While NACE’s “First Destinations” 2021 report found some promising increases, several schools have bucked the national trend, averaging bachelor’s student placement rates well over 10% than average.

Pennsylvania College of Technology recently reported a 96% graduate placement rate and the most robust 4-year degree return on investment out of all Pennsylvania public colleges and universities. Similarly, the renewable energy program at the College of Southern Idaho announced a 97% job placement rate. Villanova University and South Dakota State University (DSU) are touting similar numbers; their graduate and job placement rates are both north of 95% and 70%, respectively.

These colleges all share a commitment to a highly involved, deep network of public and private sector business partnerships. “We take great pride in the partnerships we have cultivated with employers in the region and across Pennsylvania, who are eager to hire as many graduates as we can produce,” said Penn College President Michael J. Reed.

As colleges fight to remain relevant in the public eye as a viable pathway for workforce placement, college-industry partnerships are helping students find work by providing them with hands-on career experience and premium connections to internships and full-time positions.

More from UB: Students rank the nation’s top 15 most conservative and liberal colleges

Why industry partnerships are win-win

Public and private companies are vested in partnering with colleges to improve employment rates and workforce skill gaps. “One thing that I hear employers say in meetings, particularly in Washington, is, ‘The people aren’t really well qualified when they come out of cyber programs.’ Why is that?” said DSU President José-Marie Griffiths. “A lot of students in cybersecurity programs are not getting practical experience whatsoever.”

South Dakota State University students can earn school credit by working on classified NSA projects due to a recent partnership agreement.  At the University of South Florida, hospitality groups McKibbon Hospitality, Aramark and Mainsail Lodging and Development partnered with the school to combat industry staffing shortages, employing up to 130 graduates.

Upgraded advising

With a network of over 2,000 industry partners, Penn College delegates an industry advising committee to every academic program to help shape relevant, career-centered coursework and lab programs. As a result, the college is well-stocked in lab work that weaves curricula and real-world experience together. For every hour of lecture, students spend three hours in labs.

An additional perk of this personalized connection between industry professionals and institutions is that its students immediately connect with employers. Industry partners are hiring Penn College students for full-time positions after graduation. At Southern Idaho, employers in renewable energy don’t wait until graduation to take students on.

“Actually, two of them did not walk because they were already out and about at the job; one is in Washington, and one is in Iowa, climbing turbines as we speak, so it’s awesome that these scholarships from the industry partners are helping students get through college and then get jobs,” said Eli Bowles, an associate professor.

The post How are these schools boasting such strong placement rates for students? appeared first on University Business.

A startling three-quarters of high school grads say they do not feel prepared to make these important choices about their futures, according to a survey of 500 students from the classes of 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022 conducted by YouScience, an integrated college and career readiness platform. Here’s a look at more of the students’ responses:

• 62% say college and career readiness is one of their school’s responsibilities.
• 41% felt unprepared to make a career choice or declare a college major at graduation.
• 42% lacked confidence or were only slightly confident in their chosen career or education; 33% felt only moderately confident.
• 37% of the graduates—regardless of their current education or career—are still not sure they are where they want to be.
• 30% were not following any planned educational or career path.

“Education leaders and industry must come together to help our students better understand themselves and their opportunities beyond high school,” said Edson Barton, founder and CEO of YouScience. “Career guidance and exposure are a critical part of student development. We need to provide this support as early as eighth grade, beginning with helping students understand their natural aptitudes and talents and how that translates to career fit.”

More from UB: As the holidays approach, some colleges play it cautious with COVID 

Another key finding is that more than half of the graduates said that their family and friends had the greatest impact on their decision-making. As education leaders know, family involvement is crucial, but this can also have its limitations.

“We need to showcase career opportunities beyond the obvious,” Barton added. “If students rely on family and friends for direction, they can be limited in their dreams and fail to fulfill their potential. In large part, our talent gap is also a career exposure gap.”

College and career decisions in more detail

The survey also revealed varying levels of college and career preparation across K-12. A large majority of the least confident students reported being less often exposed to career options in high school and having had limited discussions with teachers or counselors about post-graduation opportunities.

The most confident students, on the other hand, reported ample exposure to potential careers and have had as many as 20 conversations with educators about life after high school. And only a handful of graduates reported taking college- and career-aptitude tests even though nearly 80% of the students say they would be more engaged in learning if they had deeper knowledge about their own aptitudes and opportunities.

The post Warning: Why incoming college students don’t feel ready for college and career decisions appeared first on University Business.

Complete College America’s new report “Part-Time Students Must Be a Full-Time Priority” uncovers the very slow acceptance of this important and growing group of students as issues of time and affordability limit their options in starting and reaching completion. Those struggling to attain degrees are often not white students but the traditionally underserved and those who must work long hours or meet other family obligations in addition to attending classes.

The percentage of students who begin part-time and make it to that finish line is staggeringly low, even for those who are Pell eligible: less than 20%. By comparison, 46% of full-time, first-time students reach that mark, and far more who attend four-year institutions.

“The research has long been clear that time is the enemy of completion for students—regardless of full- or part-time enrollment status. However, because of the broken economics of paying for college, part-time study is a necessity for learners balancing the complex demands of family, education, and career,” said Yolanda Watson Spiva, president of Complete College America. “At a time when students from historically excluded backgrounds are disproportionately enrolled part-time, this research makes it clear that meeting the needs of part-time students is an equity imperative.”

Using the National Center for Education Statistics’ Outcomes Measures Survey as a benchmark, CCA says higher education has made strides in trying to get at least 60% of adults to earn a credential by 2025. But while completion has increased by double digits over the past decade and white students have closed in on attaining that goal, less than one-third of all Latinx and Black adults have gotten there. For some, degrees have been pushed further from reach because of increases to tuition and fees.

CCA also notes there is a 35% gap between full-time students who attend four-year schools and part-time students. So what needs to happen for this group of students to gain momentum?

“Part-time students must be given the same resources, access and support from institutions and policymakers as their full-time counterparts,” Charles Ansell, Vice President for Research, Policy and Advocacy at Complete College America. “Ultimately, we need to make the cost of full-time attendance more affordable, make part-time students more efficient, and ensure that every student—regardless of enrollment status—has the support and structure they need to succeed.”

More from UB: Forget 4 years, colleges struggles to see students graduate in 5

At the end of its report, CCA offers a series of recommendations, which include more flexibility, lower costs, better advising and giving prior credit. They also recommend that institutions ensure robust wrap-around resources for part-time students, notably financial assistance in times of need and continuing the work they did during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Two keys that will further support part-time students and break down barriers to successful outcomes, according to CCA: 1. That higher education continue to acknowledge their value and not just cater to traditional students; and 2. the federal government expands the pool of financial aid and not limit it for those who do earn incomes on the side, especially since one-third of all college students work full time.

The post Is catering to part-time students a smart move for colleges? appeared first on University Business.

Consequently, a coalition of 30-plus organizations has asked President Joe Biden and several top-ranking members of the administration to put serious funding behind evidence-backed college completion initiatives in its 2023 FY budget.

Though the six-year completion rate has hit 62.5%, according to data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, percentages for those starting at two-year institutions and those from underserved communities are far lower. However, where strong advising measures have been put in place in high schools and colleges, there have been positive gains, highlighted in a fall study by Bottom Line and professors Andrew Barr (Texas A&M) and Ben Castleman (University of Virginia).

“While our country has made striking progress in increasing the high school graduation and college-going rates over the last two decades, college graduation rates have grown much more tepidly, and large racial gaps in persistence and completion persist,” the group wrote. “A dedicated, bold investment in proven college retention and completion programs, along with support for the development and evaluation of promising models, is needed to match the scale of the problem.”

That issue was outlined quite clearly in Biden’s original American Families Plan, which included billions in support for colleges, universities and students—and notably “$62 billion to invest in evidence-based strategies to strengthen completion and retention rates at community colleges and institutions that serve students from our most disadvantaged communities.” That was later trimmed back to $500 million in the updated Build Back Better plan, which sits in limbo, perhaps forever.

It is possible some items can be revived in FY23, and experts say the backing of college completion strategies would be investments well spent given student outcomes.

More from UB: Six-year college completion rates rise

Bottom Line, in its study, showed that a solid advising program from high school through college can lead to a 23% increase in bachelor’s degrees being achieved in four years, with numbers jumping exponentially after five and six years, to more than 50%. The City University of New York’s ASAP initiative is one that showed a doubling in the completion among those who took part in the cohort group.

Another positive effort that has shown promise in getting students to reenroll and get them to completion are success coaches. A new InsideTrack study showed that institutions that deployed success coaches to help students get to the finish line saw a 275% return on investment, with those students boosting tuition revenue by nearly $6 million.

Not every program sees the same outcomes, but even those with smaller positive trends, such as one installed by Georgia State University a decade ago, not only saw degree attainment rise by 9% but saw gaps close between higher- and lower-income students and race. “Research has consistently demonstrated that college completion models that provide customized, holistic support to underserved students can have an enormous impact on students’ educational trajectories,” coalition officials said. “Solving it will take sustained, bold investment in proven approaches and research into emerging models.”

Among the organizations that signed on to the letter to Biden include the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, American Association of University Professors, American Federation of Teachers, Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, Center for First-generation Student Success, Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce Higher Learning, NASFAA, National College Attainment Network, National Education Association, State Higher Education Executive Officers Association and the Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS).

The post More than 30 groups call on Biden Administration to support college completion appeared first on University Business.

Faculty referrals and the close tracking of attendance and other data drive the student success initiative, which was launched at the University of South Florida prior to the pandemic and further developed in a partnership with the University of Maryland Baltimore County. “At an institution of our size, we run the risk of not helping students when they need it most,” says Paul Dosal, the University of South Florida’s vice president for student success. “Our goal has always been to provide students with the right support at right time but once they get a D on a mid-term, it might be too late. We don’t want support personnel to wait in their office for students to come to them. Too many students don’t reach out for help.”

South Florida’s staff of academic advocates has grown to a dozen this school year from just three in about 10 years ago. They serve as “care managers”—rather than case managers—who can connect students to all of the university’s sometimes scattered support services, including financial aid, peer tutoring and counseling, Dosal says.

The advocates are typically assigned to specific cohorts, such as incoming first-year students.

“I’m reluctant to credit all of our recent gains in credits and graduations rates to them, but they have contributed substantially,” he says. “Our system doesn’t work without them.”

‘We don’t want students to feel called out’

The goal for academic advocacy at the University of Maryland Baltimore County is not only to retain students but to help them graduate as quickly as possible, says Delana Gregg, director of academic learning resources, assessment and analysis at the school’s Academic Success Center.

Part of an advocate’s job is to build partnerships with support services across the campus to ensure wide collaboration when a student needs assistance. They are also charged with keeping communications positive when they reach out to a student who has been referred by a faculty member.

More from UB: Low-income students at these colleges tend to earn more in the long run

“We don’t want students to feel called out,” Gregg says. “It’s always positive language, like ‘Hi, I’m your academic advocate, my job is to remove barriers and help you succeed.'”

The advocates serve as a hub for support services—from academic advising to residential life—so a student isn’t shuffled between other offices. They also often open students’ eyes to services they didn’t know were available, can help students on the verge of graduation the credits they need to complete, and even work with the department to waive minor requirements that are standing in the way.

“Sometimes a student doesn’t know what they need,” Gregg says. “I was a first-generation student and I didn’t know what these offices were called. I didn’t know they existed.”

The university’s graduation rate has risen above 70% since the advocates began their work.

“During this unusual pandemic time where so many students are struggling, having that one point of contact where any undergraduate can come and say ‘This isn’t working, I need help,’ has been amazing for our campus,” Gregg says. “It has taken a lot of the load off of faculty and staff.”

How to bring advocates to your campus

UMBC’s academic care teams, which comprise departments such as students affairs, residential life, the counseling center and financial aid, will also collaborate when a student is experiencing multiple challenges, says Katharine Cole, UMBC’s vice provost and dean of undergraduate academic affairs.

Some of the advocates’ biggest successes have been helping students overcome the final few hurdles to cross the finish line. “At first, it was amazing to me that so many students were so close to graduation and just not taking the right courses,” Cole says. “But now you have an individual who says, ‘I am in your corner. Let’s get figure out exactly what you need.”

Institutions looking to start their own advocacy programs have to start with the belief that every student can succeed and that once barriers are identified, staff can engage with the students to find solutions, says Leslie Tod, director of the University of South Florida’s Office of Academic Advocacy. “Every institution has to acknowledge that they are a complex structure that inherently creates barriers for its students,” she says. “Once you accept that you can move on from there.”

The post Academic advocacy on 2 campuses is helping more students cross the finish line appeared first on University Business.

Coming from a Hispanic household in Brooklyn, New York, she felt that English was not her best subject.

“Being able to tell your story is probably the most important factor in your application—that’s where colleges get to see who you are as a person,” says Espinosa, now in her first year at the University of Southern California. “If I wasn’t able to tell that story correctly, I wouldn’t get to my dream college.”

USC is her dream college, though she hasn’t been to campus yet. She has experienced “fear of missing out,” while COVID has forced her to take all her classes online from home in Brooklyn this semester.

More from UB: How the reach of virtual college advising is expanding

Her professors have been accommodating and understanding, but she feels disconnected from campus life.

“People who are privileged enough to get off-campus apartments have been in Los Angeles,” Espinosa says. “One of my biggest concerns is what if I get to campus and I don’t have any friends. What if I don’t find my group of people?”

Advising around-the-clock

Espinosa was supported on her path to USC by an online advisor who, day and night, edited the essays she wrote for more than 30 college applications.

Espinosa’s advisor was supplied for free by CollegePoint, a coalition of agencies backed by Bloomberg Philanthropies that works to enroll high-achieving first-generation, low-income and underrepresented students in highly selective colleges and universities.

[click_to_tweet tweet=”How #virtualadvising makes #college dreams come true during #COVID http://ubmag.me/dreams @CollegePoint @BloombergDotOrg” quote=”Virtual advising makes #college dreams come true”]Over an eight-month period that began pre-COVID, Espinosa’s advisor worked around her busy, six-day-a-week schedule as a high school volleyball and basketball player.

At the beginning of her senior year, Espinosa and her advisor began making a list of colleges and identifying scholarships. The advisor helped her keep track of important application deadlines as she visited campuses and dealt with the death of her grandmother.

She set her sights on USC because of its progressive urban planning and public policy program. And once she was accepted and enrolled, she and her advisor began discussing how she would get involved in campus beyond academics.

More from UB: How advisors are keeping college access on track

She has joined two programs in which she tutors low-income, K-12 students in Los Angeles who are also contending with the challenges of online learning.

“It’s my way of contributing back into the community that I will be in for the next four or five years,” she says.

She has also been using Zoom and social media to connect with other USC students, including a Hispanic group in Snapchat.

“You need to have friends supporting you,” she says. “That’s the only way I got through high school—I was part of a group of kids who wanted to be the best and they pushed me to become better.”

Social-emotional support

As a virtual service, CollegePoint was poised to adjust easily to the disruptions of COVID, says Nick Watson, CollegePoint’s lead at Bloomberg Philanthropies.

For the class of 2020, it extended its program year, which usually ends in June, to September to help students make the transition from high school to college, Watson says.

For the class of 2021, its advisors plan to start working with students earlier, during the end of their junior years.

CollegePoint has also provided students with technology grants to get devices, hotspots and other essential tools for online learning.

“We’re making sure they have tech access not only for the college-application process but also for a successful senior year,” Watson says.

More from UB: 8 ways one university is investing in anti-racism

CollegePoint also connects high schoolers with college juniors and seniors who have been through the program and share their experiences at various institutions.

This year, students have shared how they formed “pods” on campus during COVID restrictions, Watson says.

“This is unprecedented for all of us and there is a lot of anxiety for newly enrolled freshmen,” Watson says. “Our advisors are putting in the work to make sure students know that when they’re feeling anxious about applying for scholarships or meeting a deadline, our advisors are that reassuring word at the end of the day.”

The post How virtual advising makes dreams come true during COVID appeared first on University Business.

Traditionally, academic advisors (whether faculty or dedicated advising staff) have caseloads so large that they can’t spend quality time with each student. According to the 2011 NACADA National Survey of Academic Advising, the median advisor-to-student ratio was nearly 300:1. This reality makes it logistically difficult to spend even a minimal amount of time with students over the course of the year, not to mention adequately help those who may be experiencing an academic crisis.

Of course, the COVID-19 pandemic has introduced even more challenges for academic advisors. Students may be seeking to transfer in or out and need to understand whether their credits will transfer with them. Or they may need to adjust their degree completion plans due to financial hardship or other pandemic-related factors.

Broadening the traditional advising focus on degree requirements

Instead, much of traditional academic advising is limited to ensuring that students know which classes are required for degree attainment and in which order they should be taken. There’s often little room for exploration around whether a student’s chosen major is a good fit or will serve their future career goals. There’s even less time for students who are undecided about a major or who don’t have a strong inclination toward a future career.

This is not to say that advisors don’t want to provide this help and insight; of course they do. But they lack the time and resources to address the myriad of situations that fall outside the structured tracks of earning a four-year degree.

In the current environment, it’s even more crucial to give students the ability to run “what if” scenarios with their academic tracks. If they can’t complete their desired degree, are they closer to meeting the requirements of another one? Does it mesh with their interests and career goals? Once a student has interactively explored these alternatives, an advisor can step in with targeted advice and insights. The advising session becomes a true exchange and conversation, even if it’s done on a video call.

Navigating different degrees and life challenges

Highly technical and scientific programs, such as engineering and computer science, have a fairly rigorous curriculum where classes build on each other in a specific order. To take Calculus II, you must first pass Calc I. There’s generally little room for flexibility with electives. But many majors are less structured, with wider latitude for course selection within the degree track. Not having realistic insights into future career possibilities can leave a student adrift and illustrates the need for advisors who can dig deeper into the student’s temperament, passions and goals.

At the same time, nontraditional and remedial students may be confronted with other challenges other than COVID-19. For example, they may need to take a semester off, may be unable to take summer classes, or may need to juggle multiple jobs so they can pay for tuition. These students require more intensive advising to ensure they earn a degree. Further, first-generation students need extra help with navigating college life and with envisioning the career opportunities that are available to them.

Using technology to elevate the advising value

One of the most significant areas that must change in academic advising is to free advisors from the work that technology can do, specifically around manually ensuring that students are meeting their degree requirements. Automating the degree audit process system helps advisors quickly and accurately ensure student class completions and certify students for graduation.

Beyond that, planning and advising systems can provide tools for mapping the student’s journey from their first day until graduation. These tools engage students and can help them discover their interests and goals, while providing insight into careers a student might not have otherwise considered. Advisors gain immediate visibility into the student’s progress, where they might be struggling, and can highlight alternative paths that meet degree requirements. Rather than burdening advisors with administrative tasks and turning advising sessions into logistical discussions, advisors can increase the quality of their student interactions.

Other higher education technology tools can also help discover degree and certification eligibility that students might not know they’ve attained. This is particularly useful if students need an academic off-ramp and also builds feelings of accomplishment toward a longer-term goal.

As technologies are implemented for planning and advising, they need to be closely integrated with degree audit systems to ensure they stay current whenever degree requirements change. There also should be flexibility in mapping a student’s path that takes into account their advance credits, financial situation and other unique circumstances. In uncertain times, it’s even more likely that students won’t flow through a pre-planned, templated course of study without the need for some flexibility.

Technology advancements for academic advising provide the opportunity to optimize the experience and serve more students effectively. The future of today’s college students is at stake and getting it right is the only option. Elevating the advising experience by offering students a tailored experience will help lay the groundwork for empowering them to make the best decisions toward their individual degree pursuits.

Dale Peters is senior vice president of CollegeSource, a provider of products for degree audit, academic planning and transfer articulation.

The post Academic advising must go (way) beyond graduation requirements appeared first on University Business.

College Advising Corps has placed more than 800 recent college graduates in about 800 under-resourced high schools to serve as college advisors for first-generation, low-income and other underrepresented students from urban, suburban and rural communities, says Nicole Hurd, the nonprofit’s founder and CEO.

“There’s a public perception that private schools are too expensive, so our advisors love to go through the real numbers with students and families,” Hurd says. “The reality is most of our students are not going to not pay the sticker price. Most of the college debt is not held by people in their demographic bracket.”

More from UB: How Florida helps adult learners finish degrees

The goal of the nonprofit’s college advisors is to supplement the work of high school counselors, who face an average caseload of 480 students, Hurd adds.

The nonprofit partners with about 30 selective private institutions and state flagships to recruit and train its counselors, about two-thirds of whom are people of color and 60% were Pell Grant-eligible.

College Advising Corps’ counselors also work with high schoolers to find scholarships and to apply to colleges that best matches a student’s academic and co-curricular interests. These college advisors may also encourage students to consider going to a college that’s a farther distance from home than they might have initially considered, Hurd says.

“When we lose college students because of retention issues it’s because we didn’t do that match and fit beforehand,” Hurd says.

Virtual college advisors don’t sacrifice relationships

Virtual coaching expands the reach of national initiatives such as CollegePoint, which was created by Bloomberg Philanthropies in 2014.

CollegePoint has formed a coalition to expand the reach of College Advising Corps and three other advising organizations—College Possible, Matriculate and ScholarMatch.

Combined, these organizations serve about 15,000 students annually. 

The coaches in College Possible’s Navigate program—who are supplied by AmeriCorps—work to increase access to higher ed for less affluent and rural students. These coaches begin work by providing high school juniors with general information about the college search process and which schools they should consider attending.

During senior year, the virtual advisors help students identify colleges and universities that best match their academic and social interests. Then, the virtual advisors, many of whom are recent college graduates, guide students in producing strong applications and finding scholarships and other sources of financial aid.

“Just because it’s virtual doesn’t mean we sacrifice relationship-building,” says Geoff Wilson, executive director of CollegePossible’s operations in Minnesota. “We also feel strongly that collaborating with communities and schools is of the utmost importance.”

Virtual college advisors communicate via videoconferences, texting, social media, email and phone calls—whatever platform is most convenient for the student, Wilson says. The coaches, for instance, use Instagram and other social media to connect with students and share videos and other visual components of College Possible’s curriculum.

“We like students to have a steady flow of what our coaches are up to,” Wilson says. “Coaches post pictures of things like their desk to humanize themselves.”

CollegePoint’s overall goal is to match high-achieving low-income students with the colleges and universities that will best meet their interests.

More from UB: How liberal arts degrees pay off in the long run

The focus is on connecting students with selective, out-of-state schools that they may not have considered, says Jenny Kane, who leads the college access and success portfolio at Bloomberg Philanthropies, which supports CollegePoint.

Beginning in their junior year of high school, students get help with financial aid applications, writing college essays and understanding their award letters, Kane says.

“About 50% of high-achieving, low-income students don’t apply to any schools that match their abilities and qualifications,” Kane says. “Our advisors tell them that you are the students that these schools want. These are actually the schools that can provide the most aid.”

Virtual college advising smooths the transition

Beginning in spring of their senior year, first generation and other underrepresented students making the transition from high school to college can get virtual and in-person coaching from Beyond12, a tech-based nonprofit working to increase college degree completion.

After seniors are accepted to college, Beyond12—which partners with school districts, higher education and scholarship organizations—hosts in-person college transition workshops focused on reducing summer melt. Students, for instance, will receive a checklist of pitfalls to avoid during the summer.

The full-time coaches, who are recent college graduates, also begin virtual advising via text to make sure students are completing financial aid applications and other paperwork.

More from UB: How colleges are navigating a new world of enrollment

The coaching becomes completely virtual when students get to campus, where the virtual advising is meant to augment—not replace—counseling services offered by the college, says Alexandra Bernadotte, Beyond12’s founder and CEO.

Students use Beyond12’s MyCoach app, which comes with a calendar that can be customized to send push notifications to remind each student of important academic and financial aid deadlines.

“A majority of our coaches were the first in their families to go to college, so they understand the challenges students are facing,” Bernadotte says. “We’ve heard from our students that, for a number of reasons, they don’t feel comfortable going to—or they don’t know about—campus resources.”

The virtual advisors will role play so students know what questions they want to ask at financial aid meetings or when they attend a professors’ office hours.

“This helps to demystify and decode some of the language students will hear,” Bernadotte says. “It helps them understand help-seeking and self-advocacy behavior.”

Matt Zalaznick is senior writer.

The post How the reach of virtual college advising is expanding appeared first on University Business.

A few months ago, I received an email from an online “educational startup” offering guidance on how to find and win competitive fellowships, at a modest rate of $45 for 15 minutes.

The ad caught my interest more than most spam does because as a fellowships advisor by trade, I also provide information and guidance to ambitious students and alumni who wish to apply for a range of prestigious national and international awards, such as the Rhodes Scholarship or the Fulbright program.

In the wake of the Varsity Blues scandal, these predatory startups are especially troubling. First, they focus on the product, not the process. Secondly, the black-market advising offered by these emails showcases a troubling flaw in the U.S. educational system: in our misguided race to the top, which values measurable outcomes over the inherent value of the educational process, we exacerbate the inequalities that formal education is intended to eliminate.

The demand for “high end” educational opportunities, along with the scarcity of specialized knowledge about how to obtain them, creates a profit motive for exploitative consultants, for-profit colleges, and an entire array of services that toe the line between academic dishonesty and outright theft.

Most frustratingly, this knowledge is widely and freely available at most universities. The advice I give my students is not brilliant: Figure out what you want to do with your life, and then do it better than anyone else. People will notice.

No secrets

My opinions are shared by 1,000 fellow members of the National Association of Fellowships Advisors, a professional organization established in the late 1990s that serves higher ed professionals who assist students with applications for an array of nationally competitive, merit-based scholarships.

The real value of these awards is in the introspection and personal growth that they require.

Our code of ethics affirms that fellowships advisors’ overriding concerns must be for student well-being, the integrity of one’s home academic institution, and the value of the process. In partnership with dozens of awarding organizations and federal agencies, we ensure that there are no secrets. We even go so far as to offer pro bono advising to students who attend colleges or universities that do not employ a fellowships advisor.

It is common in my profession to describe a major fellowship as a “life-changing experience,” but unfortunately not everyone interprets that as we mean it. The prestige one obtains from winning a major fellowship can be career-altering: two former Marshall Scholars currently sit on the Supreme Court; Bill Clinton was a Rhodes Scholar (as were current presidential candidates Cory Booker and Pete Buttigieg).

Prestigious fellowships can provide fast access to the inner circles of power and influence that so many ambitious students seek. With so much at stake, it is understandable that universities and applicants alike would seek every advantage available. University presidents covet these awards, and well-intentioned regents and donors put up incentives to help students win them. (True story: a regent at one of my previous employers offered a Porsche to the next student to win a Rhodes Scholarship. A student won, but couldn’t afford the taxes on the car.)

Read: The case for price transparency

Unfortunately, ambitious students who don’t have a fellowships advisor at their school (or are unaware of his or her existence) are at risk of falling prey to the pitch for a $500 seminar that promises better odds of winning a Fulbright than can be had at Harvard, Georgetown, or MIT. The other category are the willing victims who are so enmeshed in the free market of pay-for-play education that it would never occur to them that you shouldn’t pay extra if you want to get ahead.

Let me offer my perspective: the value that many students, parents, and administrators place on these awards is misplaced.

They are attracted to the perceived value of the fellowship. The fellowship becomes the goal, not a vehicle to a goal. The real value of these awards is in the introspection and personal growth that they require. To persuade an unknown reader to award you $150,000 requires one hell of a persuasive argument, and to make your case, you need to understand what your ‘Big Thing’ is; more importantly, why you did what you’ve done, why you do what you do, and why you want to do this Big Thing in the future.

Students who authentically engage in the fellowships application process will come out the other side better for it, regardless of the outcome. They will have vision, self-awareness, and confidence. This is why NAFA, in its code of ethics, stresses the value of the process over the outcome. In certain circumstances, advising a student not to apply for an award is the right choice, and real success doesn’t happen until 10 years later. This is life, and no matter what the emails promise you, there aren’t any shortcuts, and there aren’t any guarantees.

And that advice you can have for free.

Kyle Mox is an associate dean at Barrett, the Honors College at Arizona State University, and is the director of the Lorraine W. Frank Office of National Scholarships

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The data link certain college majors to higher levels of loan debt, and reveal students’ unrealistic salary expectations.

The “2019 Student Opportunity Index” from Cengage, an edtech company, shows students pursuing a biosciences major incur the most debt while those earning health care degrees are most likely to owe nothing upon graduation.

Meanwhile, graduating Generation Z students expect to make about $10,000 more than they will actually earn at their first job after college, according to a survey by Clever, an online real estate service. Their anticipated midcareer salaries are also inflated—by about $15,000.

“The counseling systems in higher education are virtually nonexistent in terms of a student’s ability to talk about what happens after they leave college,” Carnevale says. “We need a full set of information on the economic value of college.”

Congress appears likely to drive progress on both fronts over the next several years. There is bipartisan support for mandating much greater transparency around employment outcomes as part of the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, Carnevale says.

Colleges and universities have fallen behind when it comes to career counseling for students, says Anthony Carnevale, director of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce in Washington, D.C.

And a recent executive order from President Donald Trump requires all colleges receiving federal aid to report program earnings and debt. “What’s radical about all of this is the institutions matter less and less, and the programs matter more and more,” Carnevale says.

In the Cengage survey of about 2,500 near or recent graduates, respondents were fairly optimistic about employment and financial prospects. Nearly all graduates reported that they expect to quickly find a job in their field of study, yet according to the research, only about 60% do. Graduates also said they expect to pay off loans in an average of six years, but that number is closer to 20.

Institutions could make it easier for students to adjust their majors if their job outlooks change, says Cheryl Costantini, vice president for the Cengage Unlimited product, OER and employability initiatives.

“Students will continue to be optimistic as long as they’re getting value,” Costantini says. “Despite high prices, students still understand they’ll have a better life with a degree. Institutions need to keep that where it is.”

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