families like Myrna Aguilar’s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I am a single parent. In addition to my son, my mom lives with us, so we’re a multigenerational family, which is awesome,” Aguilar told NPR.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Aguilar’s son, David Thornton, is studying mechanical engineering at Cal Poly Pomona in Southern California, where he just finished his first semester.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was fun,” Thornton says, wearing a hooded sweatshirt emblazoned with “Cal Poly Pomona College of Engineering.” “There were a lot of events that I really enjoyed. My classes were very interesting. Stressful, but interesting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thornton got lots of help paying for college, including a $1,500 Pell Grant from the U.S. government. Pell Grants are for lower-income students and don’t need to be paid back. That’s important because after Thornton filled out the new FAFSA a couple of weeks ago, the Education Department sent him an email with a surprise: Next year, it says, he’s going to lose that $1,500 Pell Grant, though it’s unclear why.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That actually is equivalent to an extra mortgage payment,” Aguilar says. “That’s, you know, inconvenient.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She insists this won’t keep her son from returning to Cal Poly, which he loves. She’ll save and fill the gap, if that’s what it takes. But she wants to know: Why did this happen?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It \u003cem>could \u003c/em>be because of the department’s FAFSA mistake. Financial aid experts tell NPR it’s difficult at this point to know for certain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re in a situation where we really can’t help students or their families,” says Charles Conn, a top aid administrator at Thornton’s university, Cal Poly Pomona. “They’re getting some information from the Department of Ed. We’re not\u003cem>.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because of this year’s big FAFSA overhaul, Conn says, the Education Department is really behind, and it’s telling colleges they won’t be getting any financial aid data for students like Thornton until the end of this month, at the earliest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[That] really cripples our office and our ability to fulfill our role, which is to help students and their families make sense of all of this,” Conn says. That includes helping Thornton and Aguilar understand what happened to his Pell Grant.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>With no details on the fix, financial aid timelines are still in the air\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The Education Department says it will fix the FAFSA mistake this year, but it did not clarify how or when. And it’s unclear what impact any fix would have on universities’ financial aid timelines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before the department shared its decision, NPR spoke with a dozen financial aid experts and administrators across the U.S. — at colleges big and small, public and private — to hear how \u003cem>they\u003c/em> think the department should manage a potential fix.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t know what the best option is. None of them are good,” says Karen Krause, the executive director of financial aid for the University of Texas at Arlington.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Option 1: The Education Department can try to fix this quickly, before it sends any student FAFSA data on to colleges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The problem with that option is that even a quick fix will take time, further delaying the student data that universities need. Without that data, colleges can’t even begin to come up with financial aid offers to send to families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s nausea-inducing,” says Christina Tangalakis, who manages student aid for Glendale Community College, in Glendale, California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s also an option 2, she says, where the fix takes long enough that the department has to go ahead and send colleges data it knows is wrong, with a promise to update the data as soon as it can. That way, colleges can at least give families something, a kind of starting point. But Tangalakis worries that for many lower-income students, those preliminary award letters would be too low.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“How many students will be discouraged by what they see on paper and not even attend?” Tangalakis says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We heard this fear a lot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our students absolutely are relying on this,” says Scott Skaro, the financial aid director at United Tribes Technical College, in North Dakota.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He says tribal colleges will be hit especially hard by this uncertainty because more than 80% of their students qualify for a federal Pell Grant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[Students] may just go find some low-paying job that’s gonna pay the bills now, and they’ll just give up on school,” Skaro worries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Robert Muhammad, director of financial aid at Howard University, shares that concern.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Some students may truly feel defeated and decide not to pursue their education at this time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most of the financial aid experts told NPR that they want the department to hurry up and make this fix now, before any award letters go out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Is that realistic? Tangalakis, of Glendale Community College, says that shouldn’t matter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When we were headed to space, Kennedy said we do things because they’re hard. This is something hard, but it’s necessary.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many students have just over three months left before they’re expected to commit to a college. But colleges say that in the best case, it will still be weeks before they can begin sending out financial aid offers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At this point, for families, universities and the Education Department, the clock isn’t just ticking. It’s roaring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Exclusive%3A+The+Education+Department+says+it+will+fix+its+%241.8+billion+FAFSA+mistake&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Families have a lot of questions right now about how much help they’ll get paying for college — questions that financial aid offices can’t yet answer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s because this year’s Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is months behind schedule. And to make things \u003cem>really\u003c/em> complicated, it includes a mistake that would have cost students $1.8 billion in federal student aid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/01/09/1222664638/fafsa-student-financial-aid-college\">We covered the mistake in detail here\u003c/a>. In a nutshell: The U.S. Education Department’s FAFSA math, for deciding how much aid a student should get, is wrong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In practice, this mistake would make some students and families appear to have more income than they really do, and that means they would get less aid than they should. And not just federal financial aid but also all sorts of state and school-based aid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Tuesday, a department spokesperson confirmed to NPR that the department will fix this mistake in time for the 2024-2025 award year, though the spokesperson could not provide details on how or how quickly the fix will be made. For the first time, the department also gave a sense of just how much federal student aid is at stake: $1.8 billion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to making higher education possible for more students, including through ensuring students qualify for as much financial aid as possible,” the spokesperson said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The FAFSA mistake had college financial aid offices worried\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>“The polite way to say it is, wow. I mean, I was shocked.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s how Brad Barnett, the financial aid director at James Madison University in Virginia, describes learning about the mistake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I get that there’s complexities in building and programming a new system. OK. But forgetting to put the right numbers into a table that now has created all this consternation and delays really surprised me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The FAFSA is new this year because Congress passed a law ordering the Education Department to make sweeping changes. The idea was to make it easier to fill out and to give more lower-income families access to federal aid. Families like Myrna Aguilar’s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I am a single parent. In addition to my son, my mom lives with us, so we’re a multigenerational family, which is awesome,” Aguilar told NPR.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Aguilar’s son, David Thornton, is studying mechanical engineering at Cal Poly Pomona in Southern California, where he just finished his first semester.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was fun,” Thornton says, wearing a hooded sweatshirt emblazoned with “Cal Poly Pomona College of Engineering.” “There were a lot of events that I really enjoyed. My classes were very interesting. Stressful, but interesting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thornton got lots of help paying for college, including a $1,500 Pell Grant from the U.S. government. Pell Grants are for lower-income students and don’t need to be paid back. That’s important because after Thornton filled out the new FAFSA a couple of weeks ago, the Education Department sent him an email with a surprise: Next year, it says, he’s going to lose that $1,500 Pell Grant, though it’s unclear why.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That actually is equivalent to an extra mortgage payment,” Aguilar says. “That’s, you know, inconvenient.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She insists this won’t keep her son from returning to Cal Poly, which he loves. She’ll save and fill the gap, if that’s what it takes. But she wants to know: Why did this happen?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It \u003cem>could \u003c/em>be because of the department’s FAFSA mistake. Financial aid experts tell NPR it’s difficult at this point to know for certain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re in a situation where we really can’t help students or their families,” says Charles Conn, a top aid administrator at Thornton’s university, Cal Poly Pomona. “They’re getting some information from the Department of Ed. We’re not\u003cem>.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because of this year’s big FAFSA overhaul, Conn says, the Education Department is really behind, and it’s telling colleges they won’t be getting any financial aid data for students like Thornton until the end of this month, at the earliest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[That] really cripples our office and our ability to fulfill our role, which is to help students and their families make sense of all of this,” Conn says. That includes helping Thornton and Aguilar understand what happened to his Pell Grant.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>With no details on the fix, financial aid timelines are still in the air\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The Education Department says it will fix the FAFSA mistake this year, but it did not clarify how or when. And it’s unclear what impact any fix would have on universities’ financial aid timelines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before the department shared its decision, NPR spoke with a dozen financial aid experts and administrators across the U.S. — at colleges big and small, public and private — to hear how \u003cem>they\u003c/em> think the department should manage a potential fix.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t know what the best option is. None of them are good,” says Karen Krause, the executive director of financial aid for the University of Texas at Arlington.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Option 1: The Education Department can try to fix this quickly, before it sends any student FAFSA data on to colleges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The problem with that option is that even a quick fix will take time, further delaying the student data that universities need. Without that data, colleges can’t even begin to come up with financial aid offers to send to families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s nausea-inducing,” says Christina Tangalakis, who manages student aid for Glendale Community College, in Glendale, California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s also an option 2, she says, where the fix takes long enough that the department has to go ahead and send colleges data it knows is wrong, with a promise to update the data as soon as it can. That way, colleges can at least give families something, a kind of starting point. But Tangalakis worries that for many lower-income students, those preliminary award letters would be too low.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“How many students will be discouraged by what they see on paper and not even attend?” Tangalakis says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We heard this fear a lot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our students absolutely are relying on this,” says Scott Skaro, the financial aid director at United Tribes Technical College, in North Dakota.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He says tribal colleges will be hit especially hard by this uncertainty because more than 80% of their students qualify for a federal Pell Grant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[Students] may just go find some low-paying job that’s gonna pay the bills now, and they’ll just give up on school,” Skaro worries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Robert Muhammad, director of financial aid at Howard University, shares that concern.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Some students may truly feel defeated and decide not to pursue their education at this time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most of the financial aid experts told NPR that they want the department to hurry up and make this fix now, before any award letters go out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Is that realistic? Tangalakis, of Glendale Community College, says that shouldn’t matter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When we were headed to space, Kennedy said we do things because they’re hard. This is something hard, but it’s necessary.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many students have just over three months left before they’re expected to commit to a college. But colleges say that in the best case, it will still be weeks before they can begin sending out financial aid offers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At this point, for families, universities and the Education Department, the clock isn’t just ticking. It’s roaring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Exclusive%3A+The+Education+Department+says+it+will+fix+its+%241.8+billion+FAFSA+mistake&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This opinion column was produced by \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Hechinger Report\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/newsletters/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hechinger newsletter\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Pleasantville is a mostly Black and Hispanic community located between two major freeways, the I-10 and the 610, in Houston, Texas. This placement is no accident, said\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bridgette Murray, a retired nurse and local community leader: “\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The highway plan in the 1950s was used to divide communities of color.” Today, an estimated 300,000 vehicles stream by on a daily basis, she said. The neighborhood is also close to the Houston Ship Channel, exposing it to heavy industrial pollution. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But state air monitoring stations aren’t placed to capture all the hazards concentrated in that small area. So Murray’s group, ACTS (Achieving Community Tasks Successfully), has been partnering for almost a decade with urban planning expert Robert Bullard at Texas Southern University, to do their own air quality monitoring. ACTS \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-awards-nearly-500000-texas-organization-improve-air-quality-houston-area\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">just won\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to expand the program.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bullard has been called the father of the environmental justice movement. His 1990 book “Dumping in Dixie” documented the systemic placement of polluting facilities and waste disposal in communities of color, as well as those communities fighting back. He said scientists and communities need each other.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Our climate scientists are great at science, but not good translators when it comes to taking that data to people,” he said. “We need the principle of environmental justice embedded in our climate policies. The overarching principle is that the people who are most impacted must speak for themselves and must be in those rooms and at those tables when decisions are being made about their lives.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“It’s a mutual respect,” Murray said of the relationship between her group and the Texas Southern researchers. “You have to have a partner that respects the ideas you are bringing to the table and also allows you to grow.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bullard is co-founder, with Beverly Wright, of the HBCU Climate Change Consortium, which brings together historically black universities and community-based organizations in what Wright has termed the “communiversity” model. There are partnerships like the one in Houston all over the South: Dillard and Xavier Universities, in New Orleans, working on wetlands restoration and equitable recovery from storms; Jackson State is working in Gulfport, Mississippi, on legacy pollution; and Florida A&M in Pensacola on the issue of landfills and borrow pits (holes dug to extract sand and clay that are then used as landfill).\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bullard said it’s no accident that so many HBCUs are involved in this work. “Black colleges and universities historically combined the idea of using education for advancement and liberation, with the struggle for civil rights.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When these partnerships go smoothly, Bullard said, universities provide community-based organizations with access to data and help advocating for themselves; students and scholars get opportunities to do applied research with a clear social mission.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A lot of growth is happening in environmental justice right now. ACTS’ $500,000 EPA grant is part of what the\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/environmentaljustice/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> White House touts as\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> “\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">the most ambitious environmental justice agenda ever undertaken by the Federal Government.” Notably, President Biden’s \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/environmentaljustice/justice40/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Justice40 initiative \u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">decrees that 40% of all federal dollars allocated to climate change, clean energy, and related policy goals flow to communities like Pleasantville: marginalized, underserved and systematically overburdened by pollution. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Expanding on this model, the EPA has allocated \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/environmental-justice-thriving-communities-technical-assistance-centers\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">$177 million\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to 16 “Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Centers” — a mix of nonprofits and universities that will help groups like ACTS get federal grants to achieve their goals. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But, warned Bullard, all the new funding might cause a gold rush, raising the danger of attracting bad actors. Sometimes, he said, universities act like “grant-writing mills,” exploiting communities without sharing the benefits. “You parachute in, you mine the data, you leave and the community doesn’t know what hit them. That is not authentic partnership.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Murray, at ACTS, has seen that kind of behavior herself. “A one-sided relationship where they came in to take information,” she recalled. “The paper was written, the accolades [for researchers] happen, and the community is just like it was, with no ability to address anything.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It takes sensitivity and hard work to overcome what can be a long history of town-gown tensions between universities and local communities. “You have to earn trust,” said Bullard. “Trust is not given by a memorandum of understanding.” One way to break down barriers is to make sure that all participants — whether they have a GED or a PhD — share the air equitably at meetings between researchers and community leaders. And those meetings might be held in the evenings or on weekends, because community groups are often run by volunteers. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Denae King, a PhD toxicologist, works with Bullard as an associate director at the Bullard Center. She said she’s always looking for a chance to give space to community partners like ACTS, and reduce or equalize any power dynamic. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I just ended a meeting where someone was asking me to put together a proposal to showcase environmental justice at a conference,” she said. “Before I would be willing to do that, I want to make sure it’s OK to showcase community leaders in this space. I might split my time in half and we co-present. Or it may look like me helping the community leader to prepare their presentation. I might be in the room and say nothing, but my presence says, I’m here to support you.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This opinion column was produced by \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Hechinger Report\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/newsletters/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hechinger newsletter\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This opinion column was produced by \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Hechinger Report\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/newsletters/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hechinger newsletter\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Pleasantville is a mostly Black and Hispanic community located between two major freeways, the I-10 and the 610, in Houston, Texas. This placement is no accident, said\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bridgette Murray, a retired nurse and local community leader: “\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The highway plan in the 1950s was used to divide communities of color.” Today, an estimated 300,000 vehicles stream by on a daily basis, she said. The neighborhood is also close to the Houston Ship Channel, exposing it to heavy industrial pollution. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But state air monitoring stations aren’t placed to capture all the hazards concentrated in that small area. So Murray’s group, ACTS (Achieving Community Tasks Successfully), has been partnering for almost a decade with urban planning expert Robert Bullard at Texas Southern University, to do their own air quality monitoring. ACTS \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-awards-nearly-500000-texas-organization-improve-air-quality-houston-area\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">just won\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to expand the program.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bullard has been called the father of the environmental justice movement. His 1990 book “Dumping in Dixie” documented the systemic placement of polluting facilities and waste disposal in communities of color, as well as those communities fighting back. He said scientists and communities need each other.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Our climate scientists are great at science, but not good translators when it comes to taking that data to people,” he said. “We need the principle of environmental justice embedded in our climate policies. The overarching principle is that the people who are most impacted must speak for themselves and must be in those rooms and at those tables when decisions are being made about their lives.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“It’s a mutual respect,” Murray said of the relationship between her group and the Texas Southern researchers. “You have to have a partner that respects the ideas you are bringing to the table and also allows you to grow.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bullard is co-founder, with Beverly Wright, of the HBCU Climate Change Consortium, which brings together historically black universities and community-based organizations in what Wright has termed the “communiversity” model. There are partnerships like the one in Houston all over the South: Dillard and Xavier Universities, in New Orleans, working on wetlands restoration and equitable recovery from storms; Jackson State is working in Gulfport, Mississippi, on legacy pollution; and Florida A&M in Pensacola on the issue of landfills and borrow pits (holes dug to extract sand and clay that are then used as landfill).\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bullard said it’s no accident that so many HBCUs are involved in this work. “Black colleges and universities historically combined the idea of using education for advancement and liberation, with the struggle for civil rights.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When these partnerships go smoothly, Bullard said, universities provide community-based organizations with access to data and help advocating for themselves; students and scholars get opportunities to do applied research with a clear social mission.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A lot of growth is happening in environmental justice right now. ACTS’ $500,000 EPA grant is part of what the\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/environmentaljustice/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> White House touts as\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> “\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">the most ambitious environmental justice agenda ever undertaken by the Federal Government.” Notably, President Biden’s \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/environmentaljustice/justice40/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Justice40 initiative \u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">decrees that 40% of all federal dollars allocated to climate change, clean energy, and related policy goals flow to communities like Pleasantville: marginalized, underserved and systematically overburdened by pollution. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Expanding on this model, the EPA has allocated \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/environmental-justice-thriving-communities-technical-assistance-centers\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">$177 million\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to 16 “Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Centers” — a mix of nonprofits and universities that will help groups like ACTS get federal grants to achieve their goals. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But, warned Bullard, all the new funding might cause a gold rush, raising the danger of attracting bad actors. Sometimes, he said, universities act like “grant-writing mills,” exploiting communities without sharing the benefits. “You parachute in, you mine the data, you leave and the community doesn’t know what hit them. That is not authentic partnership.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Murray, at ACTS, has seen that kind of behavior herself. “A one-sided relationship where they came in to take information,” she recalled. “The paper was written, the accolades [for researchers] happen, and the community is just like it was, with no ability to address anything.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It takes sensitivity and hard work to overcome what can be a long history of town-gown tensions between universities and local communities. “You have to earn trust,” said Bullard. “Trust is not given by a memorandum of understanding.” One way to break down barriers is to make sure that all participants — whether they have a GED or a PhD — share the air equitably at meetings between researchers and community leaders. And those meetings might be held in the evenings or on weekends, because community groups are often run by volunteers. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Denae King, a PhD toxicologist, works with Bullard as an associate director at the Bullard Center. She said she’s always looking for a chance to give space to community partners like ACTS, and reduce or equalize any power dynamic. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I just ended a meeting where someone was asking me to put together a proposal to showcase environmental justice at a conference,” she said. “Before I would be willing to do that, I want to make sure it’s OK to showcase community leaders in this space. I might split my time in half and we co-present. Or it may look like me helping the community leader to prepare their presentation. I might be in the room and say nothing, but my presence says, I’m here to support you.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This opinion column was produced by \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Hechinger Report\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/newsletters/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hechinger newsletter\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>College hopefuls are already waiting longer than usual for their financial aid offers this year, due to the delayed release of the \u003ca href=\"https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa\">Free Application for Federal Student Aid\u003c/a> (FAFSA). But what applicants may not realize is that this year’s FAFSA also comes with a big mistake — one that will \u003cem>lower \u003c/em>the amount of federal financial aid many receive unless it’s remedied soon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. Department of Education is wrestling with whether to fix this mistake in time for this year’s financial aid applicants. A last-minute FAFSA change of this magnitude could further delay college aid offers, but it would also mean many students would qualify for \u003cem>more \u003c/em>help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than 17 million students are expected to fill out the FAFSA this year in hopes of getting help paying for college. The form had a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/01/05/1222892834/fafsa-student-financial-aid-college\">shaky, first-week “soft launch.”\u003c/a> Normally released on Oct. 1, the latest FAFSA was repeatedly delayed, and many applicants have struggled to access or complete the form online since it was intermittently opened to the public, three months late, on Dec. 30.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Monday, in spite of those problems, the Education Department said more than a million applicants have successfully submitted the form — and that the FAFSA is now available 24 hours a day, though a spokesperson said the department is still assessing how to handle the big mistake that will hurt many of these applicants unless it’s fixed.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The big mistake has to do with inflation\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>This year’s FAFSA is the result of a sweeping (and labor-intensive) update from prior versions of the form that was mandated by Congress three years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lawmakers wanted the form to be shorter and easier, with the IRS helping the Education Department automatically fill out some of the form’s toughest financial questions. Check!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Congress wanted to expand the number of lower-income students who qualify for a federal Pell Grant, a form of aid that does not need to be repaid. Check!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And lawmakers told the Education Department to use a new, more generous formula to protect more of a family’s income from being used to determine financial aid eligibility. They also told the department to adjust its math for inflation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Let’s call this one partially checked … because the department didn’t do that last bit, adjusting for inflation — a failure first reported by \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/12/01/fafsa-income-allowance-protection-calculation-error/\">\u003cem>The Washington Post\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s a problem because protecting more of a student’s or family’s income allows them to qualify for more financial aid. And failing to adjust this “income protection allowance” for inflation, especially given the past couple years of rampant inflation, will make it look as though students and families have more income at their disposal than they really do. And that will mean they qualify for less student aid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Because salaries go up every year and expenses go up every year with inflation, you need to make sure that that’s taken into account,” says Bryce McKibben, senior director of policy and advocacy at the Hope Center at Temple University. McKibben also helped craft the FAFSA update legislation as a congressional staffer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you don’t adjust for inflation, that means more of your income is being calculated to apply toward financial aid. You’re being asked to pay more for college when you haven’t actually made more in real terms.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without this inflation adjustment, according to McKibben, a single parent with two children who is trying to go to college would have more than $10,000 of income considered in the student aid math that should instead, he says, be protected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without adjusting families’ incomes for inflation, McKibben warns, hundreds of thousands of students could either get less Pell Grant aid than they otherwise would have – or not qualify for Pell at all. The lack of an inflation adjustment will also impact a student’s ability to qualify for other federal aid, including work-study, as well as financial aid offered by states and schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is critical the Department comply with the law, especially given the significant inflation that has taken place since the legislation was passed,” wrote the heads of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, or NASFAA, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nasfaa.org/uploads/documents/2024-25DraftFAFSAcomments_30day-2.pdf\">in an October letter to the department.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The problem now is that all of the potential remedies come with a host of complications.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The potential paths to a fix\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The path of least resistance — albeit for the department, not for students — would be to simply ignore the failure and allow colleges and universities to make aid offers this year knowing that many students won’t be getting the full help they’re entitled to. In December, \u003cem>The Washington Post\u003c/em> \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/12/01/fafsa-income-allowance-protection-calculation-error/\">reported\u003c/a> that the department would be doing just that — not making the change imminently “because of timing and data constraints but will make updates for the 2025-2026 aid cycle.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That position may be changing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The department now appears to be leaning toward making the inflation adjustment sooner rather than later. That’s according to two sources with access to internal deliberations, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This path would pose a Herculean challenge for the department. Students \u003cem>would\u003c/em> get the aid levels Congress had intended in the 2024-25 school year, but the change would either further delay aid offers from schools to families or potentially force schools to revise and adjust those offers (increasing aid for students) after the fact.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Education Department would not confirm or deny that it has decided to move forward with the inflation adjustment this year. A spokesperson told NPR that the department is still assessing its options.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Doing it now would certainly be good for a good number of students and families,” says Justin Draeger, president and CEO of NASFAA. “The downside is that it introduces several new complexities into an already disjointed rollout.\u003cem>“\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even without this inflation adjustment, schools have been complaining of a compressed timeline, with the department saying it will not be sending them any FAFSA data — which schools need to make financial aid offers — until late January.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In previous years, Draeger says, students’ data was forwarded on to their schools of choice within just a few days of completing the FAFSA, beginning in October.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That means by the time schools can respond to the first round of students who fill out the FAFSA, they will already be nearly four months behind the normal financial aid schedule. And the longer students and families have to wait to know what a given college will cost them, the longer colleges will have to wait for students and families to make that life-altering decision.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The department now faces a painful choice: Prevent further delays by denying students the full aid Congress envisioned, or exacerbate FAFSA delays and confusion in order to follow the law and save families money.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=The+FAFSA+rollout+has+been+rough+on+students.+The+biggest+problem+is+yet+to+come&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>College hopefuls are already waiting longer than usual for their financial aid offers this year, due to the delayed release of the \u003ca href=\"https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa\">Free Application for Federal Student Aid\u003c/a> (FAFSA). But what applicants may not realize is that this year’s FAFSA also comes with a big mistake — one that will \u003cem>lower \u003c/em>the amount of federal financial aid many receive unless it’s remedied soon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. Department of Education is wrestling with whether to fix this mistake in time for this year’s financial aid applicants. A last-minute FAFSA change of this magnitude could further delay college aid offers, but it would also mean many students would qualify for \u003cem>more \u003c/em>help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than 17 million students are expected to fill out the FAFSA this year in hopes of getting help paying for college. The form had a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/01/05/1222892834/fafsa-student-financial-aid-college\">shaky, first-week “soft launch.”\u003c/a> Normally released on Oct. 1, the latest FAFSA was repeatedly delayed, and many applicants have struggled to access or complete the form online since it was intermittently opened to the public, three months late, on Dec. 30.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Monday, in spite of those problems, the Education Department said more than a million applicants have successfully submitted the form — and that the FAFSA is now available 24 hours a day, though a spokesperson said the department is still assessing how to handle the big mistake that will hurt many of these applicants unless it’s fixed.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The big mistake has to do with inflation\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>This year’s FAFSA is the result of a sweeping (and labor-intensive) update from prior versions of the form that was mandated by Congress three years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lawmakers wanted the form to be shorter and easier, with the IRS helping the Education Department automatically fill out some of the form’s toughest financial questions. Check!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Congress wanted to expand the number of lower-income students who qualify for a federal Pell Grant, a form of aid that does not need to be repaid. Check!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And lawmakers told the Education Department to use a new, more generous formula to protect more of a family’s income from being used to determine financial aid eligibility. They also told the department to adjust its math for inflation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Let’s call this one partially checked … because the department didn’t do that last bit, adjusting for inflation — a failure first reported by \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/12/01/fafsa-income-allowance-protection-calculation-error/\">\u003cem>The Washington Post\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s a problem because protecting more of a student’s or family’s income allows them to qualify for more financial aid. And failing to adjust this “income protection allowance” for inflation, especially given the past couple years of rampant inflation, will make it look as though students and families have more income at their disposal than they really do. And that will mean they qualify for less student aid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Because salaries go up every year and expenses go up every year with inflation, you need to make sure that that’s taken into account,” says Bryce McKibben, senior director of policy and advocacy at the Hope Center at Temple University. McKibben also helped craft the FAFSA update legislation as a congressional staffer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you don’t adjust for inflation, that means more of your income is being calculated to apply toward financial aid. You’re being asked to pay more for college when you haven’t actually made more in real terms.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without this inflation adjustment, according to McKibben, a single parent with two children who is trying to go to college would have more than $10,000 of income considered in the student aid math that should instead, he says, be protected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without adjusting families’ incomes for inflation, McKibben warns, hundreds of thousands of students could either get less Pell Grant aid than they otherwise would have – or not qualify for Pell at all. The lack of an inflation adjustment will also impact a student’s ability to qualify for other federal aid, including work-study, as well as financial aid offered by states and schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is critical the Department comply with the law, especially given the significant inflation that has taken place since the legislation was passed,” wrote the heads of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, or NASFAA, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nasfaa.org/uploads/documents/2024-25DraftFAFSAcomments_30day-2.pdf\">in an October letter to the department.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The problem now is that all of the potential remedies come with a host of complications.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The potential paths to a fix\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The path of least resistance — albeit for the department, not for students — would be to simply ignore the failure and allow colleges and universities to make aid offers this year knowing that many students won’t be getting the full help they’re entitled to. In December, \u003cem>The Washington Post\u003c/em> \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/12/01/fafsa-income-allowance-protection-calculation-error/\">reported\u003c/a> that the department would be doing just that — not making the change imminently “because of timing and data constraints but will make updates for the 2025-2026 aid cycle.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That position may be changing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The department now appears to be leaning toward making the inflation adjustment sooner rather than later. That’s according to two sources with access to internal deliberations, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This path would pose a Herculean challenge for the department. Students \u003cem>would\u003c/em> get the aid levels Congress had intended in the 2024-25 school year, but the change would either further delay aid offers from schools to families or potentially force schools to revise and adjust those offers (increasing aid for students) after the fact.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Education Department would not confirm or deny that it has decided to move forward with the inflation adjustment this year. A spokesperson told NPR that the department is still assessing its options.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Doing it now would certainly be good for a good number of students and families,” says Justin Draeger, president and CEO of NASFAA. “The downside is that it introduces several new complexities into an already disjointed rollout.\u003cem>“\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even without this inflation adjustment, schools have been complaining of a compressed timeline, with the department saying it will not be sending them any FAFSA data — which schools need to make financial aid offers — until late January.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In previous years, Draeger says, students’ data was forwarded on to their schools of choice within just a few days of completing the FAFSA, beginning in October.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That means by the time schools can respond to the first round of students who fill out the FAFSA, they will already be nearly four months behind the normal financial aid schedule. And the longer students and families have to wait to know what a given college will cost them, the longer colleges will have to wait for students and families to make that life-altering decision.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The department now faces a painful choice: Prevent further delays by denying students the full aid Congress envisioned, or exacerbate FAFSA delays and confusion in order to follow the law and save families money.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=The+FAFSA+rollout+has+been+rough+on+students.+The+biggest+problem+is+yet+to+come&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "The Job Market Is Changing. Here’s How Educators Can Help Students Keep Up.",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">At the beginning of each year, researcher and adjunct professor Keith Benson used to pose a question to his high school students in Camden, New Jersey: “Why are you here?” They usually answered with a predictable chorus: to get an education and get a good job. However, the pathway from education to career may not be so straightforward. According to Benson’s\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/12/5/357\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> research\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, which analyzes historical trends, policies and reforms in education, high schools do not adequately prepare students for the realities of tomorrow’s workplaces. Schools emphasize to students that if you get a diploma or degree, “there will be occupational opportunities awaiting you on the other side,” said Benson, who taught high school social studies for 13 years in Camden City School District before becoming an adjunct professor at Rutgers University-Camden. Benson added that it’s common for recent college graduates to end up working in positions that do not require a degree. According to the New York Federal Reserve,\u003c/span> \u003ca href=\"https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/college-labor-market#--:explore:underemployment\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">40% of recent graduates\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> were employed in roles that do not typically require a college degree in 2023. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">At the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://ed.buffalo.edu/black-history-ed/programs/conference.html\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Teaching Black History Conference\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> hosted by the University at Buffalo last summer, Benson brought attention to shortcomings in the current approach to college and career preparation, notably its failure to adequately prepare Black and Latino students for an often unpredictable job market. He said that being real with students about workplace discrimination and economic trends can better prepare young people for their futures after high school. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Discuss workplace discrimination\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If schools aim to prepare students for today’s workplace, they need to discuss racism and discrimination in hiring practices, according to Benson, who pointed out that there has been almost \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2023/01/racial-discrimination-in-hiring-remains-a-persistent-problem-northwestern-study/?fj=1\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">no change in job discrimination since 1968\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Black and Latino students are likely to face challenges in the job market that limit their access to social networks, opportunities and promotions. “Job discrimination, racial bias — it exists throughout the hiring process, even down to details like your name and address, irrespective of your educational achievements,” Benson said. \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/minorities-who-whiten-job-resumes-get-more-interviews\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">One study by Harvard Business School\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> found that Black and Asian students who “whitened” their resumes by taking out references to their race were twice as likely to get interview callbacks. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">While workplaces need to be pushed to address discriminatory hiring practices, Benson said that high school teachers have a role to play as well. He implored educators to cover the reality of workplace discrimination in their classrooms or college and career centers by sharing recent research. “What we can’t do is ignore it and not be honest with students about what to expect and where the problems lie going forward,” Benson said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ana Homayoun, an early career development expert and author of \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://anahomayoun.com/erasing-the-finish-line/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Erasing the Finish Line: The New Blueprint for Success Beyond Grades and College Admission\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, said that educators can \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/62734/when-parents-only-focus-on-college-admissions-essential-skills-can-slip-through-the-cracks\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">support students\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> from marginalized identities by proactively providing resources and support. “Our role as sponsors is really important,” said Homayoun. “That’s a term that I use to describe this idea of creating opportunities for economic growth.” She added that sponsorship includes identifying students that might be facing barriers and leveraging one’s network to give them a leg up.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Prepare students to navigate an unpredictable job market\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Even though educational attainment in the U.S. has \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.statista.com/statistics/184260/educational-attainment-in-the-us/#:~:text=In%202021%2C%20about%2037.7%20percent,population%20had%20graduated%20from%20college.\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">risen significantly in the past decade\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, recent college graduates are \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/11/19/college-grads-unemployed-jobs/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">more likely to be unemployed\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. The \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/college-labor-market#--:explore:unemployment\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">latest data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> shows that recent graduates’ unemployment rate is 4.4%, which is higher than the overall joblessness rate and almost double the rate for all college graduates. According to Benson, one contributing factor is that hiring has been undercut by \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/05/why-some-remote-jobs-are-disappearing-while-others-are-hiring-like-crazy.html\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">corporations seeking cheaper labor abroad\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. “The profit margins are far greater offshore due to a more deregulated economy, allowing for significantly lower labor costs. Environmental regulations, which impact profit, are also less stringent,” he explained. This trend isn’t confined to blue collar jobs. Technology companies, such as IBM, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.seattletimes.com/business/ibm-shifts-center-of-gravity-half-a-world-away-to-india/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">have moved\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> skilled technology jobs overseas to access cheaper labor. Benson urged educators to include topics like offshoring, automation and artificial intelligence in their high school curriculum. For example, students should know that researchers estimate that \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.gao.gov/blog/which-workers-are-most-affected-automation-and-what-could-help-them-get-new-jobs#:~:text=Researchers%20estimate%20that%20anywhere%20from,automation%20will%20affect%20the%20workforce.\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">9% to 47% of jobs could be lost to automation\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in the future. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">STEM has often been touted as a surefire path to jobs after college, and the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.statista.com/statistics/828915/number-of-stem-degrees-awarded-in-the-us-by-degree-level/#:~:text=In%20the%20school%20year%202020,technology%2C%20engineering%2C%20and%20mathematics.\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">number of students majoring in STEM has risen in response\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. However, U.S. universities produce more STEM graduates than \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://issues.org/stem-workforce-shortage-data-hira/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">the number of new jobs projected\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in those fields over the next ten years. \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://cew.georgetown.edu/about-us/staff/nicole-smith-2/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Nicole Smith\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a research professor and chief economist at the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce who co-authored a 2023 \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://cew.georgetown.edu/cew-reports/projections2031/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">report on job projections through 2031\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, said that while STEM jobs may be contracting, on average STEM graduates make more money than other majors. Smith cautioned against chasing the highest paying industry because things are always changing. “The challenge is to figure out not only what you like and what you’re good at, but what is in demand for the marketplace,” she said. She added that jobs that require a human touch, like doctoring, teaching, nursing and psychiatry are unlikely to be outsourced or automated.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Redefine why college is important\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Given uncertain job prospects, young people may wonder if college – and \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/62829/government-efforts-to-erase-student-loan-debt-have-now-reached-3-6-million-borrowers\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">the debt that often comes with it\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> – is worth it. Smith acknowledged that a person can do well in today’s labor market with only a high school diploma. “We have a very tight labor market that’s sucking up as much labor as it can,” she said. But that won’t always be the case. “The moment that momentum slows, then the first out are those who don’t have the postsecondary education and training… You don’t want to be left without a chair when the music stops.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The report that Smith co-authored projects that 72% of jobs will require postsecondary education or training and 42% of all jobs will require at least a bachelor’s degree. For example, an auto mechanic might have only needed a high school diploma 30 years ago, but today’s auto mechanics likely need more. “When the check engine light comes on, it’s a computer that tells you what’s up,” said Smith. Keeping up with those updates requires training and certifications.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Benson also said that college debt can be worthwhile. “We have been conditioned to reduce everything down to a monetary value,” said Benson. “College gives students more time to understand themselves, their thinking and other people’s perspectives.” He added that these skills enable young adults to navigate the world better, understand their agency, and contribute to a larger democracy. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Educators can reshape conversations about career readiness by openly discussing challenges students may face, proactively providing resources, and incorporating economic and industrial changes into the curriculum. “The workforce has always been unpredictable,” said Smith. “It’s our responsibility as an older generation, having seen several booms and slumps and sudden recessions in this economy, to warn kids about that.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">At the beginning of each year, researcher and adjunct professor Keith Benson used to pose a question to his high school students in Camden, New Jersey: “Why are you here?” They usually answered with a predictable chorus: to get an education and get a good job. However, the pathway from education to career may not be so straightforward. According to Benson’s\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/12/5/357\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> research\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, which analyzes historical trends, policies and reforms in education, high schools do not adequately prepare students for the realities of tomorrow’s workplaces. Schools emphasize to students that if you get a diploma or degree, “there will be occupational opportunities awaiting you on the other side,” said Benson, who taught high school social studies for 13 years in Camden City School District before becoming an adjunct professor at Rutgers University-Camden. Benson added that it’s common for recent college graduates to end up working in positions that do not require a degree. According to the New York Federal Reserve,\u003c/span> \u003ca href=\"https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/college-labor-market#--:explore:underemployment\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">40% of recent graduates\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> were employed in roles that do not typically require a college degree in 2023. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">At the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://ed.buffalo.edu/black-history-ed/programs/conference.html\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Teaching Black History Conference\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> hosted by the University at Buffalo last summer, Benson brought attention to shortcomings in the current approach to college and career preparation, notably its failure to adequately prepare Black and Latino students for an often unpredictable job market. He said that being real with students about workplace discrimination and economic trends can better prepare young people for their futures after high school. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Discuss workplace discrimination\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If schools aim to prepare students for today’s workplace, they need to discuss racism and discrimination in hiring practices, according to Benson, who pointed out that there has been almost \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2023/01/racial-discrimination-in-hiring-remains-a-persistent-problem-northwestern-study/?fj=1\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">no change in job discrimination since 1968\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Black and Latino students are likely to face challenges in the job market that limit their access to social networks, opportunities and promotions. “Job discrimination, racial bias — it exists throughout the hiring process, even down to details like your name and address, irrespective of your educational achievements,” Benson said. \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/minorities-who-whiten-job-resumes-get-more-interviews\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">One study by Harvard Business School\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> found that Black and Asian students who “whitened” their resumes by taking out references to their race were twice as likely to get interview callbacks. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">While workplaces need to be pushed to address discriminatory hiring practices, Benson said that high school teachers have a role to play as well. He implored educators to cover the reality of workplace discrimination in their classrooms or college and career centers by sharing recent research. “What we can’t do is ignore it and not be honest with students about what to expect and where the problems lie going forward,” Benson said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ana Homayoun, an early career development expert and author of \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://anahomayoun.com/erasing-the-finish-line/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Erasing the Finish Line: The New Blueprint for Success Beyond Grades and College Admission\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, said that educators can \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/62734/when-parents-only-focus-on-college-admissions-essential-skills-can-slip-through-the-cracks\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">support students\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> from marginalized identities by proactively providing resources and support. “Our role as sponsors is really important,” said Homayoun. “That’s a term that I use to describe this idea of creating opportunities for economic growth.” She added that sponsorship includes identifying students that might be facing barriers and leveraging one’s network to give them a leg up.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Prepare students to navigate an unpredictable job market\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Even though educational attainment in the U.S. has \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.statista.com/statistics/184260/educational-attainment-in-the-us/#:~:text=In%202021%2C%20about%2037.7%20percent,population%20had%20graduated%20from%20college.\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">risen significantly in the past decade\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, recent college graduates are \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/11/19/college-grads-unemployed-jobs/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">more likely to be unemployed\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. The \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/college-labor-market#--:explore:unemployment\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">latest data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> shows that recent graduates’ unemployment rate is 4.4%, which is higher than the overall joblessness rate and almost double the rate for all college graduates. According to Benson, one contributing factor is that hiring has been undercut by \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/05/why-some-remote-jobs-are-disappearing-while-others-are-hiring-like-crazy.html\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">corporations seeking cheaper labor abroad\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. “The profit margins are far greater offshore due to a more deregulated economy, allowing for significantly lower labor costs. Environmental regulations, which impact profit, are also less stringent,” he explained. This trend isn’t confined to blue collar jobs. Technology companies, such as IBM, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.seattletimes.com/business/ibm-shifts-center-of-gravity-half-a-world-away-to-india/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">have moved\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> skilled technology jobs overseas to access cheaper labor. Benson urged educators to include topics like offshoring, automation and artificial intelligence in their high school curriculum. For example, students should know that researchers estimate that \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.gao.gov/blog/which-workers-are-most-affected-automation-and-what-could-help-them-get-new-jobs#:~:text=Researchers%20estimate%20that%20anywhere%20from,automation%20will%20affect%20the%20workforce.\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">9% to 47% of jobs could be lost to automation\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in the future. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">STEM has often been touted as a surefire path to jobs after college, and the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.statista.com/statistics/828915/number-of-stem-degrees-awarded-in-the-us-by-degree-level/#:~:text=In%20the%20school%20year%202020,technology%2C%20engineering%2C%20and%20mathematics.\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">number of students majoring in STEM has risen in response\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. However, U.S. universities produce more STEM graduates than \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://issues.org/stem-workforce-shortage-data-hira/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">the number of new jobs projected\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in those fields over the next ten years. \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://cew.georgetown.edu/about-us/staff/nicole-smith-2/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Nicole Smith\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a research professor and chief economist at the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce who co-authored a 2023 \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://cew.georgetown.edu/cew-reports/projections2031/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">report on job projections through 2031\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, said that while STEM jobs may be contracting, on average STEM graduates make more money than other majors. Smith cautioned against chasing the highest paying industry because things are always changing. “The challenge is to figure out not only what you like and what you’re good at, but what is in demand for the marketplace,” she said. She added that jobs that require a human touch, like doctoring, teaching, nursing and psychiatry are unlikely to be outsourced or automated.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Redefine why college is important\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Given uncertain job prospects, young people may wonder if college – and \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/62829/government-efforts-to-erase-student-loan-debt-have-now-reached-3-6-million-borrowers\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">the debt that often comes with it\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> – is worth it. Smith acknowledged that a person can do well in today’s labor market with only a high school diploma. “We have a very tight labor market that’s sucking up as much labor as it can,” she said. But that won’t always be the case. “The moment that momentum slows, then the first out are those who don’t have the postsecondary education and training… You don’t want to be left without a chair when the music stops.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The report that Smith co-authored projects that 72% of jobs will require postsecondary education or training and 42% of all jobs will require at least a bachelor’s degree. For example, an auto mechanic might have only needed a high school diploma 30 years ago, but today’s auto mechanics likely need more. “When the check engine light comes on, it’s a computer that tells you what’s up,” said Smith. Keeping up with those updates requires training and certifications.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Benson also said that college debt can be worthwhile. “We have been conditioned to reduce everything down to a monetary value,” said Benson. “College gives students more time to understand themselves, their thinking and other people’s perspectives.” He added that these skills enable young adults to navigate the world better, understand their agency, and contribute to a larger democracy. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Educators can reshape conversations about career readiness by openly discussing challenges students may face, proactively providing resources, and incorporating economic and industrial changes into the curriculum. “The workforce has always been unpredictable,” said Smith. “It’s our responsibility as an older generation, having seen several booms and slumps and sudden recessions in this economy, to warn kids about that.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Example of a hypothetical scattergram showing test scores and grades of past applicants to a college. The dotted lines highlight the average grades and test scores of accepted students. Source: Figure 1 in Tomkins et al, “Showing high-achieving college applicants past admissions outcomes increases undermatching,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Oct 2023\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Many high school students struggle to figure out which of the nation’s \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=1122#:~:text=Among%20Title%20IV%20degree%2Dgranting,and%202%2C637%204%2Dyear%20colleges.\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">2,600\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> four-year colleges and universities should be on their lists of reach, target and safety schools. To help with that decision, schools across the country have paid many millions to private companies that display data on the fate of past students. But two recent studies have found that this information could discourage students who might have a shot at the most elite schools.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">One of the most popular data displays in the college application process is a scattergram, which shows the grades and test scores of admitted and rejected students from a student’s own high school at each college. Scattergrams are a bit like looking at horse race results for each school except the names of former classmates aren’t displayed.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_62890\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 780px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-62890\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/01/scattergram.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"780\" height=\"445\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/01/scattergram.jpg 780w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/01/scattergram-160x91.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/01/scattergram-768x438.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Example of a hypothetical scattergram showing test scores and grades of past applicants to a college. The dotted lines highlight the average grades and test scores of accepted students. \u003ccite>(Source: Figure 1 in Tomkins et al, “Showing high-achieving college applicants past admissions outcomes increases undermatching,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Oct 2023)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Academic researchers have been trying to find out how these scattergrams, which have been widely adopted by U.S. high schools over the past two decades, are influencing students. Two separate studies indicate that these information displays are discouraging some teens from applying to the most competitive schools, such as Harvard and Stanford. The researchers found that applications to these schools plummet after students see the scattergrams. At the same time, the researchers note that lower-achieving students tend to benefit from the scattergrams because the data encourages them to aim higher. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The latest study, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2306017120#bibliography\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in October 2023\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, tracked the college applications of 70,000 students at 220 public high schools over five application cycles, from 2014-15 to 2019-20. In the years immediately after a school purchased Naviance, the market leader in scattergrams, 17,000 high achieving students with test scores above 1310 on the SAT (out of 1600 points) or above 29 on the ACT (out of 36 points), were 50% less likely to apply to the most competitive universities and colleges. Consider 100 high-achieving students applying to college: 24 applied to the most competitive schools before the scattergrams, but only 16 of them did afterward.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Among high-achieving students, an unidentified college that had received the third-most applications dropped out of the top 10 after Naviance was introduced. High-achieving students became much more likely to apply to local colleges, which were relatively unpopular choices before Naviance.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sabina Tomkins, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan’s School of Information and lead author of the study, doesn’t know exactly why students were deterred, but she said there are two likely explanations. One is that students are intimidated when they see that their scores are slightly below the average of previously admitted students. Some kids might want to avoid the risk of rejection altogether and play it safe, applying only to places where they’re more likely to be accepted. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Another possibility is that the scattergrams have an unintended marketing or advertising effect. Students may feel more motivated to apply to the most popular schools where they see masses of green checks, showing that many previous peers have been admitted. Students can’t see the scattergrams for the least popular schools. To preserve student privacy, high schools commonly suppress scattergrams for schools to which fewer than five or 10 alumni have applied. Small or far-away elite schools can often fall into this suppressed category. “When the school doesn’t show up as a scattergram, it might not cross their mind in the same way it would have before,” said Tomkins. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Tomkins only had application data and doesn’t know where students enrolled in college. But if students are applying to fewer elite schools, they’re likely getting into and matriculating at fewer of them too, Tomkins said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">An earlier study, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/708839\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">published in 2021 in the Journal of Labor Economics\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, also found that Naviance’s scattergrams deterred students from applying to and enrolling in the most selective colleges. That study looked at only 8,000 students at one unidentified school district in the mid-Atlantic region. At the time that study was released, some critics questioned whether the unintended consequences of scattergrams were true nationwide. The larger 2023 study bolsters the evidence that more information isn’t always a good thing for all students.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Importantly, both studies also found that the scattergrams encouraged lower-achieving students. They were more likely to apply to four-year colleges after seeing that their grades and test scores were similar to those of previous students who had been accepted. Before their schools purchased Naviance, more of these students avoided four-year colleges and opted for two-year community colleges instead. A separate body of research has generally found that starting at a four-year college, while more expensive, increases the likelihood of earning a bachelor’s degree and higher wages after graduation. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Whether we should care about students attending the most prestigious and elite colleges is a matter of debate. Authors of the 2023 study pointed me to Harvard economist Raj Chetty’s research, which has found that going to an \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://opportunityinsights.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/CollegeAdmissions_Nontech.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ivy League university or four other elite colleges\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, instead of a top flagship public college, increases the likelihood of becoming a CEO or a U.S. senator and substantially increases a graduate’s chances of earning in the top 1%. However, attending an Ivy instead of a top public flagship \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/07/24/upshot/ivy-league-elite-college-admissions.html\">didn’t increase a graduate’s income on average\u003c/a>. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The scattergram studies looked only at high schools that had purchased Naviance’s product. The company was the first to market scattergrams to schools in 2002 and says its product reaches nine million of the nation’s 15 million high school students. According to GovSpend, which tracks government contracts, public high schools have spent well over $100 million on Naviance, which, in addition to scattergrams, also allows high school counselors to manage their students’ college applications and send transcripts to colleges. Competitors include Scoir, Ciaflo and MaiaLearning, which all offer similar scattergrams. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">PowerSchool, the company that owns Naviance, points out that analyzing small slices of its customer base, as the academic researchers have, can be misleading. According to the data PowerSchool shared with me, 38% of the six million college applications that flow through its platform each year were sent to “reach” schools, schools where it would be challenging for a student to gain acceptance based on their grades and test scores. A spokesperson said that applications to reach schools have been increasing annually, proof that its product “does not discourage students from applying to their reach or target schools.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The company also highlighted the benefits for lower-achieving students, asserting that the scattergrams “increase equity.” Indeed, the earlier 2021 study found that Black, Hispanic and low-income students were especially more likely to apply to and enroll in four-year colleges after using Naviance.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I talked with a half dozen college counselors who work with high school students and they said they generally didn’t see high-achieving students getting discouraged after \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.aaronbergman.net/p/most-ivy-smart-students-arent-at\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">seeing scattergrams\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. “If anything, I see the opposite,” said Scott White, an independent college counselor in New Jersey and a former high school guidance counselor for over 30 years. “Students are over-applying, not under-applying. They throw in dream applications. If you look at the Naviance scattergrams, they are not in profile. ‘I know I’m not gonna get in there, but I’m gonna apply there anyway.’ That is incredibly common.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Amy Thompson, a college counselor at York High School outside of Chicago, told me that the scattergrams are a “big hit” with high school students and get students engaged in the college process because clicking on the data can be fun and even addicting. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Only one counselor told me he had seen a case where a student was discouraged after seeing scattergrams, but he said it was an unusual experience. That doesn’t mean the researchers’ data analysis is wrong. It’s common for data to point out things that we’re not aware of or that we cannot readily see. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The biggest drawback to scattergrams, according to veteran college counselors, is that the information is incomplete and can give students the false sense that admissions decisions at elite schools are primarily based on grades and test scores. The scattergrams don’t show whether a student was an athlete, a musician or from a wealthy family with many generations of alumni. Students might see a green check with a low test score and not appreciate that the student had other factors weighing in his or her favor. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Counselors told me the scattergrams are most useful and accurate for large state schools, where there is a lot of data and the academic range of past admittees helps students identify safety and target schools. The more competitive the college, and the more the college looks at factors other than grades and test scores, the less useful the scattergrams. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And just like the stock market, past performance is no guarantee of future results. Schools fall in and out of favor. What was a safety school one year can unexpectedly rise in selectivity. A school that was once hard to get into can lower its standards in an effort to fill seats.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I don’t know that I care so much about kids not applying to enough Ivy League schools. But it’s fascinating how the information age changes our behavior for better and for worse, and how kids are influenced by spending hours and hours clicking on websites and absorbing masses of data.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This story about \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-two-studies-find-scattergrams-reduce-applications-to-elite-colleges/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">scattergrams\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> was written by Jill Barshay and produced by \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Hechinger Report\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proofpoints/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sign up for the Proof Points newsletter\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Example of a hypothetical scattergram showing test scores and grades of past applicants to a college. The dotted lines highlight the average grades and test scores of accepted students. Source: Figure 1 in Tomkins et al, “Showing high-achieving college applicants past admissions outcomes increases undermatching,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Oct 2023\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Many high school students struggle to figure out which of the nation’s \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=1122#:~:text=Among%20Title%20IV%20degree%2Dgranting,and%202%2C637%204%2Dyear%20colleges.\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">2,600\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> four-year colleges and universities should be on their lists of reach, target and safety schools. To help with that decision, schools across the country have paid many millions to private companies that display data on the fate of past students. But two recent studies have found that this information could discourage students who might have a shot at the most elite schools.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">One of the most popular data displays in the college application process is a scattergram, which shows the grades and test scores of admitted and rejected students from a student’s own high school at each college. Scattergrams are a bit like looking at horse race results for each school except the names of former classmates aren’t displayed.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_62890\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 780px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-62890\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/01/scattergram.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"780\" height=\"445\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/01/scattergram.jpg 780w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/01/scattergram-160x91.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/01/scattergram-768x438.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Example of a hypothetical scattergram showing test scores and grades of past applicants to a college. The dotted lines highlight the average grades and test scores of accepted students. \u003ccite>(Source: Figure 1 in Tomkins et al, “Showing high-achieving college applicants past admissions outcomes increases undermatching,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Oct 2023)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Academic researchers have been trying to find out how these scattergrams, which have been widely adopted by U.S. high schools over the past two decades, are influencing students. Two separate studies indicate that these information displays are discouraging some teens from applying to the most competitive schools, such as Harvard and Stanford. The researchers found that applications to these schools plummet after students see the scattergrams. At the same time, the researchers note that lower-achieving students tend to benefit from the scattergrams because the data encourages them to aim higher. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The latest study, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2306017120#bibliography\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in October 2023\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, tracked the college applications of 70,000 students at 220 public high schools over five application cycles, from 2014-15 to 2019-20. In the years immediately after a school purchased Naviance, the market leader in scattergrams, 17,000 high achieving students with test scores above 1310 on the SAT (out of 1600 points) or above 29 on the ACT (out of 36 points), were 50% less likely to apply to the most competitive universities and colleges. Consider 100 high-achieving students applying to college: 24 applied to the most competitive schools before the scattergrams, but only 16 of them did afterward.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Among high-achieving students, an unidentified college that had received the third-most applications dropped out of the top 10 after Naviance was introduced. High-achieving students became much more likely to apply to local colleges, which were relatively unpopular choices before Naviance.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sabina Tomkins, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan’s School of Information and lead author of the study, doesn’t know exactly why students were deterred, but she said there are two likely explanations. One is that students are intimidated when they see that their scores are slightly below the average of previously admitted students. Some kids might want to avoid the risk of rejection altogether and play it safe, applying only to places where they’re more likely to be accepted. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Another possibility is that the scattergrams have an unintended marketing or advertising effect. Students may feel more motivated to apply to the most popular schools where they see masses of green checks, showing that many previous peers have been admitted. Students can’t see the scattergrams for the least popular schools. To preserve student privacy, high schools commonly suppress scattergrams for schools to which fewer than five or 10 alumni have applied. Small or far-away elite schools can often fall into this suppressed category. “When the school doesn’t show up as a scattergram, it might not cross their mind in the same way it would have before,” said Tomkins. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Tomkins only had application data and doesn’t know where students enrolled in college. But if students are applying to fewer elite schools, they’re likely getting into and matriculating at fewer of them too, Tomkins said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">An earlier study, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/708839\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">published in 2021 in the Journal of Labor Economics\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, also found that Naviance’s scattergrams deterred students from applying to and enrolling in the most selective colleges. That study looked at only 8,000 students at one unidentified school district in the mid-Atlantic region. At the time that study was released, some critics questioned whether the unintended consequences of scattergrams were true nationwide. The larger 2023 study bolsters the evidence that more information isn’t always a good thing for all students.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Importantly, both studies also found that the scattergrams encouraged lower-achieving students. They were more likely to apply to four-year colleges after seeing that their grades and test scores were similar to those of previous students who had been accepted. Before their schools purchased Naviance, more of these students avoided four-year colleges and opted for two-year community colleges instead. A separate body of research has generally found that starting at a four-year college, while more expensive, increases the likelihood of earning a bachelor’s degree and higher wages after graduation. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Whether we should care about students attending the most prestigious and elite colleges is a matter of debate. Authors of the 2023 study pointed me to Harvard economist Raj Chetty’s research, which has found that going to an \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://opportunityinsights.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/CollegeAdmissions_Nontech.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ivy League university or four other elite colleges\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, instead of a top flagship public college, increases the likelihood of becoming a CEO or a U.S. senator and substantially increases a graduate’s chances of earning in the top 1%. However, attending an Ivy instead of a top public flagship \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/07/24/upshot/ivy-league-elite-college-admissions.html\">didn’t increase a graduate’s income on average\u003c/a>. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The scattergram studies looked only at high schools that had purchased Naviance’s product. The company was the first to market scattergrams to schools in 2002 and says its product reaches nine million of the nation’s 15 million high school students. According to GovSpend, which tracks government contracts, public high schools have spent well over $100 million on Naviance, which, in addition to scattergrams, also allows high school counselors to manage their students’ college applications and send transcripts to colleges. Competitors include Scoir, Ciaflo and MaiaLearning, which all offer similar scattergrams. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">PowerSchool, the company that owns Naviance, points out that analyzing small slices of its customer base, as the academic researchers have, can be misleading. According to the data PowerSchool shared with me, 38% of the six million college applications that flow through its platform each year were sent to “reach” schools, schools where it would be challenging for a student to gain acceptance based on their grades and test scores. A spokesperson said that applications to reach schools have been increasing annually, proof that its product “does not discourage students from applying to their reach or target schools.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The company also highlighted the benefits for lower-achieving students, asserting that the scattergrams “increase equity.” Indeed, the earlier 2021 study found that Black, Hispanic and low-income students were especially more likely to apply to and enroll in four-year colleges after using Naviance.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I talked with a half dozen college counselors who work with high school students and they said they generally didn’t see high-achieving students getting discouraged after \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.aaronbergman.net/p/most-ivy-smart-students-arent-at\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">seeing scattergrams\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. “If anything, I see the opposite,” said Scott White, an independent college counselor in New Jersey and a former high school guidance counselor for over 30 years. “Students are over-applying, not under-applying. They throw in dream applications. If you look at the Naviance scattergrams, they are not in profile. ‘I know I’m not gonna get in there, but I’m gonna apply there anyway.’ That is incredibly common.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Amy Thompson, a college counselor at York High School outside of Chicago, told me that the scattergrams are a “big hit” with high school students and get students engaged in the college process because clicking on the data can be fun and even addicting. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Only one counselor told me he had seen a case where a student was discouraged after seeing scattergrams, but he said it was an unusual experience. That doesn’t mean the researchers’ data analysis is wrong. It’s common for data to point out things that we’re not aware of or that we cannot readily see. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The biggest drawback to scattergrams, according to veteran college counselors, is that the information is incomplete and can give students the false sense that admissions decisions at elite schools are primarily based on grades and test scores. The scattergrams don’t show whether a student was an athlete, a musician or from a wealthy family with many generations of alumni. Students might see a green check with a low test score and not appreciate that the student had other factors weighing in his or her favor. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Counselors told me the scattergrams are most useful and accurate for large state schools, where there is a lot of data and the academic range of past admittees helps students identify safety and target schools. The more competitive the college, and the more the college looks at factors other than grades and test scores, the less useful the scattergrams. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And just like the stock market, past performance is no guarantee of future results. Schools fall in and out of favor. What was a safety school one year can unexpectedly rise in selectivity. A school that was once hard to get into can lower its standards in an effort to fill seats.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I don’t know that I care so much about kids not applying to enough Ivy League schools. But it’s fascinating how the information age changes our behavior for better and for worse, and how kids are influenced by spending hours and hours clicking on websites and absorbing masses of data.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This story about \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-two-studies-find-scattergrams-reduce-applications-to-elite-colleges/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">scattergrams\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> was written by Jill Barshay and produced by \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Hechinger Report\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proofpoints/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sign up for the Proof Points newsletter\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "MIT, Yale, and other elite colleges are finally reaching out to rural students",
"headTitle": "MIT, Yale, and other elite colleges are finally reaching out to rural students | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Since the time she was in elementary school, Isabella Cross has dreamed of going to an Ivy League college to become an engineer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in Crossville, her “little no-name town” in East Tennessee, as she describes it, selective universities and colleges rarely came to recruit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a 17-year-old in a rural community, and the daughter of a single parent, “I always kind of felt, like, I wouldn’t say necessarily trapped, but a lot of kids feel trapped,” says Cross. “And a lot of them never get out. They never get to explore and never get to see other things.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, Cross thinks applying to a top-flight college might be possible after all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recruiters from some of the nation’s most selective universities — MIT, the University of Chicago, Yale — have, for the first time, come to her “little no-name town.” It’s part of an effort by top schools to pay more attention to rural America, where students are less likely than their urban and suburban counterparts to go to college and, if they do, are more likely to drop out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It kind of just felt like they heard us, and they see us, and that they know that there’s a need as well for small-town kids like me to have really big dreams,” says Cross.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The college fair in Crossville this fall was part of a string of events throughout the state, where admissions officers from about a half-dozen of the nation’s most selective universities visited with students and parents. It was among the first by a new consortium called STARS, or Small Town and Rural Students College Network, prompted by a $20 million grant from a University of Chicago trustee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_62903\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-62903\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_45-1-_custom-0367a1046cdc6184a31d4546a9a476b8c08a562a.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"260\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_45-1-_custom-0367a1046cdc6184a31d4546a9a476b8c08a562a.jpg 200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_45-1-_custom-0367a1046cdc6184a31d4546a9a476b8c08a562a-160x208.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A poster for the Tristar College Tour on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023, at Stone Memorial High School in Crossville, Tenn. \u003ccite>(Austin Anthony for the Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It follows a long history of neglect of rural areas by many colleges and universities. Not even public research universities recruit in rural places, a 2019 study by scholars at UCLA and the University of Arizona found, disproportionately favoring\u003ca href=\"https://emraresearch.org/sites/default/files/2019-03/joyce_report.pdf\"> higher-income public and private high schools\u003c/a> in major metropolitan areas. (The study was produced for the Joyce Foundation, which financially supports NPR.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even when they do find their way to these small towns, recruiters are up against increasing reluctance by students and their families to go to four-year institutions, and especially to campuses far away from home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://starscollegenetwork.org/allmembers/\">Sixteen colleges and universities in all\u003c/a> — also including Brown, the California Institute of Technology, Columbia, Northwestern, and the University of Southern California — have signed on to STARS and have agreed to visit rural high schools in exchange for financial help with travel costs and staffing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_62904\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-62904\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_25_slide-5374c02f4a768b9152454815a314d04bcae9a82c-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_25_slide-5374c02f4a768b9152454815a314d04bcae9a82c-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_25_slide-5374c02f4a768b9152454815a314d04bcae9a82c-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_25_slide-5374c02f4a768b9152454815a314d04bcae9a82c-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_25_slide-5374c02f4a768b9152454815a314d04bcae9a82c-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_25_slide-5374c02f4a768b9152454815a314d04bcae9a82c-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_25_slide-5374c02f4a768b9152454815a314d04bcae9a82c-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_25_slide-5374c02f4a768b9152454815a314d04bcae9a82c-1920x1279.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">School counselor Karen Hicks poses for a photo on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023, at Stone Memorial High School in Crossville, Tenn. \u003ccite>(Austin Anthony for the Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“They’ve never come and taken an interest in us. But the big thing right now is rural, and they’re finally seeing it, I guess,” says Karen Hicks, lead counselor at Crossville’s Stone Memorial High School, who has been an educator in the city for 36 years. “I love it in the sense that it gives our kids opportunities. I hate that they didn’t see it before.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rural communities can be hard to reach, and often have only small numbers of prospective high school seniors, says Marjorie Betley, senior associate director of admissions at the University of Chicago. She helped organize the STARS project and serves as its executive director.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For recruiters, she says, “driving hours and hours on the road to meet with five students, that’s really hard.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new initiative comes from a University of Chicago trustee, Byron Trott, who left a small town in Missouri to attend the university, and later created a financial services company. In 2018, he asked Betley how many students at her university came from rural places, as he had.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We couldn’t even answer the question,” Betley recalls. After further inquiry, she realized that, “the numbers were not good.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rural students were about 3% of enrollment at the time, which she says has since increased to 9%. Rural Americans comprise\u003ca href=\"https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2016/cb16-210.html\"> nearly 20%\u003c/a> of the population, the Census Bureau reports.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rural students\u003ca href=\"https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/pdf/2023/LBA_508c.pdf\"> graduate from high school at a higher rate\u003c/a> (90%) than their counterparts in cities (82%) and suburbs (89%), according to the U.S. Department of Education. But only 55%\u003ca href=\"https://nscresearchcenter.org/high-school-benchmarks/\"> go directly to college\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s a smaller proportion than suburban students. It’s also declining, down from\u003ca href=\"https://nscresearchcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2017HSBenchmarksReport-1.pdf\"> 61% in 2016\u003c/a>, the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So rarely do top colleges recruit in rural towns, says Bryan Sexton, a father who came with his son to the college fair in Crossville, that, “you know, when I saw some of the names, I was, like, what are these schools doing here?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A city of\u003ca href=\"https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/crossvillecitytennessee/PST045222\"> 12,470\u003c/a> named for the spot where an old stagecoach road crossed a onetime cattle drivers’ route between Nashville and Knoxville, Crossville is a case study in how rural families aspire to, fret about, and often decide to forgo, college.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_62905\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-62905\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_33-1-_wide-40e8299adc3ac46a4f01bafdc2f0f29a450e1576-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_33-1-_wide-40e8299adc3ac46a4f01bafdc2f0f29a450e1576-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_33-1-_wide-40e8299adc3ac46a4f01bafdc2f0f29a450e1576-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_33-1-_wide-40e8299adc3ac46a4f01bafdc2f0f29a450e1576-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_33-1-_wide-40e8299adc3ac46a4f01bafdc2f0f29a450e1576-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_33-1-_wide-40e8299adc3ac46a4f01bafdc2f0f29a450e1576-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_33-1-_wide-40e8299adc3ac46a4f01bafdc2f0f29a450e1576-2048x1152.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_33-1-_wide-40e8299adc3ac46a4f01bafdc2f0f29a450e1576-1920x1080.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An aerial view of Main Street on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023, in Crossville, Tenn. \u003ccite>(Austin Anthony for the Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Outside the high school’s auditorium, Nae Evans Sims stopped and thought for a moment about the smallest community she’d ever visited as an admissions recruiter for Case Western Reserve University. “Oh, my gosh,” she says. “Probably this one.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alongside representatives from Yale, MIT, the University of Chicago, and other institutions, Sims was arranging brochures on a table in anticipation of the kind of college recruiting fair that – in more populated places – draws throngs of anxious students and their parents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Crossville, families from adjoining towns were also invited. In all, 81 students showed up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My friends in the cities, their kids start talking about college when they’re freshmen,” says Rob Harrison, a city council member who stopped by. But in Crossville, he says, “a lot of kids don’t even think about the opportunities out there. It’s just not part of the culture.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then again, no one from those elite universities had ever come to Crossville, local educators say, even though the graduation rate from Stone Memorial is\u003ca href=\"http://smhspanthers.ccschools.k12tn.net/academics/smhsprofile.pdf\"> 91%\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of the students here who do continue their education, many attend the community college just across the street, where tuition is free. More than 1 in 10 enroll in a local trade school, the Tennessee College of Applied Technology, and 4% enlist in the military.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That makes Crossville fairly typical of rural places, where residents are less likely to get bachelor’s degrees. Only about 20% of people over age 25 in rural America (and\u003ca href=\"https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/crossvillecitytennessee/PST045222\"> 15% in Crossville\u003c/a>)\u003ca href=\"https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/rural-economy-population/employment-education/rural-education\"> have bachelor’s degrees or higher\u003c/a>, compared with \u003ca href=\"https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=27#:~:text=During%20this%20period%2C%20the%20percentage%20of%2025-%20to,higher%20degree%20increased%20from%207%20to%2010%20percent.\">40%\u003c/a> nationally, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This gap, the Federal Reserve reports,\u003ca href=\"https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/files/consumer-community-context-201901.pdf\"> has been widening steadily\u003c/a> over the last 50 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That not only contributes to a worsening political and earnings divide between urban and rural America; it limits economic opportunity in rural places.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s essential for rural communities to have a skilled and invested workforce,” says Noa Meyer, president of rootED Alliance, another STARS partner, which puts college and career advisors in rural high schools. “Local businesses need skilled workers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the path to that goal is narrowing. At least a dozen private, nonprofit colleges in rural areas or that serve rural students have closed or announced their closings in the last three years. Public universities in\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/the-shuttering-of-a-rural-university-reveals-a-surprising-source-of-its-financing/\"> rural parts of Kansas, Arkansas\u003c/a> and West Virginia\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/rural-universities-already-few-and-far-between-are-being-stripped-of-majors/\"> are cutting dozens of majors\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Others are merging, including in\u003ca href=\"https://www.passhe.edu/SystemRedesign/Pages/redesign.aspx\"> Pennsylvania\u003c/a> and\u003ca href=\"https://vermontstate.edu/about/\"> Vermont\u003c/a>. Spending on higher education\u003ca href=\"https://www.cbpp.org/research/state-budget-and-tax/state-higher-education-funding-cuts-have-pushed-costs-to-students\"> fell\u003c/a> in 16 of\u003ca href=\"https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/geography/guidance/geo-areas/urban-rural/2010-urban-rural.html\"> the 20 most rural states\u003c/a> between 2008 and 2018, when adjusted for inflation, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About 13 million people now live in\u003ca href=\"https://www.acenet.edu/Documents/Education-Deserts-The-Continued-Significance-of-Place-in-the-Twenty-First-Century.pdf\"> higher education “deserts,”\u003c/a> mostly in the Midwest and Great Plains, where the nearest university is beyond a reasonable commute away, the American Council on Education estimates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is a significant untapped talent pool in our rural communities,” says Trott, the founder, chairman, and co-CEO of the banking company BDT & MSD Partners. “Yet rural students often lack access to the resources needed to help set them up for their education, careers, and economic stability.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also, as in Crossville, rural students who do go to college generally\u003ca href=\"https://www.acenet.edu/Documents/Education-Deserts-The-Continued-Significance-of-Place-in-the-Twenty-First-Century.pdf\"> prefer to stay close to home\u003c/a>, research shows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Even the ones that have the higher scores, that can survive at some of the more prestigious colleges, they like it here, and they don’t necessarily want to leave,” says Laura Kidwell, a counselor at Stone Memorial. “They want to be within driving distance from home and their family and friends and relatives.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Aaron Conley is a senior at the school. He says he’s deciding between learning heating, ventilation and air conditioning to start his own HVAC business, or going to college to study physical therapy or nursing. Both of those fields, he notes, require “a lot of college. It’s something that I just don’t know if I want to do for a long period of time like that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If he does go to college, he’d opt for Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville, 30 minutes away. There, he explains, “I can come back and see my family whenever I want.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many parents here don’t want their kids to move away. Some worry that university campuses and faculty in far-flung places are too liberal, and not religious enough, says Hicks, the school counselor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Some of the things that you hear in the news and stuff that happens at different colleges is scary for a conservative family,” Hicks explains. Parents think, ” ‘I have control of you now, and I know your environment, and to send you out to that big world is scary.’ ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Amy Beth Strong says she would prefer that her daughter, Ellie Beth, stick around for at least a little while, and maybe start at the local community college after she graduates from Stone Memorial next spring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_62906\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-62906\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_01_slide-31e18f3ef7fb9af7b1bfc3637a7a9a0555be74f9-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_01_slide-31e18f3ef7fb9af7b1bfc3637a7a9a0555be74f9-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_01_slide-31e18f3ef7fb9af7b1bfc3637a7a9a0555be74f9-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_01_slide-31e18f3ef7fb9af7b1bfc3637a7a9a0555be74f9-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_01_slide-31e18f3ef7fb9af7b1bfc3637a7a9a0555be74f9-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_01_slide-31e18f3ef7fb9af7b1bfc3637a7a9a0555be74f9-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_01_slide-31e18f3ef7fb9af7b1bfc3637a7a9a0555be74f9-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_01_slide-31e18f3ef7fb9af7b1bfc3637a7a9a0555be74f9-1920x1279.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ellie Beth Strong and her mother Amy Beth Strong pose for a photo together on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023, at Stone Memorial High School in Crossville, Tenn. \u003ccite>(Austin Anthony for the Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I’m not trying to hold on to them, and I want them to do what they want to do, but I would rather they have a little bit more life experience under their belt,” Strong says, instead of, “throwing them out in the middle of the world and saying, ‘OK, there you go. You’re 18, you’re done.’ ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some rural parents also worry that their children, if they go far away for college, won’t come back, Hicks adds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some Crossville parents are encouraging their reluctant children to go on to further education, however.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tina Carr started college, stopping now and then to earn the money she needed to pay for it. But she never graduated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve always regretted not being able to finish,” Carr says. She’s still wearing her scrubs after commuting home from her job in Knoxville as the front-desk coordinator at a surgeon’s office. “I just see where people get stuck in – it’s a bad word to say – but ‘dead-end’ jobs without a college degree.” And while she likes what she does, “I’ve seen a lot of jobs posted throughout the years that I think I could do, but I can’t because I don’t have that degree.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And so Carr is pushing her daughter, Kira, to continue her education: “I don’t want her down the line to eventually regret that she didn’t go to college.” Kira Carr wants to go directly into the workforce; she decided to skip the college recruiting fair.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another major reason fewer rural high school students go to college is the cost. Median earnings in rural areas are\u003ca href=\"https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/rural-economy-population/employment-education/rural-education\"> nearly one-sixth lower\u003c/a> than incomes elsewhere, according to the USDA.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Crossville, the median household income\u003ca href=\"https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/crossvillecitytennessee/PST045222\"> is $40,708\u003c/a>, compared with the national median of\u003ca href=\"https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2023/demo/p60-279.html\"> $74,580\u003c/a>. More than 20% of the population lives in poverty; 40% of the 1,000 students at the high school\u003ca href=\"https://tdepublicschools.ondemand.sas.com/school/001800079\"> are considered economically disadvantaged\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite their higher graduation rates, rural students often feel that they don’t belong at top colleges. That, along with homesickness and the cost, is among the reasons those who do go are\u003ca href=\"https://nscresearchcenter.org/high-school-benchmarks/\"> more likely to drop out\u003c/a> than their urban and suburban classmates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We do have rural students come in who have that imposter syndrome, with classmates who took 20 [Advanced Placement courses] and their high school didn’t have any,” says Betley, at the University of Chicago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the Stone Memorial recruiting fair, the longest lines were to talk to representatives from the nearby University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Middle Tennessee State University, and Tennessee Tech. The shortest line was for MIT.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_62902\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-62902\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_36-2-_wide-2e50acb7c2f6aa6eb9d9e0900b5c55722df8addd-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_36-2-_wide-2e50acb7c2f6aa6eb9d9e0900b5c55722df8addd-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_36-2-_wide-2e50acb7c2f6aa6eb9d9e0900b5c55722df8addd-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_36-2-_wide-2e50acb7c2f6aa6eb9d9e0900b5c55722df8addd-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_36-2-_wide-2e50acb7c2f6aa6eb9d9e0900b5c55722df8addd-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_36-2-_wide-2e50acb7c2f6aa6eb9d9e0900b5c55722df8addd-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_36-2-_wide-2e50acb7c2f6aa6eb9d9e0900b5c55722df8addd-2048x1152.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_36-2-_wide-2e50acb7c2f6aa6eb9d9e0900b5c55722df8addd-1920x1080.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Crossville water tower on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023, in Crossville, Tenn. \u003ccite>(Austin Anthony for the Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“That’s typically not the MIT experience,” says Carlos Vega, the recruiter from that university. “I go somewhere and I have auditoriums full of students.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Tennessee, however, two other high schools that he also was supposed to visit, outside of the STARS tour, had told him not to bother coming for scheduled visits, he says, because they didn’t have any students who were interested — a first in his career.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stone Memorial senior Ellie Beth Strong — she goes by E.B., a nickname given to her by her soccer coach — wonders how comfortable she’d feel at a big, far-off university. She says she’s applied to two Christian colleges and the University of Tennessee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After growing up in a small town, “I don’t want to go to a giant university where I’m just another person that you pass by when you’re going to class,” she explains. “I don’t want to have 300 people in my class and have the professor just lecture the whole time. I want to actually get to sit down and talk to the people and get to know everybody.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many students from rural areas have similar concerns, says Corinne Smith, an associate director of admissions at Yale.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Smith is the advisor to the Rural Student Alliance at Yale, formed five years ago to help rural students feel more of a sense of belonging. When the group was started, she suggested social activities such as apple-picking. But the students instead wanted help getting used to the unaccustomed urban traffic noise outside their dorms or off-campus apartments. “Then they said, ‘Can someone take us on a tour of New Haven so I can see where things are? My town has one stoplight.’ ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Smith notes that rural perspectives like these are essential to the diversity of campuses:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you say you want to have a university with a wonderful political science department, and then 100% of the students in that political science seminar are from urban and suburban towns with the same religious and political affiliation, then are you really having the discussions that we say our institutions are meant to be having?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Isabella Cross, the aspiring engineer, has no doubt about what she would contribute to a campus: a small-town sense of community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Crossville, she says, “We see you in Walmart? We’re going to stop and talk to you for 45 minutes. We’re going to ask how the kids are. We’re going to ask how your mom is doing. We’re going to ask about all of the things that, you know, sometimes you just don’t get” in big cities. “I just think that that’s something that you can bring to a school where it’s definitely a cutthroat competition to get into.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was produced by\u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/special-reports/higher-education/\">\u003cem> The Hechinger Report\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Additional reporting by Lauren Migaki.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2024 The Hechinger Report. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/\">The Hechinger Report\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=MIT%2C+Yale%2C+and+other+elite+colleges+are+finally+reaching+out+to+rural+students&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Since the time she was in elementary school, Isabella Cross has dreamed of going to an Ivy League college to become an engineer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in Crossville, her “little no-name town” in East Tennessee, as she describes it, selective universities and colleges rarely came to recruit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a 17-year-old in a rural community, and the daughter of a single parent, “I always kind of felt, like, I wouldn’t say necessarily trapped, but a lot of kids feel trapped,” says Cross. “And a lot of them never get out. They never get to explore and never get to see other things.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, Cross thinks applying to a top-flight college might be possible after all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recruiters from some of the nation’s most selective universities — MIT, the University of Chicago, Yale — have, for the first time, come to her “little no-name town.” It’s part of an effort by top schools to pay more attention to rural America, where students are less likely than their urban and suburban counterparts to go to college and, if they do, are more likely to drop out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It kind of just felt like they heard us, and they see us, and that they know that there’s a need as well for small-town kids like me to have really big dreams,” says Cross.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The college fair in Crossville this fall was part of a string of events throughout the state, where admissions officers from about a half-dozen of the nation’s most selective universities visited with students and parents. It was among the first by a new consortium called STARS, or Small Town and Rural Students College Network, prompted by a $20 million grant from a University of Chicago trustee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_62903\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-62903\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_45-1-_custom-0367a1046cdc6184a31d4546a9a476b8c08a562a.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"260\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_45-1-_custom-0367a1046cdc6184a31d4546a9a476b8c08a562a.jpg 200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_45-1-_custom-0367a1046cdc6184a31d4546a9a476b8c08a562a-160x208.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A poster for the Tristar College Tour on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023, at Stone Memorial High School in Crossville, Tenn. \u003ccite>(Austin Anthony for the Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It follows a long history of neglect of rural areas by many colleges and universities. Not even public research universities recruit in rural places, a 2019 study by scholars at UCLA and the University of Arizona found, disproportionately favoring\u003ca href=\"https://emraresearch.org/sites/default/files/2019-03/joyce_report.pdf\"> higher-income public and private high schools\u003c/a> in major metropolitan areas. (The study was produced for the Joyce Foundation, which financially supports NPR.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even when they do find their way to these small towns, recruiters are up against increasing reluctance by students and their families to go to four-year institutions, and especially to campuses far away from home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://starscollegenetwork.org/allmembers/\">Sixteen colleges and universities in all\u003c/a> — also including Brown, the California Institute of Technology, Columbia, Northwestern, and the University of Southern California — have signed on to STARS and have agreed to visit rural high schools in exchange for financial help with travel costs and staffing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_62904\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-62904\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_25_slide-5374c02f4a768b9152454815a314d04bcae9a82c-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_25_slide-5374c02f4a768b9152454815a314d04bcae9a82c-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_25_slide-5374c02f4a768b9152454815a314d04bcae9a82c-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_25_slide-5374c02f4a768b9152454815a314d04bcae9a82c-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_25_slide-5374c02f4a768b9152454815a314d04bcae9a82c-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_25_slide-5374c02f4a768b9152454815a314d04bcae9a82c-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_25_slide-5374c02f4a768b9152454815a314d04bcae9a82c-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_25_slide-5374c02f4a768b9152454815a314d04bcae9a82c-1920x1279.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">School counselor Karen Hicks poses for a photo on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023, at Stone Memorial High School in Crossville, Tenn. \u003ccite>(Austin Anthony for the Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“They’ve never come and taken an interest in us. But the big thing right now is rural, and they’re finally seeing it, I guess,” says Karen Hicks, lead counselor at Crossville’s Stone Memorial High School, who has been an educator in the city for 36 years. “I love it in the sense that it gives our kids opportunities. I hate that they didn’t see it before.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rural communities can be hard to reach, and often have only small numbers of prospective high school seniors, says Marjorie Betley, senior associate director of admissions at the University of Chicago. She helped organize the STARS project and serves as its executive director.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For recruiters, she says, “driving hours and hours on the road to meet with five students, that’s really hard.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new initiative comes from a University of Chicago trustee, Byron Trott, who left a small town in Missouri to attend the university, and later created a financial services company. In 2018, he asked Betley how many students at her university came from rural places, as he had.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We couldn’t even answer the question,” Betley recalls. After further inquiry, she realized that, “the numbers were not good.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rural students were about 3% of enrollment at the time, which she says has since increased to 9%. Rural Americans comprise\u003ca href=\"https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2016/cb16-210.html\"> nearly 20%\u003c/a> of the population, the Census Bureau reports.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rural students\u003ca href=\"https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/pdf/2023/LBA_508c.pdf\"> graduate from high school at a higher rate\u003c/a> (90%) than their counterparts in cities (82%) and suburbs (89%), according to the U.S. Department of Education. But only 55%\u003ca href=\"https://nscresearchcenter.org/high-school-benchmarks/\"> go directly to college\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s a smaller proportion than suburban students. It’s also declining, down from\u003ca href=\"https://nscresearchcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2017HSBenchmarksReport-1.pdf\"> 61% in 2016\u003c/a>, the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So rarely do top colleges recruit in rural towns, says Bryan Sexton, a father who came with his son to the college fair in Crossville, that, “you know, when I saw some of the names, I was, like, what are these schools doing here?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A city of\u003ca href=\"https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/crossvillecitytennessee/PST045222\"> 12,470\u003c/a> named for the spot where an old stagecoach road crossed a onetime cattle drivers’ route between Nashville and Knoxville, Crossville is a case study in how rural families aspire to, fret about, and often decide to forgo, college.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_62905\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-62905\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_33-1-_wide-40e8299adc3ac46a4f01bafdc2f0f29a450e1576-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_33-1-_wide-40e8299adc3ac46a4f01bafdc2f0f29a450e1576-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_33-1-_wide-40e8299adc3ac46a4f01bafdc2f0f29a450e1576-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_33-1-_wide-40e8299adc3ac46a4f01bafdc2f0f29a450e1576-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_33-1-_wide-40e8299adc3ac46a4f01bafdc2f0f29a450e1576-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_33-1-_wide-40e8299adc3ac46a4f01bafdc2f0f29a450e1576-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_33-1-_wide-40e8299adc3ac46a4f01bafdc2f0f29a450e1576-2048x1152.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_33-1-_wide-40e8299adc3ac46a4f01bafdc2f0f29a450e1576-1920x1080.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An aerial view of Main Street on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023, in Crossville, Tenn. \u003ccite>(Austin Anthony for the Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Outside the high school’s auditorium, Nae Evans Sims stopped and thought for a moment about the smallest community she’d ever visited as an admissions recruiter for Case Western Reserve University. “Oh, my gosh,” she says. “Probably this one.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alongside representatives from Yale, MIT, the University of Chicago, and other institutions, Sims was arranging brochures on a table in anticipation of the kind of college recruiting fair that – in more populated places – draws throngs of anxious students and their parents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Crossville, families from adjoining towns were also invited. In all, 81 students showed up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My friends in the cities, their kids start talking about college when they’re freshmen,” says Rob Harrison, a city council member who stopped by. But in Crossville, he says, “a lot of kids don’t even think about the opportunities out there. It’s just not part of the culture.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then again, no one from those elite universities had ever come to Crossville, local educators say, even though the graduation rate from Stone Memorial is\u003ca href=\"http://smhspanthers.ccschools.k12tn.net/academics/smhsprofile.pdf\"> 91%\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of the students here who do continue their education, many attend the community college just across the street, where tuition is free. More than 1 in 10 enroll in a local trade school, the Tennessee College of Applied Technology, and 4% enlist in the military.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That makes Crossville fairly typical of rural places, where residents are less likely to get bachelor’s degrees. Only about 20% of people over age 25 in rural America (and\u003ca href=\"https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/crossvillecitytennessee/PST045222\"> 15% in Crossville\u003c/a>)\u003ca href=\"https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/rural-economy-population/employment-education/rural-education\"> have bachelor’s degrees or higher\u003c/a>, compared with \u003ca href=\"https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=27#:~:text=During%20this%20period%2C%20the%20percentage%20of%2025-%20to,higher%20degree%20increased%20from%207%20to%2010%20percent.\">40%\u003c/a> nationally, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This gap, the Federal Reserve reports,\u003ca href=\"https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/files/consumer-community-context-201901.pdf\"> has been widening steadily\u003c/a> over the last 50 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That not only contributes to a worsening political and earnings divide between urban and rural America; it limits economic opportunity in rural places.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s essential for rural communities to have a skilled and invested workforce,” says Noa Meyer, president of rootED Alliance, another STARS partner, which puts college and career advisors in rural high schools. “Local businesses need skilled workers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the path to that goal is narrowing. At least a dozen private, nonprofit colleges in rural areas or that serve rural students have closed or announced their closings in the last three years. Public universities in\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/the-shuttering-of-a-rural-university-reveals-a-surprising-source-of-its-financing/\"> rural parts of Kansas, Arkansas\u003c/a> and West Virginia\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/rural-universities-already-few-and-far-between-are-being-stripped-of-majors/\"> are cutting dozens of majors\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Others are merging, including in\u003ca href=\"https://www.passhe.edu/SystemRedesign/Pages/redesign.aspx\"> Pennsylvania\u003c/a> and\u003ca href=\"https://vermontstate.edu/about/\"> Vermont\u003c/a>. Spending on higher education\u003ca href=\"https://www.cbpp.org/research/state-budget-and-tax/state-higher-education-funding-cuts-have-pushed-costs-to-students\"> fell\u003c/a> in 16 of\u003ca href=\"https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/geography/guidance/geo-areas/urban-rural/2010-urban-rural.html\"> the 20 most rural states\u003c/a> between 2008 and 2018, when adjusted for inflation, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About 13 million people now live in\u003ca href=\"https://www.acenet.edu/Documents/Education-Deserts-The-Continued-Significance-of-Place-in-the-Twenty-First-Century.pdf\"> higher education “deserts,”\u003c/a> mostly in the Midwest and Great Plains, where the nearest university is beyond a reasonable commute away, the American Council on Education estimates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is a significant untapped talent pool in our rural communities,” says Trott, the founder, chairman, and co-CEO of the banking company BDT & MSD Partners. “Yet rural students often lack access to the resources needed to help set them up for their education, careers, and economic stability.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also, as in Crossville, rural students who do go to college generally\u003ca href=\"https://www.acenet.edu/Documents/Education-Deserts-The-Continued-Significance-of-Place-in-the-Twenty-First-Century.pdf\"> prefer to stay close to home\u003c/a>, research shows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Even the ones that have the higher scores, that can survive at some of the more prestigious colleges, they like it here, and they don’t necessarily want to leave,” says Laura Kidwell, a counselor at Stone Memorial. “They want to be within driving distance from home and their family and friends and relatives.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Aaron Conley is a senior at the school. He says he’s deciding between learning heating, ventilation and air conditioning to start his own HVAC business, or going to college to study physical therapy or nursing. Both of those fields, he notes, require “a lot of college. It’s something that I just don’t know if I want to do for a long period of time like that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If he does go to college, he’d opt for Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville, 30 minutes away. There, he explains, “I can come back and see my family whenever I want.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many parents here don’t want their kids to move away. Some worry that university campuses and faculty in far-flung places are too liberal, and not religious enough, says Hicks, the school counselor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Some of the things that you hear in the news and stuff that happens at different colleges is scary for a conservative family,” Hicks explains. Parents think, ” ‘I have control of you now, and I know your environment, and to send you out to that big world is scary.’ ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Amy Beth Strong says she would prefer that her daughter, Ellie Beth, stick around for at least a little while, and maybe start at the local community college after she graduates from Stone Memorial next spring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_62906\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-62906\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_01_slide-31e18f3ef7fb9af7b1bfc3637a7a9a0555be74f9-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_01_slide-31e18f3ef7fb9af7b1bfc3637a7a9a0555be74f9-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_01_slide-31e18f3ef7fb9af7b1bfc3637a7a9a0555be74f9-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_01_slide-31e18f3ef7fb9af7b1bfc3637a7a9a0555be74f9-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_01_slide-31e18f3ef7fb9af7b1bfc3637a7a9a0555be74f9-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_01_slide-31e18f3ef7fb9af7b1bfc3637a7a9a0555be74f9-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_01_slide-31e18f3ef7fb9af7b1bfc3637a7a9a0555be74f9-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_01_slide-31e18f3ef7fb9af7b1bfc3637a7a9a0555be74f9-1920x1279.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ellie Beth Strong and her mother Amy Beth Strong pose for a photo together on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023, at Stone Memorial High School in Crossville, Tenn. \u003ccite>(Austin Anthony for the Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I’m not trying to hold on to them, and I want them to do what they want to do, but I would rather they have a little bit more life experience under their belt,” Strong says, instead of, “throwing them out in the middle of the world and saying, ‘OK, there you go. You’re 18, you’re done.’ ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some rural parents also worry that their children, if they go far away for college, won’t come back, Hicks adds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some Crossville parents are encouraging their reluctant children to go on to further education, however.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tina Carr started college, stopping now and then to earn the money she needed to pay for it. But she never graduated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve always regretted not being able to finish,” Carr says. She’s still wearing her scrubs after commuting home from her job in Knoxville as the front-desk coordinator at a surgeon’s office. “I just see where people get stuck in – it’s a bad word to say – but ‘dead-end’ jobs without a college degree.” And while she likes what she does, “I’ve seen a lot of jobs posted throughout the years that I think I could do, but I can’t because I don’t have that degree.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And so Carr is pushing her daughter, Kira, to continue her education: “I don’t want her down the line to eventually regret that she didn’t go to college.” Kira Carr wants to go directly into the workforce; she decided to skip the college recruiting fair.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another major reason fewer rural high school students go to college is the cost. Median earnings in rural areas are\u003ca href=\"https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/rural-economy-population/employment-education/rural-education\"> nearly one-sixth lower\u003c/a> than incomes elsewhere, according to the USDA.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Crossville, the median household income\u003ca href=\"https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/crossvillecitytennessee/PST045222\"> is $40,708\u003c/a>, compared with the national median of\u003ca href=\"https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2023/demo/p60-279.html\"> $74,580\u003c/a>. More than 20% of the population lives in poverty; 40% of the 1,000 students at the high school\u003ca href=\"https://tdepublicschools.ondemand.sas.com/school/001800079\"> are considered economically disadvantaged\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite their higher graduation rates, rural students often feel that they don’t belong at top colleges. That, along with homesickness and the cost, is among the reasons those who do go are\u003ca href=\"https://nscresearchcenter.org/high-school-benchmarks/\"> more likely to drop out\u003c/a> than their urban and suburban classmates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We do have rural students come in who have that imposter syndrome, with classmates who took 20 [Advanced Placement courses] and their high school didn’t have any,” says Betley, at the University of Chicago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the Stone Memorial recruiting fair, the longest lines were to talk to representatives from the nearby University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Middle Tennessee State University, and Tennessee Tech. The shortest line was for MIT.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_62902\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-62902\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_36-2-_wide-2e50acb7c2f6aa6eb9d9e0900b5c55722df8addd-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_36-2-_wide-2e50acb7c2f6aa6eb9d9e0900b5c55722df8addd-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_36-2-_wide-2e50acb7c2f6aa6eb9d9e0900b5c55722df8addd-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_36-2-_wide-2e50acb7c2f6aa6eb9d9e0900b5c55722df8addd-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_36-2-_wide-2e50acb7c2f6aa6eb9d9e0900b5c55722df8addd-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_36-2-_wide-2e50acb7c2f6aa6eb9d9e0900b5c55722df8addd-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_36-2-_wide-2e50acb7c2f6aa6eb9d9e0900b5c55722df8addd-2048x1152.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/collegerecruiting_36-2-_wide-2e50acb7c2f6aa6eb9d9e0900b5c55722df8addd-1920x1080.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Crossville water tower on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023, in Crossville, Tenn. \u003ccite>(Austin Anthony for the Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“That’s typically not the MIT experience,” says Carlos Vega, the recruiter from that university. “I go somewhere and I have auditoriums full of students.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Tennessee, however, two other high schools that he also was supposed to visit, outside of the STARS tour, had told him not to bother coming for scheduled visits, he says, because they didn’t have any students who were interested — a first in his career.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stone Memorial senior Ellie Beth Strong — she goes by E.B., a nickname given to her by her soccer coach — wonders how comfortable she’d feel at a big, far-off university. She says she’s applied to two Christian colleges and the University of Tennessee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After growing up in a small town, “I don’t want to go to a giant university where I’m just another person that you pass by when you’re going to class,” she explains. “I don’t want to have 300 people in my class and have the professor just lecture the whole time. I want to actually get to sit down and talk to the people and get to know everybody.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many students from rural areas have similar concerns, says Corinne Smith, an associate director of admissions at Yale.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Smith is the advisor to the Rural Student Alliance at Yale, formed five years ago to help rural students feel more of a sense of belonging. When the group was started, she suggested social activities such as apple-picking. But the students instead wanted help getting used to the unaccustomed urban traffic noise outside their dorms or off-campus apartments. “Then they said, ‘Can someone take us on a tour of New Haven so I can see where things are? My town has one stoplight.’ ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Smith notes that rural perspectives like these are essential to the diversity of campuses:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you say you want to have a university with a wonderful political science department, and then 100% of the students in that political science seminar are from urban and suburban towns with the same religious and political affiliation, then are you really having the discussions that we say our institutions are meant to be having?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Isabella Cross, the aspiring engineer, has no doubt about what she would contribute to a campus: a small-town sense of community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Crossville, she says, “We see you in Walmart? We’re going to stop and talk to you for 45 minutes. We’re going to ask how the kids are. We’re going to ask how your mom is doing. We’re going to ask about all of the things that, you know, sometimes you just don’t get” in big cities. “I just think that that’s something that you can bring to a school where it’s definitely a cutthroat competition to get into.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was produced by\u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/special-reports/higher-education/\">\u003cem> The Hechinger Report\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Additional reporting by Lauren Migaki.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2024 The Hechinger Report. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/\">The Hechinger Report\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=MIT%2C+Yale%2C+and+other+elite+colleges+are+finally+reaching+out+to+rural+students&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "A story of student loan forgiveness, 20 years in the making",
"headTitle": "A story of student loan forgiveness, 20 years in the making | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Kurt Panton’s laugh, surprising and unguarded, erupts when you expect it — after his baby daughter, Pauline, babbles adorably. But also when you don’t — after he confesses frustration with the federal student loan system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kurt laughed a lot during our first Zoom conversation, in December of 2022, when he was worried about his $18,000 in outstanding loan debt, but also during our last conversation, just a few days ago, when he told me those debts had suddenly disappeared.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is the story of what happened in between.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kurt Panton is 43. He grew up in Miami with his brother and their mother, Barbara. After graduating from college in 2003, Kurt taught high school until 2016, when he moved to Germany, married Lizzy, who is German, and tried his hand at copywriting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Through every step of his adult life, there have been a few constants: that laugh, his doting mom and Kurt’s monthly federal student loan payment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_62880\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-62880\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/231202_studentloans_patrickjunker_dsc0342_custom-95b20b8d1f270fcc33720d652f0610404f8c32da.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/231202_studentloans_patrickjunker_dsc0342_custom-95b20b8d1f270fcc33720d652f0610404f8c32da.jpg 200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/231202_studentloans_patrickjunker_dsc0342_custom-95b20b8d1f270fcc33720d652f0610404f8c32da-160x240.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A portrait of Kurt in his living room. Kurt Panton was a teacher in Miami and recently had his loans forgiven after many years of steady payment and hard work. He lives with his wife and their new baby in a village outside Mannheim, Germany. \u003ccite>(Patrick Junker for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I’ve been so loyal to my payments,” Kurt told me in 2022. “I can’t even explain the outrage I feel when I look at comments on social media [about debt relief], and it’s like, ‘Well, you took out loans, you repay them!’ You know, this has been a serious financial debt to me. And I do everything within my power, within my income, to pay it back.\u003cem>” \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When we first met, last December, Kurt told me he had been repaying his loans consistently since late 2003, and he knew that if President Biden’s big plan to erase hundreds of billions of dollars in federal student loans could survive a barrage of legal challenges, it would erase every penny of his remaining debts. (Pell Grant recipients like Kurt would have qualified for $20,000 in debt cancellation.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s going to make an immediate effect,” he told me back then, “and I don’t have to sit here and think about whether I qualify under all these complicated formulas.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But I was thinking of complicated formulas, because Kurt and I both knew Biden’s grand plan for debt relief was no sure thing. And I wondered if Kurt’s loans might qualify for another, lesser-understood form of debt relief that did not have to survive the courts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the end of our chat, I asked Kurt to send me every record of every payment he’d ever made. The plan was to manually tally his payments, all 19 years’ worth, to see if he qualified for this \u003cem>other\u003c/em> kind of relief.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some borrowers might have been daunted by having to excavate so many records from multiple loan servicers. Kurt agreed eagerly, with a laugh.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The sleeper debt relief that’s helped thousands of borrowers\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Before I met Kurt, in April 2022, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/04/01/1089750113/student-loan-debt-investigation\">NPR published the damning findings of a monthslong investigation\u003c/a> into federal, income-driven repayment plans (IDR).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These IDR plans were meant to help lower-income borrowers by pegging their monthly payments to their income: The less they earn, the less they have to pay each month. They were meant to be an engine of good and to keep struggling borrowers from defaulting on their loans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But NPR revealed a list of shocking problems that were hurting, not helping, borrowers. Though these plans promised loan forgiveness after 20 or 25 years, NPR found that some loan servicers weren’t counting payments, meaning they had no idea if, or when, a borrower qualified for forgiveness. Servicers were also miscounting payments, not always giving borrowers credit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On top of that, advocates had been sounding the alarm for millions of borrowers who could have benefited from these repayment plans — like Kurt — but were never told about them or, worse, were put into forbearance instead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>IDR had become a debacle of good intentions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two weeks after NPR released its investigation, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/04/19/1093310151/student-loans-income-based-repayment\">the Biden administration committed to a sweeping IDR overhaul\u003c/a>, promising to review the payment histories of millions of borrowers, find and fix these mistakes, and give borrowers retroactive credit toward IDR’s promise of loan forgiveness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Basically, a monumental do-over.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_62879\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-62879\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/231202_studentloans_patrickjunker_dsc0964_slide-1fe3c6134b8ca4a57b9271342efc944350128bed-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/231202_studentloans_patrickjunker_dsc0964_slide-1fe3c6134b8ca4a57b9271342efc944350128bed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/231202_studentloans_patrickjunker_dsc0964_slide-1fe3c6134b8ca4a57b9271342efc944350128bed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/231202_studentloans_patrickjunker_dsc0964_slide-1fe3c6134b8ca4a57b9271342efc944350128bed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/231202_studentloans_patrickjunker_dsc0964_slide-1fe3c6134b8ca4a57b9271342efc944350128bed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/231202_studentloans_patrickjunker_dsc0964_slide-1fe3c6134b8ca4a57b9271342efc944350128bed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/231202_studentloans_patrickjunker_dsc0964_slide-1fe3c6134b8ca4a57b9271342efc944350128bed-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/231202_studentloans_patrickjunker_dsc0964_slide-1fe3c6134b8ca4a57b9271342efc944350128bed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kurt, Elisabeth and Pauline ride the carousel at the Christmas market in Mannheim, Germany. \u003ccite>(Patrick Junker for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Which brings us full circle to Kurt Panton, who’d been repaying his loans for \u003cem>19\u003c/em> \u003cem>years\u003c/em> when we met. Under this do-over, he could technically qualify for loan forgiveness in one more year. \u003cem>Technically\u003c/em>. But no one quite understood how or when this do-over would happen, and the U.S. Department of Education was still completely focused on the fate of Biden’s larger debt relief plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After that first Zoom, last December, Kurt pulled together his entire payment history. We kept in touch through spring, as I plugged hundreds of his payments into a spreadsheet. In June, the Supreme Court struck down Biden’s big relief plan. Kurt’s Plan A was gone. It was time to put Plan B to the test.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kurt and I hopped on Zoom again in August. This time, Pauline was about 10 months old, and she sat on his lap as I showed them the spreadsheet I’d made.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re having fun talking student loans! I hope you never have to pay student loans, little one,” Kurt said to Pauline, laughing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_62881\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-62881\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/231202_studentloans_patrickjunker_dsc0397_slide-42839dd15ae20fd6754251e14bb540b0a7b6117f-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/231202_studentloans_patrickjunker_dsc0397_slide-42839dd15ae20fd6754251e14bb540b0a7b6117f-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/231202_studentloans_patrickjunker_dsc0397_slide-42839dd15ae20fd6754251e14bb540b0a7b6117f-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/231202_studentloans_patrickjunker_dsc0397_slide-42839dd15ae20fd6754251e14bb540b0a7b6117f-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/231202_studentloans_patrickjunker_dsc0397_slide-42839dd15ae20fd6754251e14bb540b0a7b6117f-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/231202_studentloans_patrickjunker_dsc0397_slide-42839dd15ae20fd6754251e14bb540b0a7b6117f-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/231202_studentloans_patrickjunker_dsc0397_slide-42839dd15ae20fd6754251e14bb540b0a7b6117f-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/231202_studentloans_patrickjunker_dsc0397_slide-42839dd15ae20fd6754251e14bb540b0a7b6117f-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kurt Panton and his daughter, Pauline, at home in a village outside Mannheim, Germany. \u003ccite>(Patrick Junker for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>To qualify for forgiveness under the IDR do-over, a borrower needs to have been in repayment for 20 years, which is 240 monthly payments. By our count, Kurt had made 233, though that was a conservative estimate, ignoring a few months that had disappeared with servicers’ poor record-keeping.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You are so close,” I told Kurt as we moved down the spreadsheet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I am so close!” he laughed back. “When you were scrolling down on the spreadsheet, I was like, ‘Please get to 240, please.’ And then I saw 233 and I was like, ‘Nooo!'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The good news for Kurt was that the Education Department had recently announced the first round of reviews under this IDR do-over and said it would be erasing the loans of more than 800,000 people — just like him (a number that would continue to grow). All he had to do was wait seven more months, at the most.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Turns out, it was a lot less than that.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>“I think I’m done, Mom!”\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>In the middle of November, Kurt woke up early with Pauline, who had a cold. He fed her, changed her diaper, and lay down on the couch with her, hoping she’d fall back asleep.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She’s lying on my chest on the couch,” Kurt says, “and I really can’t go back to sleep that quickly. So I check my email, and as soon as I saw the subject I thought, ‘Oh my God, this is it!'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The email was from the Education Department, and it said that under that big IDR do-over, Kurt now qualifies to have his remaining $18,000 in loans forgiven — 20 years since his first payment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I ask Kurt how he’ll celebrate, he calls his mom, Barbara.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I am very, very proud of you,” she says, suggesting maybe now Kurt will consider going back to school to work on a doctorate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t think so,” Kurt says, laughing. “I think I’m done, Mom!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After Kurt hangs up, his wife, Lizzy, grabs a small, twist-top bottle of bubbly from the fridge, and they toast the email that says Kurt’s loans will soon be in his past — while his future sleeps quietly in the other room.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/12/06/1217552875/government-efforts-to-erase-student-loan-debt-have-now-reached-3-6-million-borro\">\u003cem>In early December\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>, the Education Department announced it has now approved almost $44 billion in IDR-related debt relief for a total of more than 900,000 borrowers.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=A+story+of+student+loan+forgiveness%2C+20+years+in+the+making&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Kurt Panton’s laugh, surprising and unguarded, erupts when you expect it — after his baby daughter, Pauline, babbles adorably. But also when you don’t — after he confesses frustration with the federal student loan system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kurt laughed a lot during our first Zoom conversation, in December of 2022, when he was worried about his $18,000 in outstanding loan debt, but also during our last conversation, just a few days ago, when he told me those debts had suddenly disappeared.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is the story of what happened in between.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kurt Panton is 43. He grew up in Miami with his brother and their mother, Barbara. After graduating from college in 2003, Kurt taught high school until 2016, when he moved to Germany, married Lizzy, who is German, and tried his hand at copywriting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Through every step of his adult life, there have been a few constants: that laugh, his doting mom and Kurt’s monthly federal student loan payment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_62880\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-62880\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/231202_studentloans_patrickjunker_dsc0342_custom-95b20b8d1f270fcc33720d652f0610404f8c32da.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/231202_studentloans_patrickjunker_dsc0342_custom-95b20b8d1f270fcc33720d652f0610404f8c32da.jpg 200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/231202_studentloans_patrickjunker_dsc0342_custom-95b20b8d1f270fcc33720d652f0610404f8c32da-160x240.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A portrait of Kurt in his living room. Kurt Panton was a teacher in Miami and recently had his loans forgiven after many years of steady payment and hard work. He lives with his wife and their new baby in a village outside Mannheim, Germany. \u003ccite>(Patrick Junker for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I’ve been so loyal to my payments,” Kurt told me in 2022. “I can’t even explain the outrage I feel when I look at comments on social media [about debt relief], and it’s like, ‘Well, you took out loans, you repay them!’ You know, this has been a serious financial debt to me. And I do everything within my power, within my income, to pay it back.\u003cem>” \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When we first met, last December, Kurt told me he had been repaying his loans consistently since late 2003, and he knew that if President Biden’s big plan to erase hundreds of billions of dollars in federal student loans could survive a barrage of legal challenges, it would erase every penny of his remaining debts. (Pell Grant recipients like Kurt would have qualified for $20,000 in debt cancellation.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s going to make an immediate effect,” he told me back then, “and I don’t have to sit here and think about whether I qualify under all these complicated formulas.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But I was thinking of complicated formulas, because Kurt and I both knew Biden’s grand plan for debt relief was no sure thing. And I wondered if Kurt’s loans might qualify for another, lesser-understood form of debt relief that did not have to survive the courts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the end of our chat, I asked Kurt to send me every record of every payment he’d ever made. The plan was to manually tally his payments, all 19 years’ worth, to see if he qualified for this \u003cem>other\u003c/em> kind of relief.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some borrowers might have been daunted by having to excavate so many records from multiple loan servicers. Kurt agreed eagerly, with a laugh.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The sleeper debt relief that’s helped thousands of borrowers\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Before I met Kurt, in April 2022, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/04/01/1089750113/student-loan-debt-investigation\">NPR published the damning findings of a monthslong investigation\u003c/a> into federal, income-driven repayment plans (IDR).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These IDR plans were meant to help lower-income borrowers by pegging their monthly payments to their income: The less they earn, the less they have to pay each month. They were meant to be an engine of good and to keep struggling borrowers from defaulting on their loans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But NPR revealed a list of shocking problems that were hurting, not helping, borrowers. Though these plans promised loan forgiveness after 20 or 25 years, NPR found that some loan servicers weren’t counting payments, meaning they had no idea if, or when, a borrower qualified for forgiveness. Servicers were also miscounting payments, not always giving borrowers credit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On top of that, advocates had been sounding the alarm for millions of borrowers who could have benefited from these repayment plans — like Kurt — but were never told about them or, worse, were put into forbearance instead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>IDR had become a debacle of good intentions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two weeks after NPR released its investigation, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/04/19/1093310151/student-loans-income-based-repayment\">the Biden administration committed to a sweeping IDR overhaul\u003c/a>, promising to review the payment histories of millions of borrowers, find and fix these mistakes, and give borrowers retroactive credit toward IDR’s promise of loan forgiveness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Basically, a monumental do-over.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_62879\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-62879\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/231202_studentloans_patrickjunker_dsc0964_slide-1fe3c6134b8ca4a57b9271342efc944350128bed-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/231202_studentloans_patrickjunker_dsc0964_slide-1fe3c6134b8ca4a57b9271342efc944350128bed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/231202_studentloans_patrickjunker_dsc0964_slide-1fe3c6134b8ca4a57b9271342efc944350128bed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/231202_studentloans_patrickjunker_dsc0964_slide-1fe3c6134b8ca4a57b9271342efc944350128bed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/231202_studentloans_patrickjunker_dsc0964_slide-1fe3c6134b8ca4a57b9271342efc944350128bed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/231202_studentloans_patrickjunker_dsc0964_slide-1fe3c6134b8ca4a57b9271342efc944350128bed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/231202_studentloans_patrickjunker_dsc0964_slide-1fe3c6134b8ca4a57b9271342efc944350128bed-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/231202_studentloans_patrickjunker_dsc0964_slide-1fe3c6134b8ca4a57b9271342efc944350128bed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kurt, Elisabeth and Pauline ride the carousel at the Christmas market in Mannheim, Germany. \u003ccite>(Patrick Junker for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Which brings us full circle to Kurt Panton, who’d been repaying his loans for \u003cem>19\u003c/em> \u003cem>years\u003c/em> when we met. Under this do-over, he could technically qualify for loan forgiveness in one more year. \u003cem>Technically\u003c/em>. But no one quite understood how or when this do-over would happen, and the U.S. Department of Education was still completely focused on the fate of Biden’s larger debt relief plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After that first Zoom, last December, Kurt pulled together his entire payment history. We kept in touch through spring, as I plugged hundreds of his payments into a spreadsheet. In June, the Supreme Court struck down Biden’s big relief plan. Kurt’s Plan A was gone. It was time to put Plan B to the test.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kurt and I hopped on Zoom again in August. This time, Pauline was about 10 months old, and she sat on his lap as I showed them the spreadsheet I’d made.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re having fun talking student loans! I hope you never have to pay student loans, little one,” Kurt said to Pauline, laughing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_62881\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-62881\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/231202_studentloans_patrickjunker_dsc0397_slide-42839dd15ae20fd6754251e14bb540b0a7b6117f-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/231202_studentloans_patrickjunker_dsc0397_slide-42839dd15ae20fd6754251e14bb540b0a7b6117f-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/231202_studentloans_patrickjunker_dsc0397_slide-42839dd15ae20fd6754251e14bb540b0a7b6117f-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/231202_studentloans_patrickjunker_dsc0397_slide-42839dd15ae20fd6754251e14bb540b0a7b6117f-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/231202_studentloans_patrickjunker_dsc0397_slide-42839dd15ae20fd6754251e14bb540b0a7b6117f-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/231202_studentloans_patrickjunker_dsc0397_slide-42839dd15ae20fd6754251e14bb540b0a7b6117f-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/231202_studentloans_patrickjunker_dsc0397_slide-42839dd15ae20fd6754251e14bb540b0a7b6117f-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/231202_studentloans_patrickjunker_dsc0397_slide-42839dd15ae20fd6754251e14bb540b0a7b6117f-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kurt Panton and his daughter, Pauline, at home in a village outside Mannheim, Germany. \u003ccite>(Patrick Junker for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>To qualify for forgiveness under the IDR do-over, a borrower needs to have been in repayment for 20 years, which is 240 monthly payments. By our count, Kurt had made 233, though that was a conservative estimate, ignoring a few months that had disappeared with servicers’ poor record-keeping.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You are so close,” I told Kurt as we moved down the spreadsheet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I am so close!” he laughed back. “When you were scrolling down on the spreadsheet, I was like, ‘Please get to 240, please.’ And then I saw 233 and I was like, ‘Nooo!'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The good news for Kurt was that the Education Department had recently announced the first round of reviews under this IDR do-over and said it would be erasing the loans of more than 800,000 people — just like him (a number that would continue to grow). All he had to do was wait seven more months, at the most.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Turns out, it was a lot less than that.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>“I think I’m done, Mom!”\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>In the middle of November, Kurt woke up early with Pauline, who had a cold. He fed her, changed her diaper, and lay down on the couch with her, hoping she’d fall back asleep.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She’s lying on my chest on the couch,” Kurt says, “and I really can’t go back to sleep that quickly. So I check my email, and as soon as I saw the subject I thought, ‘Oh my God, this is it!'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The email was from the Education Department, and it said that under that big IDR do-over, Kurt now qualifies to have his remaining $18,000 in loans forgiven — 20 years since his first payment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I ask Kurt how he’ll celebrate, he calls his mom, Barbara.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I am very, very proud of you,” she says, suggesting maybe now Kurt will consider going back to school to work on a doctorate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t think so,” Kurt says, laughing. “I think I’m done, Mom!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After Kurt hangs up, his wife, Lizzy, grabs a small, twist-top bottle of bubbly from the fridge, and they toast the email that says Kurt’s loans will soon be in his past — while his future sleeps quietly in the other room.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"headTitle": "Can AI Someday Help Universities Sort Through College Essays? | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was \u003ca href=\"https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/12/08/researchers-use-ai-to-analyze-college-essays/\" rel=\"canonical\">originally published\u003c/a> by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at \u003ca href=\"https://ckbe.at/newsletters\">ckbe.at/newsletters.\u003c/a>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every year, university admissions officers read and sort through tens of thousands of essays. It’s a long, arduous process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, some researchers say an artificial intelligence tool may be able to help admissions officers sort through essays and recognize prospective students who might previously have gone unrecognized.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The application is a long way off from actually being used in the admissions process, but the group that includes researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder say it has the ability to pull out key traits of students, such as leadership qualities or the ability to persevere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The possible use of AI in admissions, however, raises questions about how universities would responsibly use it, especially because college admissions officers have said essays might carry more weight \u003ca href=\"https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/6/29/23778437/affirmative-action-supreme-court-colorado-colleges/\">in the wake of the Supreme Court decision eliminating the use of race-based admissions\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sidney D’Mello, a CU Boulder professor in the Institute of Cognitive Science and Department of Computer Science who helped develop the system, said he and fellow researchers want to emphasize the responsible use of AI, including calling for transparency in how admissions decisions would be made.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re certainly very, very firm on the fact that it’s really what we call human-centered AI,” he said, “where the human is really the one making the decisions” and the AI acts as a tool.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To develop the AI tool, D’Mello and researchers from the University of Pennsylvania used more than 300,000 anonymous, 150-word essays submitted to colleges in 2008 and 2009. Those essays focused on extracurricular activities and work experiences.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A group of admissions officers then read those essays and scored them based on seven characteristics. The researchers trained the AI system based on how admissions officers evaluated those characteristics within the essays.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The AI platform was able to identify those characteristics in new essays and assign qualities to applicants across different student backgrounds, including whether students demonstrated teamwork or intrinsic motivation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>D’Mello said the model also showed it has potential to avoid bias by being designed not to show a preference for any particular racial, gender, or socioeconomic background.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is really kind of blending what computers do best — they can find patterns in large volumes of data — with what humans do best and that’s finding the best in each other,” D’Mello said. “This is the core of how we’ve been trying to approach this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many universities across the country are evaluating their admissions processes after the Supreme Court’s affirmative action decision banning race-based admissions. They want to ensure they build diverse classes while still complying with the law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/fact-sheet-president-biden-announces-actions-promote-educational-opportunity-and-diversity-colleges-and-universities\">U.S. Department of Education guidelines encourage colleges to use materials\u003c/a> such as essays to get a fuller picture of who students are, the communities they come from, and any adversity — including discrimination — they might have dealt with.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the same time, Melissa Clinedinst, director of research initiatives and partnership with the National Association for College Admission Counseling, said schools still rank essays lower than a student’s grades for college admissions or test scores. \u003ca href=\"https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2021/4/28/22408538/colorado-public-colleges-test-optional-bill-advances-amendment-reporting-requirements/\">Colorado has made test scores optional for students\u003c/a> for students applying to public universities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Clinedist said colleges are trying harder than ever to find ways to improve their admissions processes. She could see how AI systems might appeal to school officials who have to sort through thousands to tens of thousands of essays with only limited staff to do so.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>AJ Alvero, a computational sociologist at the University of Florida who focuses on language, ethnicity, culture, and education, and who wasn’t involved in the study, but reviewed it at the request of Chalkbeat, said the researchers do a great job keeping the ethical issues of bias at the forefront of their study.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Getting to a point where universities could use AI systems might be a long way away, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A technical concern here could be, if and when universities adopt these tools, are they considering how student language is changing?” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He also said universities would need to put accountability measures in place if there are errors and have staff on hand, such as a computer scientist, to handle any potential problems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alvero said schools would also benefit students by allowing more transparency in the application process. Transparency could also give researchers a better look at how to evaluate bias within school decisions and how to train the AI systems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>D’Mello and his fellow researchers hope to continue to develop the AI, including small testing in cooperation with universities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We really want to take a measure twice, cut once approach when it comes to high-stakes things such as this,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.chalkbeat.org/authors/jason-gonzales\">\u003ci>Jason Gonzales\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a reporter covering higher education and the Colorado legislature. Chalkbeat Colorado partners with \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.opencampusmedia.org/\">\u003ci>Open Campus\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> on higher education coverage. Contact Jason at \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"mailto:jgonzales@chalkbeat.org\">\u003ci>jgonzales@chalkbeat.org\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/12/08/researchers-use-ai-to-analyze-college-essays/\" rel='\"canonical'>Chalkbeat\u003c/a> is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sidney D’Mello, a CU Boulder professor in the Institute of Cognitive Science and Department of Computer Science who helped develop the system, said he and fellow researchers want to emphasize the responsible use of AI, including calling for transparency in how admissions decisions would be made.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re certainly very, very firm on the fact that it’s really what we call human-centered AI,” he said, “where the human is really the one making the decisions” and the AI acts as a tool.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To develop the AI tool, D’Mello and researchers from the University of Pennsylvania used more than 300,000 anonymous, 150-word essays submitted to colleges in 2008 and 2009. Those essays focused on extracurricular activities and work experiences.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A group of admissions officers then read those essays and scored them based on seven characteristics. The researchers trained the AI system based on how admissions officers evaluated those characteristics within the essays.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The AI platform was able to identify those characteristics in new essays and assign qualities to applicants across different student backgrounds, including whether students demonstrated teamwork or intrinsic motivation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>D’Mello said the model also showed it has potential to avoid bias by being designed not to show a preference for any particular racial, gender, or socioeconomic background.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is really kind of blending what computers do best — they can find patterns in large volumes of data — with what humans do best and that’s finding the best in each other,” D’Mello said. “This is the core of how we’ve been trying to approach this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many universities across the country are evaluating their admissions processes after the Supreme Court’s affirmative action decision banning race-based admissions. They want to ensure they build diverse classes while still complying with the law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/fact-sheet-president-biden-announces-actions-promote-educational-opportunity-and-diversity-colleges-and-universities\">U.S. Department of Education guidelines encourage colleges to use materials\u003c/a> such as essays to get a fuller picture of who students are, the communities they come from, and any adversity — including discrimination — they might have dealt with.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the same time, Melissa Clinedinst, director of research initiatives and partnership with the National Association for College Admission Counseling, said schools still rank essays lower than a student’s grades for college admissions or test scores. \u003ca href=\"https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2021/4/28/22408538/colorado-public-colleges-test-optional-bill-advances-amendment-reporting-requirements/\">Colorado has made test scores optional for students\u003c/a> for students applying to public universities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Clinedist said colleges are trying harder than ever to find ways to improve their admissions processes. She could see how AI systems might appeal to school officials who have to sort through thousands to tens of thousands of essays with only limited staff to do so.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>AJ Alvero, a computational sociologist at the University of Florida who focuses on language, ethnicity, culture, and education, and who wasn’t involved in the study, but reviewed it at the request of Chalkbeat, said the researchers do a great job keeping the ethical issues of bias at the forefront of their study.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Getting to a point where universities could use AI systems might be a long way away, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A technical concern here could be, if and when universities adopt these tools, are they considering how student language is changing?” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He also said universities would need to put accountability measures in place if there are errors and have staff on hand, such as a computer scientist, to handle any potential problems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alvero said schools would also benefit students by allowing more transparency in the application process. Transparency could also give researchers a better look at how to evaluate bias within school decisions and how to train the AI systems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>D’Mello and his fellow researchers hope to continue to develop the AI, including small testing in cooperation with universities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We really want to take a measure twice, cut once approach when it comes to high-stakes things such as this,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.chalkbeat.org/authors/jason-gonzales\">\u003ci>Jason Gonzales\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a reporter covering higher education and the Colorado legislature. Chalkbeat Colorado partners with \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.opencampusmedia.org/\">\u003ci>Open Campus\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> on higher education coverage. Contact Jason at \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"mailto:jgonzales@chalkbeat.org\">\u003ci>jgonzales@chalkbeat.org\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/12/08/researchers-use-ai-to-analyze-college-essays/\" rel='\"canonical'>Chalkbeat\u003c/a> is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Government efforts to erase student loan debt have now reached 3.6 million borrowers",
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"content": "\u003cp>More than 900,000 borrowers have had roughly $44 billion in federal student loan debts approved to be erased in the last year because of a little-understood effort to address past mistakes with federal income-driven (IDR) repayment plans, the U.S. Department of Education announced today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition, the Department said almost 750,000 borrowers have now received up to $53.5 billion in relief through changes to the once-troubled Public Service Loan Forgiveness plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Combined, the Biden administration says it has approved the cancellation of nearly $132 billion in federal student loan debts for more than 3.6 million Americans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The data released today once again make clear that the Biden-Harris Administration’s relentless efforts to fix the broken student loan system are paying off in a big way … ” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a statement. “This level of debt relief is unparalleled and we have no intention of slowing down.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The announcement is the latest result from a complex, slow-moving “account adjustment” the Department promised in \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/04/19/1093310151/student-loans-income-based-repayment\">April, 2022\u003c/a>. That effort came after advocates and an \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/04/01/1089750113/student-loan-debt-investigation\">NPR investigation\u003c/a> revealed mistakes and mismanagement of IDR plans, which promise affordable monthly payments based on a borrower’s income and loan forgiveness after 20 or 25 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among the problems the Biden administration committed to address: Some loan servicers weren’t keeping track of borrowers’ progress toward forgiveness, low-income borrowers didn’t always receive credit toward forgiveness when they made their monthly payments, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/12/19/1144064881/millions-of-student-loan-borrowers-debt-unnecessarily-spent-years-in-forbearance\">millions of borrowers spent long periods of time in forbearance\u003c/a> because that was easier for servicers than helping borrowers enroll in an IDR plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a result, the Department committed to reviewing the loan histories of millions of borrowers and giving them retroactive credit for these mistakes, bringing many of them much closer to loan forgiveness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This account adjustment has taken considerable time, as the Department has been reviewing borrowers’ records in tranches. It \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/07/14/1187660793/student-loan-forgiveness-income-driven-repayment\">announced the first and largest tranche of loan forgiveness in July\u003c/a>, with 804,000 borrowers receiving $39 billion in debt relief. In early October, \u003ca href=\"https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/biden-harris-administration-announces-additional-9-billion-student-debt-relief\">it announced a second tranche\u003c/a> of 51,000 borrowers receiving another $2.8 billion in relief.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wednesday marks the Department’s latest tranche of borrowers – an additional 46,000 who will receive $2.2 billion in relief – under the IDR account adjustment.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>‘I immediately just burst into tears.’\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>At the same time, the Education Department has also been updating its tally of borrowers who have received debt relief following its efforts to make it easier to qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness, a\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2018/10/17/653853227/the-student-loan-whistleblower\"> long-troubled program\u003c/a> that promises debt relief for borrowers who stay current on their payments while working for a decade in public service.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Phoema Dubra is one of those borrowers. She earned her master’s degree from Ole Miss, and, until earlier this year, had about $80,000 in student loans. She now works as a speech language pathologist in the public schools in Dallas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than once over the years, Dubra struggled to afford her monthly loan payment, but didn’t know she could enroll in a more flexible, income-based repayment plan. Instead, when she called her loan servicer for help, she says, her loans were put into forbearance, pausing payments but allowing interest to keep accruing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She wasn’t alone. According to federal data, in the decade before \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/10/02/1202937029/pause-on-federal-student-loans-ends-millions-have-to-make-payments-again\">the pandemic payment pause\u003c/a>, nearly 12 million borrowers spent at least 12 straight months in forbearance. Nearly 5.5 million borrowers, including Dubra, spent at least \u003cem>three years\u003c/em> in forbearance. Many, perhaps most, could have benefited from income-based repayment, had they known about it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In February, Dubra was told that, under changes to PSLF rules, in return for her decade of service in schools as well as a stint in a public hospital, her remaining loans had been canceled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I immediately just burst into tears,” Dubra says. She had called her loan servicer, “and the [call center worker] was so nice, and she said, ‘This is the purpose of this.’ I’ll never forget her saying that. ‘This is why we do this, because you’ve worked so hard to help other people, and now is our time to help you.’ ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Government+efforts+to+erase+student+loan+debt+have+now+reached+3.6+million+borrowers&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareportmagazine",
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"order": 10
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM3NjkwNjk1OTAz",
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},
"city-arts": {
"id": "city-arts",
"title": "City Arts & Lectures",
"info": "A one-hour radio program to hear celebrated writers, artists and thinkers address contemporary ideas and values, often discussing the creative process. Please note: tapes or transcripts are not available",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/05/cityartsandlecture-300x300.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.cityarts.net/",
"airtime": "SUN 1pm-2pm, TUE 10pm, WED 1am",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "City Arts & Lectures"
},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
"subscribe": {
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/City-Arts-and-Lectures-p692/",
"rss": "https://www.cityarts.net/feed/"
}
},
"closealltabs": {
"id": "closealltabs",
"title": "Close All Tabs",
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"info": "Close All Tabs breaks down how digital culture shapes our world through thoughtful insights and irreverent humor.",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/closealltabs",
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"order": 1
},
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"id": "code-switch-life-kit",
"title": "Code Switch / Life Kit",
"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"meta": {
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnByLm9yZy9yc3MvcG9kY2FzdC5waHA_aWQ9NTEwMzEy",
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"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
"airtime": "THU 10pm, FRI 1am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"meta": {
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"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
"link": "/radio/program/commonwealth-club",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
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},
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"id": "forum",
"title": "Forum",
"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9am-11am, 10pm-11pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Forum with Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal",
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"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 9
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5NTU3MzgxNjMz",
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"id": "freakonomics-radio",
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"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/freakonomicsRadio.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://freakonomics.com/",
"airtime": "SUN 1am-2am, SAT 3pm-4pm",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/freakonomics-radio",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/4s8b",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/freakonomics-radio/id354668519",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/Freakonomics-Radio-p272293/",
"rss": "https://feeds.feedburner.com/freakonomicsradio"
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},
"fresh-air": {
"id": "fresh-air",
"title": "Fresh Air",
"info": "Hosted by Terry Gross, \u003cem>Fresh Air from WHYY\u003c/em> is the Peabody Award-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues. One of public radio's most popular programs, Fresh Air features intimate conversations with today's biggest luminaries.",
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"link": "/radio/program/fresh-air",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=214089682&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/381444908/podcast.xml"
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"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510051/podcast.xml"
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},
"hidden-brain": {
"id": "hidden-brain",
"title": "Hidden Brain",
"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/series/423302056/hidden-brain",
"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "NPR"
},
"link": "/radio/program/hidden-brain",
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},
"how-i-built-this": {
"id": "how-i-built-this",
"title": "How I Built This with Guy Raz",
"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/howIBuiltThis.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this",
"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/3zxy",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-built-this-with-guy-raz/id1150510297?mt=2",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510313/podcast.xml"
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},
"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
"title": "Hyphenación",
"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Hyphenacion_FinalAssets_PodcastTile.png",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 15
},
"link": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
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"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/2p3Fifq96nw9BPcmFdIq0o?si=39209f7b25774f38",
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"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC2275451163"
}
},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 18
},
"link": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1492194549",
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}
},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
"meta": {
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"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"
}
},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
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"source": "WaitWhat"
},
"link": "/radio/program/masters-of-scale",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "http://mastersofscale.app.link/",
"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/464615685/mind-shift-podcast",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/stories-teachers-share",
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}
},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3am-9am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Morning-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/morning-edition/",
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"link": "/radio/program/morning-edition"
},
"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "On Our Watch from NPR and KQED",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 11
},
"link": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1567098962",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM2MC9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbD9zYz1nb29nbGVwb2RjYXN0cw",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510360/podcast.xml"
}
},
"on-the-media": {
"id": "on-the-media",
"title": "On The Media",
"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm-3pm, MON 12am-1am",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/onTheMedia.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/otm",
"meta": {
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"source": "wnyc"
},
"link": "/radio/program/on-the-media",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/on-the-media/id73330715?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/On-the-Media-p69/",
"rss": "http://feeds.wnyc.org/onthemedia"
}
},
"pbs-newshour": {
"id": "pbs-newshour",
"title": "PBS NewsHour",
"info": "Analysis, background reports and updates from the PBS NewsHour putting today's news in context.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/PBS-News-Hour-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "pbs"
},
"link": "/radio/program/pbs-newshour",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pbs-newshour-full-show/id394432287?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/PBS-NewsHour---Full-Show-p425698/",
"rss": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/feeds/rss/podcasts/show"
}
},
"perspectives": {
"id": "perspectives",
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