Schools come in all shapes and sizes: private schools, small rural schools, charter schools, and online schools. That list will grow by one soon, as the first public charter school prepares to open inside a corporate campus of tech giant Oracle. [More]
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Back-To-School Shoppers Delight Retailers, Plan To Spend More This Year
By 7.14.15
If you’ve visited a big-box or office-supply store in recent weeks, you know that retailers are ready for the back-to-school shopping season to begin, even if children aren’t. You can’t blame stores for being excited, though: parents say that they plan to spend more on outfitting their kids for school this year than they have in recent years. [More]
Billions In College Aid Will Go Unclaimed Again Because Students Won’t Fill Out A Stupid Form
By 5.5.15
Don’t say we didn’t warn you. Way back in December, we advised high school seniors who planned on attending college to not be stupid and go fill out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid [FAFSA] form right away. Every year, billions of dollars in grant and loan money goes unclaimed because students and their parents never get around to filling out this paperwork, and it looks like the upcoming school year will be no different. [More]
LinkedIn Jumping Into The Education Business (Kind Of) With $1.5B Purchase Of Lynda.com
By 4.9.15
Human resources and professional networking site LinkedIn appears to be broadening its horizons by way of a little education. The company announced today that it struck a deal to buy online career-skills education company lynda.com for about $1.5 billion. [More]
White House Proposes Free Community College For Dedicated Students
By 1.8.15
The cost of a college education has outpaced inflation for the last few decades, making school less affordable for millions of Americans and driving student loan debt past the $1 trillion mark. And in the last decade, the for-profit education industry has taken in many billions of dollars in federal student aid for schools with high dropout rates. Today, President Obama offered a suggestion: Free community college educations for those willing to stick to it. [More]
The 10 Colleges That Received The Biggest Payouts From Credit Card Issuers Last Year
By 12.20.13
Last year, a group of around 15 credit card issuers paid a total of more than $50 million to various schools and school-affiliated organizations in order to market credit cards to people at those educational institutions. Around 70% of that money came from a single Bank of America-owned credit card company, and though hundreds of schools received some sort of payment for helping introduce cards to college students, just the 10 largest single payments account for nearly 30% of the $50 million. [More]
71% Of Recent College Grads Owe Average Of $29K In Student Loans, Are Scared Pantsless About Paying It Off
By 12.4.13
The total of student loan debt in the U.S. has long since passed the $1 trillion mark, and a new report shows that this mountain of owed money is just going to keep getting bigger, while a recently released survey indicates just how terrified young adults are of folks’ ability to repay that debt. [More]
College Board & ACT Sued For Selling Personal Info Of Test-Takers
By 10.31.13
As anyone who took the ACT or SAT tests remembers, shortly after you get your scores, your mailbox is flooded with brochures, pamphlets, and catalogs from schools that want your tuition money. This isn’t a coincidence, as The College Board and ACT, Inc. — the companies behind these tests — sells test-takers’ information to colleges. But a new lawsuit alleges that this practice is a breach of contract as it’s done without the test-takers’ consent. [More]
How Your Kid’s Senior Year Of High School Could Cost You Upwards Of $10,000
By 8.20.13
It’s getting to be back-to-school time for kids all around the country, which means parents everywhere are spending money on clothing and school supplies. But parents with kids entering that last year of schooling should probably want to set aside a few extra bucks, as they face potentially thousands of dollars in additional expenses over the next 9-10 months. [More]
Where Public High School Costs $600, Including A Mandatory Chromebook
By 7.26.13
It’s not unusual to see public schools that charge students for extracurriculars or sports, but we were surprised to see this bill from an Illinois school district where it costs $586 to enroll in tenth grade, including $300 for a Chromebook. [More]
Theme-Park Engineering And 3 Other Non-Traditional College Degrees That Can Pay Off
By 6.10.13
Most people know that degrees in things like economics, business, mathematics, and medicine can lead to high-paying real-world jobs, while a degree in Tuvan throat-singing, while fascinating and important, won’t necessarily help you make a down-payment on a house. But there are some non-traditional college degrees that could result in a nice paycheck. [More]
The CFPB Answers Your Student Loan Questions, Part 1: For Prospective Students
By 4.11.13
A little while back, we asked Consumerist readers to send in their student loan-related questions to Rohit Chopra, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Student Loan Ombudsman. Today, we’re bringing you his answers in three parts, each dealing with a different aspect of the topic. Since it’s about time for next year’s freshman class to decide on schools and financial aid packages, we’re starting with answers for prospective students. [More]
Student Loan Debt Is Creating Generation Of High-Risk Borrowers With Low Credit Scores
By 1.30.13
Lots of people graduate college with minimal credit histories. Repaying student loans was always a dependable way to build that history. But recent, rampant growth in student loan debt in the U.S. could slow that process for an entire age group. [More]
3 Tips For Fighting Bullies
By 10.19.11
People are talking more about bullying these days. It can happen at school, in the workplace, or online. How do you combat it? Educator and author Natasha Deen offers these three tips. [More]
Why Students Don't Need iPads
By 7.23.11
With their portability and user-friendliness, tablet computers seem perfect for students. But before you go spending big money on an iPad for a student, you should consider the limitations of the devices. [More]
School Tracks Truant Students With GPS Devices
By 2.18.11
To combat seventh and eighth graders who constantly skip class, a school in California is equipping the worst offenders with GPS tracking units. If you have more than four unexcused absences, you’re assigned to carry a handheld GPs device. Five times a day you have enter in a code to verify your location. You also get an automated call in the morning reminding you to come to school and three times a week an adult assigned to you calls you to check in and discuss attendance strategies. The devices have increased attendance by truants to 95% up from 77%, but some parents feel it treats their kids “like common criminals.” Do you think this program is a good idea? Take our poll and sound off in the comments. [More]
Learn Better By Studying Less And Taking More Tests
By 1.21.11
If you really want to learn something, stop cracking those books as much and take more tests. That’s the upshot of new research published in the journal Science. In it they had students read a chunk of text and then take a test which required them to recall what they read. A week later, they showed a 50% higher retention rate on the information from the passage than students using other techniques. So if you’re paying for your kids to get tutored, make sure they’re having your child do a healthy mix of practice tests and not just studying. [More]
Find Cheaper Textbooks Online
By 1.19.11
The New York Times Bucks Blog has a great feature on finding textbooks for less. There’s a great list of comparison sites in there. Don’t forget too the option of e-textbooks at sites like CafeScribe. Having all the text digitized not only makes it lighter and more portable, but you can easily CTRL-F if you’re trying to find a key phrase or concept. [More]
