01/21/2013 Financing a College Education.

JANUARY 21, 2013

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VOLUME 23 • NUMBER 08

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® Editorial Board Publisher – José López-Isa Vice President & Chief Operating Officer – Orlando López-Isa

Ricardo Fernández, President Lehman College Mildred García, President California State University-Fullerton

Editor – Adalyn Hixson Executive & Managing Editor – Suzanne López-Isa News Desk & Copy Editor – Jason Paneque Special Project Editor – Mary Ann Cooper

Juán González,VP Student Affairs University of Texas at Austin Lydia Ledesma-Reese, Educ. Consultant Ventura County Community College District Gustavo A. Mellander, Dean Emeritus George Mason University

Administrative Assistant & Subscription Coordinator – Barbara Churchill

Loui Olivas,Assistant VP Academic Affairs Arizona State University

DC Congressional Correspondent – Peggy Sands Orchowski

Eduardo Padrón, President Miami Dade College

Contributing Editors – Carlos D. Conde Michelle Adam Online Contributing Writers – Gustavo A. Mellander

Antonio Pérez, President Borough of Manhattan Community College María Vallejo, Provost Palm Beach State College

Art & Production Director – Avedis Derbalian Graphic Designer – Pete Oliveri

Editorial Policy The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Magazine® is a national magazine published 23 times a year. Dedicated to exploring issues related to Hispanics in higher education,The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Magazine® is published for the members of the higher

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education community. Editorial decisions are based on the editors’ judgment of the quality of the writing, the timeliness of the article, and the potential interest to the readers of The Hispanic Outlook Magazine®.

From time to time,The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Magazine® will publish articles dealing with controversial issues.The

Article Contributors Frank DiMaria,Thomas G. Dolan, Marilyn Gilroy,Angela Provitera McGlynn, Mayra Olivares-Urueta, Miquela Rivera, Jeff Simmons, Gary M. Stern

views expressed herein are those of the authors and/or those interviewed and might not reflect the official policy of the magazine.The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Magazine® neither agrees nor disagrees with those ideas expressed, and no endorsement of those views should be inferred unless specifically identified as officially endorsed by The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Magazine®.

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Esquina E ditorial

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here’s a reason that Jan. 1 brings about talk of resolutions. The new year ushers in a clean slate and fresh beginnings. It also means a reaffirmation of what doesn't need to be changed. Such is the case in Washington, D.C., and within The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Magazine. On the political front, the White House, Senate and House of Representatives barely avoided the so-called “fiscal cliff” with last-minute brinkmanship on both sides of the aisle. Although the new 113th Congress has been sworn in and the president has won his second term, the balance of power in Washington remains relatively unchanged with some new faces, but many of the loyal old guard to add stability to govern the nation. There are now three Latino U.S. senators and 28 Latino House members; nine of these are first-time members of Congress.

Next on the agenda for these rookies and veterans, say D.C. insiders, is immigration reform. Whether lawmakers adopt the ideas of Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., or entertain proposals from Pennsylvania Avenue, it doesn’t take a psychic to predict that some form of immigration legislation is a foregone conclusion for 2013. One only has to look at the results of November’s election and the unprecedented number of Hispanics voting and in many cases deciding local, statewide and national totals to understand that Hispanics have become a powerful interest group in America.

And that brings us to what is changing and what is staying the same at The Hispanic Outlook. Jason Paneque has stepped in as editor, prompted by the retirement of our esteemed editor, Adalyn Hixson. But Jason is no stranger to HO. He has been on our editorial team for the past 15 years, distinguishing himself as an outstanding news desk and copy editor. Mary Ann Cooper, a veteran editor who joined HO in 2001, continues to shine a spotlight on special projects for this magazine and will also focus her attention on our news and features. And of course, we have the same core of talented contributing writers and journalists who have been loyal to HO and continue to provide us with the latest insights, features and trends in higher education from a Hispanic perspective. Although HO has gone through some changes, our mission to be the definitive voice and authority on Hispanic higher education issues remains the same.

That will never change. ¡Adelante!

Suzanne López-Isa Managing Editor

A Fond Farewell All good things must come to an end, and so it goes with Adalyn Hixson’s departure as editor of The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Magazine. As she heeds the call of a beckoning and well-deserved retirement, Adalyn will finally have the time to spend with her family – in particular, her grandchildren – which are so very close to her heart. When the PBS series Frontline interviewed new retiree Betty Sullivan for its “The Land of our Second Chance” special, Sullivan expressed her enthusiasm for the road ahead for her. To us, it read like something Adalyn would say. “There is a whole new kind of life ahead, full of experiences just waiting to happen.

Some call it ‘retirement.’ I call it ‘bliss.’” Saying goodbye is never easy, so we prefer to wish Adalyn unlimited “bliss” as she begins to pen this new chapter of her life.

And in Adalyn’s own words, her goodbye to those of us at The Hispanic Outlook and all our faithful readers: Over the years, I’ve edited perhaps 350 issues of The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Magazine – and I’m sad to say that this one is my last, as I am retiring this month. It won’t be the end, though, of my interest in all the topics we’ve covered over the years.

I’ll be tuning in to The Hispanic Outlook for insider perspectives – and hope you will too. But my work as editor will be taken over by my more-than-able and talented colleague, Jason Paneque, who steps into this position after an impressive tenure as HO’s news desk editor.

My thanks and kindest regards to the López-Isas, founders and publishers of The Hispanic Outlook, for inviting me to join their passionate mission, and best wishes to all the readers.

Adalyn Hixson Editor

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by Carlos D. Conde

LATINO KALEIDOSCOPE

On Immigration, We All Agree to Disagree Wthe end of the world would occur on Dec. 21, 2012.

e’re still all here after defying the Mayan’s doomsday mythology that

We can now proceed with more relevant in-real-time events like Washington’s doings, and one of the more interesting is an action by Congress after the presidential elections to eliminate the words “lunatic” or “lunacy” from federal law.

You can still use the word “idiot.”

Two years ago, the lawmakers also voted to replace “mental retardation” with “intellectual disability.”

That means, among other things, that you can vent and snarl to your heart’s content about Washington lawmakers, but it’s a no-no to refer to them or their actions in such derogatory terms in federal papers.

Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert was the only one voting against the measure, saying that not only should it not be eliminated but kept and used to describe the people “who want to continue with business as usual in Washington.”

Not to suggest any reference with the term, but immigration reform has long been a dysfunctional issue for which the executive branch, Congress and the bureaucracy have yet to come up with an acceptable, workable solution.

This country likes to bill itself as a nation of immigrants, but it’s also picky about who it lets in.

Illegal immigration to the U.S. is worldwide, but it involves mostly Latinos, and of these, mostly Mexicans and Central Americans.

The issue primes the Latino constituency waiting to cash in on their winning ticket. If you consider that the Latino suffrage in November was pivotal to President Obama’s re-election, then it’s time to settle up.

President Obama won more than 70 percent of the Latino vote, including the electoral vote in key states, even though his margin in the overall popular vote was only 2 percent.

That gives Latinos a lot of political currency.

Immigration wasn’t the paramount issue for Latinos that the pundits and political “strategists” made it out to be, but it was noisy enough to obscure other more pertinent arguments driving this constituency, like the economy, health care, welfare reform and education.

President Obama has a lot of things on his plate, and as much as he touts his intention to resolve the immigration issue, partially at least, and primarily for Latino youth – the so-called “dreamers” – the odds are against him achieving it because there are still too many issues gumming up the process.

So the frustration will prevail as the administration makes do with flimsy solutions.

It follows the pattern of past administrations, which suggests that the U.S. immigration system is irreparable or, to use the current jargon, “broken,” amidst a heap of unworkable junk policies.

The history of U.S. immigration woes, particularly the Mexican element, goes all the way back to the turn of the 20th century, after the U.S. defeated Mexico and claimed a big chunk of territory north of the Rio Grande River.

Some stayed and became U.S. citizens. Others traversed the Rio Grande at will through an open border, and some still do, although the American feds have off and on tried to thwart the Latino illegal Diaspora.

Most people have never heard of “The Mexican Repatriation” during

1929-39, when more than half a million Mexicans in the U.S. were deported without due process to ease the deprivations of the Great Depression.

Then came the “Bracero Program” during the ’50s and early ’60s when the U.S imported Mexican “guest workers” to work in the agricultural fields, and earlier, during the ’30s, help build the railroads. Many stayed, complicating the illegal issue.

Since 1986 – the Reagan years – Congress has passed seven amnesties, and the situation doesn’t look any better; some would say worse, and as history shows, its not for lack of trying.

Like the proverbial finger in the dike, the flood can’t be stopped. In March 2011, there were 11.1 million unauthorized immigrants, mostly Latinos, living in the U.S. Reagan’s Immigration Reform & Control Act in 1986 allowed about three million “illegal immigrants” to obtain legal status.

In 1990, President George H. W. Bush signed the “Immigration Act of 1990,” which increased legal immigration to the U.S. by 40 percent.

President Clinton’s Commission on Immigration Reform recommended reducing legal immigration from 800,000 to 550,000.

All the past administrations have tinkered with immigration policy, and all the vehicles have mostly sputtered with noncompliance or failed. President Obama in his first term didn’t offer any workable solutions save for some politically driven patch-up jobs on the current system.

Right now, the president is concentrating on the Latino youth – “The Dreamers,” Latino youths who came to the U.S. before age 16 and are under the age of 31. They can apply for a two-year temporary work visa if they meet the other criteria, like staying in school or performing military duty.

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is much like the ill-fated DREAM Act. It’s still not the panacea for what ails the Latino immigration process and is largely a makeshift, limited action while the president tries to work out a more viable, permanent solution with Congress.

Until then, DACA will have to do while Obama figures out a way to keep a campaign promise to the Hispanic community on immigration reform that he knows is not going to happen under the present circumstances.

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus, supposedly the defender of all things Latino, hasn’t been of much help in the debate.

It has stayed mostly subdued, except for occasional blasts at what it considers the uncompromising, non-Latino-friendly Republicans. The Hispanic Caucus offered its nine principles for repairing the system, but it sounds awfully similar to failed legislative proposals of the past.

It puts forth solutions bandied around since the Bush the Younger era that require, among other things, that undocumented immigrants first register with the federal government, submit to a background check, learn English and pay back taxes.

Yeah. And pigs can fly!

L K

A T I N O

A L E I D O S C O P E

Carlos D. Conde, award-winning journalist and commentator, former Washington and foreign news correspondent, was an aide in the Nixon White House and worked on the political campaigns of George Bush Sr. To reply to this column, contact Cdconde@aol.com.

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MAGAZINE® JANUARY 21, 2013

CONTENTS Student Loan Debt Unlikely to Be Next Subprime Crisis by Frank DiMaria

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Net Price Calculators Offer Transparency in College Costs by Marilyn Gilroy

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Pell Grants: 40 Years of Success for Hispanics?

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by Jeff Simmons

15 “Know Before You Go” College Bill Pushed by Sens. Rubio,Wyden and Feisty Panelists by Peggy Sands Orchowski Raising the Entrepreneurial Child Page 10

12 Tips that Help College Students Become Bank Smart by Gary M. Stern

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HACU and UT-San Antonio Host Top Scholars in Latino Research by Michelle Adam

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Online Articles Page 12 ACT Says More Intervention Needed to Improve College Readiness by Angela Provitera McGlynn To view this and other select articles online, go to our website: www.HispanicOutlook.com.

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by Thomas G. Dolan

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DEPARTMENTS Latino Kaleidoscope

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by Carlos D. Conde

On Immigration, We All Agree to Disagree

Interesting Reads Book Review

rrtt a a m m S S k k n an B Ba

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by Mary Ann Cooper

On Art, Artists, Latin America and Other Utopias

Hispanics on the Move Priming the Pump...

The Importance of Listening

by Miquela Rivera

25 Page 20

Back Cover

Percent of ACT-Tested High School Graduates by Number of ACT College Readiness Benchmarks Attained, 2012

Met No Benchmarks 28%

Met All 4 Benchmarks 25%

HO is also available in digital format; go to our website: www.HispanicOutlook.com.

Met 1 Benchmark 15% Met 2 Benchmarks 17% Met 3 Benchmarks 15%

online

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FINANCING/TUITION

Student Loan Debt Unlikely S

by Frank DiMaria tudent loan debt outstanding in the United States is approaching $1 trillion. It surpassed outstanding credit card debt for the first time in 2011.

In the eight years between 2003 and 2011, outstanding student loan debt increased from approximately $250 billion to more than $900 billion, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. It has outpaced the growth rate of outstanding debt for credit cards, auto loans and mortgages over the same time period. Tuition costs, governmental initiatives to encourage funding for higher education (e.g., the Federal Direct Student Loan Program), an increase in for-profit proprietary schools and a desire of recent graduates to seek a second degree when they are unable to find a full-time job are some of the reasons for this incredible rise.

Currently, student loan debt ranks second on the list of consumer debt in the U.S. Nearly 8 percent of total debt outstanding as of year-end 2011 is made up of student loans. Although this figure looks small in comparison to mortgage debt, which is 76.9 percent of total debt outstanding, two experts in the field, Leighton Hunley and Jonathan Glowacki, wonder if student loan debt could become the next subprime crisis and cause turmoil in the market. Both gentlemen work for Milliman, one of the world’s largest providers of actuarial and related products and services. They recently published their thoughts on this topic.

Hunley and Glowacki looked at the historical delinquency trends between both mortgage debt and student loan debt to see if they could provide an indication of whether student loan debt has the potential to be the next subprime crisis.

The delinquency rate for seriously delinquent student loans (defined as the balance of loans 90 days or more delinquent divided by the total balance of outstanding loans), according to Hunley and Glowacki, has been steadily climbing from about 6 percent in 2003 to more than nine percent in 2011.

A prolonged increasing trend in serious delinquencies, they found, is likely not sustainable for any type of credit risk, and the trend will eventually have to correct. The correction might be through write-offs on principal balances or might come from better underwriting from issuers of student loans. Indeed, in recent finan-

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cial quarters, the percent of student loans seriously delinquent has decreased to less than 9 percent.

“What we have learned from the mortgage crisis is that you really need to have a good sense of who you are lending money to,” says

Leighton Hunley, financial and credit analyst, Milliman

Hunley. “What is their credit history? What is their income potential? – and other attributes.

And at a more macro level, what is the current economic environment like? That’s what we mean by better underwriting. We want to truly understand who is receiving this money and how can they repay this money in the future.”

Hunley wants “smarter” underwriters and “smarter” loan consumers. Borrowers, he says, should be better educated. He would like to see schools offer more personal finance classes, maybe even making them a requirement for those students who will have a high debt load when they leave school.

“Coming out of undergrad, I didn’t have a good sense for how much it was going to cost me at the end of the day when I was finished with college. I got the paperwork filled out, signed away, and I was in college and happy to be there. I didn’t really give much consideration

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to what my debt might be when I was done with my schooling,” says Hunley.

In today’s job market, where prospects for finding reasonable employment might seem dismal, some graduates are opting to further their education. Such decisions, although well thought out, create even more student loan debt.

Hunley has a few suggestions on how underwriters can deal with this. Underwriters, he says, should take the student’s situation into consideration when determining the terms of a student loan. For example, he envisions a system in which students pay debt back in proportion to their income level once they graduate, whether with a bachelor’s or a master’s degree. He also suggests that underwriters should require students who are carrying an already high debt load at the time that their student loan is underwritten to make a down payment to secure the loan, much like those who are seeking a mortgage must do.

“A system like this might be beneficial so somebody deciding whether to continue to pursue job opportunities or to go back to school can assess whether they have 20 percent to put down before they go back to school and if that’s really the right option for them,” says Hunley.

Loan underwriters are well within their rights to turn away individuals seeking a mortgage if they are high-risk borrowers. This approach, however, does not work in higher education. All individuals have the right to an education.

Indeed, the U.S. economy heavily relies on its higher education system to fill both the high-tech and low-tech jobs of the future. Hunley is not suggesting that underwriters prevent individuals from pursuing an education. Rather he is searching for middle ground where underwriters can “scrutinize loans more closely and take into account some of the borrower’s attributes a little bit more – but at the same time keep promoting education. “We certainly want this country to flourish in that respect,” he says.

The dollar amount of seriously delinquent student loans as of December 2011 was approximately $95 billion, while the dollar amount of seriously delinquent mortgages was approximately $600 billion (down from approximately $800 billion in December of 2009). And student loan debt, unlike most other types of debt, is nondischargeable in bankruptcy. Individuals who default on student loans owe that money regard-

to Be Next Subprime Crisis less of their financial circumstances.

The outstanding balance of student loan debt, though it is high, is dwarfed by that of mortgage loans. For student loan debt to cause serious damage to the U.S. economy, the default rate on student loans would have to be greater than 50 percent on all student loans outstanding.

This would produce a dollar amount of seriously delinquent loans comparable to mortgages, Hunley and Glowacki write. Fortunately for the U.S. economy, a seriously delinquent rate of this magnitude is not likely and the potential credit loss experienced with student loans will likely be significantly less than the credit losses experienced with mortgage debt.

A large majority of funding for student loans is supported by the government through various initiatives and programs. For the 2011 calendar year, 95 percent of all new student loans were supported by the government (this is an increase from 2007 when about 75 percent of all new student loans were supported by the government) either through direct lending (e.g., the Federal Direct Student Loan Program) or government guarantees for credit and interest losses on the loans (e.g., the Federal Perkins Loan Program).

On average, from 1995 through 2011, approximately 10 percent of student loan funding has been from the private sector and 90 percent of the funding has been from government programs, according to the College Board Advocacy and Privacy Group’s Trends in Student Aid 2011.

This means that the large portion of government funding for student loans limits the private sector’s exposure to student loan defaults. But it’s a different story for the mortgage market, where over the past 20 years, approximately 50 percent of mortgage risk has been assumed by the private sector. During the build-up of the subprime crisis, the percent of mortgage risk assumed by the private sector was approximately 70 percent with a significant portion of the risk being in “subprime” and second-lien mortgages. When these mortgages went south, the private sector absorbed the majority of the credit losses, resulting in capital and liquidity strain for the large banks.

If defaults on student loans increase, the majority of credit losses will be absorbed by the government, not the private sector.

Even with the government’s backing, Hunley is not ready to say that the U.S. economy can’t be

affected by defaults on student loans. He points out that the private sector’s exposure is directly tied to each cohort, those students whose repayment schedules begin in a given year. For example, the borrowers who enter repayment of their loans in 2007 experienced a far different eco-

Jonathan Glowacki, CERA, FSA, MAAA, Milliman

nomic climate than those who entered repayment in 1992. “It’s difficult to paint with a broad brush. ... the cohorts from 2006 and 2007 are dealing with high unemployment rates and tough economic times, similar to those individuals who took out mortgages in those years and have had to deal with housing price crashes and high unemployment. You really have to look at each individual year, and to get more granular, each individual borrower” to determine the private sector’s exposure, says Hunley.

Hunley and Glowacki see another similarity between student debt and the growth in subprime debt: the recent growth and amount of debt in for-profit proprietary schools.

Proprietary schools are a bit of an anomaly in higher education because they are for-profit organizations and some of them are publicly traded. Hunley and Glowacki see potential for a conflict of interest because these schools might

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be admitting students as a way to increase revenue and profit and not screening out students who might not be prepared for a higher education. “At a publicly traded company, you have investors, and you need to satisfy their needs and balance that with the needs of your students. So there is a potential, we’re not saying that this is the case, but there is a potential where certain interests may outweigh others. And that could become problematic,” says Hunley.

The average debt per student at for-profit schools is generally three to four times higher than that at comparable public universities and one and a half to two times higher than comparable private nonprofit universities, Hunley and Glowacki write.

At public and private nonprofit schools, 60 percent and 70 percent of the students use debt to finance their educations, respectively. At for-profits, that number is nearly 95 percent. For students who do finance their educations, according to Glowacki and Hunley, students at for-profit schools finance 99 percent of their educations while students at public and private nonprofit schools finance 70 percent and 85 percent of their educations, respectively.

Default rates at for-profit schools are two to three times higher than at public and private universities.

The number of individuals who are borrowing to attend for-profit schools is growing, and like those individuals who borrowed during the build up to the subprime mortgage crisis, these borrowers have both higher levels of debt and default risk compared to other borrowers.

Although the student loan market is not likely to be categorized as the next subprime crisis, the full impact of ballooning student loan debt on consumers is currently unknown, and the burden might have an adverse impact on the purchasing power of borrowers and co-signers in the future. Hunley is uncertain about how all of this will play out over the next few years.

“The student loan industry has a lot of tentacles. You have a lot of co-signers signing these loans, so it’s hard to gauge the impact of somebody not being able to pay off their student loan debt but then also having their parents co-signing with them not being able to pay off the debt as well,” says Hunley. He fears that the U.S. economy might experience a bit of a ripple effect if the bottom were to drop out of the student loan industry.

“I can’t say we can all rest easy because there is too much uncertainty there,” says Hunley.

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FINANCING/INNOVATIONS/PROGRAMS

Net Price Calculators Offer Transparency in College Cost$

When

by Marilyn Gilroy

Eva Maria Garza-Nyer, a college counselor at Austin High School in Texas, works with students who are applying to college, the first thing they want to talk about is cost.

“It is the driving force, especially for firstgeneration, low-income students,” she said.

Enrollment in the Austin Independent School district is 60 percent Hispanic, and Garza-Nyer said many students come from families that are very concerned about affordability as they navigate the college search process.

Helping students understand the cost of college and finding the right “fit” for them is a big challenge for Garza-Nyer. But this past year, there was a new tool – the net price calculator (NPC) – to lend a hand in sorting though the numbers.

When the federal government required colleges and universities to adopt the use of net price calculators by October 2011, some predicted it would be a “game changer” in admissions and financial aid. The NPC gives individualized estimates of the actual cost of college minus any financial aid for which students might be eligible.

“The advantage is the timing,” said GarzaNyer. “Students and their families can use NPCs before deciding where to apply.”

The purpose of the NPC is to provide more clarity about college affordability. Students can see the difference between the “sticker” price, or full cost, to attend a specific college, minus any grants and scholarships that can be applied based on the college’s financial aid guidelines. Most calculators start the process by listing the college’s sticker price, including direct charges (tuition, fees, room and board) and indirect costs (books, supplies, transportation and personal expenses). The NPC then measures the family’s financial situation based on facts provided by the student or parent, such as family income and size. After subtracting financial aid awards, the NPC issues a net price that is the amount a student must save, earn or borrow to enroll.

Using the NPC can have a direct impact on application decisions for students and their families. If students are aiming for an expensive

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“dream school,” the NPC gives a more accurate picture of whether or not that college is within their financial reach. Several reports have found that without early information about the availability of financial aid, students might choose colleges they cannot afford or attend a less selective college because they feel it is too expensive, a trend known as “undermatching.”

“Although many of our students are interested in Texas colleges, we tell them to try both out-ofstate and private colleges,” said Garza-Nyer. “For some students, the experience changed their thinking about where they could go college.”

The net price calculator requirement was part of a series of actions that grew out of the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 (HEOA), which called for new measures in college affordability and transparency. As Arne Duncan, U.S. secretary of education, explained, implementation of the NPC is an acknowledgment that having a college degree has never been more important but getting one has never been more expensive.

“We want to give prospective students and their families the information they need to make smart educational choices during tough economic times,” he said. “Net price calculators can help potential degree-seekers better understand which schools they can afford to attend and how much debt they will have to take on to get a degree.”

Garza-Nyer says students at Austin High School learn about NPCs as part of financial literacy sessions in economics courses and in special AVID classes that prepare students for college eligibility and success. The AVID classes have a student demographic that is 98 percent Hispanic. As part of the NPC lesson, students select three university websites, access and complete the calculators and then discuss their experiences.

“We tell them to fill out NPCs for more than one school so that they see how the tool differs across different institutions,” she said.

Instructors then work with students to interpret the results, including the various components of financial aid and any conflicting esti-

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mates. Many find the process helpful and realize they can actually afford to go to college while others are sometimes disappointed with the amount of projected financial aid. But GarzaNyer tells them to stay positive and use the information as a starting point.

“We caution that the NPC estimate is not an official award letter but one that will establish whether the school is in or out of their ballpark,” she said. “It is important that they complete the FAFSA form and officially apply to financial aid. They can also use the estimate as an opportunity to connect with the school’s financial aid office and talk to their high school counselor.”

NPC estimates often vary depending on the kinds of questions students encounter and the amount of data they enter. While many NPCs have similar features, they can vary in length, complexity and user friendliness, thus making the process very time-consuming. There is no standard format for the NPC, but the U.S. Department of Education, the College Board and other organizations have provided templates for colleges to use. No matter what the calculator looks like, Garza-Nyer says students need to be as thorough and honest as possible in filling out the NPC. “We tell them the more accurate the information you put in, the more accurate the esti-

mate you receive,” she said.

Finding the NPC on a college website can be a challenge because when institutions rolled out the NPCs, their approaches to integrating it into the application process varied widely. Some, like Indiana University (IU), were proactive and launched a campaign to notify prospective students of its availability and location on the IU website.

Other institutions chose to put the calculators in obscure places and even called the NPC by other names, such as tuition calculator or cost estimator.

Despite the lack of consistency, the calculator is still an important tool to empower and inform students during the college search process, says Garza-Nyer. When she presented an overview of student experiences with the calculators at the National Association for College Admissions Counseling (NACAC) conference last October, she told participants the NPC affected students’ thinking about college affordability in the following ways: • Students realized that out-of-pocket college costs are not the same as “sticker price” • Students reconsidered schools previously deemed in/out of financial reach • Students became more aware of the importance of applying to multiple schools • Students felt more in control of college planning As the NPC requirement goes into its second year, experts are taking stock of its initial round in the higher education system.

At least two studies have examined the impact of NPC a year after the federal requirement. A report from The Institute for College Access and Success (TICAS) titled Adding It All Up 2012: Are College Net Price Calculators Easy to Find, Use, and Compare? looked at 50 randomly selected colleges to analyze NPC use from the perspective of students and families.

“We found that nearly a year after the federal requirement, consumers can’t count on net price calculators being easy to find, use or compare,” said Diane Cheng, report author and TICAS research analyst. “While some were easy to find and use, others were buried on college websites, had dozens of daunting questions, or generated estimates that were confusing, misleading or unnecessarily out-of-date.”

The report’s findings on three key aspects of the NPC include: • Is the NPC Easy to Find? Nearly one-quarter of the colleges in the sample did not have a link to their calculator on their website’s financial aid or costs page; even when the link was on a relevant page, it was often hard to find; three of the 50 colleges in the sample had no net price calculator • Is the NPC Easy to Use? The number of ques-

tions asked by the calculators ranged from eight to about 70; more than one-third asked for information that students and parents would not be able to provide without digging up detailed financial records, and only four indicated whether any such questions were optional; the majority of the calculators in the sample did not tell students how their information would be used • Is the NPC Easy to Compare? Some colleges subtracted loans and work study from the net price estimate, frequently making the resulting lower dollar figure more prominent than the required net price figure; 40 percent of calculators in the sample provided cost estimates for academic years as far back as 2008-09 and 2009-10 Another report, the StudentPoll survey pub-

sticker price and start figuring out which colleges they might be able to afford before they have to decide where to apply,” said Cheng. “However, in order to help students estimate costs at this early stage of their college decision-making process, NPCs have to be more consumer friendly.”

The TICAS report includes specific recommendations on how colleges can make their NPCs more accessible and effective. For example, net price calculators should always: • be prominently posted on the financial aid and/or costs sections of college websites • limit the number of detailed financial and academic questions, particularly those that are required, and make clear which questions are really required

lished by the College Board and the Art and Science Group, LLC, indicated the NPC was underused in the past year. According to the results, only 35 percent of students interviewed used an NPC as they considered their application decisions. This was coupled with findings showing a majority of students still rule out colleges based solely on sticker price and do not take into account their likely financial aid award and its impact on net cost. As Diane Cheng says, this is a big problem because most students don’t actually pay the sticker price and are not aware that they might be eligible for significant financial aid.

The reports from both TICAS and StudentPoll predict the use of NPCs will rise as they undergo needed modifications.

“NPCs have the potential to be valuable tools for helping students and their families look past

• make it easy to find federally required estimates of the full cost of attendance, grant aid, and net price; the net price should always be the most prominent figure on the results page If loans or student work is estimated, clearly differentiate such “self-help” from grants and scholarships and limit recommended borrowing to federal student loans.

The report urges the Department of Education to provide the guidance and enforcement necessary to ensure that colleges make their net price calculators more user-friendly.

“Colleges should do more to make their NPCs consumer-friendly and accessible to all types of students – not just college-savvy high school seniors or others already far along in their college decision process,” said Cheng.

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FINANCING/TUITION

Pe ll Gr ant s: 40 Ye ar s of Success for Hispanics?

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by Jeff Simmons ducators from across the country gathered in midtown Manhattan last assistance programs. fall to discuss four decades of federal financial aid to low-income stu“Research conducted at the Charles H. Houston Center provides strong dents, and debate whether the Pell Grant program has been a success support to suggest that the Pell Grant program has been effective and conor failure. tinues to provide financial resources that lead to educational opportunities Since its inception 40 years ago, the program – the most important for African-American and Latino families and students who may not be able source of federal aid for such students in the country – had helped to afford the costs associated with obtaining a college degree,” said the finance the education of more than 60 million students, including report’s author, Lamont A. Flowers, Ph.D., distinguished professor of edu520,000 in 2011 alone. cational leadership and executive director To assess its impact, the Council for of the Charles H. Houston Center for the Opportunity in Education (COE) devoted a Study of the Black Experience in portion of its 31st annual four-day convenEducation. tion to an in-depth exploration of both Pell “In terms of higher education finance and broader affordability challenges facing policy issues, the Pell Grant program is one the students of today. of the most important topics in light of its The Pell Grant program has helped direct connection to supporting our legions of students, and particularly nation’s families and students,” he said.

Hispanic students, overcome financial The report, fashioned to spotlight issues obstacles blocking their entry into higher regarding policy reform and budget coneducation. But concurrently, the program is siderations for Pell, examined the role of facing new challenges, expectations and Pell Grants on educational outcomes for calls for reform.

African-American, Hispanic American and “It is the foundation for all need-based White American college students. financial aid. That was the central point of “I support an expansion of the Pell it from the beginning, and it continues to Grant program in a way that enables a larghold to that mission very well,” said coner number of African-American and Latino vention speaker Tom Mortenson, a higher students to obtain a college degree, pursue education policy analyst with Postsecondary their dreams, as well as contribute to an Education Opportunity and senior scholar, educated citizenry that expands America’s Pell Institute. technological, entrepreneurial and social “Having said that, however, a number of achievements in ways that might enhance people have been discussing possible our economy and strengthen our commuchanges to the Pell Grant program because nities,” he said. the need for Pell Grants has grown much Designed to help low-income students faster than resources.” pursue a college education, Pell Grant In a report issued last year called awards take into account whether a family Tom Mortenson, Pell Institute senior scholar, Attaining the American Dream: Racial can contribute financially toward a college higher education policy analyst Difference in the Effects of Pell Grants on education. Over the last four decades, Students’ Persistence and Educational there have been changes, but the aim has Outcomes, researchers stated that Hispanic American and African- remained largely the same: to heighten the number of students who attend American students in middle- to high-income levels benefited from the college by lowering the amount that students and families have to pay for program, as did low-income students. housing, tuition and other associated costs.

However, the report also provided a candid assessment, indicating that More than 60 million students have received Pell Grants since their issues related to the cost-effectiveness of the program might be secondary inception, 176,000 of them in the first year, a number that grew to 9.6 when compared to the mission and objectives of student financial aid million students by 2010, when the program had about $30 billion in

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expenditures. The number of eligible students has risen dramatically, The report cited data indicating that among all Pell Grant recipients, 22 from about two million in 1975 to nearly 12 million most recently. And percent were African-American, 19 percent were Hispanic American, and data show that the number of recipients doubled in size between 2008 48 percent were White American. Among the report’s other findings: and 2012 because of congressional changes and amid the downturn in • Low-income Hispanic American students who earned Pell Grants were the country’s economic landscape. more likely to earn a degree compared to low-income Hispanic American The types of students receiving Pell Grants has evolved over time, as students who did not receive a Pell Grant (46 percent to 25 percent) well, Mortenson said. While initially envisioned as a program to help 18- to • Hispanic American college students in the high middle-income group 24-year-old dependent undergraduate students, the program eventually has who won a Pell Grant were more likely to complete a degree compared to come to serve greater legions of independent students more than depen- Hispanic American college students who did not have a Pell Grant (42 perdent ones. cent to 38 percent) “There are many, many more older students now receiving Pell Grants • At the highest income level, Hispanic American students who received than was the case in the 1970s when it was created,” Mortenson said.

Pell Grants (44 percent) were more likely to earn a degree than Hispanic At the same time, many more low-income students, about double now, American students who did not have the grant (44 percent to 37 percent) are receiving the grants, he said, as the demand for financial aid to serve • Hispanic American students who received Pell Grants were more likely them has “grown extraordinarily fast.” to earn mostly A’s and B’s when compared to Hispanic American students “As a result, what concerns me is that while it is serving more students, who did not receive a Pell Grant (54 percent to 47 percent) those that it does reach, it reaches less well,” Mortenson said.

• Hispanic American students who had a Pell Grant were less likely to About two-thirds of the nearly $34 billion in Pell Grant expenditures earn mostly B’s when compared to Hispanic Americans who did not receive for AY 2011-12 went to public two-year a Pell Grant (26 percent to 29 percent) institutions.

• Hispanic American students who did Flowers’ report found that since 1975, not receive a Pell Grant were more likely to the number of applicants eligible for federhave higher salaries; Hispanic American al Pell Grants has increased by more than students who received a Pell Grant were 600 percent, showcasing the dramatic more likely to make less than $19,999 a growth of the program. The report year when compared to their peers who acknowledged the increased presence of did not receive a Pell Grant (29 percent to Hispanic Americans pursuing college 20 percent) degrees, and predicted those numbers • Hispanic American Pell Grant recipients would continue to escalate. were more likely to make between $20,000 According to the National Center for to $28,699 a year; in contrast, Hispanic Education Statistics, African-American and American students who did not receive a Hispanic American students are expected to Pell Grant were more likely to earn more comprise approximately 30 percent of the than $28,700 a year total college student enrollment by 2018.

“To ensure the Pell Grant program Yet investment in the program has not remains a priority in the higher education kept pace with the increase in tuition costs. finance policy domain, it’s important to The maximum Pell Grant initially covered provide evidence regarding the impact of the full costs of obtaining a two-year degree the Pell Grant program, including how Pell and about two-thirds of the costs of a pubGrant beneficiaries fare in academic setlic university, but now covers substantially tings as well as in the labor market,” less, about three-fifths of the costs of a twoFlowers said. year degree and under two-fifths of those Despite the availability of Pell Grants, for a four-year degree.

Frank Alvarez, president and CEO of the Recent reports noted that the average Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF), mainin-state tuition was about $8,244 at a pubtains that Hispanics are the ethnic group lic university, while the maximum Pell that least takes advantage of them.

Lamont A. Flowers, Ph.D., distinguished professor of Grant is $5,550 (up from the initial educational leadership, executive director, Charles H. Houston “The grants are imperative,” Alvarez $1,400). That $5,550 is substantially more said. “It’s a form of financial aid that does Center for the Study of the Black Experience in Education than when it was first established, when it not have to be paid back; it’s not a loan, was $1,400; and funding is slated to and Hispanics tend to be loan risk increase to $5,635 for the next award year. adverse. A Pell Grant is really a boost for them, and they don’t take advanAt the same time, the authors said that Hispanic American college stu- tage of it in quite the percentage that other groups do.” dents often have lower incomes when compared with White students, Alvarez said longstanding cultural differences are among the root cause strengthening the argument for more substantive federal aid policies to for lower engagement by Hispanic Americans, such as sentiments that ensure equal access to higher education. institutions might take advantage of the community.

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“Hispanics are traditionally underbanked in the United States, so there The Congressional Research Service reported it would cost between is a tendency not to put money in banks. Institutions are always looking $500 million and $700 million for every $100 increase in the Pell Grants. for ways to increase banking among Hispanics, but you always read about Flowers’ study seeks to inform federal policy regarding Pell Grant the predatory practices of lenders who prey on the Hispanic community,” appropriations in light of the expected growth in college enrollment and he said. “We have a tendency in the Hispanic community to be suspicious the potential to ignite our ailing economy. of things.”

“As the Pell Grant program moves forward in the upcoming years, Alvarez lamented the lower rate of engagement, indicating that HSF given the rising cost of tuition, policymakers must keep in mind the founfocuses much of its work on working with students and families to explain dational philosophy of the Pell Grant program, which is to support families the difference between grants, loans and and students by ensuring that financial work-study, so that families can budget resources are available to help individuals properly. obtain a college degree and enhance our The end goal, he said, is to equip the nation,” Flowers said. nation with a stronger, well-educated work“In light of the economic issues impactforce. ing our country, reform strategies regard“This is an investment,” he said. “The ing the Pell Grant program should focus on population we have in the nation today is expanding access to Pell Grants for Africanno longer the way it was in the past. What American and Latino students as well as we have now is a majority of Hispanics relensuring that the program remains viable ative to all others who are undereducated, for future generations,” he added. so one-third of the workforce by the end of In the end, experts agreed that the century is going to be Hispanic. We increased access to education is crucial to need to invest now in Hispanics if we want the country’s future and economy. to be No. 1 in the world.

Raising the maximum Pell Grant to “Let us put together a plan that address$13,000 would be one approach, es the Pell Grant not as a handout but as a Mortenson said, “in order to restore the priority for all in the country, that says we purchasing power of the Pell Grant prowant all of our children and young adults gram, and greatly reduce the reliance of to be better educated and make them low-income students on loans taken from stronger.” their future income to finance their higher Studying the impact of Pell Grants might education.” shed light on the importance of the federal “Hispanic students are disproportionprogram amid current discussions and ately concentrated in community colleges proposals bandied about to either elimibecause, even though they want to attend nate or curtail the program, and the impact four-year colleges, they cannot afford to revisions would have on Hispanic attend them,” Mortenson said. “Without Americans. One of the major proposed Pell Grants, far fewer Hispanic students Frank Alvarez, president and CEO of enhancements to the Pell Grant program would be able to attend four-year instituthe Hispanic Scholarship Fund would prohibit students from receiving tions, and far fewer would be able to more than one Pell Grant in an academic graduate. Everyone wants to keep students year. in college.”

Flowers cautioned policymakers not to reduce the program’s scope.

If such fiscal barriers continue to bar students from attending and Instead, lawmakers should focus on “decreasing the administrative costs graduating from college, then the system will continue to be “broken,” of the program as well as increasing the maximum Pell Grant award.” he said.

The program has been a target for cuts at a time when lawmakers look “The real answer is to honestly and fully address the real financial for areas to trim spending. The year-round Pell Grant was eliminated in needs that low-income students have,” he said, contending that efforts to 2011, which depleted many 2012 summer enrollments at some colleges. reshape Pell into a merit-based program are ill-founded. “In my view, the The president had proposed indexing Pell Grants for inflation, raising completion agenda is wrongly focused on converting the Pell Grant prothe Pell to $5,975 by the year 2020. However, that was not enacted into gram into a merit scholarship program. The real challenge is to re-engage law. In late 2011, the maximum Pell Grant was preserved but eligibility the states to make college more affordable.” levels were minimized (the time for eligible students to tap a Pell Grant was reduced from 18 full-time-equivalent semesters to 12), which experts estimated could significantly lower the number of students who can receive them.

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FINANCING/COMMENTARY

“Know Before You Go” College Bill Pushed

by Sens. Rubio, Wyden and Feisty Panelists

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by Peggy Sands Orchowski

xactly how much will every college student have to pay to complete a degree at a specific college? How many students actually graduate from that college and from that degree program? How long did it take them to graduate on average? How many graduates actually got jobs in that major, and what was their annual starting salary?

These are some of the questions that Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., want potential college students and their families to be able to answer as they apply to college. It will happen via a bill they are cosponsoring called the “Student Right to Know Before You Go” Act. It would enable all education stakeholders to make a cost-benefit analysis of every major at every college in the nation.

It’s anything but wonky. According to the senators who spoke at a panel on higher education accountability at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) mid-September, “the aggregate student loan debt is reaching $1 trillion even amid dim job forecasts for recent graduates. Prospective students and their families are questioning and seeking more information about the value of a college degree all together in the face of rising college costs.”

But the higher education market lacks transparency regarding college costs, student learning and post-college success, according to AEI, a rightof-center think tank in Washington, D.C. “A college education is the second-biggest investment any family will make,” Wyden pointed out. “We want to make sure that that investment is well-spent and that the information used to make it is very useable.

Historically, education policies were focused on ACCESS to college for all.

We developed Pell Grants and Stanford Loans and various other [government-supported] ways to increase access. These should be kept. But now the focus has to be equally on value.”

Rubio agreed. Education has changed. As our economic growth increasingly depends on the need for a trained, skilled workforce, postsecondary education has become a national interest, a national investment – even as it is increasingly in our backyards, with community colleges and for-profit educational institutions everywhere and students from every background now on campus. “We need to know that all our education investments are well-used,” he said. “We need to take the pressure away from marketing of the for-profit colleges to accountability for all colleges.”

A panel of feisty education analysts and a spokesperson from the House Committee on Education and the WorkForce all agreed.

“Ninety percent of college students go to college to get a job,” exclaimed Mark Schneider of AEI and a former U.S. commissioner of education statistics.

“But my current salary – and even many fields of work today – was not predictable 20 years ago,” countered Pauline Abernathy of The Institute for College Access & Success. “Maybe we could list cost benefits like potential graduation time, actual costs, debt, job opportunities and salaries, like points on a car for sale in a retail lot, but they can’t really tell you exactly what will happen in the future.”

“It is a common belief that college grads would earn one million more

dollars during a lifetime than noncollege graduates; I’m holding up for $1.3 million to include benefits,” said Anthony Carnevale, a well-known education provocateur from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. “But that was then. Not necessarily now.

There are different returns now. Air conditioning techs will make a lot more than BA degree holders in many majors and fields of work.

Outcomes like lifetime salary will depend on the career chosen and the economy. Which degree and where you go are also big determinants.”

While higher education is now the most traveled path to the middle class, just graduating with a degree is not “textured enough” to reach success, panelists concurred. “Every student needs a plan,” said Carnevale.

“Each student has to know specifically what they want in terms of outcome.

The best way to predict educational success is intentionality – that is knowing what you want to do, what you want to earn, and exactly what college degree will get you there.”

To make those decisions requires information and data. But there are problems getting it. One, of concern to government, is the issue of privacy.

“What are the key pieces of information is the issue, and which are private?” asked Amy Jones of the congressional education committee.

In the U.S., education data is unique in that it is mostly generated and “owned” by each state and even local educational jurisdictions (particularly integrated community college districts). There is no centralized national education compulsory data-gathering system.

The other piece of the cost-benefit analysis data puzzle is post education: career opportunities and salaries. It is clear that liberal arts majors will almost always come down on the low end of the cost-benefit scale compared to the sciences, if judged by salaries and career prospects.

“Liberal arts programs must be more hybrid,” declared Carnevale.

History, language arts and multicultural programs can all become part of STEM (or, as some people suggest, STEArtsM majors).

“I reject the idea of either/or,” said Wyden (either studying for an occupation or studying to be enlightened). Every university and every major must be interdisciplinary.”

“I want everyone who works – like my mom and my dad [a bartender] – to get an education even as they are working,” said Rubio.

To do that, educational data need to be more sophisticated, showing both the work skills needed in every field (including liberal arts aspects such as writing, language, history and cross-cultural competencies) as well as job opportunity and salary data. Education and labor statistical offices should be combined, intermingled or in some other way closely coordinated, suggested Schneider. Education and occupational statistics should be easily viewed together.

“Data sharing between departments is inevitable,” concluded Carnevale. “It has become absolutely crucial for everyone who has to decide what to do after breakfast for the next 45 [or more] years.”

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Raising the Entrepreneurial Child FINANCING/INNOVATIONS/PROGRAMS

“If

by Thomas G. Dolan

you’re teaching your kids to “get good grades, work hard and save money,” you’re preparing them to succeed in a world that doesn’t exist anymore,” says author and speaker Gregory Downing, who maintains that parents must teach their kids how to think and work like entrepreneurs.

The Lecanto, Fla.-based Downing, author of Entrepreneur Unleashed: Wealth to Stand the Test of Time (Legacy Unleashed Press, 2012) as well as an upcoming book on providing a financial legacy for kids

“We’ve entered the

age of the entrepreneur, and only those with the right mindset and skill set will thrive.”

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(www.GregoryDowning.com), says, “If you have children and are trying to prepare them for the real world, it’s hard to know what to tell them anymore.

Get good grades? Go to college? Find a job with a good company, and you’ll be rewarded?

This might be the advice your parents gave you, and hopefully, it paid off. But the words don’t ring true anymore. College degrees are a dime a dozen, new grads are moving back home burdened with six-figure debt, and the gold-watch jobs are a relic of another age.

We’ve entered the age of the entrepreneur, and only those with the right mindset and skill set will thrive.”

Kids have always worked, raked leaves, washed cars and sold lemonade. But there’s only one problem, says Downing. While these typical kid jobs do result in a bit of pocket cash, they do very little to teach kids the all-important principles of entrepreneurial wealth building. “Directly trading your time for money is very limiting,” says Downing. “This is especially true in a global economy characterized by skyrocketing prices and a shortage of good jobs.”

The good news, says Downing, is that your kids can put an entrepreneurial twist on these childhood jobs – or at least take their earning potential to a higher level.

As one illustrative example, here’s what he suggests can be done with the classic lemonade stand.

“The kids can learn about profit by buying their own ingredients and doing their own marketing. They can shop around for better pricing, learn the benefits of buying in bulk, or negotiate with a local grocer for a better deal or repeat business. They can differentiate themselves by selling fresh squeezed lemonade when everyone else is selling pre-mixed or by holding ‘Buy two glasses get one free sales.’

“Want to kick it up a notch? Let’s say there’s more than one hot spot in the neighborhood for set-up. You can guide your child through ‘franchising’ by forming a partnership with other neighborhood kids. He can provide the supplies and set-up, and they get paid for managing the table.

“There might come a time when your child finds out that franchisees aren’t doing what they are supposed to do – giving away free lemonade to friends or leaving their stand unattended, for example. This is a chance to walk him through the tough conversation he must have. You might even brainstorm ways to stop the problem, say, by giving kids a cut of the profits instead of paying a flat salary.”

Prior to his current motivational writing and public speaking career, Downing worked 12 years as the general manager of four Chevrolet and Dodge Chrysler dealerships, managing more than 130 employees and increasing production and sales without sacrificing quality and customer service. It was during this tenure that he became increasingly aware that his real vocation was in motivating and leading others to achieve their goals and dreams.

This led Downing to dedicate his life for the past 20-plus years to, as he puts it, “teaching that every family can truly control its financial future and create a generational legacy with profound, yet straightforward advice and guidance.”

When asked about those who might not regard making money as a primary goal, humanitarian idealists, artistic types, or those whose passion is

for a type of work that might not have the potential for great financial success, Downing readily agrees that his philosophy isn’t for everybody.

However, he adds that even these people can apply these principles to some degree. For instance, the creative writer who has written a highly original book, one that doesn’t fit commercial genres or categories, and so not likely to attract conventional publishers or agents, doesn’t need to resign himself to living in a garret as the proverbial starving artist. He can self-publish and use a variety of marketing and sales techniques, both established and innovative, to create a new niche for himself in the marketplace.

As an example closer to home, Downing cites his son, Gregory Downing Jr., who at age 17 says he “loves fishing and has a 26-foot boat he uses off of the Florida coasts. Though he makes some money off of this activity, it’s not enough to generate the kind of income he wants. So I’ve taught him the ropes of real estate investing. He runs a real estate investment company with eight properties, from which he makes $3,000 a month and is on track to have a net worth of $1 million when he starts college.”

Asked whether his program has any particular relevance for minorities in general and Hispanics in particular, Downing says, “Learning these financial skills is important not simply for individuals but also for the country, and this is especially true for Hispanics, whose population is growing so rapidly. This is a great opportunity to reach out to those communities and give them the skills not given in schools.

“Traditional education is very important, and you should want your children to go to college. But there are some startling statistics many people don’t want to talk about. Sixty-five percent of those who graduate from college go back to live at home, for they can’t get a job in their field of study. This is proof positive that the traditional system isn’t working. But if we can keep the traditional system and marry it to an entrepreneurial education, then there is a much better chance that minorities can go out and achieve success in the world.”

Another central dynamic to his approach has to do with the fact that it is a family endeavor, and here the typically large family unit of Hispanics can prove to be a real advantage in the support needed to put his ideas into practice. “You may assume you’re the one to teach your child, and you certainly have a critical role to play. But there may be other adults in your family’s sphere of influence who have demonstrated the ability to achieve in business. Nurture those relationships.”

Downing adds that a cornerstone of his philosophy has been learning from other successful people.” I wouldn’t be where I am today if I hadn’t been open to learning from the experts, and my son wouldn’t be where he is without learning from me.”

One aspect of Hispanic families, Downing continues, is that older kids are often given the responsibility for looking after the younger ones, and so learning about child care. Yet this routine chore can be given an entrepreneurial twist through the youth going out and babysitting and/or tutoring for other families.

“Plenty of kids are qualified for babysitting and tutoring. But why not suggest that your child, rather than being just another service provider in a crowded market, that she be the front person? She might create a database of qualified locals and book appointments for her subcontractors. She can charge $10 an hour for services and pay each of her contractors $8 an hour. This is great management experience and really illustrates the magic of passive income. On any given Saturday night, she might be earning money from four or five or even more babysitting jobs. Meanwhile, she can be enjoying a night out with her friends or perhaps earning even more money by working a babysitting job of her own.”

A number of Hispanic organizations have long incorporated some of Downing’s insights, which put them in a good position to further incorporate his entrepreneurial ideas. For instance, the San Antonio, Texas-based AVANCE Inc. Says chief program officer Glendelia M. Zavala, Ed.D., “Our emphasis is working with parents with children from birth to 8 years old.

What we teach is that parents are the first and most important teacher and home is the child’s first classroom. We encourage parents to read to their children and prepare them for school through Head Start or preschool.”

At the same time, Zavala says, AVANCE guides parents, many of them immigrants without a high school diploma, to learn English and get their diploma or GED, to make them more marketable in the work force.

Since its founding, AVANCE has grown to seven chapters in San Antonio

“Hispanics are known to be a hardworking people, but that doesn’t necessarily translate into financial success.”

Félix R. García, Downing mentee and entrepreneur

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“There are a number of skills that can be learned in this mutually supportive environment, including financial, but also cultural, linguistic, critical thinking, collaboration and leadership.”

Rosana G. Rodríguez, Ph.D., director of development, IDRA and operates in a total of 12 states. As a further extension, three of the chapters hire members of the AmeriCorps Program, signed into law by President Clinton in 1993. This means that parents who have completed their high school diploma or GED through AVANCE can now be hired as early childhood instructors and be given living allowances and scholarships with which to pursue higher education.

“As they pursue their education and receive a living wage for service to

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their community, they serve as role models for their children and help break the cycle of poverty,” Zavala says.

The Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA), also based in San Antonio and started in 1972, has an analogous orientation.

“We believe children at a young age need both structural and environmental support from both home and school,” says Rosana G. Rodríguez, Ph.D., director of development. “IDRA has developed the concept of centers of excellence, so home and school together create an atmosphere where every child has every opportunity to explore, reflect, create and compete from the earliest ages of preschool through college and so lead the good life,” Rodríguez says.

“There are a number of skills that can be learned in this mutually supportive environment, including financial, but also cultural, linguistic, critical thinking, collaboration and leadership.” Rodríguez reports that since its founding IDRA has provided this kind of support to hundreds of thousands of individuals through various affiliations with preschool to graduate school programs, as well as nonprofit organizations and community service groups.

To turn to a direct beneficiary of Downing’s ideas, Félix R. García grew up with a single mother from Puerto Rico who struggled to make ends meet for Félix and his brother, now a policeman. “My mother wasn’t able to teach me financial literacy, but she did instill the importance of education,” he says.

After García graduated from high school, he worked for five years for the housing authority in New York City. He then enrolled at Lee University in Tennessee, a liberal Christian arts school, one of the top 100 private universities in the country. He graduated in 2006 with a BA in music. But, as he says, “The economy had started shrinking, and I found it hard to get a job. I embarked on my own program of financial literacy. I read a number of books and attended lectures. At one, I met Greg Downing. Greg took a personal interest in me and became my mentor. He taught me how to become an entrepreneur, and I credit him with the success I’ve achieved today. Under Greg’s tutelage, I’ve become a full-time investor.”

García is president of Genesis Realty Solutions (ibuynoproblem.com) based in Nevada, while he has homes in New York City and Chattanooga, Tenn. “I’ve always had a different definition of being rich,” García says.

“For me, it’s not just about the numbers, but rather being able to do what I want to do with no negative consequences.” One thing García likes to do is give back by helping other Hispanics, such as helping them deal with credit problems and providing housing for those who can’t get good credit.

“Hispanics are known to be a hardworking people, but that doesn’t necessarily translate into financial success,” he says. “This is even true for those who go become lawyers and doctors, for these are among the highest-taxed professions. A problem with traditional education is that it doesn’t teach you how to become an entrepreneur. You also need that.

Traditional education earns you the right to become an employee. But with financial literacy, you can become an employer.”

García emphasizes the importance of finding a good mentor.

“The difference between having a friend and a mentor is that a friend accepts you as you are,” García says. “A mentor leads you to where you want to go. Greg Downing has helped me out to this day.”

García, 35, is not married, but says he’d like to be “when I find the right woman.” When asked whether he intends to imbue his children with the entrepreneurial spirit,” García says, “Absolutely!”

Interesting Reads Creating Ourselves: African Americans and Hispanic Americans on Popular Culture and Religious Expression Edited by Anthony B. Pinn and Benjamin Valentin Creating Ourselves is an effort to lay the cultural and theological groundwork for cross-cultural collaboration between the African- and Latino/a American communities.

In the introduction, the editors contend that given overlapping histories and interests of the two communities, they should work together to challenge social injustices. They have brought together theologians and scholars of religion from both communities who explain the religious and theological significance of various forms of African-American and Latino/a popular culture, including literature, music, television, visual arts and cooking.

2009. 400 pages ISBN: 978-0822345664. $26.95 paper. Duke University Press Books, (919) 688-5134. www.dukeupress.edu.

Genesis: Memory of Fire Volume 1

By Eduardo Galeano Genesis, the first volume in Eduardo Galeano’s Memory of Fire trilogy, is both a meditation on the clashes between the Old World and the New and, in the author’s words, an attempt to “rescue the kidnapped memory of all America.” It is a severe, impassioned and kaleidoscopic historical experience that takes readers from the creation myths of the Makiritare Indians of the Yucatan to Columbus’s first moments in the New World to the English settlers’ capture of New York.

2010. 336 pgs. ISBN: 978-1568584447. $15.95 paper. Perseus Books, (212) 822-0250. www.perseusbooksgroup.com.

7 Steps to Raising a Bilingual Child

By Naomi Steiner with Susan L. Haynes This book helps parents in both monolingual and multilingual families define and achieve their bilingual goals for their child, whether those goals are understanding others, the ability to speak a second language, reading and/or writing in two languages, or some combination of all of these.

The authors explain how the brain learns more than one language, explode common myths, address frequently asked questions and reveal an array of resources available to families.

2008. 224 pgs. ISBN: 978-0814400463, $14.95 paper. Amacom Books. (800) 250-5308. www.amacombooks.org

On Art, Artists, Latin America and Other Utopias

by Luis Camnitzer, edited by Rachel Weiss 2009. 272 pages. ISBN: 978-0292719767 Cloth, $45.00. University of Texas Press, www.utexaspress.com, 800 252 3206.

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rtist, educator, curator and critic Luis Camnitzer has been writing about contemporary art ever since he left his native Uruguay in 1964 for a fellowship in New York City. This volume gathers his most thought-provoking essays – “texts written to make something happen,” in the words of volume editor Rachel Weiss. The theme of “translation” is carried through the first part of the book, with Camnitzer asking such questions as “What is Latin America, and who asks the question? Who is the artist, there and here?” The texts in the second section are more historically than geographically oriented, exploring little-known moments, works and events that Camnitzer draws on and offers to his readers. Viewing society through the eyes of someone who has been transplanted from another country, Camnitzer has had to confront fundamental questions about making art in the Americas, asking himself and others: What is Latin American art? How does it relate (if it does) to art created in the centers of New York and Europe? What is the role of the artist in exile? Writing about issues of such personal, cultural and political importance has long been part of Camnitzer’s artistic project. With this volume, Luis Camnitzer displays his multifaceted approach to creating, teaching and critiquing art.

From the beginning of the book, Camnitzer explores how local histories are written. But the volume also gives readers a glimpse into who Camnitzer really is. The 1977 essay “Exile” demonstrates his autobiographical style of narrating history. Focusing first on his own training as an artist and then on his transition to living in New York, he demonstrates the difficulties of bilingualism – the constant process of not only translating but also of performing dual identities – and his continuous sense of displacement.

Being in New York meant proximity to trends in art, which Camnitzer analyzed and discussed. The 1998 essay “Political Pop” is his attempt to present his thoughts on Pop Art’s competing alien and kindred ideas. He noted that Pop was a case of “the imperialism of the consumer object being attacked by the society that produced it rather than by its ultimate victims.”

Pop Art was a useful lens for looking at the strange but thriving art market.

Understanding that market, and the implications it might have for a more idealistic approach to art production, has been an ongoing project.

Camnitzer understood the political realities of the art world. “Art and Politics: The Aesthetics of Resistance” was written for the leftist journal Report on the Americas in 1994. The essay is Camnitzer’s most complete attempt to relate artistic activity to the leftist tradition in Latin American politics.

Rachel Weiss is a professor of arts administration and policy at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Camnitzer is a professor emeritus at State University of New York College at Old Westbury. He is presently the pedagogical curator for the Ibere Camargo Foundation in Brazil.

Reviewed by Mary Ann Cooper

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FINANCING/TUITION

12 Tips that Help College Students Become Bank Smart

When

by Gary M. Stern

it comes to financial issues, most undergraduates concentrate on paying for college via student aid, scholarships, grants and loans. Studying which banks to open an account in, analyzing checking fees and comparing prices are too time-consuming and cumbersome for most undergraduates.

According to a 2012 Pew Charitable Trust study Still Risky: An Update on the Safety and Transparency of Checking Accounts, students

Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of the websites FinAid and FastWeb

also need to consider banking, not just financial aid. Choosing a bank with lower ATM and checking fees, avoiding costly debit card and overdraft charges and exploring credit unions can serve as a springboard for savings. Moreover, minority students face special issues since they often have less exposure to banks, and fewer bank branches in their neighborhoods.

Pew updated its 2011 study on hidden risks with a 2012 study on banking and checking

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accounts, based on reviewing the 12 largest banks and 12 largest credit unions. Its report stated, “There continue to be key banking practices that put consumers at financial risk and expose them to high and unexpected costs for little benefit.”

Susan Weinstock, project director at Pew Charitable Trust who oversaw the study, said that “A checking account is the gateway to financial service products and to more sophisticated products. It’s the starter product. Nine of 10 Americans have it.” When a previous Pew report studied Latino households in Los Angeles, half of them had bank accounts and half didn’t. Those who had banking accounts weathered the economic storm and recession better than those without.

The Pew report warns consumers that banking fees, some of which are disclosed and some hidden, can mount up and cut into savings. For example, Americans paid a whopping $29.5 billion in overdraft charges in 2011 based on fees that rose 32 percent from 2010 to 2012. The median fee for overdraft penalty is $35 at banks and $25 at credit unions.

Banks’ cumbersome disclosure forms are lengthy, written in small type and can be daunting, Weinstock said. The report recommends focusing on very direct questions to choose a bank or credit union: 1) What are the basic checking fees? 2) What are overdraft fees? 3) What are the monthly fees? 4) Which fees can be waived? Weinstock noted the bottom line is that Pew wants “checking accounts to be more transparent, for students to understand terms of agreement and for the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to make checking accounts less risky.”

When Karen Blumenthal, author of The Wall Street Journal Guide to Starting Your Financial Life, recently taught a business journalism class at Texas Christian University, she asked her students about their banking fees.

Most had no idea how much they paid for checking and chose a bank based on proximity to campus or where they resided. “Paying attention to fees wasn’t on their radar screen,” she

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said. If students are paying $12 a month or $144 annually in checking fees and maintaining $1,000 in their account, they’re losing nearly 15 percent of their savings.

In their disclosure forms, banks and credit union often obfuscate rather than clarify fees.

The Pew report noted that one credit union said an account had “no monthly service fee” but had a “minimum balance fee,” which could confuse any consumer. Credit unions failed to disclose that they don’t charge extended overdraft penal-

Susan Weinstock, project director, Pew Charitable Trust

ties. The report said, “It would be difficult for a consumer to ascertain this without consulting an employee of the institution.”

Here are 12 tips offered by financial experts on how college students can save money, deal with financial aid and avoid or limit hefty banking fees. Some issues were directly from the report, and others were triggered by it.

Tip No. 1: Ask about and research checking and ATM fees.

Some checking accounts are free with balances of $1,000 to $5,000. Before opening an account, ask what the minimum balance is for free checking, the monthly fee for checking, and whether that includes an unlimited number of checks or are there extra fees for writing more than, say, 10 checks a month.

“Many college students keep a $500 balance in their checking accounts so the $12 monthly fee can add up. That’s a huge knock to their personal financing,” Blumenthal said. Indeed, some banks charge as much as $6 to $8 for each out-of-network ATM transaction, and that multiplies quickly. Some credit unions reimburse out-of-network fees. Spend as much time considering the cost of a checking account and ATM fees as the location of the bank, Blumenthal adds. Walking an extra block but saving $500 a year can make a big difference.

Tip No. 2: Keep spending to a minimum.

Living away from home and not being subjected to family guidelines, some college students take advantage of the freedom and spend money excessively. If college students open savings and checking accounts, and then spend more than they have, that leads to debt. Paying off the balances can be burdensome, particularly when credit card debt is added to college loans, Blumenthal said.

Tip No. 3: Overcome your resistance to banks.

Don’t keep excessive amounts of money in your dorm room, where thefts can take place, said Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of the websites FinAid and FastWeb and author of Secrets to Winning a Scholarship. Many students, particularly minority students, were raised in neighborhoods with few banks and don’t trust them, but banks are the safest place to keep one’s money and begin a program to grow savings. Moreover, banks can help establish credit ratings, which help consumers long-term to take out a mortgage on a house or buy a car when they’ve built up savings.

Tip No. 4: Use your credit cards judiciously.

To protect college students and younger people from getting buried in debt, the Credit Card Act of 2009 stipulates that consumers must be 21 years or older to establish a credit card in their own name, unless they can show steady income or have their parents co-sign. Blumenthal said students must focus on maintaining a budget, spending only what they earn or have saved, and avoid racking up balances and debt. Kantrowitz noted that some colleges have tried to sidestep the law and considered student aid as income, enabling students to take out a credit card at a younger age. That can lead to excessive debt.

“When a student spends $5 or $500 on their credit card, it feels the same. They’re not counting out dollar bills and don’t realize how much they’re spending,” Kantrowitz said. Avoid carrying credit card balances, which at 20 percent or higher interest can turn a $500 debt into a $1,000 debt over time. Going against conventional wisdom, Blumenthal recommended taking out a “vanilla” credit card and not paying attention to rewards. “For students with limited income, don’t play the rewards game,” she said. It encourages excessive spending and invites debt.

Tip No. 5: Beware of overusing debit cards.

After receiving financial aid and paying a student’s tuition and room and board, some colleges issue students a debit card with any extra funds, Kantrowitz explained. Using their debit cards, many students spend too much, run out of funds and can’t pay for books or other essentials. Some colleges have turned student identification cards into debit cards, making it easier to use them. Students must use that debit card wisely and avoid overspending.

Tip No. 6: Do your banking “homework.”

Just as undergraduates must do research to write an essay, students must perform their banking “homework” to determine which bank offers the lowest fees. The Pew report offers guidance on how to proceed. It encourages consumers to visit the Web pages of a bank or credit union, use key words to search for relevant data on checking and banking accounts, call or visit local branches. Ask about waiving fees. The minimum fee to be maintained in a checking account to avoid extra charges was $2,000 at banks and $625 at credit unions. But about 40 percent of banks and 25 percent of credit unions offered alternative methods to waive fees.

For example, checking fees were waived if the student maintained a minimum grade point average.

Tip No. 7: Consider credit unions.

Most credit unions are nonprofit and member-owned, charge less for many services, such as out-of-network ATM fees, are often more flexible than large banks, and offer more personalized service. But Kantrowitz advised students to be skeptical and compare fees since some credit unions can charge more for certain services than banks. “Trust me; I’m nonprofit” isn’t enough, he said. Remember that most credit unions are local, so if the students want to do banking out of state, they might have to switch to another institution when they leave college.

Tip No. 8: Reduce overdraft fees.

One way to ensure avoiding overdraft fees is just to opt out of it. Most banks allow a system

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that sends a reminder to a cell or mobile phone when your balance is getting low and can cut off spending, which eliminates costly overdraft fees, Kantrowitz says.

Tip No. 9: Track spending.

Many college students have no idea how they spend their money. Kantrowitz recommended that undergraduates create a spreadsheet that includes detailed payments on food, clothing, shelter, medical expenses and entertainment.

One student realized that he was spending $400 a month dining out, which encouraged him to dine more at home. Consider which expenses are mandatory, which are discretionary, and cut back on the superfluous items.

Tip No. 10: Start saving early.

“It’s cheaper to save than to borrow,” Kantrowitz said. For every dollar students borrow, they’re more than likely paying $2 back in interest, he said. If a college student is earning money via a part-time job, create an automatic savings plan that deposits 15 percent to 20 percent of the income in a savings or money market account. Instead of buying a new pair of sneakers or clothes, saving $200 a month becomes $2,400 in a year and $30,000 or more in a decade with compounding interest. Having emergency funds set aside can also offset having to pay for a major auto repair or other unexpected costs.

Tip No. 11: Consider saying no to excess student loans.

Some colleges offer more in financial aid than students require for their tuition, room and board and books. Kantrowitz advised turning down any excessive aid that will lead to increasing debt. Some students consider it “free money,” but since they’re paying interest on the loans, they’re much better off turning down additional student loans and reducing their debt.

Any students who graduate college with $100,000 or more in student loans have dug themselves a deep hole, Blumenthal suggests.

Instead she strongly recommends attending a college with less expensive tuition and other costs and reducing debt upon graduation.

Tip No. 12: Enroll in a financial literacy class.

Many colleges offer financial literacy programs, some aimed at all students and some earmarked only for financial or accounting majors.

For example, Ohio State offers a financial literacy program, and Texas Tech offers its “Red to Black” program, which trains financial planning majors to become peer financial coaches.

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HACU and UT-San Antonio Host Top Scholars in Latino Research FINANCING/CONFERENCES/CONVENTIONS

M

by Michelle Adam

ore than 50 top scholars gathered in San Antonio, Texas, for three days in early June for an unprecedented meeting of minds. Scholars focused on furthering the success of Latinos in higher education came from distinct parts of the country to develop a Latino/a-driven agenda for national research, policy and practice.

Leslie Gonzales, assistant professor of higher education, Clemson University

Unique to the meeting, called the National Latino/a Education Research, Policy and Practice Initiative, was the diversity of those represented – a group of intergenerational administrators, faculty, doctoral students and practitioners making up the education pipeline.

“Many people hadn’t been in a meeting like this. ... solely to have an intentional, collaborative and intergenerational meeting of minds.

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Most of these folks go to conferences and attend each other’s meetings, but to come together for one big work session was unique,” said Emily Calderón Galdeano, conference organizer and director of research and information at the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU).

“It was inspiring, and it was great to learn from each other and how all of our work informs other people’s work. We didn’t care if we were working all the time. We collectively strategized as a group, and the space was there for conversations we had never seen in other places.”

Nationally renowned scholars gathered on June 9, the first day of the conference, to an opening talk by Dr. Antonio Flores, HACU president, and Dr. Ricardo Romo, president of the University of Texas (UT)-San Antonio. They represented the two organizations hosting the meeting, which was supported by the Lumina Foundation. Both welcomed all to the event and emphasized the incredible brainpower that existed in the room.

Beyond basic introductions, the following two days were comprised of work groups discussing major areas of concerns. Conference organizers provided an overview of past research activity and identified critical gaps in Latino education research, policy and practice.

“We had a large group meeting, and the scholars then created subtopics and broke off into small groups. They looked at research, policy and practice arenas and came back into a large group and shared what they had learned in smaller groups,” explained Calderón Galdeano.

“We started at 8 a.m. and were done at 5:30 p.m., and during lunch, dinner and after dinner we had many more discussions. People were excited to be in these groups. Many hadn’t been in meetings like this before.”

Key topic areas addressed included undocumented students, community colleges and

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Latino student success, Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), Latino/a leadership, college access and completion, Latino learning style and pedagogy, STEM, and financing higher education. In addition, some goals of the San Antonio meeting included stimulating discussion of current and past research regarding Latina/o higher education; collaborating and

Mayra Olivares-Urueta, doctoral candidate, University of North Texas

developing workgroups; identifying and connecting with funders; fostering relationships among scholars; and using these relationships to drive innovation in the access and success of Latinos in higher education.

Until now, many scholars have focused on the deficits of Latinos – low high school and college graduation rates and low retention rates – but these meetings provided a chance to look

more closely at the true picture of Latinos in higher education. In investigating the arena of community colleges and Latino student success, attendees re-examined the belief that community colleges are a deficit and compared the transfer rates on papers to the real transfer rates for Latinos. The small groups also discussed the information-seeking process for first-generation students and what was needed to help students apply to and transfer from community colleges.

Groups that focused on HSIs shared knowledge on the unique identities of these 311 entities that serve 54 percent of all Latino students.

“What does it mean to be an HSI? What are their differences and their similarities? They continue to grow, and we have ones that are very different.

They are not a homogenous group,” said Calderón Galdeano. “Some are funded better

Dr. Fernando Valle, assistant professor of educational leadership,Texas Tech University

because they have better research offices for federal funding, and the smaller ones don’t.”

The Latino/a leadership focus of the conference examined the manner in which Latino leadership is framed by scholars and academia.

While Latino leaders are still sorely underrepresented in the education pipeline, scholars recognized the need to embrace the ways Latinos are leaders in their communities as we push the

agenda to increase Latino leadership in formal institutions. “Until we can develop more leaders, we need to embrace our communities and see the leadership we have in our own families,” said Calderón Galdeano.

When it came to college access and completion, attendees also saw that our society needed to reconceptualize how we define completion.

“The federal government database doesn’t fully count all of our students. If a student drops out for a year to work and then comes back, they are no longer counted in graduation rates,” explained Calderón Galdeano. “Only 25 percent of our Latino students are traditional now, so we need to change our view. And now increased tuition, limited access – especially in California, less funding and fewer Pell Grants define and impact out students’ completion rates.”

Attendees discussed options of developing a database and speaking with federal and state agencies about better tracking of Latino students. “The information is out there. Institutions have it individually, but as scholars we need to have access to that information,” said Calderón Galdeano. “The federal government has to require this information in order to disseminate it so we can access it.”

Another topic area addressed at the conference was that of Latino learning styles and pedagogy. Discussion revolved around improving faculty development, creating inclusive curriculum and recognizing the cultural wealth that students arrive with at school. “We want a truly inclusive curriculum that looks at students and faculty and the knowledge they come in with,” said the conference organizer.

In terms of STEM fields, scholars looked at evidence-based practices and the cultures that exist within gate-keeping courses in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields.

“How can we as researchers help with this and look at the institutional factors that either hinder or support success? How do we implement practices that replicate successful programs?” asked Calderón Galdeano. “The research is out there, but it’s a matter of getting it all together.”

The final topic of interest explored was that of financing education. “We need to implement programs to increase financial literacy at the family level and look at the budget priorities at the institutional level and see how to help generate more revenue – by looking at what is working well and get that information out there,” said

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Calderón Galdeano. “We also looked at the impact that decreased funding and increased tuition is having on our students. They are the ones having to pay the price, and it then takes them longer to finish. If they take longer to finish, the institution doesn’t meet federal goals and then receives less funding.”

The financial challenges addressed at the conference are only likely to escalate for students and institutions. Given this reality, funders invited to the gathering attended scholars’ presentations that painted a picture of financial and other issues that at this time are central to higher education and Latinos.

Building a community, a familia, among a diverse group of academics, and including funders and organizations that support Latino initiatives in higher education, was key to the confer-

Anne-Marie Núñez, associate professor, University of Texas-San Antonio

ence. “One of the big things about gathering was developing networks. We had folks from Utah and Iowa working with folks from many others states,” said Calderón Galdeano.

One of those adding to the energy of la familia during the three-day conference was Leslie Gonzales, assistant professor of higher education at Clemson University in South Carolina. “When I received the invitation to go, I

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Scholars focused on furthering the success of Latinos in higher education came from distinct parts of the country to develop a Latino/a-driven agenda for national research, policy and practice. was very excited. I hoped to connect to people on a scholarly level and hook into important conversations,” she said. “It was energizing being there! I learned a lot and came out with knowledge in a practical sense and learned about what people are doing around these topics in different ways.”

Gonzales was delighted to be with multiple generations of Latino and Latina faculty. As a member of academia for the past three years, meeting with other scholars helped inspire her current research on faculty experiences and careers, especially for those at HSIs. “This meeting really gave me an opportunity to ground my work and reground my focus. This encouraged and energized me to refocus on what I care about and become involved with new grants with others from the gathering.”

Gonzales applauded Calderón Galdeano for bringing together such a diverse group of scholars. “This was a good example of people coming together with the expectation to simply be allowed to think deeply about important challenges. We normally don’t get the chance to do this, since in academia things are often hurried,” she concluded.

For Dr. Fernando Valle, assistant professor of educational leadership, Texas Tech University, “this was a living bibliography for researchers.

When you are a doctoral student, you can’t help but be drawn to the leaders in the field. When you have those people sitting next to you in a room, it can be overwhelming, but exciting.”

Valle has been researching the cultural capital it takes to survive in academia. “It’s a lonely process for us in academia, but it is changing now,” he shared. “At the conference, others shared their stories of how to navigate the system and publish papers. For an emerging professor, this provided a valuable insight into a profession that can be very competitive. I saw senior research professors sharing their stories with younger professors, and the intergenerational aspect was something I really appreciated.”

“This is the first time I’ve been to a conference like this with representatives of the whole educational pipeline,” he said.

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While all those participating were there as professionals committed to helping Latinos in higher education, they also came together as a spiritual familia. All were there to share in their passions, and also their culture.

“Even down to the name tags, it was first names only,” said Calderón Galdeano. “It was truly a dialogue as opposed to being spoken to.”

“Being a young scholar still progressing through the doctoral degree, it was enlightening to be part of this meeting and to see how this process played out,” said Mayra Olivares-Urueta, University of North Texas, who has been researching issues relating to Latinos/as in health profession degree programs. “The gathering impacted my current work greatly. ... I left feeling an urgency to get my work done and published for all to learn from.”

Anne-Marie Núñez, associate professor at UT-San Antonio, said the gathering provided an unusual opportunity for researchers to get a sense of the big picture. “Typically, at conferences, we are so focused on meetings and particular issues that we cannot step back and consider more generally how the pieces fit together.”

Conversations Núñez and others had during break-out sessions regarding Hispanic-Serving Institutions helped her address nuances within her own research. This further clarity helped her obtain a grant from HACU to fund her team’s research on HSIs. Others too secured research grants that stemmed from the conference.

The hope for conference organizers, HACU and UT-San Antonio is to create another gathering next year, to present that work. And to invite institutional presidents and policymakers to that next meeting.

Calderón Galdeano, citing the passion, the energy, the convivencia, called it “an amazing time.”

HI S PAN I C S O N T H E MO VE Flores New Palo Alto College President

Rico-Mayagüez, where he was a tenured professor of electrical and computer engineering and had been associate director and department chair and dean of academic affairs. He has a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez and a master’s and doctorate in electrical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Dr. R. Michael Flores, a veteran of 19 years in higher education, recently became Palo Alto College’s sixth president, replacing Dr. Ana M. “Cha” Guzmán, who became president of Santa Fe Community College in New Mexico. Flores has held all three VP positions since joining the college in 1999.

He most recently served as interim vice president of academic affairs, overseeing academic and workforce programs and more than 100 faculty. The new president has a BA in political science from the University of Texas-San Antonio, an MA in political science from Illinois State University and a Ph.D. in educational administration from the University of Texas-Austin, where his dissertation centered on service learning.

Cruz Appointed Provost at CSUF José L. Cruz, vice president for higher education policy and practice at the Education Trust, recently was appointed provost and vice president for academic affairs at California State University-Fullerton.

He began his new role in December. Cruz had been on leave from the University of Puerto

Center for Hispanic Leadership Taps Rodríguez to Lead Ohio Chapter The Center for Hispanic Leadership (CHL) has launched its first chapter in Ohio and has named José “Rafi” Rodríguez, a Ohio business and community leader for eight years, as its president.

Rodríguez has a BS in chemistry from the University of Puerto Rico in Mayagüez, a BS in aeronautical engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology and an MS in systems analysis from the University of West Florida.

González Earns Fulbright

Photo © Darren Phillips

Pacheco Named Interim President of NMSU The New Mexico State University (NMSU) Board of Regents recently appointed Manuel T. Pacheco interim president of the university, a role he also held at NMSU in 2009.

Pacheco also is a past president of the fourcampus University of Missouri System, University of Arizona, University of HoustonDowntown and Laredo State University. He has served as interim president at New Mexico Highlands. Pacheco has a bachelor’s degree from New Mexico Highlands University and a doctorate from Ohio State University.

Bar Association of New Jersey and former board member of the New Jersey State Bar Association. She is an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc.

The U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board have announced that Norma González, University of Arizona professor in the teaching, learning and sociocultural studies department who for years has been studying border schools and the lives of their students, educators and teachers, is among a group of faculty members and professionals from across the U.S. to receive a Fulbright award, supporting international travel and research for 2012-13. González will take a sabbatical beginning this month to conduct her work near her host institution in Mexico, El Colegio de Sonora.

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Valdés Keynotes N.J. Conference on Diversity Issues in Higher Ed

Daily updates on what’s affecting you in academia and more.

Camelia M. Valdés, prosecutor, Passaic County, N.J., was keynote speaker at the 12th Annual Statewide Conference on Diversity Issues in Higher Education.

Titled “Who Has the Access C.O.D.E.? Positioning a Generation for Better Careers, Opportunities & Diversity Through Education,” the event was held in November at Saint Peter’s University.

Valdés was the 25th president of the Hispanic

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Visit HispanicOutlook.com and stay informed!

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The

University of South Florida System is a high-impact, global research system dedicated to student success. The USF System includes three institutions: USF Tampa; USF St. Petersburg; and USF Sarasota-Manatee. The institutions are separately accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. All institutions have distinct missions and strategic plans. Serving more than 47,000 students, the USF System has an annual budget of $1.5 billion and an annual economic impact of $3.7 billion. USF is a member of the Big East Athletic Conference.

Administrative and Executive Positions: Director of Financial Management (University College) Sr. Director of Development-Gift Planning (Foundation) Sr. Director of Development-COB (Foundation) Regional Chancellor (St. Petersburg Campus) Director of Counseling Center (Student Affairs) Assistant Vice President-Dean (Student Affairs) Director of the Center for Student Involvement (Student Affairs) Director of Quality Enhancement-Academic Success (St. Petersburg Campus) Faculty Positions: College of Arts and Sciences College of Education Assistant Professor (23) Assistant/Associate Professor (1) Assistant/Associate Professor (2) Assistant Professor (3) Assistant/Full Professor (2) Dean (1) Director and Professor (1)

Wee are ddedicated W edicated to to providing provi v ding accessible accessible higher higher eeducation ducation for for all students. students. TThat’s hat’s wh whyy w wee ccontinue ontinue ttoo kkeep eep our our costs costs am ong the the lowest lowest in tthe he UT Sy stem. among System.

Find information Find information on on UTB tuition tuition andd sscholarships utb.edu/tuition. an cholarships aatt utb .edu/tuition.

utb4u.com utb4u .com

College of Business College of Engineering Assistant Professor (3) Open Rank (Full Professor) (2) Associate/Full Professor (2) Assistant Professor (3) Assistant/Associate Professor (1) Open Rank (Full/Associate/Assistant) (2) American Association of State Colleges and Universities

College of Arts Assistant/Associate Professor (4) Director & Professor (1)

St. Petersburg Campus Assistant Professor (3) Professor (1)

College of Public Health Assistant Professor (1) Assistant/Associate Professor (1)

Sarasota Campus Assistant Professor (1)

College of Medicine Assistant/Associate Professor (4) Assistant Professor (11) Assistant/Associate/Full Professor (2)

College of Nursing Nursing Faculty (2)

Mental Health Law & Policy Assistant Professor (2) Professor (1)

Coll. of Behavioral and Comm. Sciences Associate Dean (1) Assistant Professor (1) Associate/Full Professor (1)

For a job description on the above listed positions including department, disciple and deadline dates: (1) visit our Careers@USF Web site at https://employment.usf.edu/applicants/ jsp/shared/Welcome_css.jsp; or (2) contact The Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity, (813) 974-4373; or (3) call USF job line at 813.974.2879.

USF is an equal opportunity/equal access/affirmative action institution, committed to excellence through diversity in education and employment. www.usf.edu • 4202 E. Fowler Ave,Tampa, FL 33620

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01/21/2013

Millennium Leadership Initiative (MLI) 2013 CALL FOR APPLICATIONS AND NOMINATIONS The American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) and the Association of Public Land-grant Universities (A.P.L.U.) announce the call for nominations and applications for the Millennium Leadership Initiative (MLI) Institute to be held June 8-11, 2013 in Washington, D.C. The MLI Institute enriches the preparation and advancement of persons traditionally underrepresented in the higher education leadership positions of college/university president or chancellor. Further, the Institute helps senior administrators determine if ascending to the presidency or chancellorship is a preferred course for their careers. All qualified candidates are considered for selection and admission.

The MLI is a unique professional development program for higher education senior administrators. MLI guides deans, vice presidents and provosts in the development of a professional career plan that assists many to become presidents and chancellors of institutions of higher learning.

There are two components to the MLI program—an intensive four-day institute taught by a faculty of current and selected former presidents and chancellors and content specialists, and a required yearlong mentorship with a president or chancellor.

Who Is Eligible Experienced and tested senior administrators (at dean’s level or equivalent) holding a terminal degree are eligible. Candidates must have experience in education, government or the private sector, and must demonstrate the leadership experience necessary to achieve a presidency in higher education. Candidates must be nominated by a president, chancellor or chief executive officer.

Nominations Deadline Nominations must be submitted to AASCU by February 15, 2013. Submit letters of nomination electronically to mli@aascu.org, fax to 202.478.1511 or mail to: Adrienne Mosley Vincent, MLI Program Associate, AASCU, 1307 New York Avenue NW, Fifth Floor, Washington, DC 20005-4701.

Application Deadline Completed applications must be submitted to AASCU by February 15, 2013. Apply at www.aascu.org/mli/applicationform. Only electronic applications will be accepted.

Contact Adrienne Mosley Vincent at vincenta@aascu.org or at the above address for additional information.

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We now have Web Packages Available?

For complete information on web advertising packages that suit your needs contact us at

(800) 549-8280 ext. 102 or 106 OR

E-Mail us your text to: outlook@sprintmail.com Fax us at: (201) 587-9105 The Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Department of Economics at Georgia State University has openings for several tenure-track positions. For details and deadlines, please see the following website: http://aysps.gsu.edu/econ/employment-economics. All applications must be submitted through www.academicjobsonline.org.

The Andrew Young School is ranked among the top 20 policy schools in the area of Policy Analysis. The school houses the Department of Economics and outstanding research centers in health policy, fiscal policy, experimental, and international studies, among others. The research centers generate opportunities for funded scholarly research.

Georgia State University, a unit of the University System of Georgia, is an equal opportunity educational institution and an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer.

Candidates must be eligible to work in the United States. At time of offer, a background check is required.

01/21/2013

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COLLEGE OF LETTERS AND SCIENCE DEAN UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON

The University of Wisconsin-Madison, one of the world’s outstanding public research and teaching universities, invites applications and nominations for the position of dean of the College of Letters and Science (L&S). Since its founding in 1889, the mission of L&S is to support education of the complete person for citizenship, for a productive life, and for life-long learning. The college’s educational and research programs span the entire spectrum of disciplines in the arts, humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences. L&S departments and programs, research labs and centers, generate both applied and theoretical knowledge, and provide the foundations of liberal arts education and critical-thinking skills that endure throughout a UW-Madison student’s lifetime. L&S is the university’s largest academic unit, providing core undergraduate, graduate, and professional teaching, research, and outreach programs, as well as the foundation for UW-Madison initiatives such as cultural diversity and education for global citizenship. The college’s 16,702 undergraduate and 4,191 graduate students comprise approximately half of the university’s enrollment. L&S has 39 departments and 5 professional schools, approximately 803 faculty, 817 professional staff, 807 university staff, and 1,055 full-time equivalent graduate assistants. The college’s faculty, staff and students also participate in some 90 interdisciplinary centers and programs for which the college serves as the administrative home. The dean, who reports to the chancellor and the provost, serves as the chief academic and executive officer of the college, with responsibility for its instructional, research and outreach environment including faculty and staff development, personnel oversight, a $337.6 million budget, research, curriculum, student academic affairs, fund-raising and advancement.

Please see the following web sites for information about UW-Madison and the College of Letters and Science: http://www.wisc.edu/ http://www.ls.wisc.edu/

Candidates will be evaluated on the following professional and personal characteristics: a record of successful, visionary leadership that shows understanding and appreciation of the dynamic, changing academic environment and the diverse missions and constituencies of a major public research university; strong management, communication and fund-raising skills; the capacity to relate effectively to faculty, staff, students and external constituencies; a demonstrated commitment to advance learning, research, public service, and the diversity of students, faculty and staff, equal employment opportunity, affirmative action and non-discriminatory practices, and to advance an inclusive climate; a commitment to public service through dissemination of research results, promoting the state’s economic development, and supporting the Wisconsin Idea within the state, nation and world; demonstrated ability to work effectively in an environment of shared governance; responsiveness to the instructional and research needs of other schools/colleges; ability to represent the college and university effectively in educational, governmental, business, alumni, and public forums; ability to interact collaboratively across disciplinary boundaries; and nationally recognized accomplishments that meet the standards for a tenured appointment at the rank of full professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Applications and nominations must be received by 15 February 2013 to ensure consideration. Later applications and nominations may also be considered. The committee particularly encourages applications and nominations of women and persons of underrepresented groups. Applicants should include a current resume or curriculum vitae and a comprehensive cover letter that addresses how their strengths and experience match the qualifications for the position, and what they see as challenges and opportunities of the position, as well as the names, addresses, e-mails, and telephone numbers of five references. Candidates will be consulted before references are contacted. Please note that in accordance with Wisconsin statutes the names of nominees and applicants who explicitly request confidentiality will not be made public. However, the university is required to release the names and titles of the finalists, who will be interviewed by the chancellor. Submit applications and nominations electronically to the College of Letters and Science Dean Search and Screen Committee at: LS-dean-search@secfac.wisc.edu Questions may be directed to the search committee office at 608-262-1677 or ckrenke@secfac.wisc.edu The University of Wisconsin-Madison is an Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action Employer.

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01/21/2013

PRESIDENT

Bunker Hill Community College invites applications and nominations for its new President.

After 16 successful years as President of Bunker Hill Community College, Dr. Mary Fifield has announced her retirement, effective June 30, 2013. The next President of Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) will have the enviable opportunity to lead this outstanding institution into a new and even more dynamic era.

BHCC, ranked among the 25 fastest growing public two-year colleges in the United States, is a multi-campus institution with vibrant, urban campuses in Boston, MA, in nearby Chelsea, MA, and at three satellite locations within the Greater Boston area. BHCC is part of the Massachusetts public higher education system, which includes 15 community colleges. Founded in 1973, BHCC is the largest community college in Massachusetts, serving more than 13,400 students each semester across all modes of instruction. The College offers 103 certificate and degree programs that prepare students to enter four-year institutions or to enter the workforce prepared for better and more highly skilled jobs.

Seventy-seven percent of students are people of color and more than fifty percent are women.

BHCC is nationally recognized as a Leader College by Achieving the Dream. It is one of four colleges awarded the National Gates Foundation Achieving the Dream Catalyst grant. The engaged and innovative faculty, administration and staff are a reason the student body of this acclaimed College has grown almost 120% in the past 16 years. BHCC’s location in Boston, a major education, healthcare and financial hub, provides it with the ability to nurture unique partnerships with other institutions of higher learning and with business and industry. These important partnerships enable the College to offer a broad scope of healthcare and business curricula, providing students with vital connections and access to workplace internships while in school and with an education that prepares them for high-paying jobs in the area.

The new President will be expected to bring his/her creativity, energy, vision and leadership skills to Bunker Hill Community College. He/She will have demonstrated success in these and/or comparable areas: s #HAMPIONING STRENGTHENING AND EXTENDING THE PROGRAMS AND CREATIVE INITIATIVES THAT ARE PROVEN successes, such as a faculty-developed and sustained Student Learning Outcomes Assessment Program (SLOAP), Achieving the Dream, LifeMap, Learning Communities, community-based Long Range Planning, Single Stop, Student Emergency Assistance Fund, and Compelling Conversations; s )NCREASING THE DIVERSITY OF FULL TIME AND PART TIME FACULTY AND STAFF THROUGH UNQUALIlED SUPPORT and sustained leadership of diversity initiatives; s -AINTAINING lSCAL STABILITY THROUGH SOUND lNANCIAL MANAGEMENT PROACTIVE ADVOCACY WITH state and federal government, and demonstrated ability to obtain external funds to support the College’s mission; s .URTURING POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE UNIONS WHO SERVE THE FACULTY AND STAFF AND CREATING additional avenues of cooperation; s %XPANDING THE #OLLEGE S AFlLIATIONS WITH BUSINESS INDUSTRY AND LABOR TO STRENGTHEN EDUCATIONAL and workforce pathways for students, such as the College’s Learn and Earn Intern Program; s !DVOCATING FOR PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT THAT SUPPORTS TRANSFER TO FOUR YEAR INSTITUTIONS WORKFORCE development, adult learning, and creates seamless transitions to the College for students from local high schools; s -AXIMIZING THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY IN DELIVERING AND ASSESSING PROGRAMS AND STUDENT SUCCESS s &URTHERING THE #OLLEGE S COMMITMENT TO PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS FOR FACULTY STAFF

students, and the Board of Trustees; s 5SING DATA FOR DECISION MAKING AND DEVELOPING ADDITIONAL METRICS THAT SUPPORT STUDENT success; and

s $EVELOPING WITH THE #OLLEGE AND COMMUNITY A LONG TERM VISION FOR THE NEXT DECADE and beyond.

The preferred candidate will possess the earned doctorate coupled with substantial senior managerial experience within higher education. The new President will use her or his creativity, energy, vision and leadership to build upon the significant accomplishments of the College, championing, strengthening and extending the programs and creative initiatives the College has created to serve students and the community.

Bunker Hill Community College is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.

Women, people of color, persons with disabilities and others are strongly encouraged to apply.

Prior to application submission, please view the Executive Search Profile, which provides application and nomination procedures. For more information visit bhcc.mass.edu and rhperry.com.

For full consideration, please submit completed applications by February 28, 2013.

R. H. Perry & Associates is assisting in this search. Please direct all inquiries, held in strictest confidence, to Ms. Liz Rocklin, Senior Consultant at BHCC@rhperry.com.

01/21/2013

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#1 The

Hispanic Outlook MagazineÂŽ Wenzhou-Kean University Anticipated Faculty and Administrative Positions 2013-2014

MAGAZINE for multicultural professionals in higher education Please visit

www.HispanicOutlook.com

to post your ad or find a career opportunity

For more advertising information call us at (201) 587-8800 ext. 102 or 106 Or send your Advertisements to: HISPANIC

OUTLOOK

English: Writing and Language Development (Ten Lecturers) Business and Professional Writing (Assistant Professor - Two Positions) Communications (Assistant Professor or Lecturer) Accounting (Assistant Professor) Management (Assistant Professor) Computer Science (Assistant Professor) Mathematics (Assistant Professor or Lecturer) Research & Technology (One Lecturer; One Lecturer or Assistant Professor) Administrative Position: Director of Library (Founding Director) Application, Salary and Benefits Information on All Positions For detailed job descriptions and application information, please visit: http://www.kean.edu/KU/Wenzhou-KeanUniversity-Positions. Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until positions are filled. Salary is competitive and commensurate with qualifications and experience. A comprehensive benefits package including travel, housing and relocation allowances is available. Contingent on Budgetary Approval and Appropriated Funding.

Kean University is an EOE/AA Institution

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Kean, a comprehensive New Jersey state university, is seeking faculty for its extension program in Wenzhou, China.

Launched in 2012, the program is offered temporarily on the campus of and in partnership with Wenzhou University while the university prepares for the establishment of a full branch campus and constructs a new campus of its own at a nearby site. For 2013, Wenzhou-Kean University programs will comprise five baccalaureate majors: English (writing option), Computer Science, Finance, Accounting (with emphasis on international standards and practices) and International Business Management. All instruction is in English for Chinese students of traditional college-entering age (18) who have studied English throughout their primary and secondary education and who have scored high on the Chinese national exam for English-language proficiency. All faculty positions below are full-time, single or multi-year assignments, effective September 1, 2013, at the ranks specified for each. Tenure-track appointments for faculty available only for rank of assistant professor or higher.

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01/21/2013

C Closing lo sing D Date ate

2013 Publication Dates & Ad Deadlines

SAVE THESE DATES

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR University Unions has a position available for an Executive Director. This position will be responsible for managing a dynamic student centric business and service enterprise while building community on a campus of over 50,000 students. University Unions is comprised of 5 Centers for Student Life: Hogg Memorial Auditorium, the Student Services Building, the Student Activity Center, the Texas Union and the premier student event planning center on campus: the Student Events Center.

In order to be competitive, successful candidates should possess: a Master's degree and 10 years of experience at the director level of a student union facility on a university campus with a significant student population. Experience in strategic and budget planning; student development and engagement; business and food services; and, facility management. Experience working in a student programming environment. Experience using a personal computer and standard software. Experience writing proposals, reports and making presentations.

Preferred qualifications include: Terminal degree. Experience at the director level of a student union on a campus with over 20,000 students. Excellent written, oral and interpersonal skills. Experience working with a large, diverse student, faculty and staff population. Experience in current student concerns and interests and higher education trends. Experience working with a student majority board of directors and alumni groups, such as advisory councils. Experience in a complex organization with key responsibility to integrate the curricular and co-curricular student experience.

Please go to https://utdirect.utexas.edu/apps/hr/jobs/nlogon/search/0/ for a complete description and to apply for posting number 130107010457.

The University of Texas at Austin is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer, with a strong commitment to building a diverse and equitable work environment and campus community. All interested candidates are encouraged to apply.

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P.O. Box 68 Paramus, NJ 07652-0068 CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

P ri min g the Pump. ..

THE IMPORTANCE OF LISTENING Miquela Rivera, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist with years of clinical, early childhood and consultative experience. She lives in Albuquerque, N.M.

Adolescents are not monsters. They are just people trying to learn how to make it among the adults in the world, who are probably not so sure themselves. – Virginia Satir eenagers often lament that no one understands them. No wonder.

Parents accustomed to directing and monitoring all aspects of their young child’s life might find that their typically happy, obedient child, now an adolescent, won’t listen, much less take direction. “No me da caso” is a common experience shared by Latino parents of teens struggling to get the adolescent’s attention. They note that their child might argue about things inconsequential or react strongly to something that previously went unnoticed. Moods and attitudes might change overnight, if not moment to moment. Suddenly what worked in parenting their child before is no longer effective.

What they don’t always realize is that, as their child has changed, so must their approach to parenting. Teachers, though only with the student at school, also see these changes as development unfolds. Professors in higher education see the same issues among many of their young students. Because of these changes, the relationship between parent or teacher and child subtly shifts, too.

Since adolescence is the stage when a person begins to exercise increased autonomy and define himself, parenting and teaching must shift from issuing directives to offering guidance. More than ever, the adult must tune into the teen’s way of thinking to connect and communicate effectively with him. The student must first sense the adult’s respect and a sincere willingness to listen before they will go another step.

Without experiencing that sense of respect, many adolescents will decide independently that compliance isn’t necessary, thereby creating an inevitable struggle. It is not that the child is setting out to battle for its own sake; it is because adolescents must exercise independence, but do not always know how to do so in acceptable ways. Some Latino adults, stuck in their directive vantage point, ultimately miss the very thing they are demanding – the youngster’s respect.

Hardest, perhaps, for parents and teachers working with teens is the

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necessary shift to listening more than talking. For Latino parents holding the traditional attitude that children of any age must obey because parents are the authority, changing that viewpoint smoothes out the relationship. If that move to increased listening by the adult does not occur, the moderate Latino teen will quietly distance or isolate himself from his parents to maintain respect while exercising autonomy. If that Latino youth is very angry or less concerned about maintaining a good relationship with the adult, he will boldly argue or assert himself at any cost. The result: rebellion.

If a parent or teacher begins by asking an adolescent for her thoughts on a problem, listens to the answer and remains focused on what the student is saying, the conversation leads to the adolescent offering to help resolve the problem. Though listening takes longer in the short run (challenging for adults in a hurry or instructors with a large classroom full of students), it is the most effective approach long term.

Listening intently to adolescents has other advantages. First, openended questions lead to richer conversations (compared to the juvenile uh-uh, uh-huhs, grunts or shoulder shrugs that frustrate adults). Once engaged with the adult’s respect and inquiry, the teen will volunteer more information and gain more insights than closed-ended questions elicit. An adult asking open-ended questions invites the youth to describe their views or experiences and provides an opportunity for the grownup to affirm the student’s perceptions, feelings or opinions. That acknowledgement empowers the students to determine and take whatever next steps are necessary to solve their own problems and remain engaged in the process. With an adult who continues to lend the respect and support the students need, the students can later return and share success or admit defeat and continue problem solving, knowing that there will be positive regard and compassion awaiting them, regardless of the outcome. Finally, inquiring and listening to Latino youth naturally brings out their best by encouraging their efforts, validating their experiences and valuing their contributions. Self-discovery and autonomy are achieved – and then they can move to adulthood with confidence.

This article appeared online only in the 01/21/13 Issue

REPORTS

ACT Says More Intervention Needed to Improve College Readiness

At

by Angela Provitera McGlynn

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(STEM) projects.

Jon Erickson, ACT education president, says: “STEM programs may well have helped move the needle in terms of math and science.” He says there is clearly much more work to be done. “Research into the impact of statewide STEM initiatives on student achievement could provide lessons for improving other areas of student learning,” he suggests.

“And just as importantly, we need to ensure that every student and teacher has a powerful system that provides insights and direction to help guide students throughout the entire continuum of lifelong learning.”

College-readiness levels are particularly low among Hispanic and Percent of ACT-Tested High School Graduates Meeting ACT College Readiness Benchmarks by Race/Ethnicity, 2012 100 80 -

Percent

least 60 percent of 2012 U.S. college-bound high school graduates are at risk when it comes to success in college. This is the finding of ACT’s annual report, The Condition of College and Career Readiness 2012. The report is based on scores earned by graduating seniors who took the ACT College and Career Readiness exam – this year a record-breaking 52 percent of all U.S. high school graduates.

ACT, an independent, nonprofit organization with more than half a century history of producing data-based assessments and research, is respected for its continual development of assessments that determine not only college readiness but also provide the most advanced measure of workplace skills. In the future, ACT’s role will expand into research on student behavior and goals, and will combine all the findings to help individuals prepare for success from kindergarten to career.

Recognizing the importance of early intervention for promoting academic success, ACT has recently launched a “next generation” assessment system that will monitor grade school through high school.

ACT research demonstrates the critical role early monitoring and intervention can play for at-risk students. The “next generation” initiative is designed to provide students, parents and educators with information on several measures of readiness to ensure that students are on track for academic success when they start school and as they continue throughout high school.

In a nutshell, this report shows that for this cohort of tested students, although there has been slight improvement in the subjects of math and science, far too many who are college bound are underprepared for the academic rigors of college and career to be successful. The ACT report data can be used to improve college and career readiness for the next generation of students making their way through the U.S. education system.

The good news of the report is that percentages of high school graduates who met or surpassed the ACT College Readiness Benchmarks in math and science each rose for the third consecutive year, rising three percent in each category since 2008. Although this shows improvement, fewer than 46 percent achieved the math benchmark, and only 31 percent met the science benchmark.

In fact, 28 percent of students who took the ACT test didn’t meet any of the four college-readiness benchmarks in English, math, reading and science. Another 15 percent met only one of the four benchmarks, and 17 percent met just two. Only a quarter of the ACT-tested students met all four benchmarks, and that percent is unchanged from the previous year.

And although college-readiness levels in English and reading are higher than in math and science, improvement in those areas has been flat. The data show that 67 percent of ACT test takers in 2012 met or surpassed the ACT benchmark in English. Fifty-two percent met the benchmark in reading. However, these scores are actually one percentage point lower than scores in 2008.

The improvements seen in math and science, although actual scores are lower than in English and reading, might be attributed to statewide initiatives related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics

76 62

60 -

20 -

36

15 7

0

36

42 41

5

African American English

American Indian Reading

16

11

Asian Mathematics

38 32

31

24

15

54

49 42

35 22

62

57 47

44

40 -

77

72

21 13

Hispanic Science

17

Pacific Islander

White

All Four Subjects

African-American students. More than half these students met none of the four readiness benchmarks. Perpetuating the academic achievement gap, the majority of Asian-American and White students either met or surpassed the benchmarks in all areas except science.

If this achievement gap is not eliminated or at least significantly narrowed, the United States will drop further behind in global education levels.

“We need to do more to ensure that our young people improve,” says Jon Whitmore, ACT chief executive. “The advanced global economy requires American students to perform at their highest levels to compete in the future job market and maintain the long-term economic security of the U.S.” Gene Wilhoit, executive director of the Council of Chief State Officers, reads the implications of the report as a call to action. “There is far too much disparity in education outcomes for our students,” he says, “gaps based on income, ethnicity and race, subject area – vast differences between those who take the core [courses] and those who do not.”

“This report is a reminder,” he says, “as to why we’re making sweeping changes in state standards, among other reforms, and that we need to move even more swiftly.”

Education and career/workforce are inextricably woven together. An

additional finding of ACT research is the disconnection between the types of careers that graduates would like to pursue and the types of jobs that will likely be open to them.

For example, a high percentage of ACT-tested high school graduates says they are interested in the five fastest-growing fields. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, those fields are education, computer/information specialties, community services, management and marketing/sales. The problem is that the percentage of students who aspire to enter those fields is

for and have the opportunity to take these core courses. Educators must provide systematic guidance and feedback early and often to students about their progress.

2) Use of Student Growth Models in Early Monitoring: As states and districts implement college and career-readiness standards, metrics aligned to those standards are needed to gauge individual and school progress toward this goal. Using these metrics, growth modeling has strong potential to help stakeholders measure progress – for individual students and for school systems. Growth model results can serve a variety of purposes.

3) A Comprehensive Framework of Best Practices: Key practices for increasing readiness can be implemented as part of a comprehensive framework of best practices. Empirically developed and validated, the Core Practice Framework outlines the evidence-based educator practices at each level of a school system – district, school and classroom – that help all students master high standards. The Framework focuses on five themes: Curriculum and Academic Goals; Staff Selection, Leadership, and Capacity Building; Instructional Tools: Programs and Strategies; Monitoring Performance and Progress; and Intervention and Adjustment. Included in the framework are critical actions – steps to take to implement the 15 core practices.

Additionally, the report points to five overarching policies and practices to increase college and career readiness. They are: Infusing a culture of postsecondary success, expanding rigorous high school courses, ensuring early monitoring and intervention, setting clear performance standards, and implementing policies and practices for data-driven decision making.

Beyond the scope of this article, but critically important for student college and career readiness, are the suggestions the ACT report offers for District, School, and Classroom Practices, which can be found on pages

Percent of ACT-Tested High School Graduates by Number of ACT College Readiness Benchmarks Attained, 2012

Met All 4 Benchmarks 25%

Met 2 Benchmarks 17% Met 3 Benchmarks 15%

greater than the projected demand for workers in every one of those fields.

ACT Workforce president Marin Scaglione noted the negative effects on the U.S. economy when there is a lack of connection between college and career readiness and workforce opportunities. Scaglione says, “Employers have said it is becoming increasingly difficult to match their job openings with workers who have proven skills.

“We must connect academic skill development in K-12 education to the skills these students will need to get a good job,” he added. “ACT is hard at work developing new initiatives that will help achieve this goal.”

Obviously, the greatest K-12 skill preparation would be the alignment between K-12 knowledge and skill achievement and readiness to do rigorous college-level work.

The days when a high school diploma could lead to a decent paying job and entrance to the middle class are virtually over. The bar is now set at a bottom line of a two-year college degree. In fact, the countries around the world that are achieving education levels higher than ours, and there are many, are doing so by graduating skilled workers with two-year degrees.

President Obama recognized this phenomenon years ago – 2009 – when he created the Community College Initiative.

The ACT research provides a framework for improving college and career readiness. Three key suggestions flow from the data: 1) Early Student Monitoring and Intervention: ACT research continues to show the importance of early monitoring of student achievement and appropriate interventions. ACT research also supports the use of integrated, longitudinal, data-driven systems to inform and encourage coherence in school, district and state efforts to prepare all high school graduates for college and career. Schools must provide rigorous courses aligned with college and career-readiness standards. Students must be prepared

Percent of ACT-Tested High School Graduates Meeting College Readiness Benchmarks by Subject, 2012 100 -

80 67

60 P

Met No Benchmarks 28%

Met 1 Benchmark 15%

52

46

40 -

31

25

20 0-

English

Reading

Mathematics

Science

All Four Subjects

24-26 of the report.

For a fuller understanding of the ACT findings, please consult The Condition of College and Career Readiness 2012, found online at: http://media.act.org/documents/CCCR12-NationalReadinessRpt.pdf.

Angela Provitera McGlynn, professor emeritus of psychology, is a national consultant/presenter on teaching, learning and diversity issues and the author of several related books.

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