Free Education World » College

What EFC score is necessary for financial college aid?

Free Education World — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 04:32:08 +0000

My EFC (Estimated Family Contribution) is 2971. How much money (if any) does that qualify me to get for college in financial aid? What are Pell Grants exactly? Does my EFC qualify me for Pell Grants? What else might my EFC qualify me for?

The United States Should Get Rid of the Electoral College

Free Education World — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 07:19:32 +0000

If there is one in thing I have always felt should be changed in America it is the Electoral College System along with the English system of measurement and the law that claims that one need be 21 or older to legally drink alcoholic beverages. However before I go in to reasons why I feel the electoral college system needs to be changed, I will explain for those who are not aware what this system is.

In most countries that elect their leaders via direct democratic elections as is the case with France; the procedure which is followed is one that sees the country in question hold elections where all the candidates who aspire to be president run in an election with the winner not necessarily becoming president as he or she needs to have obtained over fifty percent of the vote do to so. If the winner (this meaning the candidate who got the most votes) did not get a figure (any figure) higher then 50 percent what is done is; a second election is held which is referred to as a “runoff election” which basically is that an election is held between the first place finisher and the second place finisher. This basically guaranteeing that somebody does not win because the opposition vote was split as might have been the case when Abraham Lincoln was first elected. It even turns out that very often the candidate who won the first round did not go on to win the second round as was the case in Poland in 2005 with Tusk (who lost to Kaczynski) or in Peru with writer Llosa (who lost to Fujimori) in 1990 or with Le Pen (who lost to Chirac) in France in 2002. However more often then not he or she who won the first round; won the second round or sometimes it happens that the candidate who wins the first round goes over the fifty percent mark and becomes president outright as was the case in Poland 2000 with Kwasniewski.

As a footnote to this and being a republican; I can add to this that if the United States had had a system like this in 92 then Clinton might not have won the election because if memory serves us well where he did get 370 electoral votes (100 more then needed) he only got 47% of the popular vote. Which under the system most countries who elect their leaders through popular vote as opposed to those like the UK or Italy who elect their prime ministers through parliamentary elections; Clinton would have had to face that year’s runner-up who was George Bush senior. In an election most would argue though none can prove would have been won by George Bush since arguably Perot took more votes away from George Bush then he did from Bill Clinton; however at the end of the day who can say with any preciseness what would have happened. Then again democrats might argue that if the same system had been in place in 2000 then Al Gore would have occupied the White House from 2001 to 2006 instead of George W. Bush. This I say might have been however I will give reasons in this article why it did not have to be so.

This article I write to give my reasons why I feel the electoral college should be changed to the one practiced by most countries which elect their presidents through popular vote which I have already explained. The electoral college is a system which goes back to the begging when George Washington was elected president which is a system in which every state is granted a certain amount of what is known as “electoral votes”. The bigger the population of the state the more electoral votes it gets; naturally with California being the state with the largest population it also has the most electoral votes. Once we add up the total amount of electoral votes from all 50 states the sum we get is 538; out of which the candidate hoping to be elected president needs to win a figure no less then 270 to be assured the presidency of the United States of America. As a personal comment I will state that it is strange that if one really thinks about the issue we are the only country in the world that technically speaking does not really have a name.

The way the electoral college works is simple; which is not to say that it does so efficiently. Elections are held in each state, where people vote in the state they are registered in for the candidate of their choosing; who is on a list of those who are running for president. In these elections; with one being held in each and every state through out the US of A; the candidate who wins the state in question also gets all the electoral votes the state has. In all this it should be made clear that to get all the electoral votes the candidate need not do anymore then win the popular vote of the state in question. This meaning he or she need not have a 50% majority, as 35% of the vote might suffice or have a margin of victory over his closest rival of literally one vote, which on the lighter side of the argument might have come because he or she had one more son or daughter to vote for him or her. This system as history has already proven on two occasions does lend itself to the possibility that the person who wins the electoral college and by virtue of which becomes president to do so in spite of not necessarily winning the popular vote. This in a way making it that the will of the people was not really respected as the candidate most Americans voted for did not get to occupy the house on Pennsylvania avenue also known as the White House, not because enough people did not vote for him but because they did so in the wrong states.

I for my part in what could be considered a personal opinion see a flaw in this system which is basically one of theory apart from several of practice with the one of theory being the following. The point of presidential elections is or should be to chose a man or a woman to rule the government and represent the nation that elects him or her till the next election as a whole; not as separate regions or states but I repeat as a whole. By this I mean those who voted for the winning candidate as well as those who did not and those states (as is the case in the United States) where he or she won along with those states he or she did not win. Taking this idea in to consideration one could ask what need is there for a system which holds elections in each individual state? None, I would retort if the candidate their choosing is going to represent the country as a whole as opposed to the governors or local officials such as senators who are only going to do so for the individual state that elected them. I ask at the end of the day does it really matter if George W. Bush lost California in both 2000 and 2004 or that Clinton lost Texas in 92 or Reagan lost Washington DC in 84? It is obvious that it does not as these men still served as president to those states; though the majority of their population voted for another candidate whom they could not claim was their president though they might have wanted to do so.

Naturally, I am aware that some will say this is a theoretical argument which I would agree on but if we get to the practical arguments then let us begin like this. First of all when a nation has a system like the one the US has for electing its leader which I might say it because it is fact is the only one that does, then in which state each individual votes takes on a much larger significance and therefore requires those that do vote to be registered in one particular state or another. This being to avoid someone voting twice in two different states. This is in and of itself can be a problem for some voters who can not register for the vote on time as is the case with many people given that there is a deadline before in which to do so though some states offer same day registration though this is a very recent phenomenon. This naturally leading to some people who wanted to vote but did not because they did not register on time which does not happen in countries that do not have this system. As in those that have the now standard system all one need do is present oneself with one’s id to any place where one may do so with no need to worry about having to register.

The problems with registration go further as one can not do it at American embassies or consulates (or at least not yet) not even in advanced let alone the same day. This creating a more complicated situation then need be for those who are residing abroad (who are not serving in the US armed forces) as one needs to order an absentee ballot by mail which takes its sweet time in coming. This in my case lead to my not being able to cast my vote in 2004 (which would have been my first time) as I got the ballot the day of the election which made it impossible for me to get my vote in which would have had to be sent by registered mail or dropped of at the American embassy a few days before election day. This according to the board of elections of the state of New York where I am registered. This being a situation I can not imagine that those who came up with this system so many years ago could have foreseen that a day would come when some Americans would be voting from overseas.

I even see that a system like this might lead some people to feel the need not to vote being that if one considers the matter carefully their vote will make less of a difference then one vote usually does. To justify this claim I can give the example of myself that if I were living in California; with me being a republican I basically would not bother to vote as I know my vote would not make any difference in the overall outcome of a state which has voted democrat in every presidential election since 1988. However if the vote were nationwide then my vote would make a difference (very little) in the population tally though not in the state and since the winner gets all the electoral votes regardless of how wide or narrow his or her margin of victory was then why should I or anybody else bother to vote if he or she hears for instance on his or her radio or TV that 90% of the votes in the state have been counted with the opposing candidate or even his own holding a 20% lead.

This leading one to believe that even if that missing 10% were to vote for the candidate trailing it would change nothing as the other candidate has already assured victory and by virtue of which the right to add up all the electoral votes the state has to offer to his or her tally. It is because of this that I insist in stating how this would not occur if the United States had a system like all other countries of the world that elect their leaders through a nation wide election instead of several local elections. This also being why I claim that George W. Bush might not have lost the popular vote in 2000. As looking at it from this point of view it is feasible to see how some voters who would have voted for him refrained from doing so feeling that in the state they were registered to vote in their vote would not have made a difference. Of course, I am not saying the same might not have held true for Al Gore’s voters making it that he might have won the popular vote by an even wider margin.

I however do not wish those who read this article to get the impression that I am not aware of the rights of individual states and the reason why this system was implemented in the first place which was to in a way force every candidate wishing to become president of the United States to take in to consideration the rights and needs of each and every state instead of only concentrating on those whose populations are large. This system nonetheless in many ways has contributed to what it was trying to avoid because if we may face reality for a moment; it has not made candidates with realistic chances of winning choose to campaign in less densely populated states such as Montana, Wyoming or Idaho over the more populous states such as New York, California or Illinois. This being the case with no offense to anybody intended; fore as always the more populous states have more to offer in the way of electoral votes so with regards to this it has not changed the trend that makes candidates campaign in the more populated areas of their country or even created a situation where a candidate will offer less populated states a better deal if their voters pick them over their opponents.

Many will say that the electoral college should be kept because it is tradition and it was the way our founding forefathers meant it to be which may be true but then again let us not overlook the more then obvious which is that these gentleman are dead. With this being a fact, my point is the following the United States which they started is no longer their nation but ours; those who are its citizens in the present and not those who were in the very distant past so with this in mind I claim it should be us to make laws and have systems that are suited to the reality of today and not keep outdated systems simply because they were the will of those who are no longer with us.

To the previous argument I would like to add that democracy, with demo being a Greek word meaning people while cracy meaning government which would make this word government of the people is the rule of the majority which may change and usually does; which is the reason elections are held, constitutions amended and laws changed to suit the changes in the mood of the people. This is what a democracy should be as opposed to what sometimes occurs in America which is that those who arrived a long time ago, sometimes many generations ago feel that those whose families immigrated to America later should either give in to their will or simply leave the country. This being a democracy where rule of the majority gets replaced by rule of those whose families go back the furthest in America.

In conclusion I will say that because of my above mentioned reasons; I am wholly convinced the electoral college needs to be replaced as soon as possible by the one practiced in most countries that hold presidential elections. With regards to the system that would be replaced I do not take away its credit that it has elected over 40 US Presidents and was first though this does not mean that a more efficient system is not be found. The case being that just because a system was first that does not mean it is the best. This logic even applicable to the English system of measurement which most countries have replaced with the metric; as it is easier to use and more precise when it comes to measuring things of small size.

college information?

Free Education World — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 10:32:06 +0000

I would like to get more information on Brown University becuase i’m going to be a junior this year. I’m very interested in this college and would like maybe a brochure or a packet with more information. how do get it?

also for any student attending Brown, do you ahve any admission tips or advice for me?

thanks to all!

Who Needs College Anyway? Remarks by Charles Murray

Free Education World — Mon, 17 May 2010 17:42:36 +0000

President Obama set an ambitious new goal in his speech to Congress on February 24, 2009, proclaiming that by 2020, America will …have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world. But some experts, like author Charles Murray, dont think we need more Americans going to college. In his new book, Real Education: Four Simple Truths for Bringing Americas Schools Back to Reality (Random House, 2008), Murray argues that Americans place too much value on the bachelors degree. Murray and researcher Anthony Carnevale debated Who Needs a College Education Anyway? at the Hechinger Institutes Seminar for Higher Education Reporters in December 2008. Scott Jaschik of Inside Higher Ed moderated the debate. Murray, the WH Brady Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, contends that because ability varies and 50 percent of people are below average, our current system of higher education makes little sense. Carnevale, Research Professor and Director of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, argues we should encourage as many students as possible to attend and graduate from college, because intelligence isnt fixed at birth and can be influenced by education. After their remarks, Murray and Carnevale took questions from journalists participating in the Seminar.

Why do students take out enormous loans to go to a lower ranking private college over a state university?

Free Education World — Thu, 06 May 2010 14:33:06 +0000

I know several people who are currently in debt over 50k+. Many of them I know are majoring in unmarketable majors like philosophy.

Do students make this decision out of ignorance of finance? or do they know what they are getting themselves into?

I mean most college graduates with marketable majors still start at 40k a year. If you are 50k in debt making 40k a year you will be living pretty slim!

College info??

Free Education World — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 02:01:37 +0000

I’m currenly trying to decide on a college to attend, but am having trouble (and trouble finding time to) find the basic information about each. The schools i am interested in are St. Edward’s University (Austin TX), Aberta College of Art and Design (ACAD), Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), John Hopkins Medical School, and Harvard University. I’d really like to find the following info about each. If someone could PLEASE, PLEASE PLEASE find out this info for me i would be sooooo grateful!!!!
Cost:
Location:
Campus size:
Average class size:
Housing:

thanks up front for the effort
i cant find all of the info on every site. and yes. it is a diversity. i keep it that way for a reason.

College money?

Free Education World — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 08:23:45 +0000

I am over 25, have lived with my mom for the last 2 years, and have made less than $5,000 last year. I want to know how hard it will be to get a grant. Would it make a difference if I lived on my own or not? I want to attend a small community college next year and I need money to assit me in living. Thanks in advance for your help.

Engineering is the top earning college major

Free Education World — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:51:16 +0000

Engineering-related degrees are the top earning college degrees, according to a survey from the National Association of Colleges and Employers. The data was collected by surveying 200 college career centers across the country. Engineers hold some of the most important jobs in helping the society we live in. “They are in the background designing and building everything from our cell phones, to the buildings we live and work in, to the medical equipment used to improve our lives,” said UNT assistant professor Dr. Althea Arnold. The top 15 highest earning college degrees:

Petroleum Engineering – $ 83,121 Chemical Engineering – $64,902 Mining Engineering – $64,404 Computer Engineering – $61,738 Computer Science – $61,407 Electrical Engineering – $60,125 Mechanical Engineering – $58,766 Industrial Engineering – $58,358 Systems Engineering – $57,438 Engineering Technology – $56,447 Actuarial Science – $ 56,320 Aeronautical Engineering – $56,311 Agricultural Engineering – $54,352 Biomedical Engineering – $54,158 Construction Management – $53,199

On the list of 15, engineering-related diplomas took every spot except for one, which belonged to actuarial science majors. Actuarial science is the practice of applying mathematical methods to assess risk in financial industries. “A degree in engineering is certainly an excellent training for innovation and discovery, which contribute significantly to the welfare of mankind,” said Dr. Nourredine Boubekri, Chairman of the Engineering Technology Department at UNT. The number one degree, petroleum engineering, has an average starting salary of $83, 121. According to CNN, the high salary is an outcome of petroleum’s growing scarcity. Fewer students are graduating with math-based majors and more are graduating with liberal-arts majors, according to CNN. Out of the 1,524,000 bachelor’s degrees awarded in 2007 only 450 were in petroleum engineering and 4,492 in chemical engineering, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers. The low number in math-based majors could be a reason why graduates in the field are paid more than others. There are a larger amount of graduates in other fields, making finding employees not very hard. “I chose to go with liberal arts because I’m not very strong in math, I could never do what engineers do with numbers and calculations,” said UNT junior Kathleen Brown. Not every student graduating in engineering enters the job market with a huge salary. Engineering has also been hit by the economic and job crises as well, but still students prove to do better with a math/technology based degree in the tough job market. “I’ve always wanted to study engineering because of my love for math but especially because I love to take things apart and discover what’s going on and how to improve it.” said Mark Logan who hopes to attend UNT in the spring. The College of Engineering at UNT is made of 3 departments: the departments of computer science and engineering, engineering technology, and materials science and engineering. These departments offer student research and study, giving students the chance of working towards bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degrees. “Engineers are the unsung heroes in our advanced technological society,” said Arnold. “Without engineers, no part of our modern society would exist today.”

Paying College Tuition Bills: An Easier Way

Free Education World — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 21:56:13 +0000

Students across the country struggle with the high cost of higher education these days. There seems to be no end in sight for how high colleges and universities will continue to increase their price of admission. Students often find scholarships, grants and other ways of obtaining free money for college, but when these options do not add up, many students are left wondering what is next. College tuition bills are a problem for many students across the nation. Families everywhere struggle with the prospect of foregoing college and sitting it out while their peers and former classmates from high school go off to enjoy successful and prosperous college careers. Deserving, hardworking students should not be left behind because of financial hardship, but it is up to these students to make things right, take a little initiative and find a new way of earning the money to pay their college tuition bills. Paying for classes, books, rent, utilities, food and other expenses facing college students these days is a burden that brings many students way down to the ground. Unwilling to fight for their right to attend school, many end up entering the workforce before they are ready or before they want to. While college is not for everybody, for those who do dream of earning that college degree, there should be nothing strong enough to stand in their way. Unfortunately for many students, finances are something that can be hard to overcome, even for the most ambitious students. Most students do not have any experience in dealing with financial hardship first hand. Their parents may have dealt with it their whole lives, but they have not yet been required to figure out how to make ends meet. Facing these prospects for the first time, many young teenagers are frightened by the prospect. It is important to realize that they are not alone in their struggle and students across the nation, and across the world, are struggling with the very same thing. They must realize it is their responsibility to do something about it and make sure that they find a way of attending school and paying for their college tuition. One way of finding the money necessary to attend school is by finding a good college internship that will allow them to earn money towards their degree and get some real world experience at the same time. This is a good option for many students who may struggle with the fact that they are being left behind while their friends are all off to school for the first time. Being on their own, their friends may tell them stories about how great their new lives are and how exciting college life can be. Feeling like they are being forgotten, students may feel discouraged and despondent. This is a terrible feeling, but students should not let it get them down for too long, as there are always ways of making ends meet enough so that they can start earning college credit and working towards a degree. Being able to support themselves through school, these students will gain a new perspective on life, one their peers will not understand. Growing up a tad faster than the rest, students putting themselves through school and paying their own college tuition bills will be better prepared for the real world. Being able to manage their own lives in the busy time that is their college career, dealing with life’s challenges after graduation may seem like a cakewalk. Students that are not responsible for putting themselves through school will not have this experience and will not be as well-prepared as these other students. While being able to relax a bit in college is a good thing once in a while, having an internship that requires them to be a bit more active can actually have a positive impact on a student’s college career. Being able to clear their head off at their internship for a few hours will allow students to come back feeling mentally refreshed and ready to hit the books again. This may even translate into a higher grade point average and a more successful college career.

Internet Is Now the Best Place To Conduct Your College Search

Free Education World — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 06:05:39 +0000

I remember when I was about to finish high school. Even long time before finishing, I started to think about and search for colleges and universities. Even the process of gathering information of relevant schools available for my interests, was quite a job and took me very long time to accomplish. Fortunately this has changed.
Imagine a more contemporary situation: You have just cleared high school and are now looking to get college admission. But you are confused – how do you select the right college? Where do you go to conduct your college search? Before you take this very important step towards furthering your studies and deciding on a possible career path, it is very necessary to know the strengths and weaknesses of the colleges where you are thinking about getting admission. A wrong or hurried choice could hurt you both financially and mentally.
In today’s internet age, it is comparatively easy to conduct your college search in a very short time. The best way to gain in-depth knowledge about the top colleges out there is to turn to the internet. Almost every well known college and university has a dedicated web portal that provides all necessary information for prospective students. Here you can find details about the various courses being offered, the subjects you can major in, the credits you will earn as well as details about fees and scholarships provided. Most colleges now also supply downloadable admission forms online.
If you have even a broad idea about the colleges you wish to gain admission to, you can confirm your choice via the internet. There are numerous sites and services available online that provide you in-depth reviews of various colleges and help you make a decision about the college best suited to your needs. All you have to do is to type in the key phrases that is most appropriate for your college search and viola…! You have a list of several hundreds of schools to approach.
In addition to detailed comparisons about the colleges of your choice, these sites also provide a host of other important details like residential facilities near or around the college campus, scholarships available, and often, help with getting admission to the college. Many of these sites also provide a ranking of the top colleges to help ease your decision making.
So if you are looking to enter college, it is necessary that you take the time to go through some of these sites and understand the merits of each college before deciding on one. Remember, it is not a one time choice but the opportunity of a life time and the right selection can get you set towards your career goal in the right way.