A college education costs more than ten thousand dollars per year – in fact, unless a student is attending a public school in-state, it usually costs tens of thousands of dollars. The average college student graduates with tens of thousands of dollars of debt. The considerable price tag of aRead More

Earlier this week, we published college application advice for parents and students from a former admissions director, and we also shared tips on college interviews from a Rice University interviewer. In this companion piece, recent Rice graduate Sarah Craig shares some big-picture advice for students currently applying to college. Hi,Read More

I recently found myself interviewing prospective candidates for Rice University’s freshman class of 2015. Below, I’ll tell you about some of my interviews and explain to you some things your child should and should not do in his interview for college, high school, or really anything. In general, your child shouldRead More

The University of Texas-Austin is on the national forefront of efforts to improve college completion rates of entering students from traditionally disadvantaged backgrounds. The scope of UT’s program is outlined in a long-form article by Paul Tough in the June 8 issue of the New York Times Magazine A briefRead More

On Monday, President Obama signed a new executive order intended to ease debt burdens for 5 million students. The centerpiece of the initiative will allow students to cap their monthly payment of Federal direct student loans to 10 percent of their annual income under a program called “Pay As YouRead More

Sequestration cuts from the Budget Control Act of 2011 will continue to bite students and parents borrowing to pay for college, according to a report from Clare McCann at Forbes Magazine. The Federal Department for Education announced today that student loan origination fees will slightly increase for all loans takenRead More

Update: This article describes the graduation requirements applicable to students graduating in 2017 or before. For more information on the new Foundation High School graduation requirements, which are applicable to all students matriculating after 2014 and available on an opt-in basis to students graduating in 2015-2017, see our comprehensive guideRead More

Were you able to maximize your education tax breaks this year? Sure …. Uh, actually I don’t know. All these terms like “deductions” and “non-refundable credit” kinda scare me. That’s OK – the tax code can be pretty intimidating – just like finding financial aid for college.  However, the basicRead More

Before we explore portions of the need-based financial aid universe, I need to make sure you did your homework. Did you fill out your FAFSA form, like we told you to here? Yep. Now what? Generally speaking, there are three types of need-based student aid: grants work-study loans Grants areRead More

For parents with students looking to enroll in college this fall, one elephant in the room is affording massive tuition bills. Despite ever spiraling cost, there is still considerable aid available to students and parents, both through government and private sources. The first step toward tapping these sources of financialRead More

Last month, Rice University reported that its total applications for its incoming freshman class had reached an all-time record of 17,715 – which represents an increase of 15 percent over 2013. The number of applications has roughly doubled since 2007, the college reported in a press release. Rice is seekingRead More

Students decide to attend colleges for a number of reasons. Maybe a group of high school friends all want to go to the same school. Perhaps location is the determining factor: either wanting to be closer or farther away from home. With students applying to more schools that ever before,Read More

Last August I interviewed for a one-year visiting professor position at Texas A&M’s political science department.[1] The position involved teaching three courses each term in introductory American Politics and Texas politics. The courses were large lectures, with 300 students apiece without teaching assistants. The lacks of TAs surprised me, becauseRead More

Redesigning the SAT for 2016 Big changes are coming to the SAT in the spring of 2016.  On March 5th, College Board President David Coleman revealed his organization’s plans to shift the SAT from superficially testing a broad selection of concepts to more focused testing on a select few concepts. Read More

Imagine if applying to college worked like a 50-50 raffle.  You pay your application fee, get a ticket and watch the admissions officer at Really Elite Fancy Pants University pull numbers out of a hat to determine who gets a spot in the entering freshman class. It seems unfair, right? Read More

When the Houston Independent School District Board of Trustees tentatively voted to ban the use of racially based mascots and nicknames at its schools during its Dec. 15 meeting, its actions joined a several-decade old trend of American schools and sports franchises de-emphasizing or eliminating logos and nicknames associated withRead More