Public Charter School Alliance of South Carolina - Home



Want to Pay Your Student’s $27,200? Develop an SAT/ACT Strategy…As the parent of two high school students, and the new owner of College Edge, an SAT/ACT preparation company, this past year has convinced me that the issues facing college-bound students and their families are a great deal more complex then when I went to school. College entrance exams are no longer just a test schools consider when deciding whom to accept. In today’s world they play a critical role in determining whether or not it makes financial sense for a candidate to even attend college. Consider: The exorbitant cost of tuition and a stagnant economy make college a much riskier choice than it used to be. Attaining scholarship money to mitigate the financial risk of a college career has never been more important College Entrance Exams are perhaps the single most important factor students can control as they compete for state scholarship moneyA small number of additional questions answered correctly on a college entrance exam make an enormous difference in a student’s SAT/ACT score and vastly enhance their consequent scholarship opportunities. In certain cases a single additional question answered correctly can mean the difference between receiving $2800 in state scholarships and receiving $30,000. Given the importance of college entrance exams, in my tenure as owner of College Edge, I have found it surprising that more schools do not provide a coherent strategy to improve SAT and ACT scores more aggressively. With certain notable exceptions, the attitude of administrations seems to be that college entrance exams tend to take care of themselves. Our experience has been the extent of many school’s commitment to entrance exams is limited to offering a review class the week before the exam or passing out flyers advertising for a third party provider. Considering how much is riding on this exam, these strike me as less than spirited efforts. College Boards, whether people love them or hate them, are critically important. To individual students they can mean savings of tens of thousands of dollars and in the broad sense they are a data point that everyone recognizes. The fact traditional schools offer little added value to its students with regards to the SAT and ACT creates a wonderful opportunity for Charter Schools to establish themselves as a leader in this critical area. On the one hand, Charter Schools have the financial and academic freedom to incorporate cutting edge ideas into their programming. On the other hand, the customers of many charter schools are the most in need of financial assistance. This combination makes it is quite possible for schools to integrate an efficient strategy without altering a school’s curriculum or “teaching to the test”.The Importance of Scholarships in Mitigating Risk:It is no secret that for a variety of reasons the vast majority of people in this country are finding financing a college education increasingly challenging. The charts below clearly illustrate the difficult environment currently faced by those considering college:The cost of college is rising significantly faster than other costs (Figure 1) To bridge the gap, more students are taking on more student debt (Figure 2)Upon graduation, high paying work is increasingly difficult to find (Figure 3)With no income and large debt burdens, new graduates are struggling (Figure 4)Further complicating the risk side of the equation is that loans provided by the Government to students are “non-dischargeable”. This means that whether or not a student is able to find work upon graduation, student debt stays with the borrower until it is paid off. Similar to a tax debt, borrowers have no recourse. Recently the Government has even gone so far as to claim the right to garnish a delinquent student borrower’s social security benefits! The inescapable conclusion is that financing an education these days entails a great deal of risk and the more scholarship money one can attain, the less risky college becomes. Now The Good News - Kind Of…In South Carolina, and other Southeastern states, semi-weekly lotteries have created a large pool of scholarship dollars to finance merit based scholarships at state schools. The good news is that these lottery funds make an in-state education very affordable for South Carolina residents who qualify. On the other hand, these scholarships have created a larger, more competitive pool of applicants vying for a set number of openings at state schools. In either case, higher college entrance scores are needed to both get accepted into more competitive state schools and to receive state scholarship funds. Whether entrance exams are a good measure of academic achievement or not, it is indisputable that a student’s performance on the SAT and ACT continues to grow in importance. An Example:Although academic criterion and award amounts differ among South Carolina universities, it is instructive to look at Clemson University as an example of the importance of an SAT score in attaining scholarship funds. Below is how Clemson allocates state scholarship money:Clemson University Scholarship RequirementsScholarship NameAcademic Criterion*Maximum Annual Award AmountMaximum 4 Year Award AmountHope3.0 GPA$2800$2800?Life3.0 GPATop 30% of Class1100 SAT (or 24 ACT)**$7500$30,000Palmetto3.5 GPA1200 SAT (or 27 ACT)Top 6% of Class$10,000$40,000*For scholarship and admission purposes SAT scores typically only include Critical Reading and Math scores – 1600 possible points** Two out of these three qualifications are requiredNow consider two hypothetical students, both hoping to attend Clemson. Each has a 3.0 GPA but neither is in the top 30% of their class. Student A earns an 1100 on the SAT while Student B scores a 1090. As a rule of thumb, we estimate each additional correct SAT answer adds between 7.5 and 10 points to a student’s overall score. So, in this case, the difference in Student A and Student B’s SAT scores can be explained by as little as two correct answers out of a total 170 questions asked on the SAT exam. Incredibly, however, those two answers qualify Student A for $27,200 more scholarship money than Student B. Two questions - $27,200. The Impact of an SAT/ACT StrategyWith so much riding on a single test, it is surprising schools do not spend more time developing an encompassing SAT/ACT strategy which they can unobtrusively integrate into their existing curriculum. Aside from the demonstrable financial benefits gained by its students and the good press strong SAT scores generate for high schools, a well-conceived strategy can also help augment the day to day learning throughout the school year. The unique academic and financial flexibility Charter Schools command create an ideal setting to incorporate college entrance training into their school’s annual programming. Executed successfully a college entrance exam training program will: Save a school’s qualifying students tens of thousands of dollars each in overall tuitionMaximize its student’s secondary education opportunitiesEnhance day to day education qualityBuild the school’s brand by opening academic and financial opportunities for its college bound studentsCollege entrance exams are not about learning - they are about ranking students on an identical playing field in order to make admissions decisions and allocate financial resources. It is a specific targeted test which requires a specific long term strategy which captures and emphasizes where the exams overlap with the existing curriculum. A well-conceived strategy of attacking these exams can pay big dividends to both students, families, and the schools themselves without changing the way the schools conduct their teaching. Focusing on them is a great opportunity for Charter Schools to serve their customer, build their brand and save their students a lot of money. Tom Ihrke is the owner of College Edge, an independently owned SAT/ACT Preparation company based in Charleston. College Edge partners with schools to improve college entrance exam scores through a shared, data driven approach. If you have any questions on this article or would like to explore how you can integrate an SAT/ACT strategy in your school Tom can be reached at (901)-230-2823 or by email at tom.ihrke@. ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download