GRADUATION COACH
CAMPAIGN
Keeping
Youth in the
Graduation Game
www.phillygradcoach.org
THE WORLD HAS CHANGED!
• Colleges once catered to wealthier, white
students. Colleges today look for diversity and
offer lots of help to lower-income families!
• College costs have increased dramatically.
More and more top students are turning to
alternative options like community colleges.
• The job market is changing every day!
Things that were true twenty years ago are no longer accurate.
That means that a lot of adults have misconceptions about
college. How up-to-date are you?
Jillian Kinzie, Megan Palmer, John Hayek, Don Hossler, Stacy A. Jacob and Heather Cummings. Volume 5 (3): September 2004. “Fifty Years of
College Choice: Social, Political, and Institutional Influences on the Decision-Making Process.” Lumina Foundation for Education.
http://www.luminafoundation.org/publications/Hossler.pdf
Misconception #1
I’ve heard so much about
college graduates who
have student loans and
can’t find a job. Maybe
college isn’t a good idea!
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EDUCATION AND
EMPLOYMENT NATIONWIDE
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics. “Employment Projections.” Accessed Online 4 September 2013. http://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_chart_001.htm
Misconception #2
When my student gets into
college, my work is done!
Percentage of Students who Graduate in Six Years
PENNSYLVANIA COLLEGE COMPLETION
RATES
Graduation Rates, Pennsylvania 4-year public
colleges
100
90
80
62.1
65.6
64.7
55.1
70
60
44.4
50
40
30
20
10
0
Ideal
All students
Asian
White
Hispanic
Data from The Chronicle of Higher Education.
http://collegecompletion.chronicle.com/state/#state=pa&sector=public_four
Black
Misconception #3
My student wants to apply
to Ivy League schools, but
they’re expensive!
Alejandra Rincon , student at Princeton:
“My parents always said that these schools were for the
rich people that could afford it. And so I always thought
that it would be very difficult for me to come.”
“Opening the Door for Low-Income Students to Overcome 'Aristocracy' of Higher Ed.” PBS Newshour. 9 September 2013.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/education/july-dec13/college_09-09.html
LEARN TO LOOK PAST THE
STICKER PRICE!
Why are there so few low-income students in selective colleges?
“The vast majority of low-income, high-achieving students in the U.S.
do not even apply to any selective colleges, in spite of the fact that
attending those institutions would cost less than the ones the students do
attend thanks to generous financial aid packages.”
Why should your student apply?
“Don't let the big price tags nix an application to Harvard or Yale.
The average student receiving financial aid on those campuses paid
about a quarter of the public sticker price and most graduates
leave their ivy-covered quads with smaller debts than peers who
attended less prestigious schools.”
Hoxby, Caroline M., and “Low-Income High-Achieving Students Miss Out on Attending Selective Colleges.” Brookings Papers on Economic Activity.
Spring 2013. http://www.brookings.edu/about/projects/bpea/latest-conference/2013-spring-selective-colleges-income-diversity-hoxby
Elliott, Phillip. “Ivy League College Students Avoid Student Debt Burden.” Huffington Post. September 10 2013.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/10/ivy-league-student-debt_n_3897459.html
TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE!
1) Of every college in the United States, which do you think had the
lowest average debt among its graduating students?
2) How much debt do you think graduates from this school had? What
do you think is the average graduating debt in the United States?
ANSWERS:
1) Princeton University
2) Average Princeton debt for 4-year students who borrowed: $5,096 (2013)
Average U.S debt for 4-year students who borrowed: $26,600 (2011)
THE BOTTOM LINE:
You may end up paying much less than the school’s official tuition!
Always give the financial aid office a call before assuming you can’t
afford a school.
Elliott, Phillip. “Ivy League College Students Avoid Student Debt Burden.” Huffington Post. September 10 2013.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/10/ivy-league-student-debt_n_3897459.html
Reed, Matthew, and Debbie Cochrane. “Student Debt and the Class of 2011.” The Project on Student Debt: Institute for College Access and Success.
October 2012. http://projectonstudentdebt.org/files/pub/classof2011.pdf
Misconception #4
My daughter is thinking about
community college, but I’m concerned
that she won’t be taken seriously if she
doesn’t go to a 4-year college.
“Opening the Door for Low-Income Students to Overcome 'Aristocracy' of Higher Ed.” PBS Newshour. 9 September 2013.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/education/july-dec13/college_09-09.html
MYTH #1: COMMUNITY COLLEGES AREN’T AS
ACADEMICALLY STRONG AS 4-YEAR SCHOOLS
THE REALITY:
• Most students who attend community colleges do so
for family or financial considerations, not because
they weren’t competitive enough to get into 4-year
colleges.
• A lot of the faculty at community colleges
simultaneously teach at 4-year schools.
• When students who attend a community college
transfer to a 4-year school like Temple, their diploma
will be the same as though they had attended that
school for all four years.
FAMOUS GRADUATES OF
COMMUNITY COLLEGES:
• Nolan D. Archibald is the CEO of the Black & Decker
Corporation and was the youngest CEO of a Fortune
500 Company when he was appointed at the age of 42.
• Eileen Marie Collins is a NASA astronaut and first
woman Space Shuttle Commander.
• Daniel Hayes is an American transplant surgeon in
Charlotte, North Carolina.
• John Walsh attended Cayuga Community College
before becoming the leading advocate for child safety
and legislation reform.
• Benjamin Cayetano was the Governor of Hawaii from
1994 to 2002.
Giang, Vivian. “The Most Famous Community College Students of All Time.” 3 August 2011.
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-most-famous-people-who-went-to-community-college-2011-7#
MYTH #2: IT IS DIFFICULT TO TRANSFER FROM A
COMMUNITY COLLEGE TO A 4-YEAR SCHOOL
THE REALITY:
Community colleges offer significant support to their
students who are transferring. Most importantly, many
have dual enrollment agreements with 4-year schools.
This means that:
• Credits often transfer easily between the 2-year
institution and the 4-year college
• Students who maintain a minimum GPA are usually
guaranteed admission to the partner 4-year school
• Students may be eligible for reduced tuition at the 4year school
Misconception #5
The average SAT scores of incoming
students is much higher at this college
than the state school. It must be a
better school!
Why might this be backward
thinking?
“Opening the Door for Low-Income Students to Overcome 'Aristocracy' of Higher Ed.” PBS Newshour. 9 September 2013.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/education/july-dec13/college_09-09.html
You are trying to decide which fridge to
buy, and you need to decide which
company is better. Would you prefer the
company that brings the most expensive
materials into their factory, or the that one
actually puts better fridges on the shelves?
This may seem silly, but people do this
all the time when comparing colleges!
What goes in is much less important than
what comes out! Great colleges aren’t
necessarily those that pull in the “best”
students at the beginning, but rather the ones
that transform students to make them great.
“Trash Art”
Parents and students often compare the average GPA’s and SAT
scores of incoming students to decide which schools are “better.”
Instead, they should focus on:
1) How much do students actually learn when they are
there?
2) How well prepared are they for work or graduate school
when they graduate?
Statistics that REALLY matter:
• Acceptance rates into medical/law/graduate school
• Employment statistics after graduation. These can
be hard to find online, so contact the school’s
Office of Career Services
Taking a Breather!
Here’s a fun activity. In preparation for the next section, take a guess at which of
these college majors best prepare students for medical school or law school!
MCAT: A six-hour test students must
take to get into medical school.
Which of these majors get the highest
scores? What about the lowest?
LSAT: A challenging test students
must take to get into law school.
Which majors get the highest scores?
What about the lowest?
•
•
•
•
•
•
• Philosophy
• Prelaw
• Criminal
Justice
• Physics
• Economics
• English
Physics
Biology
English
Economics
Premed
Engineering
ANSWERS:
1. Engineering
2. Physics
3. Economics
4. English
5. Biology
6. Premed
ANSWERS:
1. Physics
2. Philosophy
3. Economics
4. English
5. Prelaw
6. Criminal Justice
“Average LSAT Scores for 29 Majors w/ over 400 Students Taking the Exam.” Department of Philosophy, University of Florida. Accessed 28 August 2013.
http://www.phil.ufl.edu/ugrad/whatis/LSATtable.html
“MCAT, LSAT, and Physics Bachelors.” American Institute of Physics. February 2010. http://www.aip.org/statistics/trends/reports/mcat2009.pdf
Misconception #6
My son wants to study
art/philosophy/English, but I think he
should study engineering. Otherwise
he’ll never get a job!
“Does the College Major Matter? Not Really”
(title of a New York Times article from April 2013)
• Only 27% of college graduates have a job related to their major
• Employers care most about skills that have little to do with a specific
major. Teamwork and interpersonal, problem solving, critical
thinking, and written and oral communication skills are developed in
nearly all majors
• It is more important that students major in subjects that interest them!
David Muir is an anchor and correspondent for ABC World News.
He works with plenty of people who do not have journalism degrees.
The commonality among them, he says, is that “we all majored in
what we were interested in. The curiosity and the willingness to
adapt are more important than what the degree is in.”
Plumer, Brad. “Only 27% of college grads have a job related to their major.” The Washington Post. 20 May 2013.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/05/20/only-27-percent-of-college-grads-have-a-job-related-to-their-major/
Selingo, Jeffrey J. “Does the College Major Matter? Not Really.” The New York Times. 29 April 2013. http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/29/does-thecollege-major-matter-not-really/
PRACTICING KEY CONVERSATIONS
TASK:
We will now break up into small groups. Each group will choose
at least one scenario from the “Practicing Key Conversations”
Handout.
As a group, address the situation by discussing these questions:
1) What are some possible solutions to this situation?
2) How would you carry out a Key Conversation about this situation?
What reactions or resistance might you expect from your student?
3) What additional resources would you need to support your young
person through this process?
“Step Up to College” Guide
• pp. 2-5, “Why Go to College”
• pp. 6-10, “Preparing Yourself for College”
• pp. 11-15, “Finding the Right College for
You”
• pp. 16-22, “Applying to College”
• pp. 23-31, “Paying for College”
• pp. 32-34, “The Transition to College”