When asked as to how you did last semester, nothing can top the sound of that simple four-word explanation:

Made the Dean’s List.

It certainly has a positive connotation to it. It also carries a special sense of pride, whether you are talking to your parents, grandparents, or one of your former high school teachers. And most importantly, it is a great thing to be able to place on your resume.

When you say “I made the dean’s list” it means one simple thing – you can handle the expectations associated with the rigors of college.

We know you want to be part of the select group that is able to make that claim and here is our six step method to making it happen.

1. Be Organized

Almost all college courses follow a troubling pattern – front loading information and back loading assignments. Too many courses begin with lots of reading and little in the way of written work only to end with major projects and papers due just as semester exams approach.

The most important step for academic success is to create a master schedule/calendar of your courses and the assignments due for the semester. It does not matter which format you use, digital or traditional, you just need to create a master with all pertinent information.

That means taking the entire syllabus for each course and plotting all written assignments, projects, papers and exams on one master calendar. Be sure and highlight any extra credit work options that are noted or add them to the calendar when the professor makes them known.

Once complete, to ensure you have a complete sense of the demands ahead, spend 30 minutes each Sunday evening reviewing the upcoming week and the two weeks that follow. Look carefully at that work and then plan your study time for the week. In the early going, when less written work is required, make a commitment to doing more than the required reading. A good goal is to work towards being at least a week ahead at the end of the first five weeks of the semester.

Second, organize all materials into folders and notebooks. There are way too many expectations to have you wasting time searching for some paper or papers you have misplaced. Such materials include all the original class handouts, the additional materials provided by the professor during the semester and your returned assignments, quizzes and tests. Don’t forget, those returned papers can be extremely helpful when it comes time for final exam preparation.

2. Find a Quiet Place to Study

One of the most critical aspects of college success is to be able to place the social scene on hold so as to be able to focus on the task at hand. While most think of the need to limit such time to the weekend, the reality is that the dormitory is often a social scene, one that can be a constant source of disruption. Limiting the time you spend in your dorm room is the only way to eliminate those distractions.

It is imperative that whenever you are reading challenging materials or preparing for an exam you have a quiet place where you can truly disappear. It might be the back stacks at the library, the basement lounge at your dorm or a study area in one of your campus classroom buildings. Ultimately, you must utilize this place whenever you need to find some real quiet time.

3. Attend and Participate in All Classes

It goes without saying that it is extremely important that you go to all of your classes every week. Your professor will not only spend class time on the subject matter, he or she will also help you identify how class projects and homework assignments will be graded and what you will need to know for tests.

In addition, some college professors make class participation a component of the overall grade. In such instances, they expect the students to be more than just present, they want to see you ask questions and contribute your thoughts to class discussions.

Obviously you cannot participate if you are not present. And you cannot participate in a meaningful way if you are not prepared.

And even if there is no grade for attending or participating, your presence and your participation can be extremely helpful. Your presence and participation will indicate to your professor that you are interested in the material and that you are committed to your responsibilities.

Such a step cannot hurt when that prof is about to provide that final grade for the semester and you are right on the line between a B+ and an A-.

Lastly, remember – taking notes is also a form of participation. Jot down everything that appears relevant, especially the information presented in overheads, in power points or written on the board. And if you are not good at note taking, get a tape recorder and record the class.

4. Implement the 15-Minute Review

To ensure you make the most of each class, arrive 15 minutes before the scheduled starting time and implement the 15-Minute Review.

At that point, instead of seeking out others to socialize, take the time to review two items briefly but as thoroughly as you can. First, review your notes from the prior class to remind yourself of what was being discussed and where the class ended. Then, quickly glance through the required reading in your text so as to have a sense as to where the professor will go during the class.

Doing these two tasks in a focused manner will not only ensure that you are in a proper mindset for the class when the professor begins, it means you will have a much better sense as to how the material the professor is presenting connects to the prior learning. Those two things will ensure your class is extremely productive.

To maximize the benefit of this concept, begin by implementing the review the evening before. If you have three classes the following day, take 45 minutes and break that time into three segments where you review your notes from the prior class and the reading material. Doing so the night before, then repeating just prior to class will again make class attendance far more productive. It will also greatly reduce your need for last minute study time when exams loom.

5. Limit the Social Scene

College offers enormous academic and social opportunities. It goes without saying that the social opps are far more enjoyable.

At the same time, all experts concur, that taking some time from studies is critical to maintain an emotional balance. But there is a difference between an occasional recharging of batteries on the weekend and shortchanging your responsibilities during the week. If you do not remind yourself of the task at hand, it is all too easy to get pulled away by your classmates at times when you really should be focused on completing some critical assignments.

Ultimately, you must remember why it is that you are attending college – that the academics must come first. The failure to do so is the undoing of far too many students – in some cases it is the difference between that A or B grade and a C. Sadly, in other instances, it is the basis for why so many are forced to drop out, their C’s having fallen to F’s.

There will be people around you who are taking a less rigorous academic program and thus can spend more time socializing/partying. There will be even more people around you who have forgotten why they are attending college.

You cannot forget, not if you want your name on that magic list.

6. Study

Yes, it does come down to the fact that you will need to study. But when it comes to studying, forget those stories about the all-night cram sessions, the weekend in a motel room with nothing but your books, some Ramen noodles and your hot water pot.

Simply stated, cramming sucks, from an emotional standpoint and from an academic preparation standpoint.

In college it is truly the story of the tortoise and the hare. You need to be a turtle, slow and steady with an emphasis on the word steady. The key is to do a small amount of work every day.

Unlike high school, when you are not in class, your time will be yours. There are no study halls and no required places to be. If you have a one hour class at eight, another at eleven and a third at three, it can be very easy to waste away the time from nine to eleven, or from one to three.

This is where your calendar comes in – you need to schedule that time, assigning a specific chapter to read or constructing an aspect of a paper or writing up those math problems. If you are not careful, you will find ways to fill that time with other things that seem more enjoyable yet do not match up with the reason you are actually attending college, the idea of earning a diploma.

And scheduling that time means time and location – where are you going to go so as to ensure you do the work you set out to do.

Making the Dean’s List

We must add that taking care of your physical health is also critical. You need to eat right, get to bed at a decent hour and find some way to exercise consistently. Such steps are critical to remain physically and mentally healthy.

In addition, select the right courses, those that you have the required prerequisites and background for, and be sure not to overload yourself with too many reading-based courses, too many lab based courses, etc. Five classes can be too many if each course expects hundreds of pages of reading between each class. Think through your schedule carefully to ensure you have a reasonable and balanced workload.

All in all, getting good grades in college is not beyond the realm of the serious student who displays the proper attitude.  If you attend class, work hard, and stay on top of the expectations, at the end of the semester you will be one of the select few, the proud, the student who can offer a humble shrug as you answer that question as to how you did last semester.

Made the Dean’s List.

Once upon a time, the price of a year of schooling at elite private colleges matched the price of the average new car – not any more.

The news from The Chronicle of Higher Education certainly was not positive for students and families. After surveying private schools as to the charges for a year of attendance (tuition, fees, room and board), The Chronicle revealed that 58 private colleges had passed the 50K pricing milestone for 2009-2010.

Leading the way was one of the perennial front-runners, Sarah Lawrence College, at $55,788. Rounding out the top five were Landmark College, a school for students with learning disabilities ($53,900), Georgetown University ($52,161), New York University ($51,993), and George Washington University ($51,775).

Not Actually a New Barrier

While news, it is important to note that the $50K threshold had already been broken. It was just that a year ago, the Club had but five members.

And it is the calculus or rate of change for these numbers that is raising eyebrows. Ultimately, the sheer number of schools topping the threshold led The Chronicle to call $50K the new norm.

Amazingly, the $40K threshold once represented a major psychological milestone for many. But that figure has been rendered obsolete in the matter of just six years time.

In 2003, just two colleges set their tuition, fees, room, and board above $40,000. Including the members of the $50K club, 224 schools were above that threshold in 2009.

Unfortunately, reading the folks at The Chronicle, the average citizen may have even more bad news on the horizon. While some are wondering aloud if we are not on the edge of a precipice, others insist college prices are nowhere near a ceiling.

In fact, The Chronicle reports that “the most expensive institutions have seen no drop in demand.” Sadly, of these high costs, one school, Harvey Mudd, offered this assessment: “So long as we’re staying roughly in the same range, we don’t worry about it too much.”

Some Good News Exists

One positive in the midst of this data is that grants and other forms of financial aid help many students pay far less than the sticker price. Even more importantly, it seems that colleges have actually increased their financial aid at a faster rate than they have increased tuition and fees.

As one might expect, a large number of students receive need-based grants or merit-based scholarships with a significant amount of those funds come from the colleges themselves. The Chronicle was able to dissect data for 42 of the 58 colleges whose list price was more than $50,000 for 2009-10.

For 2008-2009, the average grant per full-time student was just over $13,000 – that meant that the “average bill last year for tuition, fees, room, and board, after grants, was about $36,000.”

However, the best news might be that some of these elite private schools are beginning to become concerned. Leadership at one of the schools that has become a member of the $50K club, Bryn Mawr, revealed they were “concerned because we fear the loss of access for students who deserve this education but might be priced out of it.” It should be noted that Bryn Mawr appears serious on both ends having offered an average grant package of about $30,000 last year.

$50K Too Pricey

But such figures also mask the real issue, that the costs of college are soaring at a rate that is unsustainable for the average student. And the clearest sign that $50K should flat out be considered too much is to return to the once relatively firm, age-old equivalent for private schools.

A year of college at the elite private institutions, the total costs including tuition, fees, room and board, should match the sticker price of a new Chevrolet.

And that might well be the most telling fact as to where things stand today. As at least one interviewee told The Chronicle:

“You don’t have to pay $50,000 for a new Chevy these days.”

It likely goes without saying that the ongoing healthcare debate in Washington has become confusing to the extreme. Even the most educated of folks are struggling to sift through the rhetoric and blatant falsehoods in order to feel secure about discussing the details of the topic intelligently.

Perhaps that complexity is the reason why so many young folks are remaining on the sidelines when it comes to this matter. While we can understand the reasons for such a response, that development is extremely disappointing for two reasons.

Richard Becker, writing for the Kentucky Kernel, offers the following statistics from the National Conference of State Legislators: 13 million of the some 30 million Americans (one estimate of the uninsured) who don’t have health insurance are between the ages of 19 and 29. Becker also notes that four million of those 13 million are college students.

Second, the lack of interest is especially disappointing to see given the impact young people had on the most recent election. Last we checked, this age group was a critical component of bringing to fruition a campaign that featured the motto: “Change we can believe in.”

A Moral Issue

Because when it comes to change we can believe in, universal healthcare is one today’s young people can and should get behind. In fact, we unequivocally agree with Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times who offered the following assessment:

“The collapse of health reform would be a political and policy failure, but it would also be a profound moral failure. Periodically, there are political questions that are fundamentally moral, including slavery in the 19th century and civil rights battles in the 1950s and ’60s. In the same way, allowing tens of thousands of Americans to die each year because they are uninsured is not simply unwise and unfortunate. It is also wrong-a moral blot on a great nation.”

Add to that the view of Ethan Mermelstein:

“Health care reform is one of those rare issues in our country’s history where the essence of the discussion is between right and wrong. To use the ever-poignant words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (which were aptly often heard from the president this past election season), the power of our collective voice on the issue of health care needs to be heard loudly and clearly because of the ‘fierce urgency of now’.”

While we agree with these two comments, we regretfully must note that in a recent Gallup Poll, just 34 percent of Americans between the ages of 18 and 34 indicated they wanted their representative to vote for health care reform. An equal number, 34 percent indicated they wanted their representative to oppose health care reform.

But the real disappointment, the major regret, was the status of the remainder. A full 31 percent of those ages 18-34 said they weren’t sure where they stood on the issue (that percentage is about 10 percentage points higher than any other age-group polled). 

Perhaps our youthful vigor gets in the way when it comes to the idea of sickness and medical care. Or maybe, it is the complexity of the issue. Whatever the case, young people are not standing with their presidential candidate on the one issue that he deems the most important issue for our country moving forward.

We believe that should change immediately.

Universal Care as a Fundamental Right

The first basic question is the moral one, the idea that every American should have access to basic health care as a fundamental right. To get an answer to that question, we need only look at the other developed nations that form our now, globally flat world.

Today, 32 developed nations have some form of universal health care. In regards to the creation of a public option, it must be noted that healthcare is not necessarily government run in all 32 countries, but care is available to all citizens.

As for yet another sense of how far behind the times America is when it comes this issue, universal healthcare has been available in places like Norway since 1912, Germany since 1941, and Canada since 1966. That’s correct: Canada has offered universal health care for more than 40 years already.

Clearly, America is in the minority of contemporary practice on this issue. Yet, stating one backs universal healthcare does carry some risk of criticism in certain corners. It means supporting the notion that even those people with eating habits that result in extreme obesity, or smoking and drinking habits that put their bodies at early risk of significant health problems, or sexual habits that have placed them at risk still deserve access to fundamental care.

In fact, Mark Perry at Carpe Diem reviews basic insurance practices in other arenas, home, auto, etc., and renders the point that refusal based on preexisting conditions is how all forms of insurance typically work. While his point is valid, we disagree with the one arena that involves healthcare. One only read John Hewko’s editorial, Health care is a crisis that sees no party, to get a real understanding as to how the notion of preexisting conditions is being abused by the industry.

We believe everyone should have access to healthcare from birth and because of the denial some have faced to this point, they must be let into the system. Moreover, to accomplish full access, healthcare must also be required of all citizens.

Will Insuring Everyone Mean Higher Costs?

The general assertion is that by bringing young folks into the insurance mix, a larger pool of subscribers will be created. Given that many of these young, uninsured individuals are extremely healthy, many insist that bringing this group into the insurance pool will further decrease the overall costs of everyone’s insurance.

Certainly, any savings gained by enhancing that pool could well be eaten up by another group, those currently uninsured who have been denied coverage for various reasons. In fact, insurance companies maximize their profits through two practices, rescission and purging.

“Rescission” is the practice of removing a sick policy holder for having omitted a minor illness or pre-existing condition at the time that person applied for coverage. In such cases, the insurance company may cancel the policy regardless of the length of time people may have paid into the system.

The practice known as “purging” involves the process of removing unprofitable accounts from the system. Generally, this process is accomplished by raising premiums to unrealistic rate levels, sums that the insured group or individuals cannot conceivably afford.

These processes are part of the insurance industry’s push to limit what is called “medical-loss.” The idea is simple: it doesn’t cost as much to insure healthy people.

With this in mind, it is now easy to see why the numbers being thrown about for costs of universal healthcare vary significantly.

Karl Denninger of “The Market Ticker” offers two simple suggestions for dealing with those currently outside the system and the current practice of insurers. Denninger focuses on the nature of American enterprise, the need for market competition, while insisting that all insurance plans must become open plans.

“If you sell insurance” to anyone in a given state,” Denninger writes, “you must accept all persons in that state on the same terms and at the same price. If an insurer has a ‘we accept anyone at the same price’ policy for a business, you must be able to buy into their plan for the same amount of money that the employer is charged on a per-person basis. That is, all plans must be ‘open enrollment’ for everyone within the state – period.”

This concrete step would finally eliminate one of the major flaws in our current system, the process of tying health insurance to one’s employment, and thus making it nearly impossible for the self-employed or unemployed to access reasonably-priced insurance.

Denninger adds the traditional insurance caveat that exists within the business sector when an employee does begin working for a particular company. That employee can “only elect out or into a policy or plan on an annual basis” and once in “you’re obligated to participate for a full calendar year.” Using this traditional step would certainly eliminate the process of someone seeking to purchase insurance only after they get ill.

Ultimately, the goal should be to bring everyone into the system and a good many people think it can be done. The bottom line is everyone should have access to healthcare insurance and to gain that access, we would even go so far as to agree with the suggestion that acquisition of insurance be required of all of us.

Insurance Companies Are Not Necessarily Making Enormous Profits

While even our president has espoused a disdain for the profits made by insurance companies, it must be noted that such profits are not excessive when it comes to the concept of private business. According to a number of internet sites, insurance company profits top out in the four percent range.

Here we turn again to Mark Perry at Carpe Diem who offers direct data, noting that “Health Care Plans” as an industry sector ranks #86 by profit margin at about 3.3%. That site notes that “four health insurance companies (Molina, Health Net, Coventry, and Universal American) have profit margins below 1% for the most recent quarter, and another four (Humana, Magellan, WellCare and Centene) have profit margins between 1 and 2 percent.”

One industry trade publication, America’s Health Insurance Plan, reported that annual health insurance premiums averaged $2,985 for individual coverage and $6,328 for family plans in 2009. Again, noting the work of Perry, using the “industry average profit margin of 3.3% means that insurance companies make less than $100 per policy in profits for individual coverage, and a little more than $200 in profits for each family policy.”

Such numbers pale in comparison to the rhetoric and hyperbole. Reducing policies by $200 would result in savings of about $17 per month. When one is paying $500 or even $1,000 per month in premiums, a $17 reduction does not resemble any form of being a game-changer.

Of course, one can get into the realm of executive pay, one of the largest costs associated with such companies and an item reducing overall profitability. Perhaps, that is one area where insurance companies could be addressed in the long term but given their current net profits, simply insisting they become non-profits will not greatly impact the current status.

Reform Is a Must

David Tuber, writing on North by Northwestern, insists that reform of the entire healthcare system just isn’t warranted. Tuber insists, ”President Obama, Senator Baucus and Speaker Pelosi would have you believe that lack of decent health care is a crisis, and a complete and total overhaul is necessary.

“But if you look at the numbers, you’ll see that an overhaul doesn’t make that much sense.  When 85 percent of your population is insured, that’s a very good thing. An 85 percent insurance rate says that the system, however flawed, works as a whole. Spending billions upon billions of dollars to rework it so that 15 percent of the population is covered seems, well, stupid.” 

We could not disagree more with his general point, that reform is simply not needed. First, we again believe it is a moral obligation that we provide access to basic health coverage for all citizens, not just the lucky 85 percent who currently have access. Most importantly, under today’s current structure, when the average worker receives a pink slip, they immediately lose access to healthcare unless they can come up with significant sums of money to cobra their current plans.

As for maintaining status quo, every indication is that Medicare is about to become bankrupt. In 2008, annual spending exceeded revenue brought in from taxes. Therefore, to fund Medicare, it was necessary to begin spending some of its reserve.

Medicare trustees indicate that reserve fund will be exhausted by 2017. Given current trends, others insist that the actual date of bankruptcy could be as early as 2015.

There are basically two ways forward: increasing revenues, i.e. increasing taxes, or cutting services. Status quo is not an option.

Add to the Medicare issue the most glaring one, that the roughly ten percent of the population who lost jobs during the current downturn often could not maintain their coverage during their unemployment period and we concur that reform is a must.

The idea being we can shore up the loose ends with a little bit of tweaking here and there is simply not realistic.

We Must Find Savings In the System

Currently, America spends more per capita on healthcare than any other country. Johns Hopkins researchers reported that in 2002, Americans spent $5,267 per capita on healthcare. At that time, the rate was 53 percent per capita more than the next highest country, Switzerland. It was also 140 percent above the median industrialized country per capita rate.

Other sources have a smaller differential but none contend that any country pays more per capita than the US.

Perhaps even more importantly, the lead author in the Hopkins study, Gerald Anderson had the following caveat:

“Paying more (for healthcare goods and services) is okay if our outcomes were better than other countries. But we are paying more for comparable outcomes.”

Clearly, we must find ways to make our healthcare costs more competitive. Of course, this is the spot where the divergence really sets in.

Some insist that limits on medical malpractice lawsuits would result in enormous savings. Those who want to see reform in tort law insist savings would come in two distinct formats.

First, there would a reduction in overall malpractice insurance costs if tort reform were implemented. Yet, while many insist that the savings in this area could be significant, tort reform would also free up doctors from practicing defensively. That would mean enormous potential savings because doctors would seemingly order up fewer unneeded tests.

Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, a writer for the associated press notes the impact of defensive medicine as follows: “Some doctors will order a $1,500 MRI for a patient with back pain instead of a simple, $250 X-ray, just to cover themselves against the unlikely chance they’ll be accused later of having missed a cancerous tumor.”

For those who wonder if the practice of defensive medicine is real, we turn to Lawrence J. McQuillan, from the Pacific Research Institute, who had this to offer:

“A recent survey of doctors published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that 93 percent of physicians admit to practicing defensive medicine.”

More importantly, he adds:

“Defensive medicine wastes patients’ and doctors’ time and costs $191 billion annually, according to the best scholarly research. Such waste drives up the cost of medical care and the price of health insurance.”

But when it comes to health care savings, the really large numbers could well be found at the level of doctors and hospitals. Just this week, Thomson Reuters released a white paper study, “Where Can $700 Billion in Waste Be Cut Annually from the U.S. Healthcare System.” This report identified six factors that could help create anywhere from $600 to $850 billion a year in savings: administrative inefficiency, provider inefficiency, lack of care coordination, unwarranted use, preventable conditions, and fraud.

Brett Arends at the WSJ notes information from the 2007 Commonwealth Fund study of health costs in the world’s nine richest countries.

“We spend three times as much on doctors’ services as the average, twice as much on pharmaceuticals, and three times as much per day of in-patient acute hospital care,” writes Arends. He goes on to note the insights of Jonathan Skinner, an economics professor at Dartmouth College.

“…the system suffers from too many bad incentives and waste. Doctors get paid to perform needless MRIs. Hospitals blow a fortune on proton beam accelerators.

“Serious reform needs to examine costs at hospitals and clinics – and that reform may yield other investments with potential.”

The Elephant in the Room

But when it comes to healthcare, it must be noted that personal decisions do in fact matter. And if we are to insure everyone, those personal decisions also affect the rates of others.

By some estimates, fifty percent of the nation’s health care costs are attributable to lifestyle choices, such as smoking, alcohol abuse, improper diet, lack of exercise. In addition, by some other estimates, “roughly 75 percent of all health care spending is associated with a small number of patients with one or more chronic conditions.”

Therefore, there is reason to discuss the notion that meaningful reform must somehow help provide incentives to changing these risky behaviors. The idea is that meaningful reform will need to include both segments of the population, those with chronic conditions and those who simply need insurance for that rainy day issue.

But if personal decisions do matter, than so does personal experience. Here we turn back to Kristof who has created this modest proposal:

“If Congress fails to pass comprehensive health reform this year, its members should surrender health insurance in proportion with the American population that is uninsured.

“About 15 percent of Americans have no health insurance, according to the Census Bureau. Another 8 percent are underinsured, according to the Commonwealth Fund, a health policy research group. So I propose that if health reform fails this year, 15 percent of members of Congress, along with their families, randomly lose all health insurance and another 8 percent receive inadequate coverage.”

We Believe

We believe Kristof is dead-on with his suggestion, that there are cost-effective, viable models out there for us to consider and it is high-time our elected officials stopped the bickering and the rhetoric and worked towards the path of real reform.

More importantly, we also believe it is time for young people to step up to the plate on the most important moral issue of our time, universal healthcare. In fact, the idea that 31% of the 18-34 age group simply has no opinion on the matter just might be the most troubling statistic of all.

You went off to college with great expectations yet now the excitement is definitely waning.

Perhaps you were barely ten days into the school year when the pile of dirty clothes began resembling the dormitory equivalent of Mt. Olympus? Another ten days later, not only did you note an odor beginning to emerge from the pile but you soon noticed other not so rich smells?

That each time your roomie entered the room you recalled the smell you generally associate with a large dumpster? Was it at that point that you realized he seemed completely unaware of where the shower was located?

Or was the issue less stomach-churning yet equally troubling. The constant stream of visitors or the CD player burning incredibly hot as it unceasingly blared rap music that would even cause Eminem to want to find some quiet time?

Perhaps it was even less insidious but just as onerous; as in the loudest snoring you have ever witnessed? That last snort always sounding as if your roomie might actually be drawing his very last breath.

Did your first call home to express your outrageous horror only result in Dad being, well…, Dad? The usual minimizing of the negatives and the suggestion that this could be a good thing, that it will help you get out of the room more and develop other friendships? Not to mention help you develop greater resiliency and even teach you to take a look at your own actions?

Surviving the Roommate from Hell

Rooming with another person is a great challenge, especially when two people have very different tastes and personal practices. Living in a very small space such as a dorm room involves compromise from both parties.

While it is easy to place heaps of blame on the person in the other bed, it could well be that you might just be getting on your roommate’s nerves just as much as he or she is getting on your’s. Still, just what is a person to do when, well, they seem to have been assigned the roommate from hell?

Dealing with Serious Concerns

DO: If you have concerns, it is imperative that you begin by discussing the specific issues directly with your roommate. In doing so, you must confront each issue head on but you also must do everything in your power to remove all emotion from the discussion. Politely note what you are witnessing, and why this is an issue for you. As you do so, to keep the emotions down, be sure to focus on the behavior and not the person. It is imperative that you not be seen as rendering personal judgment. Therefore, it is very helpful to begin the process by noting that you will let him or her express any possible concerns they might have with your actions!

DON’T: Whatever you do, don’t wimp out and leave a note. They never work and most times, they usually backfire. Also remember that bringing in outsiders generally only adds fuel to minor issues, especially if it begins with you making sarcastic comments that somehow manage to get back to your roomie. So don’t bring in the Resident Assistant before you have at least made a minimal level of effort to confront this particular issue yourself first.

Dealing with the Odor Queen or King

DO: This is a legitimate issue that falls under the first step noted above. You must confront your roomie with the specific issue. Most importantly, to help them make progress you must be ready to offer concrete suggestions and even some much-needed help. If the issue is a monstrous pile of smelly clothes, it just might mean that you will need to explain the concept of a laundry bag. Maybe even offer to have him or her accompany you on your next excursion to the laundry area. If it is about BO, it may be helpful to offer access to specific body products like shampoo and deodorant, perhaps even purchasing a few extra items and make them available.

DON’T: Whatever you do, don’t belittle him or her in the process. If you make your roommate feel too small, your words will fall on deaf ears. They will be angry and see you as simply being hypercritical. The magic words most definitely include, “I am telling you this for your own good – as your roommate I feel I must make you aware of this issue so that it does not interfere with your ability to make friends. I just know that if you knew this was a problem you would want to take care of the issue.”

Dealing with the Aspiring MTV DJ

DO: Again, take this issue into your own hands. The bottom line is your room must provide you with a place to sleep and to store your personal items. Be sure to create a schedule with your roommate’s input that preserves these basic elements. That said, in an effort to fight battles worth fighting, it must be noted that your dorm room does not necessarily need to be your place to study. If your roomie insists on music blaring and you need solitude to work your academic magic, you must find a quiet place on-campus to study and do your related work.

DON’T: While it is easy to give in on the study time schedule, don’t let the issue interfere with your sleep needs. While you can let him or her blare that rap music afternoon and early evening, there comes a point when it must be turned off so that you can sleep. As part of the negotiations process, let your roomie know you will allow him to get his music fix as much as you can reasonably manage but come 9:00 P.M. (9:30 or 10:00, whatever makes sense for you) you need the room to be quiet.

Dealing with the 24/7 Hostess

DO: As with the DJ, this is an issue that can be minimized to a certain extent. It begins with a discussion of a reasonable schedule, when it is appropriate for visitors to stop by. It then also involves requesting the common courtesy of knowing when someone is stopping over. That way you can plan accordingly and make your way to your study sanctuary if need be.

DON’T: Whatever you do, don’t waver in your expectations regarding having a quiet room for those moments you want it quiet. That means no visitors after a specific time. And don’t be afraid to declare specific items off base, as in no visitors plopping down on your bed or somehow managing to paw through your personal items. Offer your desk chair as one place to sit but otherwise you would expect visitors to be parked on your roomie’s bed, in their desk chair or seated on the floor.

Dealing with Rip-Snorting Snorer

DO:This actually may be the toughest to deal with – such issues represent breathing problems often brought on by weight or other physical ailments. It could be that your roomie is not aware that his nighttime breathing is so contorted it is causing the blinds to rustle. Noting this behavior just might be the impetus to his getting the issue examined. After all, he may not even be aware of what is taking place. A set of earplugs could be helpful if your roommate is not ferociously loud. But of course with such items in your ears it might prove tough to hear that alarm clock come morning.

DON’T: Don’t ignore this issue if it is keeping you awake at night. To be productive, you must get your sleep on a regular basis. Again, this can be one of the most challenging of issues to actually solve and could well be the one where you quickly enlist the help of the RA or HR.

Dealing with Candidates for the University of San Quentin

DO: When in high school, we develop a sort of notion that we must not rat out the behavior of classmates. But when it comes to such behavior occurring in your dorm room, it is imperative that you challenge illegal activity and emphatically insist you will not tolerate it in your room. If it involves drugs or other related behaviors that can result in a criminal record, it cannot be ignored. In too many instances, the failure to confront this problem results in you being painted with the same brush that your roommate is painted with. That may not be too disconcerting with certain peer groups but it certainly is when the persons addressing the issue represent law enforcement.

DON’T: Don’t waiver – once you are witness to such behavior, give your warning that you will not tolerate illegal activities in your room, that if they occur again you will report them to the Resident Assistant and/or Head Resident. Then if he or she calls your bluff, you must act.

Moving Out

Of course, one method for dealing with the roommate from hell is to move out. This of course requires an option that may or may not be available, another place to move to. But when it comes to making the decision that you simply cannot get along with the person you have been assigned, you must understand the room is half his or hers. So if there is to be a separation and that separation is your choice, then you will be the one moving.

To be able to make such a request to your RA or HR, you must be able to communicate why your moving out is the needed solution. Their willingness to help you find new digs (if there are any available) will be predicated on your being able to explain the steps you have taken to try to make things work. If after discussing schedules and talking about basic personal needs, you still are not managing, then you might have some ammunition to request a change.

Just remember, the grass always tends to look a whole lot greener on your neighbor’s lawn. Be sure that roommate you are struggling with is beyond making it work – because, ultimately, you may not have really seen anything yet, you may be simply switching one set of issues for another.

Because, Hell is a truly relevant term.

When we initially announced the Twitter Scholarship we announced a rather large prize and promoted it quite aggressively by…

• making a custom logo for it
• promoting it across hundreds of pages on our widely read site
• mentioning it on our blog
• pinging some of our contacts in the industry and emailed a few bloggers about it
• promoting it on Twitter
• and we even went as far as buying Google AdWords ads to help get the word out

…but none of it worked

I am not sure if it was bad timing, if the submission was too complex, or if students have become more jaded about scholarship offers due lots of fake scholarship offers advertised by affiliate marketers who are doing lead generation – who never actually send out scholarship money.

Each year we do award students with $10,000+ in scholarship program awards, and have done so for the past 4 years now. We were anticipating getting thousands to 10,000’s of entries for the Twitter Scholarship, but so far we have been underwhelmed by the quantity (and to a lesser degree, quality) of the submissions. We have therefore decided to adjust the Twitter scholarship awards to

• winner – $1,400
• first runner up – $140
• second runner up – $140

We will distribute the additional funds we had earmarked for this scholarship throughout the upcoming year by launching more new scholarships.

I am proud to announce our latest scholarship: the 140 Scholarship, which offers students the opportunity to win over $14,000 in Awards by submitting their application via a Tweet.

Full details are available on the official scholarship page.

The recent enactment of H.R.3221 The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009 by Congress has many students wondering what impact the new changes will have on them and their student loans.

According to the Seattle Times, “Congress’ overhaul of the college student-loan system offers welcome relief to students at risk of drowning in debt.”

But, while many are applauding the proposed changes, others are taking a more skeptical view. Today we offer readers a Q & A with Tara Payne of the New Hampshire Higher Education Assistance Foundation. Ms. Payne currently serves as the Vice President of Corporate Communications for the NHHEAF Network Organizations.

The New Hampshire Higher Education Assistance Foundation (NHHEAF) was established in 1962 to guarantee student loans. Since 1965, it has been the designated guarantor for the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) in New Hampshire.

As one major function, NHHEAF is responsible for the initial application, disbursement of funds, default prevention, default collections, and oversight of the federal loan programs. For fiscal year 2008, NHHEAF guaranteed over $213 million in federal loans and the agency continues to rank among guarantors recording the nation’s lowest default rates.

Yet under the proposed legislation, NHHEAF, one of those so-called ‘middlemen’ in the loan process, might no longer exist. Such a scenario led us to the agency to try and gather additional perspective on the legislation.

We were fortunate to have the opportunity to pose a number of very specific questions to a person with more than a decade of experience at the organization. Ms. Payne offers a wealth of perspective having helped construct the organization’s Center for College Planning department. Today, that department reaches almost 30,000 New Hampshire students and parents each year, offering free college planning, financial literacy and financial aid expertise via presentations, materials and websites.

Can you explain in brief terms exactly what Congress is debating and the rationale for the debate? What is meant by the phrase, the new loan process will “cut out the middle man?”

The President’s budget proposal includes the elimination of the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP). As a FFELP provider, the NHHEAF Network Organizations (NHHEAF) is involved in funding, originating, disbursing and servicing student loans for New Hampshire students from our New Hampshire office. The Presidents budget eliminates the local role in the student loan process. The government’s language about “middlemen” implies that agencies like ours are a “cog in the wheel”, not a major source of community support for families, schools and citizens of our state.

New Hampshire’s program is managed by a nonprofit FFELP provider. This means that proceeds from the loan program are reinvested in our community. We reinvest into strong financial literacy programs, early college awareness and financial aid preparation for students and their families at K-12 schools.

We employ 200 New Hampshire residents who are truly dedicated to supporting student loan borrowers. Our success is evident in NHHEAF having among the lowest default rates in the nation. When these local services go away, students suffer.

Our focus is on increasing aspirations, providing funding and best-in-class service. No government program can replace this local resource. As a school counselor who utilizes our programs shared recently, “NHHEAF is the best thing to happen to higher education since I started teaching in 1974.”

In what ways would students and parents be positively impacted by this legislation? Are there any potential negatives?

The legislation includes several positive aspects including increased Pell Grant funding for the lowest income students and increased funding and support for community colleges. Supporting New Hampshire’s low income students is essential to our mission. We fully support any effort to provide additional funding to the neediest students.

However, under current legislation, FFELP would be eliminated and yet Pell would still not be an entitlement. “Eliminating subsidies to lenders” is a politically-charged cry for support. The public hears this and reacts with unbridled support … assuming that those subsidies will go into making the program less expensive for them.

As Bill Spiers, the Financial Aid Director of Tallahassee Community College described, “While the media has focused on the profitability in the FFELP program, little has been said about the fact that the federal government must fund Federal Pell Grant Program increases off the backs of student borrowers.

The government borrows money at very low rates, much lower than those available to lenders, yet the government would continue to charge the same interest rates as FFEL lenders. Under the current proposal the “federal government isn’t providing any breaks to the students and is actually making more off the program than lenders ever could”

While most student borrowers pay a fixed 6.8% interest rate on federal student loans and parent borrowers 8.5%, lenders in the FFELP are required to pay back the difference between what borrowers pay and today’s lower market yield to the federal government.

The difference between the cost of funds and the borrower rate of interest is even greater in the Direct Loan program, so much that the proposed record increase in Pell Grants would be largely funded from the interest rate spread the Department of Education will enjoy from student and parent borrowers paying a far higher rate of interest on their federal education loans than the federal government is paying on its borrowing costs. Enacted legislation required that loans made on or after July 1, 2006 carry a higher fixed rate for students and parents that is not market driven. Had interest rates remained variable, Stafford loans today would have been an extremely favorable 1.88% (in school and grace) interest rate (2.48% repayment rate), and PLUS loans would be at 3.28% in the current low interest rate environment.

Will these changes have any impact on the FAFSA application process?

The CEO of our agency, Mr. Rene Drouin, actually sits on the Federal Advisory Committee for Financial Assistance and has been an advocate for these changes which simplify the financial aid process for students. By reducing the number of questions and simplifying the FAFSA form, families may not be as intimidated. Still, while shortening the form may help for those already committed to going to college, it will not increase college aspirations.

When our staff visits schools in communities like Colebrook and Nashua and Portsmouth and Keene, we offer consistent support which encourages education beyond high school and personalized assistance filing the forms and understanding the award letters for free. Ninety-three percent of New Hampshire high schools invite our full-time college counselors to their schools to educate their students and families throughout the academic year.

Which types of loans will be impacted: Stafford, Plus Loans, Consolidated Loans?

All federal student loans.

How will the legislation impact colleges and universities?

It is important to note that the Direct Loan program has been around since the Clinton administration. To offer some perspective on the use of Direct Loans in New Hampshire, consider that in fiscal year 2008, FFELP loan volume was at $409 million for 89,000 borrowers. Federal Direct Loan volume was only $13 million for fewer than 3,000 borrowers.

Nationally, 70% of post-secondary schools chose to work with FFELP because of the strong technological, programmatic and financial literacy programs it offers. Now, they will have no choice. And, they will have no local support.

Right now, NHHEAF has a full-time staff which provides a hotline, technical support and regular visits to schools for financial literacy activities for their students. NHHEAF also has a strong Compliance Department which ensures that schools have local support for any regulatory or student-eligibility questions that might arise. Both departments also provide in person training and webinars on a range of professional topics.

Supporting the financial aid professionals goes hand-in-hand with supporting the student borrowers on their campuses. Further, the proposal assumes that the government can effectively and efficiently run a program this large. It is estimated that 4,400 schools will be forced to convert from FFELP, their program of choice, to the Direct Loan program on July 1, 2010.

The U.S. Department of Education will be tasked with converting an average of nearly 500 schools a month over the course of a nine month period. Since the Direct Loan program’s inception in 1993, roughly 1,600 schools have been converted over a 16 year timeframe. For schools currently in the FFEL program, this would mean investing staff, time and money to change systems and processes at a time where budgets have been cut to the core. It’s realistic to imagine that those costs may have to be absorbed through increased tuition and student fees.

Will anyone theoretically be hurt by these changes? If private banks lose this source of revenue, what negative impact might it have on their role as lending institutions within the community?

Minimally, 40,000 jobs are at stake across the nation. For agencies like ours, student loans are the only source of revenue. It would be devastating. And, the impact on the local economies would be brutal. Consider that in NH alone, NHHEAF spent $6.8 million on local vendors and contributed $5.1 million in charitable spending. Multiply that by all of the agencies like ours across the country and it is severe. And, again, at the end of the day, will most college-bound families experience any significant savings? It is unlikely.

The amount that could be saved by the Federal Government is projected to be in the billions of dollars – based on the current legislation as proposed what is the plan for this money? Will it be used to attack the current federal deficit or will the funds be rolled into further funding support for students?

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) indicates that, under the President’s budget proposals, which include the switch to 100-percent Direct Lending, debt held in the Government’s various Direct Loan accounts is expected to rise from $632 billion in FY 2009 to $1.58 Trillion in FY 2019, an increase of more than $900 billion. Nationalizing the education loan programs will add substantially to the national debt over the next decade and the beneficiaries of student loans will have to pay interest twice: first, the interest they’ll owe on their loan as a student borrower and second on the interest they’ll owe as a taxpayer via the national debt.

Corporations exist to earn and distribute business earnings to shareholders, while nonprofit agencies like NHHEAF exist to provide programs and services that are of public benefit. Often these programs and services are not otherwise provided by local, state, or federal entities. Particularly in a state with low levels of state aid, high public tuition costs and high debt burdens, promotion of college opportunities, financial aid and affordability is even more critical in order to get students to think realistically about higher education.

Can you briefly explain why the legislation is seen so differently by Republicans (opposed to these changes) and Democrats (support for the changes)?

I couldn’t speculate on this except to offer that many legislators want to support the President’s budget proposal for its supposed savings while many others doubt the savings purported will materialize. Originally, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that savings from the President’s proposal would total $94 billion.

In June, the costs savings were estimated at $87 billion. Senator Judd Gregg urged CBO to recalculate its projection to incorporate market risk cost. The CBO then revealed that the proposal to replace new guaranteed loans with direct loans would lead to estimated savings of about $47 billion over the 2010–2019 period. Most recently, the OMB predicted that the savings from the proposed transition to 100-percent Direct Lending will be $41.4 billion over the same time period. And, many legislators question the role of government in taking over a public-private program that has supported students and schools successfully for decades.

Still, it is important to note that some do see that there is a role for nonprofits in the student loan process. In fact, Representative Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH) worked tirelessly to ensure that nonprofit student loan servicers would not be shut out of future Government contracts. Note that Under the Sense of Congress from the FY10 Concurrent Budget Resolution, sec. 605, it reads, “any reform of the federal student loan programs to ensure that students have reliable and efficient access to federal loans should include some future role for the currently involved private and non-profit entities, including state non-profits with 100% FFEL lending in the State, and capitalize on the current infrastructure provided by private and non-profit entities, in order both to provide employment to many Americans during this time of economic distress and to maintain valuable services that make post-secondary education more accessible and attainable for many Americans; and therefore, pursuant to any changes to the student loan programs, loan processing, administration, and servicing should continue to be performed, as needed, by for-profit and non-profit entities.”

A month to the day we recommended that the Class of 2010 begin examining all their future options, that next year’s graduate should begin thinking about what they might do instead of simply entering the workforce. Our rationale was simple, the current unemployment rates and the impact of two poor successive job placement years meant that job opportunities next spring are likely to be no better than those seen last spring.

Lest our readers have any doubt regarding our advice, that particular scenario has been reinforced by data relayed today by the New York Times. According to the Times, Labor Department statistics for the month of July revealed that just “2.4 million full-time permanent jobs were open” yet there were “14.5 million people officially unemployed.”

That represents a six to one ratio, the worst such ratio since the Labor Department began tracking such numbers. The sum total is that workers will continue to be looking for employment for a much longer period than has occurred in prior recessions.

And that means that those graduating in 2010 will be competing with a number of experienced workers for the very few job openings available.

Long Term Impact

While some economists believe the recession is over, this data reveals that the recession could well be a double-dipper, if not a stagnator. The high unemployment rates mean that a large segment of America still has little in the way of disposable income and will remain in such a plight for the near future.

Therefore, the high unemployment rates also will ultimately translate to a continued reduction in consumer spending. Given the dependence of our nation’s economy on consumer spending, this current scenario could well mean that the ugly head of recession may reemerge in the not distant future.

The current situation also represents a major issue for federal and state budgets. Fewer workers translates to fewer taxable dollars coming into the government coffers, both in income and sales based taxes. That likely means more in the way of layoffs at the state and federal levels.

The job losses have also resulted in a large number of early retirement claims from laid-off seniors. Overall, applications for retirement benefits are up 23 percent over a year.

That means that Social Security is about to pay out more in benefits than it collects in taxes over the next two years (the first such occurrence since the 1980s). This will, of course, only make those federal budget deficit numbers for 2010 and 2011 that much worse.

Student Options

Overall, this data indicates that those graduating in 2010 should begin to research options other than the traditional workforce, including the Peace Corps, Americorps, Teach for America and graduate school. Given the state of the economy, the current situation means that these options could all well be out of the question for those who procrastinate.

If you are graduating in 2010, now is the time to begin thinking about all your options.

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As borrowing rates soar and debt accumulation spirals upward, the national student loan default rate hits a nine year high.

A recently released report from the U.S. Department of Education revealed yet another alarming trend regarding college graduates and student loans. According to the report, the 2007 national default rate hit 6.7 percent, an increase of nearly 30% over 2006.

It was also the highest percentage in nine years.

As a percentage, the 6.7% represents about one student in fifteen, but that overall statistic is extremely misleading. According to the criteria used to define non-payment, those reported to be in default are those students who were scheduled to begin loan repayment by September 2007 but failed to make payments by September of 2008. That means that one in fifteen graduates had defaulted by the end of the first year of the scheduled repayment period! There is little doubt, that if the data were to include a two year period or a three year period, the percentage would grow significantly.

Too Much Borrowing

While most folks point to the economic downturn as the key factor, some college financial experts see the issue a tad differently. Tom Schmidt, Office of Student Finance associate director at the University of Minnesota, provided Mackenzie Martin of the The Minnesota Daily an entirely different take on the matter.

“Students need to be aware of their student loan debt at all times,” Schmidt told Martin. The associate director went on to explain that while the economy might be considered a contributing factor, the issue was exacerbated by students taking out larger and larger sums of money to cover increasing tuition and living expenses.

At the same time, Schmidt suggested students might be borrowing more than they really needed, that perhaps students may be “living better than they probably need to live.”

In other words, too many students are not thinking properly about the debt they are accruing.

We have discussed many times our concern with student debt rates. According to the CollegeBoard’s 2008 Trends in Student Aid report, roughly 60 percent of bachelor’s degree recipients borrowed some amount to fund their education. As of 2007, the average debt of graduating seniors was nearly $23,000.

The percentage of borrowers is too high and the average debt is simply too large. Simply stated, the downturn in the economy provides a strong reminder that debt is not something to enter into carelessly. While some may think a debt load of $23,000 should prove very manageable, that amount is far too much for those struggling to find viable employment (the status of the majority of college graduates the past two years).

It is imperative that you graduate with as small a debt-load as possible: a reasonable goal is to keep it under five figures (<$10,000 maximum) though an even better goal is zero. And the best way to keep that debt to a manageable level is to reduce your expenses.

That process begins with selecting a school that is in your price range and ends by limiting unneeded expenditures. Yet both of those elements remind us of a clear message – think twice about taking on significant amounts of debt.

That college degree could actually do you more harm than good if you begin your post graduate life defaulting on loans and destroying your credit score before you have had the chance to build one.