The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)--which students must complete to qualify for most federal, state, and institutional financial aid--is a gateway to college through which many students must pass, particularly those from low- to moderate-income households (King, 2004; Kofoed, 2013). Yet given the complexity of the…

This article examines the challenges facing the pool of global applicants to US colleges and evaluates the practices of the internationaI IECs who currently fill the void that exists between applicants and admission officers. The author, is a doctoral student at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she researches ethical issues in…

This study investigated the effect of the "College Possible" program, which is designed to serve low-income high school students. "College Possible" provides a 2-year afterschool curriculum to high school juniors and seniors that includes SAT and ACT test preparation services, college admissions and financial aid consulting,…

This study examines the best ways to motivate college admissions counselors. A review of literature revealed multiple perspectives on intrinsic and extrinsic as well as tangible and intangible rewards. Primary research was designed to examine the impact of tangible rewards and verbal reinforcements with a convenience sample of nine college…

The 2013 study, "Evaluation of the College Possible Program: Results From a Randomized Controlled Trial", investigated the effect of the "College Possible" program, which is designed to serve low-income high school students by providing SAT/ACT test preparation, financial aid consulting, and college admissions guidance in an…

Some colleges engage in unethical practices to balance their budgets, such as accepting "marginal" students who qualify for loans and government-backed financial aid but not providing these students with the services and programs they need to achieve success. Too many low-income students who are often first-generation students find…

This study explored college distance from home, a possible contributing factor of transfer behavior. Because the distance between a student's home and college has been found to be related negatively to social integration and positively to homesickness (i.e., Brooks & DuBois, 1995; Fisher, Murray, & Frazer, 1985; Tognoli, 2003), a positive…

Road runner. File jockey. Advisor. Public speaker. Recruiter. At any given time, an admissions counselor fits one, some, or all of these descriptors. While all of these descriptors indicate an important function within a college or university, none reflects the increasingly complex nature of the role of an admissions counselor in strategic…

The White House will soon unveil a final version of its "college scorecard"--an online tool giving college-bound students and their families a hype-free snapshot of reliable information about any U.S. campus: real costs, graduation rates, student debt statistics, and earning potential of graduates. The college scorecard is a good idea…

There's no question that alumni admissions programs can be win-win collaborations. They can be a boon for both the admissions office and the alumni association. But depending on the scope of the venture and the size of the institution, they can take a lot of care and feeding, demanding comparatively more time and resources than other alumni…

This article highlights a narrative inquiry study that considered the experience of and the effects on 8 northern helping practitioners (5 women, 3 men, ages 30-60) who have 7 to 40 years of experience in providing trauma support in isolated communities in northern BC and the Yukon. Using a three-phase narrative analysis, 10 categories provided a…

This article reports on the studies of Caroline M. Hoxby, a professor of economics at Stanford University; and Sarah E. Turner, a professor of economics and education at the University of Virginia, who examine why bright students from low-income families do not apply to select colleges. After analyzing millions of records from the College Board,…

This paper reports the results of a pilot study, using a randomized controlled trial to provide college counseling to high-achieving students from relatively poor families. We followed 107 high school seniors through the college admissions process in 2006-2007; we selected 52 of these students at random, offering them ten hours of individualized…

This study explored the outcome of academically dismissed students reinstated the semester following academic dismissal at a medium-size Midwestern University. Logistic regression was utilized to identify predictors that may assist academic administrators in making decisions regarding future reinstatement activities. The overall model correctly…

The high-school seniors drifting in and out of the office in New York should be weighing financial-aid offers and deciding where to go to college. But some of them have yet to begin the process of applying for student aid. This article describes a nonprofit group in Harlem which gives last-minute help to students uncertain about applying for…