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Title: New protections for private student loan borrowers: how legislation and other actions are helping students make informed decisions.(FINANCIAL AID)
Author: Haley Chitty
Publication: University Business (Magazine/Journal)
Date: November 1, … More >>

New protections for private student loan borrowers: how legislation and other actions are helping students make informed decisions.: An article from: University Business

An overshadowed aspect of congressional health care bills involves new provisions for student loans. As Ben Tracy reports, sweeping changes are in store throughout the US for college lending.

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Your college success may be dependent on how well you take notes. If you were not used to attending lectures in high school, you may find the transition to the courses offered by colleges difficult. It may even be difficult to pay attention as a university professor delivers a lecture, but note-taking can help keep you focused. All that you need are a few basic tools and a little advice. That’s what you will learn about in this article.

Universities vary in the assistance that they offer to their students. Some college professors videotape their lectures and then post them online, making it easier for students to “tune in” at a later time. If the university you are attending does not offer this kind of service, consider purchasing an inexpensive tape recorder. Many students find that listening again, while reading their notes, is an effective way to study.

You will, of course, need notebooks or legal pads and writing utensils. Highlighter pens are beneficial. Colleges often include handouts as a part of the course curriculum. Buy a hole-punch, so that you can store these handouts in a three ring binder. When you do use highlighters or colored pens, use them sparingly. Too much color becomes ineffective. The purpose is to attract your attention. You can also highlight key points in your own notes.

Before class, record the date and the class name. If you know what the material will be about, title the page accordingly. This will help you find what you are looking for when exam time comes around. When you are taking notes from a college text book or something in the university library, write down the name of the book. You may find that you need to return to it later, for reference. Don’t write in complete sentences, come up with phrases that will help you remember the critical points and write clearly enough so that you can read your notes later.

Some colleges and universities have developed their own “systems” for note taking. The Cornell method is one example. This system suggests that you leave blank spaces between your phrases or other pertinent information. As soon as possible after the class, you go back through the notes and “fill in” the blanks. In the margins of the page, you might list new vocabulary words or questions that you think could be on a test. If done correctly, your notes become a good study guide.

Sometimes university students forget to ask questions. Some professors don’t allow questions until after the lecture is complete. This is another place where note-taking comes in handy. Record any question that you have during the lecture and ask for clarification at the end of class. Your success in college could depend on that single question. Don’t be afraid to ask.

No doubt you have been given numerous guides on how to write your dissertation, how many sources you should be looking for and in what tone you should be writing down your research and evaluation/conclusions for your reader, but how do you actually structure your dissertation? Do you really know if the rationale comes before the methodology? This short article identifies the main structure that colleges and universities go from and expect students to follow when setting out their dissertation.

Abstract – this is a synopsis of the whole document, which should allow your reader to gain an understanding of the objectives and outcome of the actual dissertation. You are looking to keep this part brief and to the point, looking to write no more than 130 words.

Contents – will list the main parts of the dissertation, with subsections, and will have page numbers for these sections. You should aim to have the different areas of your work under different headings. Also, many students prefer to create a rough draft of the contents page as a structural plan to help them include everything in their research paper. This can help some students write more effectively and on topic.

Introduction – this section should provide the reader with a detailed, yet focused view to the background of the dissertation research project and will set out the structure of the paper. You should also summarize the main conclusions and outcomes of your paper to provide a complete overview of the paper. Many students choose to write their introduction around a journey through the project, you should introduce the topic, say what will happen and what were the other things that happened in the process.

Literature Review – this chapter of your work will outline all of the previous research that is relevant to your research project. You will review these and construct an argument within to result in a hypothesis or research question. You should also concentrate on the most important points here, as this is the key area to bring in relevant content.

Methods Chapter – you will want to identify the different methods that you will be using in the research project. You should also mention ones that you have dismissed and are choosing not to include, and specifying the reasons why. You should also provide support for the different methods that you are going to be using and allow the reader to understand why these are beneficial to the study. Describing why you would not use a certain research method will also be relevant in this chapter.

Data Analysis – analyzing the data collection from the research process will be one key part of your dissertation research paper. You should display significant data in the form of graphs, charts and diagrams to identify any key areas where the research discovered a trend or significant piece of information. You should also make sure that this chapter can sit independently from your conclusion chapter, and that in the conclusions area of this chapter, you should be able to focus on the data analysis and what it means.

Discussion – as the researcher of your dissertation, this section should be to identify the data that you have analyzed and present your main findings.

Conclusion – commonly though of as the ‘wrapping up’ of your paper, this section is a summary of the main points that you have covered in your research paper. You will need to analyze what your paper contains and then be able to communicate this clearly to the reader. You could also evaluate this actual conclusion too and make recommendations for further analysis or research.

Bibliography – all reference should be listed alphabetically, this doesnt matter whether you have quoted from them or not. You should include the authors name, title, place of publication, publisher and date when including any material in your bibliography.

Appendices – a section that will include such things as a copy of the questionnaire, transcript of interviews and other relevant documents to your dissertation. Such information would disrupt the flow of your argument and thus be better placed here.

If you follow this simple design, then you should be able to put together a seamless dissertation thesis. You don’t want your reader to be reading a dissertation paper that is disjointed and that they won’t be able to read easily. You want to lead them on a journey and be able to provide them with a story about your research project. Also, you should make sure you have your work checked by a professional proofreader before you submit it.

College admission is, in its simplest form, a numbers game. In fact, while some would call it a kind of lottery, lotteries offer almost no chance of success to those who participate in them, while quite the opposite is true of college admission. There are nearly 3,500 colleges and universities in the United States (counting two and four year institutions) so students have no shortage of options. So, students who do a little research and a bit of thinking about what kind of educational environment best suits them should not have a problem landing at a college or university in which he or she is likely to be happy and academically successful. Believe it or not, students who start their college search early, make good use of the college and financial aid information available in college guides and websites, and ultimately apply to at least four or five carefully chosen colleges can sail through the process with little or no anxiety or hassle. Despite the media’s preoccupation with how tough it is to get admitted to the Harvard’s, Yale’s, and Princeton’s of the world, a very small number of colleges deny admission to nearly as many students as they admit. Thus, if you do not have the grades, SAT scores and desire to attend a very highly selective college and you have applied to a realistic set of colleges your chances at each are high. On the other hand, if your grades and test scores put you in the top five percent and you are applying to the highly selective few, just be sure to also apply to a few of the hundreds of great schools that are not quite as selective.

Generally speaking, the stronger the reputation of a college, the more selective it can afford to be. But, luckily for students, many excellent colleges and universities do not receive enough applications from top tier students to be highly selective.

Remembering these statistics, you are ready to begin the process of selecting and gaining admission to a college. Look for and find six to eight colleges which offer the major(s) of greatest interest to you, are likely to admit students with your grades and scores, and provide the campus lifestyle and environment you seek. Start by meeting with your college counselor to:

1. ask for his/her college recommendations.

2. discuss the courses you plan to take in future years.

4. register to take both the ACT and SAT exams.

4. find out which college admissions counselors will be visiting your high school.

5. register for the college night programs in your region.

Don’t forget that the web is a great source of information. Do a few searches for terms like “colleges”, “college scholarships”, “financial aid” and “college admissions” to identify some good online resources.

Once you’ve completed the above steps, you are well on your way. It doesn’t have to difficult.

No doubt you are a student in academia at the moment, or you may even be a parent researching exactly what you son/daughter will be doing for their thesis. An academic thesis is a study that represents individual (or sometimes group) research, which is then concluded and grounded around written evidence, by the individual student; it is submitted in partial fulfillment of a degree at a recognised university.

There are many different subjects that the student can choose to conduct their research, but will include both secondary and primary research, with the latter encompassing investigation and experimentation with a research sample. The research thesis paper will be measured for originality and it findings, as well as other aspects that have been identified by the school it is submitted to.

The research is considered the main part of the thesis and will start a long time before the student begins to think about a hypothesis. A plan is an important step to ensure that everything will be covered in the research process, and the student should plan the different aspects of their research project to meet the submission deadline.

This research stage of the course, which is when the thesis project is undertaken, is generally towards the end of the course, and on many postgraduate degree courses is the final element. For undergraduates, it will cover the final year of their course and will count heavily to their final degree grade.

Masters’ degrees do require all student to submit a thesis that will contribute between 3% and 18% to the final grading. It will generally take place over the summer term and last some 4 to 5 months. If the student chooses not to complete the thesis then they will not be able to receive a master’s degree.

Therefore, the thesis is an important part of any degree course and should be considered highly valuable to your final degree grade. There are strict guidelines to submission, other than the deadline, and these should be followed, as they are often more stringent than that of an essay.

Production of a thesis may require the student to put up a plausible defense in-front of the awarding panel, at their institution. Generally, only a few people will be chosen, and in some cases none, when they are submitting a thesis on an undergraduate degree or masters degree course. It is usually at this point where a defense is only seen for doctoral theses.

However, the student should be aware that they may be called upon to defend their writing and research, as well as opinions, view and conclusions of their paper. Keeping in mind here, that it is often best to provide tangible examples when referring to what you have written in your actual paper.

Years ago, many highly selective colleges and universities required that all applicants complete an interview with a staff member and/or an alumnus.

Now, far fewer educational institutions insist on an interview, although a significant number do. And, although other institutions do not use the word “interview”, they often rate applicants after conversing with them. At some institutions, even students participate in applicant evaluations.

You would be well advised to assume that anything you say to an institutional representative may influence your admission decision. Here are ten ways to help yourself.

1. Never indicate that a college or graduate school is not your first choice: if you do, you may put your chance of admission at risk.

2. Do not express doubt about continuing your education. Graduate school applicants should not express doubt about wanting to pursue the degree program in question. For grad school applicants, expressing doubt can be the kiss of death.

3. Dress appropriately for all meetings with institutional representatives.

4. Read the printed literature and websites of the institutions to which you are sending applications. Do not brand yourself as lazy by asking a question which can be answered after five minutes on the college/university website.

5. Never make a comment to a student tour guide or anyone else that you would not want the Dean of Admission to hear. If you do, he or she will.

6. Send thank you notes to anyone who spends significant time with you. The less generic they sound, the better.

7. If a family member accompanies you on a campus visit, which can be a good idea, be sure he/she knows not to be a “helicopter” parent or spouse.

8. Have a few well-conceived questions prepared to underline your interest. The critical phrase here is “well-conceived”.

9. Do not make statements that assume your admission, regardless of your qualifications. Humility is a virtue…if you don’t have it, fake it until you do.

10. Meet with representatives of your top choices only after you have had practice with a few of your back up choices. It’s a good strategy.

Essentially, successful interviewing is a combination of good manners, well developed listening skills, reasonable analytical ability, and practice. You can do it.

With the ability to keep working, take care of a family, and receive a quality education without relocating, distance learning degrees have continued to increase in popularity. Unfortunately, the Internet also provides a venue for bogus diploma mills sprouting up to make money on the sale of fake degrees. In a report published in 2003, USA Today says 400 such businesses are currently in operation, and the numbers are increasing as these dubious businesses continue to make approximately $500 million annually.

Nevertheless, many colleges and universities are now offering legitimate degrees and diplomas. Unlike the mills, institutions of higher learning are doing everything possible to provide the same quality of education offered to students in the traditional learning environment. With access to video lectures, online courses, innovative online testing methods, and virtual library facilities, those seeking distance learning degrees can rest assured their diplomas have been justly earned. Unfortunately, many employers’ views have been tainted because of the influx of fake degrees.

To address the misinformation, 6 accreditation agencies have been authorized by the U.S. National Education Board to weed out the unscrupulous bogus programs. Then, the agencies give accreditation to the colleges and universities that meet the minimum standards for legitimate learning institutions. In addition, the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC) also provide accreditation specifically to distance learning schools. The DETC has the backing of both the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) and the Department of Education. Therefore the students can rest assured their education has matched, and often exceeded that of their traditional peers.

In addition, specific programs in specialized areas can obtain accreditation through the agencies associated with the subject matter. For example, the American Health Information Management Association provides accreditation for qualifying health programs; accounting programs are assessed by the International Association for Management Education. However, it only counts if the agencies are endorsed by the Department of Education or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.

Why does accreditation matter to a student? A college accreditation agency evaluates the different aspects of colleges or universities against minimum standard criteria to determine if the particular institution meets set basic requirements that determine the quality of education it should offer. College accreditation is important to ensure that the quality of education, facilities in a college and support given by that college meets certain standards while specialized accreditation checks the excellence of specific programs regardless of the institution offering that program. Likewise it means specialized accreditation check on course content and the curriculum of the program against pre-determined standards of the distance learning college or university.

Accreditation ensures students have received quality and adequate training in their perspective areas of study and definitely earned their distance learning degrees. Parents and potential employers can believe these students are prepared to become a productive member of society. By the same token, employees who have taken accredited courses have met the requirements of their specialize area of study. Alternatively, it also mean that institutions denied accreditation have not met the minimum standards of excellence.

Nevertheless, in the end, it all comes down to the discretion of the employer. He or she must decide whether potential employees have satisfactorily completed an online degree program. Hopefully, with accreditation through a well recognized agency, the confusion can be eliminated, and a valid resume will make it to the short list of excellent candidates with their distance learning degrees as an impressive symbol of fortitude and dedication to personal achievement.

After high school many people dream of going to college for the next several years, meeting lots of life long friends and going to a lot of parties. That reality is not the case for everyone though. It costs money and takes time for that lifestyle and many people need to finish college fast to earn a degree and get out in the real world supporting them and their family.

Someone in the military for example who does not have the luxury to be on a campus due to the fact that they are out at sea or overseas for an extended period of time. Another example would be someone who works fulltime and is not able to stop working in order to finish a degree program.

Whatever the reason for not being able to go to college fulltime to finish a degree there are other options to consider. So yes the traditional experience of going to college may not happen fully or at all, but at least it is possible to still complete a degree and get on with your professional working life as quick as possible.

The first thing you may be thinking is online or distance education programs. Yes those can be great ways to get a college degree without being on campus and giving you flexibility to do so.

To finish as fast as you can it may require additional steps as well. In case you are not aware there are tests that if you successfully pass them (and there are study guides) you may not be required to then complete certain college classes. Completing one or several of these tests could save you money and time.

The CLEP or College Level Examination Program is one of these tests. Some colleges allow you to earn up to 12 credit hours from a CLEP exam. Some colleges also use these as a part of admissions. Remember however to check with the college you want to earn your degree from to make sure they accept CLEP exams as each college has different policies.

Some examples of the CLEP exams you can take include Accounting, American Government, American Literature, Analyzing and Interpreting Literature, and more.

Hopefully completing your college education as fast as possible may seem more doable now. With a combination of finishing CLEP exams along with online colleges (assuming they accept CLEP) you may be able to finish your degree fast and get on with your professional career.

With the rise in demand for online bachelor degrees, many bogus learning institutions have mushroomed over the internet with the sole intention of taking advantage of innocent students seeking for a genuine degree. These so-called “Colleges” often attract applicants with their attractive degree programs which are boasts of easy graduation, low tuition fees, no examinations and credit given for life experience, all of which just sound too good to be true. Some of them even go to the extent of prospecting for customers by sending out bulk email citing university degrees for sale.

Therefore, with all the confusion generated, how can students sieve out the genuine from the bogus? This may be especially difficult for distance learning programs when students practically make their choices based on what is shown on a website. In many cases, especially for international students, it may not be feasible to visit the physical site of a college before enrolling. With this, making choices will really depend on the appearance and content of a website, which sometimes may not be an accurate judge of the creditability of a college.

One of the qualifying factors that can be utilized by students to make correct enrolment decisions is by determining the type of college accreditation that has been received by their college of consideration. If the college vaguely states itself as having “nationwide or worldwide accreditation” without stating specifically which regional accreditation body it is accredited with, then most likely this college does not possess legitimate accreditation.

In the U.S., college accreditation is awarded by one of the following six accreditation agencies which are all appointed by the National Board of Education – New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC), North Central Association of Schools and Colleges (NCA), Middle States Association of Schools and Colleges (MSA), Southern Association of Schools and Colleges (SACS), Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) and the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges (NWCCU). Each agency has been allocated responsibility for providing accreditation for schools in specific states. Therefore, it would be best to run checks on a particular online degree institution with the agency offering college accreditation for the state in which the college is registered in.

If a university sends out mass e-mailings offering on online Bachelor degrees, Master’s Degree, and even Doctorate degrees for a fixed rate, it is a sure sign the result will be a bogus degree. Course credits for such a degree may include such strange elements as: credit for life experiences, work experience, previous educational background, workshops, community services, travel, and books read in the past. To further confuse the issue, fake accrediting URLS are set up to prove accreditation, but unless it is from one of the 6 agencies endorsed by the Department of Education, the award is most likely phony. The unscrupulous institutions depend on the desperation of people who do not have the time, or the money, to earn a valid degree. Nevertheless, without that all-important diploma, good jobs are impossible to find.

In conclusion, as the awareness on bogus degrees increases amongst prospective employers, degrees obtained through a legitimate avenue of education can sometimes be mistaken for bogus online bachelor degrees too. Therefore, the best approach to select a college would ideally be based on legitimate college accreditation awarded by the appointed authorities to the respective colleges.