December 2008 archive

Servant Leaders for the 21st Century

Posted on Friday, December 12, 2008 | 0 comments | Permalink |

Today there is universal acknowledgement that we face a leadership crisis. We are surrounded by a world of opportunities and challenges but the current educational system is failing to develop students into quality leaders.

The answer is found in the simple phrase “Servant Leadership,” as exemplified in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ as well as in the lives of his greatest followers. Executive and researcher Robert Greenleaf coined the term “servant leadership” over 30 years ago and devoted his life to promoting the development and practice of servant leadership. In fact, he wrote a book entitled Servant Leadership to promote the principles he came to believe in.

Interestingly, Greenleaf was no fan of the modern university system. He wrote, “By extending education for so many so far into the adult years, normal participation in society is effectively denied when young people are ready for it.”

Greenleaf believed that college education should be be reconnected with the experiences of real life, with the daily practice of serving. “Students who are potential bearers of responsibility should see their college years as being as real as anything they will ever experience. Therefore, they should conduct themselves in the college environment in a way that develops to the full their capacity for responsible behavior.”

Through CollegePlus! we are seeking to reform college education by enabling students to spend their time and money pursuing internships, mentoring opportunities, real work, and a life of service. Herein lies the true preparation needed for developing the servant leaders our society desperately needs.

Posted by Brad Voeller

We've Heard About Health Care Costs...What About College?

Posted on Monday, December 8, 2008 | 0 comments | Permalink |

Prescription Bottles

Surging health care costs outdistanced by skyrocketing college tuition.

Measuring Up 2008, the National center for Public Policy and Higher Education's stunning report released last week, not only charts the unreasonable rise in college tuition but exposed another surprising trend as well.

Health care costs have long been a complaint of financially distressed Americans. Now they have something else to be concerned about: since 1982 college tuition has risen at more than twice the rate of health care. While medical costs have increased 210% over the past 26 years, college tuition swelled 439%, according the Measuring Up 2008 study in today's dollars.

This trend between health care and college tuition was first mentioned in a 2007 article in USA Today. The writer also pointed out that "in the past 25 years, the average cost of tuition and fees has risen faster than personal income [and] consumer prices."

by Jeremiah White

49 States Flunk College Affordability Test

Posted on Friday, December 5, 2008 | 3 comments | Permalink |

collegewithoutwalls College tuition has vaulted 439% since 1982, according to the groundbreaking Measuring Up 2008 study released this week by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. This inordinate price tag is even adjusted for inflation!

What makes Measuring Up 2008 so cutting-edge is that researchers calculated college costs after factoring in financial aid through scholarships and grants.

Here are some other alarming trends: tuition at a four year public university costs low-income families 55% of their yearly income and 33% of the household revenue for lower middle class families. The Center suggests that a healthy level for tuition costs should be around 13% of a family's income.

CollegePlus! students have responded to the Measuring Up media outrbreak with their own stories. One student, an English major from Ohio, will complete her degree for just under $15,000 just one year after her high school graduation. Read her story here.

Will the media and the public take notice of CollegePlus! as an obvious solution to their higher education dilemma? That still remains to be seen.

Posted by Shawn Cohen

They're catching on!

Posted on Wednesday, December 3, 2008 | 0 comments | Permalink |

For years now CollegePlus! has blown the whistle on the inflated time frame students are forced into when attending a typical brick and mortar university.

University administration is finally waking up to reality since college graduation numbers are tanking and high school grads are less prepared for college studies than ever.

Due to the recent economic downturn, colleges are scrambling to come up with new solutions, "perhaps even shortening college from four years," according to a recent NY Times article "College May Become Unaffordable for Most in U.S."

This isn't the only voice calling for a revolutionary change to the current education system in the US. The state of New Hampshire is already toying with the idea of completely obliterating the last two years of high school in favor of sending juniors directly to college. Time education writer Kathleen Kingsbury reported on this recently in the article "Should Kids Be Able to Graduate After 10th Grade?"

So, a retooled high school and college experience isn't as far off the mark as many thought. CollegePlus! has pioneered this approach knowing that combining high school and college is the most effective way to help mature students academically and mentally. This is the best preparation for working in the real world.

Posted by Shawn Cohen

Are You Missing Out?

Posted on Tuesday, December 2, 2008 | 0 comments | Permalink |

by Aaron Dodson Professors

As a high-schooler, I was always dreaming of college. Like every other red blooded American high school kid, I was dreaming about what my college experience would be like. All I could think of was the freedom, new friends, movies, study, sports that would all take place. I was relishing this idealized picture of college that has been painted by clever advertising and marketing efforts.

Upon further consideration, I am here to tell you that the starry eyed dream of college is nothing of what it appears. What looks to be an ideal after high school choice is nothing more than a snare and delusion. What you are missing by pursuing your degree from home is kind of like missing getting salt in your rug burn. Curious? Join CollegePlus! as we embark on this mini series peering into some of the stuff that you as a distance learner might be missing out on by pursuing a degree in a non conventional method. We plan on hitting such issues as

Professors
Thought Diversity
Feminism
Politics on Campus
Tuition and Funding
Food
Dorm Life
Drugs and alcohol
Religious Freedom
Sports

When you begin to realize how many negative and detrimental things you are missing out on in college campuses and classrooms, we are sure you will be more convinced than ever that you are part of a better form of higher education.