UNSTACK THE ODDS: ZAP THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP SO ALL STUDENTS CAN ACCESS COLLEGE--AND GRADUATE!

decades. The percentage of students who submitted seven or more applications reached 23 percent last year, up from 9 percent in 1990. Although most colleges reported increases in the number of applications for fall 2009, the largest proportion since 1996 (29 percent) reported decreases. The process is becoming electronic.

About 80 percent of four-year colleges and universities received applications online for the fall 2009 admission cycle, up from 72 percent in 2008, 68 percent in 2007, and 58 percent in 2006."

57. Average College Debt Rose 6 Percent to $24,000 in 2009, by Jacques Steinberg - http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/22/debt-3/ "Lauren Asher, president of the Institute for College Access & Success, the research and advocacy group that operates the debt project, provided a piece of advice worth passing on to readers of The Choice: ―If you’re going to borrow, you should take out federal loans first, because federal student loans come with far more repayment options and borrower protections than other types of loans.‖ 58. Recent US College Grad's Face Job Problems, by Andrew Sum http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-sum/the-labor-marketproblems_b_768617.html "Young college educated workers, particularly those 25 and under, however, have not fared very well over the past three years. They have experienced rising joblessness, underemployment, and malemployment problems (i.e., working in jobs that do not require a college degree). During the January-August period of 2010, we estimate that fewer than 50 of every 100 young B.A.-holders held a job requiring a college degree.

The labor market difficulties of many young bachelor degree holders in the U.S. can best be seen in the types of jobs in which they were employed in the first eight months of the current calendar year. Of the 20 individual occupations employing the largest number of young, college graduates (25 and under), seven typically did not require any type of college degree to be employed. There were 175,000 young college graduates working as cashiers, retail clerks, and customer service representatives versus only 146,000 employed in all computer professional professions. . . ."

59. School Counselors Stretched at a Time When Needed Most, by Caralee Adams http://t.co/rrX5uoM "Although the American School Counselor Association recommends a 250-to-1 ratio of students to school counselors, the national average is actually 457 (2008-09 school year). Click here to see how the individual states stacks up. The reason for the gap in the association's recommendations and reality? A combination of financially strapped schools and lack of mandates for counselors, says Jill Cook, assistant director at ASCA . "They are not as a big of a priority," she says. "When the budget gets tight, that's where the cuts are made. "Proper staffing is even more important today as the job of the school counselor has expanded to serve all students, says Cook. Rather just helping those with discipline problems or those headed to college, as was the case 20 years ago, counselors today are expected to work with all students on academic, 256