News

UC’s Highest Number of Applicants With Noticeable Increase in Diversity

Joshua Gallagher

The popularity of the University of California (UC) is blooming. According to the data released by the university system, the number of applicants for the first-year fall admissions has hit its peak for two years in a row. An increase in applicants is in part due to a few changes the system has made: greater online outreach to students and elimination of standardized test requirements. As a result, UC’s first-year applicant number reached the highest in its history with remarkable diversity. Although the university received the highest volume of applicants…

The Role of College Rankings Changing Over the Decades

Stefan Schneider

College ranking has been around for nearly 30 years. While it may be controversial in its usefulness, it is undoubtful to ignore its influence over current society. The first college rankings were established in 1995, where it was merely a statistic and did not receive any significant recognition by prospective students. However, the demand and the popularity of college ranking have been steadily growing for the last two decades. It was shown that over 60 percent of prospective students take college ranking as a reference when deciding which college to…

Biden’s Plan to Double Pell Grants

Jeremy Lintner

Tuition has risen as colleges have increased their costs in order to take advantage of additional government subsidies. Has this been explained to President Joe Biden? In his budget, he proposes doubling the federal Pell Grants, raising tuition even more. The administration’s solution is to raise the maximum Pell Grant from $6,495 to $8,670 next year, with the goal of doubling it within ten years. “Pell Grants have been the foundation of low- and moderate-income students’ financial aid for decades,” the Department of Education budget says, “however, the value has…

Better Job Prospects Shouldn’t Be The Only Reason To Get A Degree

Stefan Schneider

Experts claim that the poorest and most disadvantaged students will be disproportionately affected by upcoming reforms to university access and funding in the UK. Reforms to the current student loans system which was announced on February 18th, means that students will pay more over a longer period if they wish to go to university. And those in middle- and low-income brackets will be most strongly affected. In addition, it appears likely that newly raised minimum entrance criteria will further reduce university attendance amongst currently under-represented groups. These changes call in…

The Return of International MBA Students

Stefan Schneider

Foreign students have returned to pre-pandemic levels. Hare announced(March 13, 2022), “International student numbers at universities have bounced back to above pre-pandemic levels, with the number of students commencing studies higher than in 2019″.” This is encouraging news, but the flow will take time to manifest at the MBA level across the country. What we do know is that the Australian MBA is still in high demand, both from public and private institutions, also having high demand in international MBA students. According to ICEF, “the market is beginning to recover:…

Problems With Teaching Chinese Politics

Lauren Robinson

For any political science major, there is always time and place to learn about Chinese politics. China is such a huge part of global politics, and to not teach about Chinese politics in a political science course would be like teaching a physics course without algebra. Sometimes colleges require certain majors to take a mandatory course on Chinese politics because of how influential it is to international politics. However, it has become increasingly difficult to have an objective view of China without offending Chinese international students or hiring a professor…

No More SAT/ACT for CSU Admissions

Lauren Robinson

The change was unanimously accepted by the California State University Board of Trustees, aligning the country’s largest four-year university system with the “test free” admissions method already in place at the University of California college system. The California State University system has 477,000 students enrolled in its 23 colleges around the state, while the University of California system has approximately 280,000 students enrolled in its ten campuses. Last year, the University of California Board of Regents agreed to eliminate the necessity for standardized test admissions at its undergraduate schools, which…

Mistakes International Students Make

Jeremy Lintner

Any international students living outside the U.S. and currently choosing a college or university will understand that it’s hard to pick the right one. As online reviews of colleges are plagued with bias and videos made by colleges are more for entertainment and advertisement, taking an objective look at the schools is harder than ever before. They mostly try to show off their fancy campuses and rankings on their websites. Instead, ranking systems from companies, like U.S. News and QS Top Universities, are often one of the few options that…

Financial Pressure and Stress; College student’s Reason for Dropping Out

Stefan Schneider

Financial Pressure and Stress; College student’s Reason for Dropping Out Although taking care of college student’s mental health and their financial burden has been a hot topic in the recent years, it still hasn’t been solved and has been exacerbated by the pandemic. The pandemic actually helped the public realize the detrimental effects of having poor mental health, with 46 percent of Americans reporting having poor mental health during the peak of the pandemic and the lockdowns. The awareness for people to take care of their own mental health is…

How will Test-Optional affect Students?

Stefan Schneider

Facts and Future Viewpoints about Standardized Testing Before COVID-19, some schools had already abandoned the testing requirement. However, for the time being, most schools and universities in the United States are test-optional. Aviva Legatt, an Ardmore native and founder of Ivy Insight, a college admissions advising firm, explained, “The purpose behind it was twofold.” The goal was to level the playing field for underrepresented and low-income students at first. According to Dr. Aviva Legatt, “several studies demonstrate that the test is culturally biased.” “White people tend to score better on…