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A&M FINAL DECISIONS COMING SOON!

Blog, Colleges, Information, Parents, Students
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Texas A&M has announced that final freshman admission decisions will be sent this week. These decisions will include offers of admission to all summer provisional program, the Texas A&M Blinn TEAM program, the Engineering Academy at Blinn-Bryan, new Engineering Program at Galveston as well as offers to our Program for System Admission (PSA). Students should check AIS for the most updated information regarding their decisions.

New FAFSA and CSS Profile timing with “Prior-Prior”

Blog, Financial Aid, General, Information, Parents, Students
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Filing for financial aid can seem intimidating and difficult as families usually must estimate their income because forms are often due before taxes have been filed. But all of this will change for students filing in the 2017-18 school year. Both the federal government [FAFSA] and CollegeBoard [CSS Profile] will be set up for parents to use the IRS retrieval tool pulling information in from 2-years ago. This process is known as “prior-prior-year” or PPY. The new FAFSA will open up October 1, 2016 making it possible for some colleges to get financial information out earlier. [read more]

Making College More Affordable and Accessible for All

Application, Blog, Colleges, General, Information, News, Parents, Students
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An unprecedented coalition of diverse public and private colleges and universities is coming together to improve the college admission application process for all students. The Coalition is developing a free platform of online tools to streamline the experience of applying to college. The initial iteration of the platform will be available to freshmen, sophomores, and juniors in high school beginning in April 2016.  [read more]

Top Majors for 2015

Blog, Career, General, Information, Major, Students
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Not sure what major to choose? Take a look at this list of the top majors for getting a job after graduation.  Many people think a degree in philosophy holds little promise.  But the data suggests differently.  Philosophy majors hold the highest rate of income among liberal arts majors ten years after graduation.  [read more]

Time to file your FAFSA

Tags: , Blog, Financial Aid, Information, Parents, Students
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Happy New Year!! January 1st marks the beginning of FAFSA season. You can now file your Free Application for Federal Student Aid at www.fafsa.ed.gov to see what you qualify for in terms of aid for the 2016-17 school year. Be sure to use the fafsa.ed.gov website because it is free. There are other websites that are similar but they charge you. You should file as soon as possible even though you do not have your 2015 tax information; just use your 2014 tax return. In many colleges aid is filled on a first-come-first-serve basis so do not delay.

CollegeBoard releases Trends in College Pricing Report

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The CollegeBoard has released the findings of a study that investigated the cost of a college education in the United States.  The study considered several factors:  tuition, books, fees,  housing – including food.  The report noted that college prices have been rising more rapidly than the prices of other goods and services over the last three decades and that “the increasing economic inequality in the United States over recent decades has exacerbated the difficulty in paying for college for many students, in addition to straining federal, state, and institutional budgets.”

Government Shutdown and Higher Education

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The Chronicle of Higher Education posts a timely article discussing the affects of the US Government shutdown on the higher education system.  All but a handful of colleges and universities receive some sort of federal funding in the form of student financial aid, research grants, federal training programs, etc.  Grant proposals are due this week  for the next round of research funding and much is on the line.  Many of the largest institutions in this country are heavily funded by federal research grants.  Another area of concern is access to databases and other technical information housed on government sites.  As of this writing the Bureau of Economic Analysis is inaccessible via the internet, posting a shut down for lack of government funding.  Although the Chronicle’s article discusses possibilities that affect the fiscal viability of colleges and universities, it does not address the very real ramifications of inaccessibility to information–a very real and present danger.

Common App Essay Prompt Advice

Tags: , , , , Application, Blog, Colleges, General, Information, Parents, Students, Uncategorized
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The Common Application will open on August 1 for the new cycle of 2014 college applications.  Many students are trying to get a head start on the application essays prior that date.  It is a great idea to at least start the brainstorming portion of the essay writing process; however, students should not feel as though they need to have everything completed before the start of the senior year.  But where to start?  What is the college looking for?  Ted Spencer, Associate Vice Provost and Executive Director at The University of Michigan, Undergraduate Admissions, says that “the most important thing is to hear the student’s voice. We’re looking for a story.”  In interview after interview with college admissions directors, the idea is the same.  They want to know who you are, what will you bring to their community.  They are not interested in a typical English class essay; they want a story — your story.