My Free Education Guide

Thanks to the ability to purchase used books online and the relatively new textbook rental services, the hefty price tag associated with college textbooks may finally be decreasing. The rising popularity of ebook readers such as the Amazon Kindle, the Barnes and Noble nook and the Apple iPad is also expected to change the way college students purchase and “read” textbooks.

College Textbook Prices Continue to Soar

The rising cost of a college education has been a huge concern of students and parents across the country, but the price of college textbooks has also been in the spotlight. An Associated Press article published earlier this week reported that a 2005 study by the U.S. Government Accountability Office found college textbook prices had increased at twice the rate of inflation over the previous two decades. Newer statistics from the National Association of College Stores show that the cost of textbooks climbed fourteen percent from the 2006-2007 academic year to 2008-2009.

A new federal law that is part of the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 went into effect this past July, and it requires textbook publishers to provide college professors with textbook price information. The law also requires colleges and universities to notify students which textbooks will be required reading for each class at the time of registration so that students will have more time to shop around for their textbooks.

Ebook Readers Gaining Popularity among Students

Despite the benefits of the new federal law, some college students are opting to purchase electronic versions of their necessary textbooks instead of relying on the old standby. Data released this past April by the Student Monitor, a research firm that studies lifestyle trends among college students, found that the Apple iPad tablet is already more popular than the Amazon Kindle among students who do not already own a wireless ebook reader but are interested in purchasing one.

Questions are rising as to whether or not students can learn as well with digital ebook readers as they can with traditional textbooks. Federal officials actually cautioned colleges to hold off on using ebook readers until the necessary technology can accommodate disabled students, and plenty of snags have already been reported.

Will iPads take the Place of Traditional Textbooks?

Even so, USA Today reports that North Carolina State University is loaning iPads to students through its library, the University of Maryland at College Park is planning to give iPads to students in its Digital Cultures and Creativity program, George Fox University has announced it will offer iPads to first-year students in the fall as an alternative to its laptop giveaway, and Seton Hill University says it will give all its students free iPads.

An August 10, 2010 article in PC World claims that the National Association of College Stores found that digital textbooks account for just two to three percent of sales at member stores, and studies show that many students find it difficult to read complex material on a digital screen for long periods at a time.

Downside of Ebook Readers

Some students simply feel that they can read and comprehend material better with a traditional textbook. Ebook readers have definitely taken off, but college textbooks typically contain information that is much more complicated than a novel that someone would read for enjoyment.

“Textbooks are the most complex e-book that there is out there, with everything from pagination, notation, searching and indexing, copy/paste, the ability to post to social media, and then multimedia like video, audio, pictures, and slideshows… an e-textbook has to put them all in one package and do them well,” Josh Koppel of ScrollMotion, a company that is working with publishers to bring texts to the iPad, told PC World.

Are You in the Kno?

Yet another ebook reading device made its debut at the D8 technology conference in Southern California earlier this summer—the Kno. The Kno was developed to take the place of college textbooks, which is why it has two 14-inch screens, giving students the ability to look at two “pages” at once. It folds shut like a laptop computer, and it also weighs over five pounds, considerably more than the other ebook readers on the market. A test version of the Kno is supposed to be released sometime this fall.

Although it’s too early in the game to determine whether or not ebook readers will monopolize the college textbook market, textbook rentals and the ability to purchase used texts online should help students save money this fall.

Moving away from home and setting up a college dorm room or an off-campus apartment for the first time can be slightly confusing, even if your parents swear that they know just how to help. If you’re getting ready to move into your dorm this fall, here are some great ideas for organizing your belongings. People are usually most productive in neat environments, so putting things in order from the start can help you start the semester on a good note.

Know What Furniture will Be Provided

Dorm rooms are usually very small, and if you have a roommate (or two!) the room will seem even smaller yet. The housing office at your college should be able to provide you with a list of furniture that will be in the room when you arrive. Some schools even offer possible floor plans to help students arrange things in a manner that maximizes space.

Your dorm room will definitely include a bed for each student (be warned that there may be bunk beds) as well as a desk and chair for each student. It may even have a nightstand or table for each of you, and you’ll also have your own closet. There may be a garbage can and a lamp, but those items are not always provided. It’s a safe assumption that more modern dorms will probably have nicer furniture than older dorms.

Don’t Overpack

Instead of packing four suitcases that you will have nowhere to store, bring your personal belongings to college in a footlocker or trunk that can double as a coffee table. Standard old milk crates are another good idea for transporting your belongings because they can easily become stackable storage cubes.

You will not need as many clothes as you think you will, and dorm room closets aren’t very big anyway. You’ll also need to use your closet to store things besides clothes.

Place Shelves Above Your Desk

Hanging a few rows of shelves above your desk (if it’s allowed by the school, of course) is the best way to give yourself a lot of storage space for books and photo frames. This will free up room on the top of your desk so you have enough space for your computer.

Raise Your Bed

If your school will allow it, you can create a lot of extra storage space under your bed by putting bed risers under your bed frame. This will give you the ability to slide storage bins under your bed. The thin plastic bins made for shoes and gift wrap will probably fit under a “regular” bed, but if your bed is higher than usual you’ll be able to slide more underneath.

Organize Your Closet

The easiest way to organize your dorm room closet is with hanging closet organizers. They come in various sizes and can hold anything from shoes to sweaters, but some students even decide to keep non-perishable food items in them, too.

Keep Common Areas Clean

It may not seem like it because dorm rooms are usually so small, but the common area in between your bed and desk and your roommate’s is actually shared space. Keep things in order by promising to keep your belongings on your side of the room. You wouldn’t want your roommate’s belongings invading your personal space, so why do it to them?

Even though it’s technically still the summer, the 2010-11 academic year will begin at most schools sometime during the next two weeks. Students entering their senior year of high school will be full of excitement knowing that they’ve arrived at “the beginning of the end,” but it’s not the time for them to slack off! Seniors that are applying to college will find themselves busy with the application process, but with proper planning and preparation there should be nothing to worry about.

Visit Potential Colleges before Your Senior Year

The College Board, the not-for-profit membership organization comprised of over 5,700 colleges and universities that is best known for the SAT test and Advanced Placement programs, suggests that high school students visit potential colleges during the summer before their senior year. Guided campus tours are a good idea, but having a face-to-face interview with an admissions representative may provide some unknown information about the school. You can even request an application to know what information will be expected of you and get an idea about application essays.

Touring the colleges that interest you and speaking with their admissions officers should help narrow down your choices when the time arrives to fill out college applications. It can also help you save money—colleges charge application fees that are usually between twenty-five and fifty dollars.

Fees can add up quickly if you are applying to several schools. (Most colleges offer application fee waivers to students whose families meet certain financial requirements, so check into that if you think you may qualify.) Keep in mind that your high school may also charge a fee for each copy of your transcript that they have to send out, and if you’re applying to several different colleges and universities the transcript fees can add up, too.

Schedule the SAT and ACT if Necessary

If you took the SAT or ACT during your junior year but weren’t pleased with your scores, you can retake the tests during the fall of your senior year. Be sure to find out the deadlines for each and register early so you don’t miss out on your final opportunity to possibly improve your scores.

Colleges and universities will see all of your scores, but if you studied over the summer and are well-prepared to retake the tests, the improved scores may help increase your odds of being accepted at some colleges.

Applying to Colleges

If you have your heart set on attending a local community college in order to cut costs, you probably shouldn’t waste money applying to multiple schools. However, if you visited a few different schools during the summer and narrowed down your options, the College Board’s website offers some advice about the application process.

• The College Board recommends applying to one or two colleges that you feel very confident you will be accepted. Think of these schools as your “safeties.”

• You should also apply to two to four other colleges that are “good matches,” meaning you have around a seventy-five percent chance of getting in and they are colleges that fit your academic and social needs.

• You may also want to apply to one or two “reach” colleges that you have a lower chance of getting accepted to attend, such as an elite school that admits only a small percentage of all applicants.

It’s a wise idea to only apply to colleges that you would honestly attend should you be accepted. In addition to the costs associated with application fees and transcripts, you might even inadvertently take away a spot from a student that really wants to attend a school you only have mixed feelings about.

Rushing to Submit College Applications is Not Recommended

Although it’s important to stay on schedule as application deadlines approach, rushing to fill out college applications is not recommended. This year’s Common Application, a basic college application accepted by over four hundred colleges and universities across the country in lieu of their own application, was available on the internet several weeks earlier than it was in the past.

Rob Killion, the executive director of the Common Application, told the New York Times that he was “particularly unnerved by the flood of early submissions through the Common Application website because he feared that students were rushing their essays.”

An incoming high school senior from Texas, Cree Bautista, was profiled in the Times for being the first person in the United States to submit a Common Application to any school that accepts it for the class of 2015. Cree sent his application to New York University, a selective school that he has never even visited.

Shawn Abbott, who works in undergraduate admissions at NYU, told the Times that the school will not even download students’ applications for at least another month. He also said that he hoped students would wait to submit applications until they’ve actually started their senior years so they can let colleges know how things are going so far.

Mr. Abbott’s advice to students rushing to fill out college applications?

“It’s not a horse race.”

For the fourth year in a row, the Sierra Club has ranked the Coolest Schools in America. One hundred colleges and universities are spotlighted in the list, which ranks educational institutions on their “eco-friendliness.” Results were published this month in Sierra magazine.

Ranking Eco-Friendliness Because of College Rivalry

The Sierra Club, the oldest and largest environmental organization in the United States, ranks the nation’s Coolest Schools in hopes of raising awareness of the sustainability efforts at colleges and universities of all shapes and sizes. “Intercollegiate rivalry is a long and hallowed tradition,” were the words that the Sierra Club used on their website to describe the reasoning behind the annual project.

The Sierra Club sent out 11-page questionnaires to 900 schools across the country and a disappointing 162 colleges and universities returned completed surveys. Fortunately, nearly all replies were extremely thorough. David Prytherch, the sustainability coordinator at Miami University in Ohio, wrote that “It helps encourage continued innovation, knowing that others are watching.”

Changes in the 2010 Coolest Schools List

This year’s ranking system placed more importance on the source of each school’s energy supply than in years past. Energy supply carried the most significance, but nine other categories were also factored when measuring each school’s commitment to sustainability: efficiency, food, academics, purchasing, transportation, waste management, administration, financial investments, as well as a section titled “other initiatives.” Green Mountain College in Poultney, Vermont earned top honors as this year’s greenest school after ranking 35th last year. The University of Colorado at Boulder was number one on last year’s list yet fell to 13th place this year. All in all, the top 20 colleges and universities included nine newcomers.

The Sierra Club claims that the list was drastically different this year due to placing more weight on energy sources, which was decided after consulting with Sierra Club conservation experts, but the Chronicle of Higher Education feels that the answer won’t satisfy critics of green ratings systems.

Green Rating and Ranking Systems are Flawed

The rating and ranking of colleges’ sustainability efforts is frustrating to sustainability directors. A group comprised of two dozen college and sustainability directors and school officials recently signed a letter asking “green raters” such as the Sierra Club to use rating systems which adhere to eight principles, which include making the rating process open, using uniform measurements in assessing sustainability efforts, and allowing colleges to opt out.

Avital Binshtock, an editor at Sierra magazine who oversees the Cool Schools project, said that “We would like to maintain our own research methodology and investigative methods,” yet she also acknowledged that Sierra is not exactly a neutral observer because it is the membership magazine of the Sierra Club. Ms. Binshtock also said that her staff cannot verify the provided information which is used to determine the top 100 schools because the data is self-reported by the colleges.

Advocates of sustainability ranking systems, though, feel that they are a good way for high school students and their parents to gain more information about environmentally-friendly colleges and universities. People are going green, and a lot of them want to attend green colleges.

For Further Reading:

Sierra’s Cool Schools list can be found at the Sierra Club website.

The Princeton Review’s Guide to 286 Green Colleges can be found at the Princeton Review website.

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