Trendy

From College News - Rents expected to rise 5 percent in 2011.

Students who rent apartments instead of living on-campus can expect to see increases in the amount of rent they pay each month as renters are finally beginning to experience the effects of the real estate market’s collapse.

Up until now, only homeowners have suffered financially due to the collapse of the housing bubble, but with apartment and rental housing construction halved in recent years and a wave of former homeowners competing for apartment space with other renters, conditions have suddenly ripened for landlords to raise the rent, reported MSNBC.
Vacancy rates have been dropping, giving landlords a reason to raise the rent. Nationally, rents are expected to rise 5 percent this year and another 5 percent in 2012, according to Greg Willett, the vice president of research and analysis at MPF Research in Carrollton, Texas.

College students may experience a few more rent increases before they take the step to own property because most first-time homebuyers are in their early 30s, according to data from the National Association of Realtors, as reported by MSNBC.

To combat yearly rent increases, Tammy Kotula, a spokeswoman for Apartments.com, urges renters to negotiate with landlords, or if they know they’re staying awhile, get a multiyear lease that allows tenants to lock in a low rent, reported MSNBC. “You can definitely talk to your landlord and ask to negotiate,” she says. “A two-year lease is a pretty popular option.”

By Kathleen Hagan

From College News - Recent ACCA survey uncovers shocking details about on-campus counseling

The American College Counseling Association recently conducted its annual survey. The survey examined on-campus counseling services including the number of students an average seeking treatment, the number of students afflicted with psychological problems and the availability of counseling services. Some of the findings were downright disheartening.

The ACCA has found in recent years that the number of students with psychological problems has increased. The 2010 survey reaffirmed this trend with 91 percent of campus counseling directors surveyed noticing the trend. In addition, directors have noticed increases in individuals with psychiatric medication issues, self-injury issues and crisis issues requiring immediate response.

Although the number of students with sever psychological problems has increased over the past five years, the number of students taking advantage of counseling and the availability of counseling services has not increased accordingly.

Of the 133 student suicides reported by the campuses surveyed only 13 percent of these individuals were seeking or had sought counseling. The remaining 87 percent had not sought any counseling which raises some important questions and concerns. Why hadn’t these students sought help that they clearly needed? Were they unaware of their campus’ counseling services? Were they too afraid or embarrassed to seek help? Or were the counseling services simply inadequate or unavailable? The survey doesn’t provide answers for all of the questions, but it does provide some clues.

According to the survey, the on-campus counselor to student ratio is 1 to 1,600. The ratios at smaller schools are better, but given the abundance of students with psychological problems it is surprising that the ratio has not changed by much over the past few years (according to the 2008 and 2009 surveys).

The survey also says that 28.6 percent of counseling centers report a waiting list problem during the busy time of the year. Although counselors and directors are doing the best with the services they can provide, these findings just provide more evidence that on-campus counseling services are simply not adequate to handle the number of students seeking them.

By Janelle Vreeland

From College News - College students who don't get enough sleep have a lower GPA.

College students are not getting enough sleep, which impacts negatively on their grades and performance in the classroom.  spending nights studying for finals and writing papers, or even staying up too late talking to roommates and watching TV can cause bad sleeping habits.  Many students have part-time jobs and busy social lives which make sleep not as much of a priority.  This is a common mistake many college students make (especially during their freshman year in the dorms).

According to aasmnet.org, Dr. Epstein MD, medical director of Sleep HealthCenters in Brighton, Mass., said, “Recent studies have shown that adequate sleep is essential to feeling awake and alert, maintaining good health and working at peak performance.  After two weeks of sleeping six hours or less a night, students feel as bad and perform as poorly as someone who has gone without sleep for 48 hours. New research also highlights the importance of sleep in learning and memory. Students getting adequate amounts of sleep performed better on memory and motor tasks than did students deprived of sleep.”

Some studies show having a routine bedtime is the best way to get the right amount of sleep you need.  It can be hard on the weekends while there are parties and other functions going on late into the night, but this is one of the best ways to get on track.

Another way to get into a better sleeping schedule is to exercise.  According to colorado.edu, “Getting exercise during the day will make falling asleep at night easier, although exercising within two-three hours of going to sleep will actually make it harder for you to sleep.”

Lastly, don’t skip out on naps if you have time before 3pm.  According to education.com, Cody Quintero, a student at University of Kansas, said, “There are just times when you need that alone time to yourself, and even a 30-minute nap to get you reenergized makes the biggest difference.  You can’t keep your mind burning all day, it needs a break, too, in order for you to have mental wellness.”

Sleep is of the utmost important factor in getting a good education and living a healthy lifestyle.  Practicing a good sleep schedule in college will set you up for good sleeping habits in the future as well.

By Joe Pascente

From College News - Study finds that US economy will be short 300,000 college graduates per year until 2018.

Despite the current 9.6 percent unemployment rate, a report from Georgetown University states that employers are going to face a shortfall of college educated employees over the next eight years. The study, Help Wanted: Projections of Jobs and Education Requirements Through 2018, estimates that the US economy will be short 300,000 graduates every year until 2018.

This comes in the wake of another fiscal quarter of 1.6 percent growth in the U.S. which pales in comparison to past economic recoveries where GDP expanded at rates of six to eight percent.

So, if there is a shortage of workers, why does unemployment remain so high?

The authors of the report, Jeff Strohl, Nicole Smith and Anthony Carnevale, argue that the recession accelerated a shift from manufacturing and industrial workers to those with post-secondary degrees.

“Hundreds of thousands of low-skill jobs in manufacturing, farming, fishing, and forestry have been permanently destroyed because the recession has further prompted employers to either automate those positions or ship them offshore to take advantage of cheap labor,” the report states.

While most college graduates will enjoy being on the advantageous end of the supply and demand dichotomy, the authors of this study, along with London-based magazine, the Economist, argue that this trend is bad for the US as a whole.

The “low-skill” jobs being outsourced are allowing emerging economies to accelerate at speeds far and ahead much of the richer western economies.

A special report by the Economist argues that many Western economies like those in Europe and the US are facing the prospect of being passed up by India, China and those in South America.

“The ‘rise of the rest’ is a remarkable achievement, bring with it unprecedented improvements in living standards for the majority of the people on the planet,” the Economist argues. “But there is another, less happy, explanation for the rapid shift in the global center of economic gravity: the lack of growth in the big rich economies of America, western Europe and Japan.”

From College News - College graduates are less likely to be unemployed.

Students often question whether or not continuing their education is the right choice with diminishing financial aid, rising college tuition and high unemployment rates.  Unemployment is a state in which even many professionals find themselves, currently finding no protection from their college education. Yet studies offer a renewed sense of purpose in obtaining a college degree despite these negative factors.

College Board released a study today showing that workers with a college degree earned more money and were less likely to be unemployed.

The New York Times explained that even at the height of 2008’s recession, the median salary for those with a Bachelor’s Degree was $55,700 while the average for those with just a high school diploma was $21,900 or less.

Still, concerns cannot be quieted by such monetary statistics alone when the unemployment rate remains high.

Sandy Baum, a professor at Skidmore College, senior analyst for College Board, and one of the authors of the report, said that unemployment rates for college graduates are lower and college graduates began recovering jobs over a year and a half ago.

Of course, there are other factors that affect earning income. Choice of major is one of the most important decisions.  Every year the highest paid majors are ranked.  Every year many of the top earners can be found in engineering fields.  As of 2009, CNN cites the top five earning majors as petroleum engineering, chemical engineering, mining engineering, computer engineering, and at number five, computer science.

Still other studies suggest that having a degree may not be as profitable as in the past. In April of this year, CNN said that graduates getting their degree this year were likely to make less than graduates of the past year receiving the same degree, and while engineering careers are the highest paid, students of liberal arts would find that their average pay decreased by 8.9 percent.

From College News - Bachelor degrees in Religioius Studies have doubled since the 1970's.

Children are often asked what they want to be when they grow up. Typical answers are based on fantasy professions that will be abandoned once innocence and inexperience are transformed by life’s lessons. Most people will abandon their dreams for security at some point.  Close to these childish career choices are some college majors.

Stigmas are often attached to declaring a major that’s an unprofitable endeavor. But things are changing. Religious Studies student may have found their college major in this unprofitable category in the past, but now the major is finding new popularity and success.

According to Newsweek, religious studies is the “esoteric interdisciplinary major in which people study how religious beliefs and practices affect history, culture, politics, economies, and the world.”

The American Historical Society, a professional group for historians founded in 2009, said that those who specialized in religious history exceeded all other categories of study.  Newsweek cites that close to 12,000 Bachelor degrees are awarded for the subject, a figure that has doubled since the 1970’s.

However, despite the high interest in the subject, popularity in a major does not equal a job. Is there success for students who declare religious studies their major?

In fact, Newsweek claims a number of professions such as psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists and even a small group of economists are getting involved “in the religious game.”

Exploring the internet, one can find many examples of careers for religious studies students.  According to

Rhodes college, careers range from account service representative to youth minister.  There is a wide variety of careers, according to a post-graduate survey conducted by the College.

But drawbacks to this major are still apparent as certain schools still maintain the old attitude.  There are exceptions, but many Ivy League schools, such as Harvard University, find little use for the major.  The prevalent thought is that the major is equal to religious indoctrination. Newsweek also cites the popularity of some anti-religion books such as Christopher Hitchens’s bestseller God is Not Great.

From College News - Students study less and less.

You know the routine, read the chapter before class, take notes during class and look over the notes and chapter after class.  Although students know the routine, many do not keep up with the regiment.  Students today study less than 30 hours a week.  Are there too many distractions on campus?  NYtimes.com starts the debate.

Economists from the University of California recently published a report that show a decline in the number of hours college students study from 1961 to 2003. In 2003, students studied an average of 27 hours a week compared to 40 hours a week in 1961.

Many universities in the US want to appeal to their “customers” by offering amenities for students to do outside the classroom.  Some universities have cinemas, gyms, and even bowling allies and students are distracted from the books.  A report conducted by the Delta Cost Project suggests that a decrease in spending on instruction and an increase on student recreation is to blame for the lack of studying.

Students today are studying less. The lack of students in the library shows the affects of student recreation.  What do you think, are students distracted or the demands in the classroom manageable?

From College News - An unprecidented number of parents expect their children to attend college, but students don't feel the same

These days, there is great emphasis placed on students going to college, almost to the point of expectation. Whether it be for career purposes, or to help foster life skills, the idea of attending college has become the norm in the US. The release of a new Gallup Poll found that 92 percent of parents in 2010 believed their child would go to college. Unfortunately, 23 percent of those parents are wrong.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, only 69 percent percent of high school graduates enroll in college immediately after graduation. Of those who enroll, only about 30 percent are adequately prepared to begin their college education, which begs the question “why is there such a large gap between the expectation and the reality?”

First off, the gap reflects the difference between parental expectations and student preparedness. Only about half of high school students report that they want to go to college. Some recognize that even in rough economies and job markets, the number of new jobs requiring college degrees is less than the number of students graduating from universities, making the cost and time commitment too great an expense to justify.

Others rightfully feel that the structure of two and four-year degree programs are not right for them. With only 30 percent prepared for college, those who do not feel they can succeed in an academic environment look to vocational training and career experience to prepare them for their future. So while it might look like expectation is growing, the reality is that a college education remains to be something for those willing actively pursue it, and it is not the only method of career success in this day and age.