12 Ways to Make Sure Your Teen Doesn’t Boomerang Back

12 Ways to Make Sure Your Teen Doesn’t Boomerang Back | Bachelor's Degree Online

Here is a link that was sent to me from the people at Bachelors Degree Online. The article definitely has some good ideas about how to help children going off to college don't end up coming back so quickly. Although there is definitely a slant toward university life portrayed in the article, there are some good and common sense ideas that everyone can take and use in their lives.

Sometimes we forget about the little things in life. I have two favorite points from this list: setting expectations early and providing the child with a strong financial education.

No matter when you are thinking of college, it's never too early to start planning. The earlier you start thinking about it and getting things in order, the easier the change will be when you make the transition. I've heard Admissions reps talking to students at our school and they would try to make the prospective student think about daycare and transportation well in advance of starting. There will always been last minute things that go wrong, so there's no reason to figure out as much as you can in advance, so when something does go wrong, you can more easily take care of it.

I can't speak enough about having a strong financial understanding, which ties is specifically with living within your means. I have friends who are in college or recently graduated college. They always tell me how difficult it is to afford things, but then I see them with the new iPhone, toting around a tablet, showing off a new tattoo, or smoking the expensive cigarettes. Sometimes in life, we have to make sacrifices. Other times we just need to cut back. Society tells us we need the newest toys and the higher-priced consumables. Sometimes, all it takes is just cutting back. In the first three months of this year, Starbucks' net income from the US alone was over $309 million. There's a reason why they make so much and why we feel so poor. Maybe one should get used to making their own coffee, which would save a few dollars every day. Maybe one should make their own lunch instead of buying fast food or even snack food. Maybe one should carpool sometimes. Wherever one can cut down on the spending (even if it's just a few cents here and there), one will be able to afford the things that they need to easier.

It is a challenge to plan ahead and to live frugally, as well as do the other things listed, but the rewards are more than just an education at a school.

Graduation and Placement Rate Bias

The world of higher education is an interesting one. It's a world filled with misinformation, half-truths, and outright lies. Sometimes there are truths, but one usually has to do some digging to actually find them. As with most industries, there are good players and bad players. It's just a way of life. However, with most attempts to weed out the bad players, the good players are the ones that suffer.

The funny thing is how things aren't always how they seem. Take for example the rules of the Dept of Ed that for-profit schools disclose their on-time graduation rates, placement rates, costs, and other information. Any school that offers a Gainful Employment program, whether it's public, private, or for-profit, should release that information for that program. So why is it that all programs at a for-profit institution has to disclose that information? There are several reasons for that which we won't cover today.

Some people are under the impression if a school has to disclose something, then the numbers have to be really good. But what's considered really good? I've met a few who compare graduation rates and placement rates to grades on tests: if it's over 90% then it's good, if it's in the 80's% then it's ok, if it's in the 70's% then it's not so good, and if it's under that, then it's failing. It's not quite that simple.

Accrediting agencies have their own rules on these numbers. Graduation rates are figured on a time and a half basis, meaning if a program lasts two years, then the graduation rate is figured on people who completed in three years. Placement rates are figured on people who completed a program and obtained jobs in a related field; however, this figure doesn't take into account people who willingly chose not to get a job in a related field (yes, these people do exist - take for example an accountant who takes Medical Assisting to learn how to take care of her Great Aunt but has no intention of becoming a Medical Assistant). The rates themselves (like most statistics) don't tell the whole story, and usually ruling against the school. Most accrediting agencies look at around 60% as a good number for judging these rates.

However, have you ever wondered what a public university's rates were? These schools don't have to disclose this information for non-Gainful Employment programs. So, just because they aren't required to disclose it, does that mean that their rates are exemplary?

Here is an article about the 11 public universities with horrible graduation rates. These rates are based on time and a half for bachelor's degrees. The list of schools is found on a link in the page. I urge you to take a look. Some of the names will shock you.

Recent Updates

Here we are after July 1, so that means new rules are now in effect. So what have been the newest changes?

1. A new change which is nothing new but has had no publicity is that fees on federal Stafford loans. On the Subsidized, Unsubsidized, and PLUS loans, there were fees but some part of the fees had been part of a rebate. Well, the rebate is gone so the fee goes up now. Last year, the fee was .5% on Subsidized and Unsubsidized, but now it will be 1%. PLUS loans last year were 2.5%, but now they will be 4%.
2. At seemingly the last minute Congress finally passed the extension of the Subsidized interest rate on June 29. It was signed into law the first week of July. This extension ensures that the Subsidized loan's interest rate will remain at 3.4% until June 30, 2013.
3. The biggest news comes last. On June 30, a ruling was given from a federal district judge on the lawsuit between APSCU and the Dept of Education regarding the Gainful Employment rules. Although the Dept of Ed has 60 days from the ruling to appeal (and from the sound of it, it seems like they will), the career-focused sector of higher education treats this as a victory. Our of the four main parts, three were struck down and one was upheld. The one that was upheld was the Disclosures (cost, completion rate, placement rate, median loan debt, etc.). The one part of the rule that was struck down was the Metrics, which schools had to reach to remain eligible to continue receiving FA. The judge stated that the Dept of Ed hadn't fully explained how it had come up with its figures, so the judge struck down the rule. The other two (new program approval process and Reporting) were struck down since they were dependent on the Metrics.

There have been some major changes. These are the largest ones. Those of us in the for-profit sector hail Rudolph Contreras's ruling in favor on 3/4 of the GE rules. Much of the industry isn't upset about the Disclosure rule not being struck down; in fact, we wish all schools would be held to that standard. It would surprise a lot of people to know the numbers on most of the large public schools.

Topic Requests?

Financial Aid is difficult and challenging, and unfortunately it's a little different at each school. Because of this, there are always nuances that can only be explained by someone from that particular institution. On the other hand, there are always certain things that don't change and certain things that remain constant no matter how the institution interprets the rules.

That being said, if you have topics that you would like covered, feel free to email suggestions. We try to keep updated on policies and rules that go into effect each year, as well as explaining issues with currently existing rules and regulations. If something hasn't been covered yet, let us know and we'll try to find some information.

A Moment to Breathe

This week the campuses are on vacation, and to allow time to research new rules and regulations, the Financial Aid Corner is taking a moment to breathe. It's been a good year with some interest starting to show on this blog. I hope that the interest continues! For all the new rules and interpretations of the new rules, we always seem to stay quite busy.

Thanks for checking out the blog! Let's take a moment to breathe as the new rules go into effect and as we make our way to the end of the year.

Policies & Procedures Manual

What is a Policies & Procedures Manual?

This is something that students aren't really aware of, but FA professionals know all about. A Policies & Procedures Manual is the ultimate rule book for a Financial Aid office. This is literally the collection of rules and policies for the FA office of a school. There are many places to find FA rules (FSA Handbook, Federal Reigster, etc.), but each school has differing rules which have to be kept somewhere.

The P&P Manual is very important to the operation of the FA office. Most issues that come up in the day to day routine can be fixed using information from the manual. New hires are typically given a manual to read over and study in order to become familiar with the school's FA policies and procedures. When the Dept of Education comes into the school, a P&P Manual is the first thing they will ask for.

So, you might wonder what's in one of these manuals. There is no one template or preferred style for the manual. Some schools have information in catalogs, on their website, in pamphlets, or in handbooks. The collection of these items is their manual. I always preferred to have all the information in one place so that if it's asked for by the Dept of Education, we can hand them a binder with the info included.

Our P&P Manual has five sections and three appendixes. The sections are:

1. Introduction - This section has addresses of the campuses, association memberships, code of conduct, charges and fees, and definitions of credit hours, academic years, and students statuses.
2. Practices of FA Administration - This section has admissions practices, Satisfactory Academic Progress, Leave of Absence and withdrawal policies, crime awareness, and drug prevention.
3. FA Programs - This section has information on student eligibility and information on the different FA programs that are offered at the campuses.
4. General Administration - This section has information on the FA job description, packaging information, general FA appointment interviewing procedures, dependency override policy, professional judgment policy, verification procedures, default prevention, student status confirmation reporting, and student file documentation.
5. Fiscal Management - This section has information on requesting funds, institutional refund policy, and Return of Title IV Funds.

The three appedixes are:

1. Common FA Acronyms and Terms
2. Online Resources
3. Supplementary Documents - This section includes citizenship information, default management plan, organizational chart, pell grant payment schedules, sample loan repayment chart, regional Dept of Education office information, and an Exit and an Entrance Counseling booklet.

The manual itself should be updated annually since rules from the government update annually as well. Sometimes there won't be many changes, and sometimes there will be a lot of changes. In the last few years, there have been major changes, so it's difficult to make sure everything has been updated. However, it is a necessary element of the FA office.

Diploma Mills

In the media recently, there has been some attention to diploma mills, and there have also been some people that call legitimate places diploma mills. But there are real diploma mills online, and people should be aware of what they are and what they do.

To explain, a diploma mill is a place that takes money to give you a high school diploma. These are all online, which is the way they get around most laws. Even though there is a push to ban these companies, it's hard to ban something that is based outside of the US. What do I mean? Most of these websites that offer diplomas are actually from other countries, but pretend to be from here in the US.

So what do you look for to determine if it's real or not? There are some obvious signs.

1. If you pay a fee, take an evaluation, and receive your diploma in 2 weeks, then it's not legitimate.
2. Look at the accrediting agencies. Sometimes these websites list what entities accredit them, but they aren't always real entities. A good way (not always true, but most of the time) to tell if the accrediting agency is bogus is to see if the US and/or state Dept of Education recognizes the agency. Some legitimate agencies aren't recognized, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't look with a critical eye.
3. Look to see if they offer discounts. Schools aren't supposed to offer discounts because of the way tuition is handled. There are scholarships and grants that help pay for tuition, but since that's from an outside entity usually, it is different. Schools are the grocery store; if there are deals, you might want to think twice.
4. If the site tells you what's in your graduation package before you complete, then there is a problem. One site says you will receive 1 high school diploma, 2 transcripts, 4 education verification letters, 1 certificate of membership, 1 certificate of distinction, and 1 award of excellence. See any problems there? How does anyone know you will qualify for a certificate of distinction or award of excellence before you've actually done anything?
5. Look in the FAQ sections and look to see what they say in regards to a GED. Many times they will actually say that it's a good idea to get a GED in addition to their diploma. Why waste $400 on a fake diploma when a $50 GED will actually get you somewhere?
6. If you get to choose the year in which you "graduated", then it is fake.
7. If you are getting credit based on "life experience" and not actually taking a rigorous academic program, then it is a fake. You actually have to take tests to prove you know information and you have to actually earn credit.
8. If you can't actually find a place where the school is "located" (meaning where the owner or parent company or any physical address of any kind), then it is fake. Most of these "schools" are actually run by people not in the US. One particular "school" is run from a man in Pakistan, and there are no faculty of any kind.
9. A big red flag is if the school is self-accredited. It's one thing to fool students by saying you're accredited by bogus agencies, but telling them that they are accredited by nobody and being proud of it should be a major sign for you to stay away. How can they justify their curriculum if no one is checking it over?
10. If the transcript has actual grades for classes and all you took was a life experience assessment, then there is something fishy.

In the end, these sites try to make people think they can get a high school diploma without doing the work. It's much easier, safer, cheaper, and more beneficial to just go sit for the GED. The GED test is not offered online and you have to sit for it. It will definitely take you farther than a high school diploma that cost $200, $400, $700, or as much as $2500 but is really worthless.

Here are two news stories you may be interested in. These tell you what you need to know.

http://fcir.org/2010/12/22/virtually-worthless/
"Virtually Worthless" - Florida Center for Investigative Reporting

http://www.bbb.org/us/article/alleged-diploma-mill-program-traced-to-pakistan-32568
"Alleged Diploma Mill Program Traced to Pakistan" - KHOU Houston, from BBB's website