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It was a practice that I made great use of over the years, especially the latter years of high school and college.

To determine if I truly knew my material, I would close my book and put away my notes. I would find a quiet place and begin imaging in my mind the text and the notes.

Pen in hand, I would write down what I could recall, section by section using an outline format. To make the task manageable I used abbreviations, summary language, whatever I could to make the time writing things down minimal. The key of course was to be able to determine, upon further review, if I had committed the critical elements to memory.

Lastly, a simple comparison would allow such a determination. Upon consulting my notes and book and contrasting, any aspects that were too thin or omitted were re-reviewed at that juncture.

Later, I would do the same process without the writing, trying to recall the original block that I had written down but adding those new areas that came from the comparison review.

This last time I simply recited it verbally though my sense is that if I had been so motivated as to have written it down once again it might have been even better.

Practice De-Emphasized

That sort of thinking seems to be going by the wayside. Without a doubt, professors today place substantially less emphasis on information recall.

The rationale for the change is that the process I used quite successfully is deemed to focus too much on rote learning and not enough on a process that seeks deeper levels of learning. The primary basis for the assertion is the reliance on Bloom’s Taxonomy as a teaching and learning model. In that context, recall is placed substantially lower on the taxonomy than is the idea of comparing and synthesizing information.

New theories of learning insist that the internet has essentially changed everything. Today’s workers must be able to process new information at lightning speed and in the 21st century we are going to have to reinvent our knowledge base multiple times. That leads some to insist that the memorization of facts and figures is a major waste of time.

While there can be no debate on those general assertions (processing at a greater rate and reinventing our knowledgeable base many times over), there is growing evidence that successful students must first have a strong knowledge base. Without internalizing some critical, fundamental facts, we could never properly synthesize information.

In addition, some educators insist that the process of rote learning, especially in younger learners, is a catalyst to the development of the brain as a whole. In other words, higher thinking skills and connections are possible only if the brain has been exposed first to recall demands.

Rethinking Practices

David Glenn recently took a look at this issue at one of the most respected of higher education publications: The Chronicle. Glenn uses the following slogan to describe the method I found great success with:

Close the Book. Recall. Write It Down.

Glenn then goes on to take an in-depth look as to why professors no longer preach this method of learning. As he does so, Glenn offers strong contradictions to the notion that the internet-based information age demands that this prior practice be summarily tossed aside.

Accordingly, the writer cites two recently published papers from psychology journals that note this age-old practice is in fact extremely effective. In simplest terms, the process of active recall is the most effective method “to inscribe something in long-term memory.”

Reciting or writing down what you recall is also the best method for determining whether you truly grasp the material. According to the folks Glenn references, the mistake that most students make is to simply reread material, either the text or their notes, and think that the familiarity they have gained represents real understanding.

That is simply not so. The only way to determine whether you truly can deconstruct the material, then actually synthesize in a test or quiz setting, is by going through an active recall process. Otherwise, as a learner, you may have a false sense of security that may come undone in the test setting.

And as for knowledge and the idea of rote learning, a simple contrast is to consider the study of biology. While there is no doubt that professors should ask that higher level or critical thinking skills be placed into action, it only stands to reason that the terms and concepts that form an understanding of the subject must first be internalized.

Drawing inferences and analyzing ideas can only take place when fundamental materials are fully grasped. And to be fully grasped, the person must have them mentally in place.

Exemplary Learning Practice

I could not agree more. The advice: Close the Book – Recall – Write It Down – definitely has enormous merit and served me very well over the years.

Students who utilize this approach will demonstrate superior levels of understanding. Not only will they be able answer any fact-related questions more readily, they will in turn find their ability to answer inference-related questions to be vastly improved as well.

While your professors may no longer espouse this practice, I am convinced that every student would perform much better in any test or quiz setting if they were to incorporate this technique into their ongoing study habits.

It appears that those auto dealers have been right all along.

A new study reveals the car a man drives is critical to getting a second look from a member of the opposite sex. It must be noted that this is a UK study and well, we all know that those European’s are just a wee bit different.

But the results are unequivocal. What a fella’ drives really does matter.

Car Gets a Lady’s Motor Running

A team of university researchers showed a substantial number of women pictures of a male model. In one instance, the model was pictured in a silver Bentley Continental, a luxury car that would set a car buyer back more than a hundred grand.

In the second instance, he was pictured in a “battered Ford Fiesta.”

The 120 women, aged 21 to 40, were asked to rate the man’s attractiveness. In a sign that women rated the motor over the man, they selected the model when he was seated in the fancy Bentley.

One of the researchers, Dr. Michael Dunn of the University of Wales Institute in Cardiff, put it this way: women will rate a man higher if he happens to be driving a “fancy motor rather than in an old banger”.

Lady Gets the Male Motor Running

Dunn went on to repeat the experiment in reverse, picturing a female model in the Bentley and the Fiesta. For the male assessors, they were not inclined to select the women in one setting over the other.

Instead, the men proved more interested in the woman, specifically her face and figure. Status had no bearing on the views of the men, a fact that could prove very interesting as women become more independent and wealthy.

Dunn noted this in both instances, this was an evolutionary and not a social trait. He stated:

“There’s a wide variety of evidence that does suggest that females are more influenced by wealth and status. It’s not a recent phenomenon. It is very ingrained and the evidence is not just anecdotal.

“Females focus on questions of wealth and status because if the male possesses those, that male would be in a better condition to rear healthy offspring.”

On the flip side, those same evolutionary trends caused men to view women in terms of reproductive attractiveness. Wealth or status simply does not enter into the equation.

Next Study

Sorry ladies, but not only does Dunn suggest these basic human traits will not change in the future, most will interpret these results as evidence that women are shallower than men.

In an effort to take the idea one step further, Dunn plans to follow up with another status-type study to determine what happens when a middle-aged man chooses to purchase one of the more expensive cars. Specifically, Dunn would like to determine if the high-status car can actually overcome the current negative impact of age on attractiveness.

The question: can the right car overcome a receding hairline and a corresponding growing waistline.

Last week we took a look at diploma mills and the sites that advertise degrees that will be awarded based on a person’s life experiences. Such a notion is of course a scam; instead, a fictitious university sells you a document that at first glance might resemble an authentic degree but really is nothing more than a worthless piece of paper.

While the idea of awarding a degree based solely on life experience is ludicrous, some authentic colleges will consider awarding credit to students for some of their past life experiences and/or prior educational experiences.

The key to receiving credit for prior experiences from schools is for the potential student to somehow demonstrate that he or she has indeed mastered the material associated with a specific course or courses.

Assessing Prior Learning

In simplest terms, colleges and universities will consider awarding credit for knowledge that has been gained through life experience or prior educational experiences. To determine whether a student has acquired the specific knowledge and skills associated with a course that is taught at the collegiate level, schools use two separate methods of assessing.

Learning Portfolios

One option is referred to as a learning portfolio. A learning portfolio is a collection of written documents that demonstrates a student has learned the materials that would be presented in a specific college course.

To receive credit for a portfolio, the materials contained within must demonstrate college-level learning. In other words, they are not materials that could be associated with a typical high school course or some remedial course given through a continuing education program.

Generally speaking, such a portfolio often begins with a list of the specific learnings for which credit is being requested. Once the list is presented, students generally complete an essay or learning request statement that notes how their prior learning relates to both the degree program and the course for which they are seeking credit.

The portfolio must also contain some documentation that a student had actually learned what he or she claims to have learned. It could be in the form of certificates from various training programs or letters from employers that attest to the skills and knowledge a person has obtained.

In some cases, the portfolio may be part of a sequence of courses where a student takes sections of one, two or three courses while preparing a portfolio that helps them demonstrate knowledge of the other sections taught in those respective classes.

In many instances, students then present this portfolio orally to a professor, a college official or a committee of combined college representatives. At that time, those observing may ask specific questions regarding the portfolio.

Without a doubt, preparing such a document can be time-consuming. It can be particularly difficult to locate specific artifacts to place in the portfolio that offer evidence of specific knowledge.

Even so, if students believe they have the knowledge and skills associated with a specific course, they should definitely examine the portfolio opportunity. There is no doubt that it will be less of a time commitment to prepare a portfolio then it would be to attend and subsequently meet all the course expectations of any legitimate college course. Most importantly, it could easily save a prospective student hundreds to a thousand dollars (the cost of having to pay tuition to take the course in the traditional manner).

Testing Out

Another typical way of earning credit for outside learning is through the use of some standardized test or tests. These tests can be national-standardized exams, state-standardized or even university-standardized. The reason for standardization is to have real data regarding what represents a passing grade and the fair awarding of credits.

One of the typical tests used is the College Level Examination Program or CLEP test. These exams are offered through the College Board and cover a number of different general subjects: mathematics, English composition, humanities, natural science, and social science and history.

There is also a second type of CLEP exam that is subject specific. For example, students could take a subject exam for Biology, a test that would cover the material typically taught in undergraduate, college-level Biology course.

For CLEP exams, depending on the school, various amounts of credit may be awarded depending on the student’s score.

Another such test that might be used is the Graduate Record Exam or GRE. This is the exam typically used to assess a student’s ability to enter graduate school.

However, given that the test is used to determine mastery of college level skills, some schools use it as a method for assessing prior learning. Depending on the school and the student’s request for credit, students could be asked to take the general GRE test that measures a variety of general skills or a subject-specific test that measures achievement in a particular field.

Some schools will also consider a student taking an exam created by the school for specific courses. For example, professors might get together to create a comprehensive final for introductory calculus and all students, regardless of who their instructor was during the semester, take this exam at the completion of the course.

Such a test may also be made available to students who believe they have mastery of such a subject and a passing grade on the exam be used to award the student such credit. In certain instances, schools may administer this test orally rather than in written form.

In other cases, the constructed test might be a departmental level exam that is more comprehensive. For example, engineers generally must take three separate calculus courses as well as differential equations.

Within a school, the engineering department may prepare a comprehensive exam that would test mastery of these four courses as a block and subsequently award credit for all four if a student passes the exam. Such a concept is also often used within foreign language departments to determine the level of expertise of a student in a specific language and allow that student credit for several introductory-level courses.

In addition to the aforementioned test options, vocational schools often have job-related assessments that demonstrate advanced standing in a certain technical field. These assessments are generally standardized at the national level and can be used by students to demonstrate knowledge of specific entry level classes.

And lastly, anyone who has served in the military should investigate the Defense Activity for Nontraditional Educational Support or DANTES program. DANTES is a recognized program that can help a student earn credit for the materials commonly taught in introductory college courses.

Be Prepared

If students are considering one of the test options, it is important to prepare accordingly. Pursuing practice materials for standardized tests represents an excellent way to prepare for these types of exams.

For college-created exams, students should request a syllabus and reading list to be certain they clearly understand what will be tested. Students should then review those materials carefully and spend whatever time is necessary to review and read up on areas that they do not recall with ease or topics that may seem vague.

Ultimately, either through a portfolio or an exam, students can often obtain credit for coursework provided they are able to demonstrate mastery of the materials. While schools may limit the total number of credits that can be awarded through exams and/or a portfolio, or a combination thereof, every course for which they can gain credit places them closer to earning their degree.

And potentially save countless dollars in the long run.

During the latter stages of the Bush presidency, the outgoing president sought to put a positive spin on his ultimate legacy. In fact, throughout his tumultuous years in office, the outgoing president insisted that as time passed people would judge his accomplishments more positively.

Any chance for such a development seemingly went out the window over the last ten days with the emergence of the so-called torture memos.

Loss of Moral Bearings

With the release of the paper trail authorizing the brutal interrogation of terror suspects, President Barack Obama has opened the door on an administration that gave little thought to the long-term ramifications of its actions.

Leaving the option for prosecution to the attorney general’s office, Obama has clearly differentiated the issue into two categories: those who approved the harsh interrogation tactics and those who carried out the program at the behest of the Bush administration.

The release of the materials has most of the former administration scrambling. In an effort to dissuade the growing criticism, Bush Vice President Dick Cheney has attacked Obama for releasing the Justice Department memos maintaining that the methods helped protect the nation.

Three men currently seem to be most at risk of prosecution because of their role in formulating the legal decisions behind the interrogation methods. The three men are former Justice Department officials Jay Bybee, John Yoo and Steven Bradbury.

Bybee is currently a judge on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals while Yoo is a professor at the University of California-Berkeley. The professor has already drawn a great deal of scrutiny on campus with some calling for the firing of the tenured professor.

While the men will clearly take the position they were simply doing their jobs, legal experts have suggested that the men could face charges that include conspiracy to commit felonies including torture. Newspaper reports also indicate that Bybee also could face impeachment in Congress.

New Report

Adding to the issue for the former administration is a new declassified Congressional report. That report offers detailed evidence that the “military’s use of harsh interrogation methods on terrorism suspects was approved at high levels of the Bush administration.”

This report centers upon the interrogations carried out by the military as opposed to those conducted by the Central Intelligence Agency. Offering an extremely damning portrait of former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and others, the report rejects claims that Pentagon policies played no role in the abusive treatment of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

According to the Senate investigation, Rumsfeld approved 15 interrogation techniques to be utilized at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. The report then tracks Rumsfeld’s authorization through a United States military special-operations lawyer in Afghanistan to the interrogation officer in charge at Abu Ghraib.

This led directly to Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez authorizing the use of stress positions, “sleep management” and military dogs to prey upon detainees’ fears.

Not too surprisingly, former Secretary Rumsfeld has dismissed the report calling the findings unfounded allegations.

Time to Right Some Wrongs

While Republicans continue to fight any further scrutiny of these sordid matters, Democratic lawmakers and human rights groups are demanding hearings. These groups want to see punishment for those involved in sanctioning brutal interrogations that were tantamount to torture.

While the focus currently centers upon Yoo, Bigbee and Bradbury and the potential consequences for their actions, there now has to be a call to review the cases of some punished individuals.

If the president continues to maintain that those CIA officers that carried out the harsh interrogation techniques are not to be prosecuted, then it would seem only right to re-examine the military hearings related to the treatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib. Clearly, the actions of the military personnel punished for their behavior at the famous prison were not, as the administration contended at the time, the actions of a few rogue individuals.

Janis Karpinski, the commander of Abu Ghraib, who was demoted for her lack of oversight regarding the abuse should have her case re-examined. And the seven soldiers who were convicted in courts martial and sentenced to federal prison should also have their cases opened in light of these revelations.

It is clearly way too early to judge the Obama presidency despite the onslaught of criticism coming from former VP Dick Cheney.

But if our former president was in hope that time was on his side, that his presidency would be judged more positively with the passage of time, it is now clear that time will only cast further clouds on his administration.

Given his authorization to torture prisoners, his name is now being mentioned in the same sentences as Pol Pot considered one of the most evil men of all time.

Let’s face it, some folks don’t give a whole lot of thought to how their web site bloated with advertising appears to the average reader. However, some sites are so littered with selling that you find yourself turning away from the site before really examining specific content.

Then again, perhaps you are someone who really doesn’t care much for the idea of ads in the first place.

If so, you will likely want to download a copy of AdBlockPlus to get rid of as many of those intrusions as you can. And today, if your heart desires, you can go one step further, and make a personal statement with yet another application that replaces those advertising eyesores with art work from a variety of creative folks.

AdBlockPlus

Downloading a copy of AdBlockPlus will block 80-90% of those ads cluttering your favorite reading material. The software features a pre-determined list of ad materials to block depending on your home country.

AdBlockPlus simply whites out the majority of the ads, creating blank space. The feature not only eliminates the advertising that serves as a distraction, it reduces the overall visual clutter that is often pervasive on web sites today.

While AdBlockPlus fails to white out all, it is constantly being updated, a step that allows it to perform better with each passing upload of a site. A typical page features more than a 100 ads – more often than not, with AdBlockPlus that number will be reduced to single digits.

Add-Art

Those who have pursued a download of AdBlockPlus or now think they may want to pursue a download and are also using Mozilla as a web browser may also want to go one step further by pulling in a copy of Add-Art. Developed in the Eyebeam OpenLab, Add-Art is free and in the public domain just as AdBlockPlus.

The program takes the white out feature one step further, replacing the advertising clutter with art. Featuring material from art shows that are hand selected by curators of contemporary artists, the idea is to bring this work to a wider audience in a way that also provides a positive service.

The Add-Art folks insist they will bring new art shows to readers every 2 weeks. As for that art, users must understand that the software platform and the art represent separate entities. It is of course possible that you may like the concept, replacing the ads with art work, but not like the art work that is being chosen to replace the ads.

Techies May Want to Pursue Next Generation Concepts

For most of us, the chance to eliminate the ads and replace them with white space is more than enough. However, those with a creative flair will likely be enamored with the chance to import new art in a random manner as they surf their various internet sites.

But the real future could lie in giving the user more choices as to what they might replace the ads with. A program that allows the user to select from a bank of image clusters (let your imagination run here) would take the experience one step further.

Adding multiple options to get to a variety of styles that users could select depending on their whim is more in line with the current move towards giving the user complete control over their web experience.

Of course, the reverse is also true. Given the importance of advertising for sites, there will likely be yet another generation of programmers who seek to find other ways to ensure those ads appear in some manner.

Today’s job market is extremely tough – so we will forgive those graduates who set aside their green philosophy to consider any available work. But if green is your color and your mantra, then you are not one who will forgo your commitment to a greener world just because of a tough job market.

At the same time, environmentally-conscious graduates must be careful to investigate the full corporate philosophy of a company to be sure that the public persona is in fact commensurate with that corporation’s business practices. If green is in fact your color, you don’t want to be fooled into taking a job at a business better known for its “greenwashing” practices.

Greenwashing

“Greenwashing” is the term used to describe the misleading practice of publicly claiming to be working on being better stewards of the environment even as some of a company’s real time practices act to pollute. In other words, these company’s public relations campaigns tend to be more about rhetoric than a real green commitment.

That said, it is important to recognize this is not about illegal behavior. It is just that within their industrial practices these companies contaminate either the air, the ground or water by discharging pollutants, some that are potentially very toxic.

At the same time that their industrial practices are less than stellar, these companies may fool the general public by virtue of using a large fleet of hybrid vehicles or harnessing significant amounts of energy from the sun through solar panels. They may also give off a green vibe by donating to environmental non-profit causes.

Therefore, “greenwashing” is about style over substance.

Measuring Greenwashing

Those graduates with a green philosophy currently out looking for jobs can turn to the web site 24/7 Wall St for a review of the top ten “greenwashers.” The list represents a number of corporate giants and traverses across several different fields.

The method used to determine the top ten “greenwashers” by the web site included a look at each corporation’s public documents including advertising, press releases, and websites. In addition, they took a look at each company’s lobbying practices.

To determine the pollution effects, 24/7 Wall St. queried the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) program’s public online database. The database consists of the annual collected EPA data regarding the release and transfer of specific toxic chemicals and the waste management activities at specific industrial locations.

Using the database, 24/7 Wall St. “identified the companies which released the largest amount of toxic chemicals according to 27 different industrial codes identified by the EPA.”

Along with the TRI program, 24/7 Wall St. used other databases including the Political Economy Research Institute’s Toxic 100 index. In addition, they took a look at case law and settlements related to environmental issues as well as a company’s response to environmental concerns raised by agencies and the public.

If Green Is Your Color

So if green is in fact your color, so much so that it will impact your career choice, then you will want to think twice about applying for work at one of 24/7 Wall St.’s ten “greenwashing” giants.

For some colleges and universities social networking is a scourge upon their academic landscapes. When students aren’t studying, or when they should be, they are “networking” on sites like Facebook and MySpace.

One person’s online social networking site may be an annoyance to some, but for others it may prove a useful tool. The San Francisco Chronicle has an article on the latest college strategy: social networking as a communications and marketing vehicle for current and prospective students.

Social Networking for Good not Evil

A respectable handful of colleges have already linked their home pages to their own new, hip MySpace page. There fresh content the likes of recent videos, photos and student comments can be added and subtracted just like any other MySpace page. The strategy is quite marketing related, but it provides prospective students with a more palatable inside look at the colleges they are considering, possibly even from a student’s perspective. It’s the glimpse behind the glossy marketing brochures.

“San Francisco State recently put up its own MySpace page, becoming the largest among the growing number of colleges and universities — from Boston University’s College of Communication and Graduate Admissions to Hiram College in Ohio — to embrace social networking.” (SF Chronicle)

Sum of its Parts

Some colleges have not stopped with a MySpace page. Some are going all the way, linking into their campus Facebook, and featuring podcasts, blogs and forums, and messaging systems.

An admissions counselor at SF State (Victor Villanueva) was the individual behind the university’s new MySpace presence:

“San Francisco State started its MySpace page after Villanueva attended a conference in Las Vegas titled ‘100 Ways to Effectively Recruit Today’s Students.’ He added a Facebook group about a month ago. The campus also has a self-guided campus tour that can be downloaded as a podcast.”

The Real Thing

Even though the colleges that have implemented the new sites have reported a remarkable number of hits and queries, the strategy still has its fair share of critics. Some say young adults will be turned off by “adults butting-in.’” Yeah? Well get this: Santa Clara University in California features student blogs on its site and just since September it’s received close to 40,000 hits. While it’s a sure thing the blogs are “adult-supervised” they are, nevertheless, an inside look—sights, sounds, smells and tangibles not otherwise conveyed by any other means.

Adversaries of educational Affirmative Action are undoubtedly happy. Today’s big news on the education front is the settlement reached between the University of Michigan and two of the case’s leading plaintiffs. The now historical case has dragged on for almost the last ten years. Over that time it grew into a “nearly 40,000-member class-action lawsuit.” (NY Times, “Michigan: Affirmative Action Suit Settled”).

Like many universities, the U. of Michigan had a strong preference for minorities in their admissions processes, both undergraduate and graduate. The goal of such programs has been to balance the scales of diversity. Michigan settled with the plaintiffs and has had to readjust its undergraduate admissions criteria in order to satisfy the new Michigan Civil Rights Initiative.

Who’s Next?

Clearly the issue raises hackles on nearly every front and the uproar will likely not die down anytime soon. Which raises the question, “Who’s next?”

Ward Connerly, the loudest adversary of Affirmative Action, has led the charge. With a head of steam and cocky from the Michigan win, he is set to test the waters in a range of Northwestern states, including Wyoming, Colorado and South Dakota, among others. Where he finds Affirmative Action dug in, he will surely challenge ‘til the death.

Connerly was instrumental in the California Proposition 209 vote, then Washington and now Michigan. An African American himself, Black liberal journalists have cast him as a mouthpiece for “rich, white benefactors” and caricatured him in political cartoons. Many of his critics also argue that Connerly is just too socially privileged to rally against Affirmative Action.

The Other “Minority”

If not ethnic minorities then who else could possibly be a minority group on a college campus in the U.S.? Plenty of sources report that along gender lines women now outnumber men on campus.

Are men, then, a minority?

If you consider the Towson University scholarships that favor academically challenged males, then one may argue young males are a growing campus minority. The program seeks to challenge the persistent devotion to “research that shows that high-school grades, not SAT scores, best predict how students will fare in college.” Towson believes that males are becoming scarcer on campuses because they are ineligible for many programs due to low performance in general academics, in sharp contrast to their typically high SAT scores. In other words male students are smarter than their academic records indicate; they’ve simply been academically “lazy.”

“Like many universities, Towson has a student population that is predominantly female, and it is looking for ways to balance that out.”

Special Admissions

Towson’s program is called the Academic Special Admissions Program. Since the scholarship’s inception in the 2005-06 academic year the majority of students accepted have been male. However, TU makes it emphatically clear that the program is open to all students:

“Towson has been careful to avoid complaints of discrimination. Any student is eligible, regardless of gender or ethnic background. And students who are admitted do not take spots away from those who qualify for regular admission.”

A New Admissions and Scholarship Business Model

TU is just as cognizant of the political climate as is every other American college and university. And right here is a good example of the new model. See, everyone is now eligible to apply for everything. However, smart phraseology will make it possible still for admissions and scholarship programs to be aimed in the direction of specific “minority” populations.

It’s just that the lines between “minorities” are now blurred.

(The Towson University article was originally published in The Chronicle of Higher Education, a subscription-based review. The link accesses a copy of the original republished by the National Association for College Admission Counseling.)

Related:

• Minority Scholarships
• White Male Scholarship Guide

College costs are a leading topic of conversation in the higher education realm, especially when FAFSA season rolls around. It’s human nature. At tax time the talk is about taxes, at Christmas it’s about all the money we’re putting out on gifts and so on. When it’s in, it’s in.

Putting Off the Inevitable

Right now there are even more college cost conversations underway, many that have sat dormant and now are all rising to a big head. Each year about this time parents have the job of sitting down and completing their college-bound kids’ FAFSA form. In order to do that a careful summarization of their last year’s income is tallied and submitted online to get back the dreaded Expected Family Contribution (EFC)—a figure that ranks your eligibility for and level of financial aid.

Expected Family Contribution—a Narrow-minded Figure

The manner in which the EFC is calculated is the same throughout the U.S. Newsday today raises the question: what about families who live in areas with a very high cost of living? For example, what about families who live in California, or New York, New Jersey and Connecticut; their income may seem “well-to-do” compared to many in the country, but

“The government’s formula for determining financial aid, used by many of the nation’s 2,533 colleges, factors income but does not account for the costs of housing, energy, insurance or sales and property taxes.”

Neglected or Overlooked Processes Cost Too

For some maybe it is the EFC that strings them precariously along the financial aid spectrum, for others, reports the New York Times (“Cracking the Books for Financial Aid to College,” Chura), college costs may mount in more elusive places, like simple ignorance of the whole process, such as deadlines and availability of aid resources, the limits of 529 accounts and a slew of other factors:

“People shortchange themselves if they wait to understand their options until they are in the thick of filling out aid applications.”

For those who have some investments and the recommended 529 accounts, apparently there are “mistakes” that can be made that cost you even more when all is said and done:

“Mistakes range from giving money directly to a minor to selling investments in the year that an aid application is made.”

For example, many parents have had the wherewithal to open custodial accounts and/or 529s, but they must have enough advance notice on college plans to be able to use them effectively. Using funds improperly, even the financial differences between types of colleges and programs, could cost in fees, lost interest and other ways that may just be too late to see.

Half Empty or Half Full?

Again, many Americans simply neglect financial chores, the FAFSA and other aid forms being big chores. Miss deadlines for financial aid and you stand to lose thousands. If you don’t look for scholarships, you also stand to lose. They have deadlines, too, by the way.

Add up everything you have to lose and it’s enough to drive you to drink, but think about all you may gain, and you may just pull out all those forms you’ve stacked up and simply get it done.