Making College Pay: Strategies for Choosing Wisely, Doing Well & Maximizing Your Return - Softcover

Alice C. Stewart; Fran Stewart

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0975936697 ISBN 13: 9780975936696

Publisher: Eagle Creek Press, 2011

Synopsis

If you have heard the phrase knowledge economy, then you already know why the decision to go to college is different today than it was a generation ago. But most advice about college hasn't changed to keep up with the times. There is a dark side to the oversimplified message about the importance and value of college. This book helps you gain the understanding and perspective you need to make choices that maximize the return on your college investment. That means making choices that focus on three goals: minimizing college costs, increasing marketability, and improving your likelihood of graduating. Making College Pay helps you evaluate colleges based on four key characteristics, get a better understanding of the real cost of attending college, estimate how long it will take for you to see any payback on your education investment; gain the skills that will set you apart in the job market; and improve your odds of success.

About this title

About the Author:

Alice C. Stewart (Ph.D., University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill) has been teaching business strategy at colleges and universities for almost thirty years. During her five years as director of strategic analysis and planning at The Ohio State University, Alice identifies some of the underlying tensions universities face as they transition to institutions with higher student demand and higher expectations for economic impact and organizational accountability. In 2011, Alice's ability to articulate a new vision for business education was rewarded with first place and a $50,000 prize in the Ideas to Innovation challenge, a global competition sponsored by the Graduate Management Admission Council. Fran Stewart is a Cleveland-area writer, editor, and designer. She has spent more than fifteen years working for newspapers, including the Cleveland Plain Dealer, where she wrote about personal finance issues. She has written in the areas of economic development, public policy, and urban issues, her first book, In Their Path: A Grandmother's 519-Mile Underground Railroad Walk, examined Ohio's abolitionist history.

Fran Stewart is a Cleveland-area writer, editor and designer. She has spent more than 15 years working for newspapers, including the Cleveland Plain Dealer, where she wrote about personal finance issues. That's when she began to explore college choice in terms of its return on investment. In 2006, Fran helped found College 101, a twice yearly magazine for Ohio high school students. She has written in the areas of economic development, public policy and urban issues and has worked on projects for the State of Ohio, universities, a Cleveland-area think tank, a variety of non-profit organizations and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Her first book, In Their Path: A Grandmother's 519-Mile Underground Railroad Walk, examined Ohio's abolitionist history. She is a founding member of Restore Cleveland Hope, a non-profit organization dedicated to saving a local historic building and highlighting Cleveland's Underground Railroad past.

Review:

ForeWord Clarion Review - Five Stars (out of Five) 

High school seniors and their parents put a lot of money, time, and effort into choosing a college, and there are plenty of books available that give advice on how to dress up a high school transcript or college application, or how to maximize financial aid awards. But Alice C. Stewart and Fran Stewart have staked new ground with their excellent and insightful book Making College Pay: Strategies for Choosing Wisely, Doing Well, & Maximizing Your Return. In contrast to many other “choosing a college” books, instead of detailed advice on how to get into “the best college,” the Stewarts reframe the goal as choosing “the best college for you.” The Stewarts look at college as an investment, one that will not only affect the future of the student but also, just as importantly, the future of the family—including the parents who may be footing the bill. The case studies discussed make it clear that the college decision can have a positive or negative impact that reverberates for years after graduation. To better navigate through the options, the Stewarts provide a more objective college selection tool than the campus tours or guidance counselor discussions on which many students base their decisions. This tool—the College Payback Ratio, or CPR—gives a clear picture of the costs of attending different schools, amortized over time. The authors know their subject well, and it shows. Alice C. Stewart holds a PhD and spent five years as The Ohio State University’s Director of Strategic Analysis and Planning, and currently teaches strategy and management at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. Fran Stewart has written about personal finance issues for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, and was a founder of College 101, a magazine for Ohio high school students. The book’s format is similar to the “Idiot’s Guide” or “Dummies” self-help books, but the content is anything but dumbed down. Some of the Stewarts’ advice might go against conventional wisdom, but they make a compelling case. When discussing “selectivity”—a term known to many prospective college students due in large part to the famous (or infamous) rankings of U.S. News & World Report and other publications—the authors point out that “It’s good to be challenged academically, but it’s better to be in an academic environment where you have a chance to shine.” Citing a shocking statistic that only 57% of students enrolling full time at a four-year college actually graduate within six years, they further explain that the single most important factor in making a college investment pay off is earning the degree, and that without getting to that final goal, all the time and money spent on studying and tuition is wasted. Making College Pay could be the most valuable college book on the market—required reading for any student considering college and for their families as well.

--Peter Dabbene, ForeWord Reviews

About this edition

• Publisher: Eagle Creek Press
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0975936697
• ISBN 13: 9780975936696
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224