Margaret Spellings talks about customer satisfaction not only as one who holds some large purse strings in Washington, but as the parent of a daughter at Davidson College. Speaking with U.S. News ahead of her much-anticipated speech on the future of higher education, Spellings outlined her plans for shaking up the government’s relationship with the country’s colleges and universities. “I think it’s right that the federal government–who’s a big investor in all of this–[should] know as much about our customers who are freshmen as we do about our customers who are third-grade readers,” Spellings says. Read the rest of this entry »

Dear College Knowledge,

I live in Washington (the state) and just graduated from high school. I didn’t get the best grades and now have started attending community college. I want to stay there for a year and then hope to transfer to an out-of-state, four-year school. How can I get those schools to look at me from a community college?

Our reply: Read the rest of this entry »

One of the dirty secrets of university admissions is that colleges compete for the best students just as aggressively as students compete for a spot at the best schools. Early admit programs were thought to be one of the most effective ways to serve the demands of both. Top students can sidestep the anxiety of the regular process by receiving a decision (usually in mid-December), and the admit rates are usually significantly higher for those who apply early. Colleges, for their part, can better hook and hold the best and the brightest applicants, because an early acceptance offer is often binding. Read the rest of this entry »

Harvard’s announcement that it was ending its early admissions option might be welcome news to the world of higher education. It might trigger other schools to follow suit. Then again, Harvard might reinstate the program after a few years. Read the rest of this entry »