The Connecticut Student Loan Foundation has been providing podcasts on Financial Aid for over a year, posting them to our MySpace site, connecting with students, families, educators and financial aid professionals. We hope that you’ll take advantage of this free service to help you understand the process of applying for and repaying student loans. Please let us know if you’d like us to cover any particular topic and we’ll try to do it!

Mark Montgomery is a busy guy.  He spends his time researching info germane to college selection, admissions, financial aid and as he likes to call it, mapping college journeys.  Any parent, prospective student or guidance counselor knows that it is a journey, one best traversed with a knowledgeable guide.  Mark is just such a guide:  associate dean at the University of Denver, admissions counselor for Fort Lewis College, external evaluator for teaching and learning programs at other universities, including the Yale University and University of Kansas.  And that just scratches the surface.  I know you’ll want to find out much more about what makes him tick as well as what makes him an internationally respected authority on leadership and education; when Mark asked us to contribute to his twice-monthly Carnival of College Admissions blog we couldn’t refuse!

This edition celebrates Mark’s trip to China with a nod to the Chinese New Year, but his trip is not just for fireworks and dragons: Mark spoke yesterday to Chinese families exploring a US education for their college bound children!

The Carnival of College Admissions concentrates on more domestic college transition issues, though. You won’t want to miss the contributions from experts offering wisdom on how to pick the best college for your budget and your career aspirations, on how to navigate the admissions process (don’t miss University of New Haven’s Gil Rogers’ post called, aptly READ THIS! – a timely reminder to actually read what an admissions office sends you!), plus much, much more.

Thanks again for having me and CSLF as a guest, Mark. We look forward to more.

Mariana Evica

CSLF Early Awareness & College Planning

Brad J. Ward of http://squaredpeg.com refers in January to a broad study done by the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth about Social Media within college admissions offices (http://www.umassd.edu/cmr/studiesresearch/mediaandadmissions.cfm) and not surprisingly, social media usage trends universally up, in some cases remarkably so, even over last year.

The Center for Marketing Research at UMass compares adoption of social media by admissions offices in 2007 and 2008 across “… all of the accredited four-year institutions in the United States.”  All.  Of note is that though the evidence points to broader application of such tools as blogs, facebook, twitter and YouTube, that schools have yet to fully utilize the potential of social media.

While the strategies and commitment of institutions in higher ed using social media may seem as of yet tentative or lacking depth, the study points out that higher ed seems to be more hip to social media than most Fortune 500 companies. As pointed out astutely in the comments on Mr. Ward’s blog, this isn’t much of an epiphany: the deeper pockets and bigger budgets of the high flying corporate marketing department still feels free to only dabble in social media and still doubts the return on investment that community engagement brings. Colleges and universities (many of whom have seen their endowments shrink this year as the stock market took a down-turn) are taking their cues from smaller, local and non-profit companies, leveraging the connection and loyalty that social media can bring.

A new Fortune 500 Business Blogging Wiki shows a mere 13% percent of major corporations investing in social media, while UMass Dartmouth’s longitudinal study indicates a whopping 41% of admissions offices at colleges and universities diving into social media.

Not too surprisingly, the private schools still have deeper pockets and outpace public colleges and universities in their use of social media, with 72% of private schools utilizing new technology to reach out to potential students, versus the 28% of public institutions. Since public institutions rely heavily on in-state students’ near automatic application to their admissions’ offices, these statistics would reveal the smaller budgets and less pressing need to recruit students. As the economy continues to shift and families choose even less expensive community colleges over state schools, I predict we’ll see another shift in one to two years.  State colleges and universities will see the ROI inherent in local and national engagement of prospective students.

According to the study, a full 85% of schools are using at least one form of social media.  Will the social media programs in higher education flow to where the technology will be in one to two years?  If they’re savvy, they’ll listen to their built-in experts: their students. They’ll already be using whatever the “new” new media will be.

For more information on Web 2.0 for Higher Education, please see our comprehensive primer on social media: http://cslf.wordpress.com/2008/09/09/what-is-web-20-for-higher-education/

To interact on Twitter, please follow http://twitter.com/Mariana_66

To interact on Facebook, become a fan at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rocky-Hill-CT/Connecticut-Student-Loan-Foundation-CSLFSusie-Mae/7001899781

Don’t forget to friend us on MySpace! Many blogs and podcasts are available – no mP3 hardware needed except the one you’re already using – your computer! Go to http://www.myspace.com/first_rate.

For a rich array of information on student loans, college access and planning and much more, go to http://www.cslf.com.

Last Chance FAFSA Assistance Blitz!

Connecticut State Deadline for Filing is February 15th

Hours will be between 9:00 am and 7:30 pm, Monday through Thursday, February 9th – February 12th, at CSLF’s Rocky Hill office at 525 Brook Street.

All services are free of charge.

Call now to book your appointment!

You can complete the FAFSA online at www.fafsa.ed.gov at no charge.

• You must complete the form each year your student is attending college.
• Students may apply as early as January 1st of their senior year.
• Students and one parent must register for a 4-digit Personal Identification Number (PIN) at www.pin.ed.gov . The PIN is used as your electronic signature.

For more FAFSA completion tips visit http://www.cslf.com/investinyourfuture/pdf/tipFAFSATipSheet.pdf

Keep in mind that some private institutions may require you to complete an additional form when considering your student for institutional funds. The CSS/Financial Aid Profile is used by over 200 private colleges. Also, some private schools use their own supplemental form. Since most seniors are applying to multiple institutions, your student needs to find out what forms are required and the deadlines for submission.

Need FAFSA or CSS Profile completion assistance?

Make an appointment with the CSLF resource center at (866) PLAN-4IF or

email us at plan4if@mail.cslf.org today.

Sponsored by

The Connecticut Student Loan Foundation

and Susie Mae

Financial aid.  Many parents feel overwhelmed just considering preparing their child to attend college – helping their child achieve in high school, helping them find a school that suits them, and helping their child look at career paths that will allow their child to repay student loans. One of the most common questions posed to college planning counselors is “Where do we begin?”

For parents with a child in high school, the Connecticut Student Loan Foundation (CSLF) has customized a free email service. Parent College Planning eTips subscribers will receive monthly emails tailored to the grade level of their child – Freshman, Sophomore, Junior and Senior. Parents with multiple children can subscribe to as many grade levels as they desire.

Here’s what to expect in your eTips tool box each month!

• timely suggestions for leveraging local and national resources
• monthly activities to enhance your college planning
• customized tips on applying for Financial Aid
• monthly checklists
• links to free online resources to help you

Click here to subscribe for free!

CSLF provides on-site early awareness services as well:

Please visit us to experience our college planning resource center, make use of our parent and student publications and one-on-one college counseling.  We provide a toll free hotline for getting help and staying connected: 1 – 800 – PLAN 4 IF  (800.752.6443)

All of CSLF’s college planning services are provided free of charge!

Don’t miss one of most recently updated free publications:  CSLF’s Parent Guide to Financial Aid – get help with the FAFSA, understanding different kinds of financial aid, eligibility and more.

When we speak to parents on the phone, we frequently hear that it would help to have information on college planning and financial aid “all in one place” or “made easier to understand” – and that’s what CSLF is doing.

We would like to know what else you need: What would make the college planning and financial aid process easier to understand and less stressful?  Where do you want to access that help?

Leave us a comment here on the blog, or send us an email at alternativeoutreach (at) mail (dot) CSLF (dot) org.

ABOUT CSLF – The Connecticut Student Loan Foundation (CSLF) is a national, non-profit agency that administers, guarantees, and finances loans within the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) and alternative student loan programs. CSLF has more than 40 years of experience providing assistance to students and parents seeking to finance a higher education. CSLF promotes access to higher education by helping families plan for and pursue their postsecondary education and by assuring that low-cost funding options remain available to eligible students and parents. Learn more about CSLF at www.cslf.com.