by Mark H. Sklarow, Executive Director, IECA

A study conducted earlier this year, and recently published by the College Board and Art & Science Group LLC, indicated that students and parents are making decisions about college applications and matriculation based on financial aid information that is incorrect, incomplete, and inaccurate. In the survey, 59% of students indicated that they eliminated colleges after looking at the “sticker price” with no consideration given to possible financial aid and the “net cost” of attending. No wonder, as a quarter of all students said their parents were requiring them to attend the most affordable school and another 40% had parents insist they apply to ‘more affordable’ colleges. Of course, most of these determinations were based on published list prices. Only a small portion of the population had used any financial aid calculator to determine what sort of financial aid they might qualify for. Meaning most families were flying blind. Those who were thinking about financial aid were further off base. When asked to guess what sort of financial aid they expected to qualify for, most families significantly over-stated the amount of merit aid they thought they would qualify for, even for students with very low standardized test scores. While the national average for merit aid is about 15% of college costs, families estimated it would be one-third.

Even when faced with higher tuition than they felt they could afford, the survey found that families were willing to explore the possibility of a college. This was seen as a sign that under certain circumstances families are willing to stretch their definition of “affordability.” The qualities that get families to examine such out-of-their-budget schools: strong academics in their major, a place where students can fit in, a stellar reputation, and a solid record of placing graduates in good jobs or graduate programs.

It is clear that families need more and easier-to-comprehend information about college finances. With the cost of college rivaling only the cost of purchasing a home in a family’s financial history, clear and accurate financing information is an essential part of the college search process. Yet today, armed with faulty assumptions and bad information, and complicated by rules and regulations that confound rather than amplify, families are at a loss. Members of the Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA), long seen as the most knowledgeable source of information about college selection, need to expand and enhance their services to provide students and parents with clear, accurate and understandable information on college affordability. We have asked our College Committee to develop materials for a new financial aid flyer for IECA members to provide to client families.

As an association we will post this basic information on our Web site to ensure it reaches everyone. We have also pledged to work with national organizations to assist in clarifying and simplifying the financial aid information available to families.

by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, IECA

The Secondary School Admission Test Board is an organization originally created to handle the administration of entrance exams for the nation’s independent schools. Over the years, that mission has grown as the SSATB extended its reach into more than 100 countries, developed a Standard Application Online, new tracking strategies for school applications and financial aid, entered into training for admission directors and their staff, and took a leadership role in research and promotion of independent education. As a result, the organization has voted to re-create itself as the Consortium for Independent Education. This newly titled umbrella organization will serve its mission through a number of subsidiaries. These include the familiar SSAT in North America and (with a global subsidiary) throughout the world; ‘The Admissions Organization’ to serve admission professionals; a division that will be dedicated to providing services for families; and the ‘Princeton Institute for Educational Research.’

The move is the culmination of a strategic initiative begun in 2005, and we wish SSATB much success as it both formalizes the expanded services it has pursued in recent years, and continues to expand these services and research moving forward.

by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, Independent Educational Consultants Association

While all legislative eyes are focused on a vote on major Health Care legislation (addressed in a previous blog), there is speculation that the final reconciliation bill will have a major reform to the college loan industry attached. If this legislative path is followed—and all expectation is that it will be—this major change in how families and students will borrow funds may be passed by the House as early as Sunday and by the Senate soon after (requiring simple majorities in each House). The President has said he will sign the bill.

For more than 40 years, banks and other financial institutions have provided student loans. What most of the public is not aware of is that the federal government has assumed virtually all of the risk, allowing the tuition funds to be lent at a low rate of interest. This has also meant that these financial institutions have realized billions of dollars in profits with essentially no fear of loss. The proposed bill would put the government directly in charge of the loan process. Sallie-Mae and other financial institutions have been lobbying against the change on two fronts: that it will cost jobs and the system basically works—not needing any change. Recent scrutiny into kickbacks has raised some concerns in recent years.

The Obama administration has said that the change will essentially cut out the middleman, allowing the government to realize savings and surpluses of $61 billion over the next ten years. Thirty-six billion dollars of that would go directly into the Pell Grants, a program that is currently over-subscribed and under-funded. The change would bring the Pell Grants to solvency and raise the yearly maximum grant from $5,550 to $5,975 (a compromise figure that is less than proponents originally sought).

If the legislation passes, everyone needs to follow changes that could come about very quickly. The current Federal Family Education Loan Program—which uses private lenders—would end on July 1. After that dates all federal students loans would be issued by the federal government. There has been so much speculation that this legislation was coming that nearly half of loans this year on about half of college campuses were direct federal loans already, as schools began the shift away from private lenders.

It is worth also seeing where the rest of the savings would go, particularly in these very tough economic times. More than $2 billion each will be directed toward community colleges and historically black colleges and universities, with $10 billion going to reduce the federal budget deficit.

Changes are still possible, but with the impact of the passage (should it pass) likely to be felt so quickly, IECA will work to bring the latest information to educational consultants, counselors, and families.

by Mark H. Sklarow, Executive Director, IECA

A new national survey released yesterday by the non-profit research organization Public Agenda, and funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, paints a depressing picture of college advising. In their survey of young adults who graduated from college, the researchers explored how helpful the respondents’ school-based counselor was in meeting their college search, application, and financial aid advisory needs. The respondents found little to cheer.

Two-thirds of those surveyed rated their counselor “poor or fair” at “helping you decide what school was right for you,” with 62% indicating a similar rating in the area of financial aid advice. Over 50% gave “poor or fair” evaluations to their counselors for “explaining and helping you with the application process,” while nearly half said that they were made to feel like little more than a “face in the crowd.”

The researchers were quick to note the conditions under which counselors typically work, including excessive caseloads often double or triple the national recommended number of students. In many school districts, college counseling is one aspect of a counselor’s duties that may include academic advising, crisis intervention, and lunchroom duty.

Little in the report came as a surprise, and one might suspect that as executive director of the professional association representing educational consultants working in private practice, we would greet the findings with some degree of pleasure. In fact, I am deeply disturbed by the findings and place the blame where it belongs: NOT on the backs of hard-working, overwhelmed school counselors, but squarely at the feet of school boards who have refused to recognize the importance of good, well-trained counseling staff.

So let me be clear in terms of the solution:

(1) What I believe is simple: every student deserves great college and career advising, not just those in private school or wealthy suburban districts—or those who can afford the services of an educational consultant. Every child.

(2) Counselor caseloads should not exceed the recommended maximum of 250, as set by the American School Counselors Association.

(3) Every counselor doing college placements should take coursework specific to college counseling—few actually have—like online classes offered through UCLA, UC Berkeley and UC Irvine.

(4) A member of the counseling team should be specifically trained to advise students with learning differences on their school search and application process, as well as offer advice on the transition to college.

(5) Schools should find the resources to ensure opportunities for professional development. Counselors must know the latest trends and changes to admission policies, financial aid, and more.

(6) School districts must release counselors to visit campuses regularly, to better understand the social, academic, and community aspects of the college and be better able to advise students and families.

These six recommendations would go a long way to improving counseling by supporting the training and professional development of college counselors and recognizing the limits to effective advice when one is over-worked and under-supported.

Because the educational consulting community supports great counseling for every child, we hope that these changes—which Independent Educational Consultant Association members already benefit from—are extended to school counselors, and we stand with our professional colleagues as they seek the resources they need to more effectively serve students in finding great college matches.

by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, IECA

A number of important deadlines are approaching at week’s end that affect consultants, admission representatives, and exhibitors alike.

First, the deadline for regular IECA conference registration is this Friday, October 9. After this date, there will be a late fee, so those planning to attend should get their registrations in as soon as possible. Also those who register after this date will not be listed in the onsite conference guidebook, always a valuable resource for attendees. In addition, the deadline to reserve rooms at the conference hotel, using the discounted conference rate is fast approaching. Hotel information is provided at the conclusion of the online registration process.

The deadline is fast approaching for vendors: those who supply goods and services to consultants, schools, admission offices, etc. Vendors get a complete description in the conference guide, but must have their materials submitted by week’s end to be included. The deadline is upon us for advertising in the conference guide, space should be reserved immediately.

Those already registered should examine their schedules, as time to sign up for any of the pre-conference events is also drawing to a close. There are a limited number of spaces available for consultants to attend the speed meetings, with tremendous interest among traditional schools and programs (for Wednesday morning) and therapeutic schools and programs (for Thursday afternoon). With so much interest and excitement building over the speed meetings, pre-registration is required.

Additional pre-conference opportunities include: school tours (Monday and Tuesday), Colleges Tours (Monday-Wednesday), and pre-conference programs on testing, financial aid, and customer service remain open, but with limited seating. Those who already registered should use their confirmation information to access their online account and add a pre-conference event.

As of this morning, registration for the conference has topped 925, suggesting total attendance over 1,100 is possible. IECA conferences offer the unique opportunity to connect with not only educational consultants, but traditional day and boarding schools, college admission officers, and administrators of schools and programs for students with learning disabilities, and programs for students with emotional or behavioral issues.

We look forward to welcoming everyone to Charlotte, NC for an exceptional gathering next month!

by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, IECA

From the SSATB Annual Conference, Washington DC

The nation’s leading independent schools have gathered here to discuss current

Jody Dobson, Mark Sklarow, and Georgia Irvin at the SSATB Conference

trends. The conference comes at an anxious time for the nation’s private day and boarding schools. With the economy continuing to struggle, nearly half of the schools have seen inquires and enrollments decline as compared to last year. Many of the others indicate that they maintained or increased enrollment only by providing increased financial aid—even on a temporary basis.

The key topics targeted at this gathering include marketing, data-driven admissions (from test scores to demographics), school leadership, recruitment of future students, assessment of applicants, use of technology and, of course, the impact of the economy.

I’ll be presenting a short piece later today that will explore how the world of secondary school educational consulting has changed in the last two decades, as well as how schools can best work with the consulting community today. Among other topics, I’ll explore how the traditional “admission funnel” does not apply to working with consultants and why messages about the school’s strengths and weaknesses need to be on point and far more specific than information readily available to the general public.

IECA’s roots began with the consultant/boarding school relationship, and this remains a central, core reason the profession exists. I hope in my presentation that I’m able to build on that history in the best interests of the schools and the students we serve.

by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, IECA

About 100 educational consultants gathered together for the annual meeting of their “Special Interest Group” during the NACAC Conference. The hour-long lunch meeting was dedicated to a discussion of pro-bono and other community service models, reflecting the near universal commitment educational consultants make to service (a recent survey of members of the Independent Educational Consultants Association showed that more than 90% did some pro-bono work).

Chaired by San Francisco consultant Jane McClure, a panel of five consultants, led by Katelyn Klapper (IECA, MA) provided various models of service, including community-based organizations promoting college access, national organizations assisting under-served communities, no-fee service for foster children, sliding scale fees to serve those struggling financially, and more.

Among those sharing such models were IECA members Leslie Kent (VA), Joan Koven (PA) and Liz Zucker (MA).

Stephanie Sabga, a Denver-based consultant shared her experiences, doing a wonderful job synthesizing the difficulties in effective volunteer outreach—and providing terrific ideas on how to overcome these difficulties.

Leaving the room at its conclusion, IECA Foundation Chair Steve Antonoff (IECA, CO) commented on how much he wished all attendees at NACAC could have seen the presentation and learned of the commitment consultants make to service.

by Mark H. Sklarow, Executive Director, Independent Educational Consultants Association

A number of questions have found their way to the office, often through Committee Chairs, regarding the registration fee for the pre-conference workshops, speed meetings, and tours prior to the 2009 Fall Conference. I am happy to respond as best I can.

Pre-Conference Workshops

The most prominent question has been why we are charging for pre-conference workshops, saying that ‘they were always free in the past.’ This is a bit confusing because the pre-conference, half-day workshops have virtually NEVER been offered at no cost. Only last spring, at the depth of the recession did will offer three “surviving the recession” workshops for college, school, and therapeutic consulting as a special effort given the economy. Prior to that, over 15 years and more than 40 pre-conference workshops, a fee has been charged.

Occasionally over the years there has been a corporate, school, or foundation sponsor for these pre-conference workshops. Those sponsorships allowed us to reduce the cost of participation to $20 or $25. What ARE the costs?  Because this is a pre-conference event, not covered by conference fees, there is often a rental cost to the meeting room, and the cost of projectors and LCD panels, usually costing more than $1,000. Even a simple coffee break, at hotel rates, runs nearly $20 per attendee. When you add in print materials, handouts, and a few other direct costs, the per person expense for such a workshop is between $67 and $75. Thus, we charged $75 for members and a bit more for non-member consultants and school representatives. We do not expect to make money off of these pre-conference events, but it is difficult to justify why a half-day training for as few as 20 or 30 individuals should be subsidized by everyone else.

It’s worth noting that I regularly compare IECA’s pricing with that of other national associations. The typical rate for a half-day workshop is between $175 and $250, making these programs a relative bargain. For most associations, fees are meant to include indirect costs: staffing, planning time, etc. that we do NOT work into the expense.

A quick but important word: Some have assumed that the fees paid go to the presenters. I want to ensure that everyone knows that those presenting the pre-conference workshops in Charlotte (Laura Seese and Marcia Rubinstien: Assessing Psycho-Ed Evals; Cyndy McDonald and Claire Law: What’s New in Financial Aid; and Beth Black presenting twice on quality service based on what she learned at Disney) are not being paid anything. All are doing presentations because they care about the field, want to serve their colleagues, and desire to give back. All should be applauded for their selfless commitment and we are incredibly grateful!

Campus Tours

We recently raised the cost of pre-conference tours from $90 for two-and-a-half days to $105. This cost does not come close to covering the actual cost. A bus rental for the day typically runs $2,500, materials, supplies, and other costs add another $400 or so. What appears to be a school-sponsored lunch is often actually paid for by IECA (like the box lunch this spring). No wonder another organization recently charged more than double our rate for their days of touring. Again, while we commit probably 50-100 hours of staff time to campus tours, none of this indirect cost is passed on to participants, something most other organizations do.

Earlier I explained the cost of the speed meetings. For those who missed it:

Why do schools pay $175 to participate in Speed Meetings? Because this is a pre-conference activity, there are expenses beyond the normal conference expense that are incurred. Food and beverages to be served during the event, audio-visual costs, printing, ballroom rental, and more need to be covered. What we are very pleased about is that we can give this opportunity for schools to meet one-on-one with perhaps 20 consultants for a fee that is about 10% of what schools pay to be part of larger fly-in programs with similar goals. We think this smaller amount means that many smaller schools with limited budgets can take part in the program. In terms of return-on-investment, this allows a school to meet with up to 20 consultants at a cost of about $8.75 per meeting. It’s worth noting that well over 100 schools and programs have applied to participate.

Why do consultants have to pay $35 to participate? First, we do think asking consultants to pay some of the cost of the food breaks is fair. More importantly, we have found over the years that when we offer programs at no charge, there is a large no-show rate of up to 40%. If it were a presentation in a classroom, lots of empty chairs may be embarrassing but the program could go on to a successful conclusion. With pre-scheduled one-on-one meetings, a 40% no-show rate would mean that many schools, that paid registration fees with the promise of back-to-back Speed Meetings, would find themselves without the promised consultant 40% of the time—an unacceptable result. So we sought to balance a fair, small fee but one that we hope guarantees that those who register will show up.

I hope this answers your questions. We consider it to be a trust between us that IECA will work hard to keep costs down, and deliver superior programming. We appreciate your interest and appreciate your questions.

by Mark H. Sklarow, Executive Director, IECA

Does any company in the world do a better job of customer serve than Disney?  Personally (and I have nearly a dozen trips to Walt Disney World under my belt to justify my certainty), I don’t think anyone comes close to their approach to over-performing for their customers or the training they offer their associates. What are the secrets to Disney’s storied success in this area? A presentation for a pre-conference workshop at IECA’s Fall Conference will allow one former employee and trainer to provide her insights as to how you can step-up the customer orientation of your school, college, therapeutic program, or educational consulting practice. [Schools, colleges and consultants on Wednesday morning November 11; Therapeutic schools and programs on Thursday afternoon November 12 in Charlotte, NC.]

Understanding which tests provide the most valued and useful information about your LD students is critical for any professional, whether a school, program, or consultant. This advanced-level pre-conference workshop will go far below a surface review of popular tests to explore their relative benefits and strategies for use. Taught by two of the most respected experts in the country: Marcia Rubinstien and Laura Seese on Wednesday November 11.

Given the current economy, it should be no surprise that understanding the changes taking place in financial aid are critical for anyone working in college placements. This session, designed for those who already possess a basic knowledge of financial aid, will examine new trends and formulas.This session also will be led by two of the field’s most knowledgeable practitioners: Claire Law and Cyndy McDonald, on Wednesday morning November 11.

In my blog on Wednesday, I wrote about other pre-conference opportunities: speed meetings for traditional, junior, and LD boarding schools (Wednesday) and Therapeutic Programs (Thursday).

Registration for all pre-conference sessions is conducted online with conference registration.If you already signed up for the conference and wish to add a pre-conference session, follow the directions to change your selections found on your conference confirmation, or send an e-mail to Rachel Diamond at rachel@IECAonline.com.

by Emily Snyder, IECA (Virginia)

Today’s edition of Inside Higher Ed includes a partisan yet objective assessment of both the appreciation for and concerns with the Congressional bill to restructure student aid programs.

It may be somewhat of a long read for anyone not interested in the “how did this come about” politicking that goes on behind the passing of legislation, but it does cover the basics and explain the issues that are generating the most amount of concern.

Even for college consultants who don’t include financial aid counseling and advice as part of the services they offer, this article still provides a sense of the complexity of the issues and will help everyone better understand who will be most impacted and what all students in search of—and most importantly in need of—funding for college will be up against as more families than ever compete for an increasingly smaller pool of available federal and state money.