Table of Contents

• High Stakes for Schools
• What Colleges are Doing to Fight Student Debt
• The Impact on Students
• Tactics for Fighting Student Debt

It’s no secret that student loans are out of control. We’ve now reached $1 trillion in student debt, and that hurts new grads at the start of their careers. Many graduates struggle to balance education debt with major purchases, including homes and cars, and some even move back in with their parents or delay marriage and children. These struggles affect not just new grads, but the entire economy, as experts believe that marriage and family are vital building blocks of a healthy financial environment. And this isn’t a just a problem that goes on for a few years after graduation: student loan debts often take about 20 years to pay down.

Clearly, student debt is a real problem. So who’s responsible? While it’s easy to point to schools with rising tuition as the root of the student debt problem, it’s not fair to say that all colleges are irresponsible participants. There are many colleges working creatively to reduce, or even eliminate, student debt.

High Stakes for Schools

Debilitating student debt doesn’t just hurt graduates; it hurts schools, too. A survey from the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities indicates that student loan troubles are coming between students and higher education. Most colleges — 57% — said they had more than 10 students who had been unable to secure a private loan for the current academic year, and 49 colleges said they had at least 50 students who had been unable to secure loans. Some students find a way to make it work with institutional repayment plans, parent PLUS loans, or troublesome credit cards, but for others, solutions don’t come easy. Almost half of private colleges reported that students are dropping out or switching to part-time status. Further, 17.7% of independent colleges are enrolling fewer returning students than expected.

Schools are feeling the crunch internally as students struggle to find money to enroll and graduate, but there are external pressures as well. Colleges and universities are increasingly being judged on loan debt and default rates. Let these numbers slip, and colleges can lose funding or drop in rankings. Additionally, President Obama put colleges and universities on notice, urging schools to “do their fair share to keep tuition affordable, provide good value, and serve needy students well.”

What Colleges are Doing to Fight Student Debt

While Obama’s presidential directive is just a few months old, several schools have made affordable tuition and a commitment to serving needy students a priority for years. There are a growing number of “no loans” colleges and even colleges that offer free tuition. Other schools provide students with extensive financial literacy education and management programs to keep them on a smart financial path in college and beyond.

Schools Without Loans

Since 2007, Davidson College has offered need-blind admissions, and it meets 100% of demonstrated need for accepted students. Students do not receive loans as part of their financial aid package. Davidson determines an expected family contribution and then provides grant money and work opportunities to meet the students’ needs.

“The impetus was the desire to allow students to come and make a major decision without feeling like that decision had to be dictated by the ability to pay back that loan,” explains senior associate dean and director of financial aid David Gelinas. For a student with a $40,000 need, $2,000 of that need might be made up with work, which is typically study- or community-service-based, and the remaining $38,000 provided by grants. Davidson is ranked No. 12 among national liberal arts colleges by U.S. News & World Report.

Even high-profile universities including The University of Pennsylvania have a no-loans policy, which has been in place since 2008. Penn president Amy Gutmann has made increasing access one of her priorities, and the no-loan program is a big part of that. Like Davidson, Penn combines work-study with grants, meeting 100% of students’ needs without loans.

“It is our firm belief, from President Amy Gutmann and the Board of Trustees, that our no-loan program is the right thing to do nationally and the right thing to do for Penn,” says Joel Carstens, University of Pennsylvania director of financial aid. “We’ve simply allocated the resources necessary because it’s the right thing to do.” Those resources include an undergraduate financial aid budget of $188 million, one that’s grown by 129% since President Gutmann took office in 2004. This growing budget is made possible with the university’s Making History campaign, which includes a $673 million goal for student aid.

“We want to enable students to make career and life decisions based on their interests, talents, and passion — not on whether they’ll make enough money to pay off their student debt,” says Penn president Amy Gutmann. “Especially in these challenging economic times, we want prospective students and their families to know that Penn is affordable.”

While Davidson and Penn allow students to take out loans to meet the expected family contribution or pay for necessities like health insurance, College of the Ozarks has taken a tougher stance with a true no-loans policy. Beginning in the fall 2013 semester, the college will no longer certify private loans for students. For more than 20 years, the college has not participated in federal or state loan programs, but this step completely wipes out the college’s already small debt load. Previously, 10% of graduates left with an average of less than $8,000 in student debt.

Students can pay for tuition with the college’s Work Education Program, which requires students to work 15 hours per week, plus two 40-hour work weeks at a campus job each year. Room and board, books, and the technology fee are the only student costs, but the optional Summer Work Education Program covers the cost of room and board. This program has been very popular: every fall, an average of 4,000 applicants compete for only 350 spots.

Effective Financial Management and Education

Restricting loans is useful for preventing student debt, but helping students create sound financial foundations is even smarter. Most colleges offer some sort of financial education resource to students, often aimed at incoming freshmen, but some schools take it a step further with money management courses, personal budget and repayment plans, and special assistance for financially at-risk students.

At Tidewater Community College, students must complete personal budget worksheets before the college will certify any loans. These worksheets require the students to create a realistic budget as well as a post-graduation repayment plan that fits within their projected salary.

“There has always been a little bit of disconnect between borrowing money and the obligation of repayment that comes up years later,” said Tidewater president Deborah DiCroce. Requiring students to see the full financial picture helps to ease that disconnect and makes students understand that the financial decisions they make in college can have a lifelong impact.

Other schools offer assistance and education to students who are demonstrating financial trouble. Syracuse University identifies students who are overborrowing from private lenders. These students are given generous direct grants for future semesters, but in return, they are required to attend money management courses until graduation. Students are also encouraged to find alternative sources of funding, including scholarships. This approach allows Syracuse to identify the students that are most at risk for serious financial trouble after graduation, stopping overborrowing before it becomes a real problem.

Special Programs for Low-Income Students

Assistance programs for low-income students are another popular approach for keeping student loans to a minimum. At the University of Florida, nearly two-thirds of students graduate with no debt, and those who do carry debt have an average load of $17,000, well below the national average of $27,000. This is made possible by a combination of factors, including below-average tuition, Florida’s state-run Bright Futures scholarship program, and the university’s low-income Florida Opportunity Scholars program.

Florida Opportunity Scholars provides a full ride to students who are the first in their families to go to college and whose family income is less than $40,000 a year. University of Florida senior director of media relations Steve Orlando explains, “If money is standing in the way of students going to school, we want to remove that problem for them.” In six years, this program has helped more than 2,600 students.

Tufts University also offers special resources for low-income undergrads, replacing student loans with scholarship grants. All undergraduates whose family income is below $40,000 are eligible.

The policy “enable[s] some of the neediest families in America to send their children to Tufts. It reflects Tufts’ enduring mission to provide access to students from diverse economic backgrounds,” says dean of undergraduate admissions Lee Coffin. The 2011 class, the first to benefit from this policy, was the most socio-economically diverse class in Tufts history.

The Impact on Students

Financial programs that fight student debt, whether they’re no-loans policies, financial education, or special resources for low-income students open access to students, and often at schools that might have otherwise been out of reach for students. These programs also offer unique educational opportunities that develop skills students will need after graduation, including financial management and work experience.

“Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that I’d be able to go to Penn. Because of the generous financial aid Penn offered me, I now have had the opportunity to study here, learn so many new things, and meet many great people,” shares Penn student Michael Keramidas.

Schools that have implemented programs that combat student debt typically attract a more diverse socioeconomic student body, as evidenced by Tufts’ 2011 class. They’re not the only ones. “We’re seeing a wider socioeconomic range in our applicant pool than we used to,” reports Davidson College representative Gelinas.

Colleges with work-study programs like Davidson, Penn, and College of the Ozarks present more than just a great financial opportunity: they offer valuable work experience as well. This is more useful now than ever, as employers are increasingly seeking out candidates with both education and real life experience.

“Students who graduate from Hard Work U are at a distinct advantage upon graduation. They are well-educated, hard-working and are not burdened with debt. They can enter the work force and their communities and be producers and influencers,” explains College of the Ozarks representative Elizabeth Hughes.

As College of the Ozarks president Jerry Davis says proudly, “We’re a work college, not a debt college.”

Tactics for Fighting Student Debt

Graduating from college debt free isn’t a feat for a select few: it’s something that any student can do. Granted, it’s not easy, but it is possible. Making a commitment to avoid debt and taking advantage of every financial opportunity available to you can really pay off. Here’s how you can make it work:

• Just say no to debt. Yes, it is possible. Simply commit to avoiding student debt, and explore every available resource for funding that doesn’t require a loan. There are a growing number of educational options that do not require student debt, and we no longer live in a world where loans are the primary financial option for students. We’ve profiled some of the best educational programs with alternative resources, but they’re not the only ones. Many top schools have endowments and alumni donations that make generous grants possible, and smaller schools are often lean and resourceful enough to make financial programs work, whatever it takes. Popular schools without student debt include: Davidson College, University of Pennsylvania, College of the Ozarks, Princeton University, Berea College, and Cooper Union.
• Build a strong educational resume. Debt-free college options are available, but don’t assume it will be easy to get in. Top programs like Princeton and Penn are ultra-competitive. College of the Ozarks denies 3,650 of its 4,000 annual applicants. It’s difficult to get accepted to one of these schools, but don’t let that deter you from pursuing what they have to offer. Instead, rise to meet the challenge by working hard to create an educational resume that makes schools want to invest in you. Boost your GPA and become a well-rounded student with extracurriculars and volunteering projects. Take part in independent learning resources like massive open online courses (MOOCs) to show your initiative and commitment to education.
• Seek out every option available. We’ve discussed several school based grants, but there’s so much more out there. A seemingly endless array of scholarships are available for every student imaginable. Whether you’re the tallest in your class, have a knack for duct tape fashion, or demonstrate strong academic potential or financial need, there’s a scholarship for you. Plan to spend a significant portion of your junior and senior year of high school searching for and applying to scholarships. Be relentless in your pursuit. The money is out there, and often, all you have to do is ask for it.
• Don’t assume any school is out of reach. Low-income students often make the mistake of quickly dismissing the Tufts and Princetons of the world, assuming that they just can’t make such a high-profile (and likely expensive) option work. But the truth is that top programs are often more than willing to make an investment in bright students’ education, especially those that come from a low-income background. For many top universities, if you can get in, they’ll find a way to make it work for you financially, often without debt. Don’t be shy. Apply, and discuss your options with the financial aid office of each school you’re accepted to. You may be pleasantly surprised to find generous grants, scholarship options, and work-study programs that do not require student loans.
• Create your own work-study program. Many schools replace student loans with work-study requirements, but if your school of choice doesn’t have this type of program, there’s nothing stopping you from doing it on your own. A part-time job or paid internship can help you gain experience, learn valuable time management skills, and of course, allow you to pay for school, in full or in part.

Sixty-eight percent of students in the U.S. graduate from college with debt, and on average, they carry about $26,000 worth of student loans, most of which will take up to 20 years to pay off. But you don’t have to suffer the same fate. The options are out there: you, too, can say no to student debt.

The post The Best Colleges for Fighting Student Debt appeared first on The Best Colleges.

Table of Contents

• Is Graduating Early for You?
• The Schools
• Advice for Staying Ahead

According to The American, getting students through college in three years instead of the typical four years will greatly benefit the nation’s lethargic economy. As author Reuven Brenner points out, if the 4 million students who complete college earn an average of $20,000 annually, that could mean an additional $80 million stimulation. Higher salaries would obviously mean even more of a boost.

Many colleges and universities provide accelerated degree plans for students hoping to enter the work force. Not surprisingly, adult learners between 25 and 54 love the idea of these programs. A 2008 Eduventures study noted that 21% considered themselves “very likely” to enroll, and a further 32% claimed to be “likely.” Because these degree plans usually take between 15 months and three years to complete, depending on whether students opt for an associate or a bachelor’s, the “nontraditional” demographic finds them especially appealing. On average, adult learners are about 38.8 years old, married, and holding full-time jobs with an average salary of $76,800. One-third of them are parents of children under 18 who live at home. Sixty-five percent want to attend school in order to improve their salaries and performance in their current jobs, and 36% want to switch careers.

Is Graduating Early for You?

The obvious advantage to graduating early is entering the workforce as soon as possible and finding a job that much sooner. Even for students within the “traditional” age range with no kids or spouses, the possibility of saving money and time is certainly appealing. The College Affordability and Transparency Center, run by the Department of Education, can give you an estimate of how much traditional degrees will cost and how much you might save by abbreviating your academic careers.

But it takes more than just a desire for more time and a comfortable nest egg to fit in with an accelerated degree plan. Most programs court the career-driven who already hold a solid idea of what they want to accomplish post-graduation. Students unsure about their career goals would more than likely benefit from a traditional setup, as it provides them with more time, training, and guidance to make decisions.

“Balancing work, family, and coursework is always a challenge,” says Deann Sterner, Director of Academic Advising, Undergraduate Programs, at Bellevue University. Accelerated degree plans require just as many credit hours as their predecessors. Participants usally have to sacrifice summer vacations, sign up for minimesters, and/or take a larger-than-usual course load to finish within the given time and GPA parameters.

“Start planning early,” says Susan Strehle, Interim Vice Provost and Dean of Binghamton University’s Graduate School. “If you have even the slightest interest in obtaining your bachelor’s and master’s degrees in one shot, and you have some ideas about what you would like to study or what career you would enjoy, start talking to your advisor, professors, or another campus professional that you feel comfortable expressing your interests with.”

She adds, “Most programs require that your coursework be planned in a very specific manner with an advisor, and in order to ensure that all requirements are met on time, this advising process usually starts early in the academic career.”

Different schools offer different degrees in their accelerated programs. Some provide associate, bachelor’s, and graduate diplomas, though many programs blend undergraduate and graduate options. The Eduventures study noted that the adult students who find the accelerated offerings most appealing are more likely to pursue a bachelor’s degree. Most colleges and universities limit which majors are available in these programs, so anyone interested in a specific school should see if they even offer the degree in their chosen field.

The Schools

Binghamton University

“Approximately 50 students per year take advantage of Binghamton‘s accelerated degree options. We expect this number to grow substantially in the coming years,” says Strehle. “Currently, the most popular accelerated programs are Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Engineering to MBA 4+1.”

The school’s fast-track program blends a bachelor’s degree with a master’s and takes five years to complete. More than 50 majors are available, covering a diverse range of science, humanities, liberals arts, business, and performing arts subjects.

Tuition at Binghamton, part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system, “is variable and dependent on multiple factors, such as residency requirements or extra fees for particular programs.”

Strehle explains Binghamton’s payment options: “The structure of the Accelerated Degree option allows students to pay the rate of undergraduate study for the first four years of the program, and then students will pay the graduate rate for their fifth and final year.” She cites $41,394 for in-state tuition and $85,305 for out-of-state, noting that these figures only represent the “total cost of tuition and mandatory fees only for four years of undergraduate rates and one year of graduate rates.” Take them only as “rough estimates based off of the average tuition rates, and do not include estimates for room and board.”

Bellevue University

Nebraska-based Bellevue University accepts students with either 60 credit hours or an associate degree into its accelerated degree program. Those who do not meet these criteria may still catch up through military service, CLEP tests, or other equivalencies. Seventeen bachelor of science (BS) and two master of science (MS) degrees are available, with all of them available online and all but three with brick-and-mortar options. Most of the majors center around business, health care, and law and criminal justice. For the 2013-2014 school year, enrollees can expect to pay about $16,875 in tuition and fees, though the number might fluctuate based on hours taken and other variables.

“Approximately 3,000 students currently attend Bellevue University in undergraduate accelerated programs,” says Sterner. “Popular majors include: business, behavioral health science, heath care management, and project management.” No matter their majors or professional goals goals, they are welcome to hit up Career Services for “free assistance with resume writing, interviewing and career exploration.”

What makes Bellevue’s accelerated program stand out is its “cohort major” structure. This helps build camaraderie between students in the time it takes to wrap up a degree. “In a cohort major, a student will begin with a group of students and proceed through the entire major together on a set schedule,” she says. “The convenience of being enrolled in all of the required major classes at the start minimizes scheduling and streamlines financial details.”

Bellevue also has a new Flexxive Business Administration major that emphasizes self-pacing. Students choose the number of courses they’ll take for each six-month session. Those in the program also have access to faculty members and student coaches for guidance.

Temple University

Temple University’s accelerated programming options cover an extensive range of subjects and degree plans, including bachelor’s, bachelor’s combined with a master’s, bachelor’s and a professional degree, and bachelor’s with a master’s and teaching certification. However, potential students need to know that the school does not integrate curricula: students are expected to complete all the required classes for each degree, though some flexibility might be afforded when it comes to electives.

Students in blended degree plans receive their diplomas as they complete the necessary courses. Finish the bachelor’s portion, for example, and you receive the bachelor’s degree and proceed directly to the graduate level. Programs are divided into how many years each individual diploma takes; 4+1 means four for bachelor’s, one for master’s; 3+2 means three for bachelor’s, two for master’s; and so forth. Some undergraduates may be able to count up to 12 credit hours from their graduate program into the bachelor’s, which expedites the process.

As expected, students hoping to enter the work force early enjoy access to the Career Center just like their peers in non-accelerated programs. There, they can meet one-on-one with an advisor for mock interviews, resume assistance, information regarding upcoming job fairs, social media advice, and other services.

University of Michigan

Although University of Michigan’s accelerated offerings are not as diverse as some of their peers’, they deserve mention for high standards. In the psychology department, faculty members must invite students to participate. Once approved, students may begin taking graduate-level or upper-level statistics courses that count toward a master’s degree. Only seniors may enter the program, and if accepted, they will be eligible for grants and financial aid. Standard tuition and fees apply.

Michigan’s other notable accelerated degree plan targets individuals who already hold a bachelor’s or graduate degree and who aspire to become nurses. Known as the Second Career Program (SCP), it takes 16 months of intensive classroom study and hands-on training in actual clinical settings. Graduates exit the program ready to pursue licensing as registered nurses (RN), which requires an exam.

Enrollees in the SCP receive additional mentoring through the Second Career Alumni Mentoring Program (SCAMP). This initiative pairs up students with alumni already working within the nursing profession for guidance far beyond what career services departments offer. They provide professional insight meant to nurture up-and-coming nurses, answering questions, proffering advice, and even assisting in the job hunt.

Mississippi College

Because of its flexible evening schedule, Mississippi College is an especially viable fit for the working adults comprising their target audience. It offers six degree plans — five of them centering about business-related subjects and one in sociology — and classes occur in the evenings, twice a week. This structure allows students to knock out 30 required classes annually, compared with 24 for students in more traditional programs.

Tuition for the 2012-2013 school year runs $386 per credit hour, with a registration fee of $76 per session and a $25 technology fee for six hours or more and $15 a semester for under six hours. Participants in the accelerated program may consult Career Services should they desire further advice about their post-graduation options.

Boston University

Perfect for both “traditional” students and working adults returning to school, Boston University‘s accelerated degree plan wraps up a bachelor’s degree in as little as two years. The time investment requires two summers and four semesters, and the majors available are computer science and management studies. Like Bellevue University, Boston U’s students take courses within the “cohort” model, where they study alongside the same classmates the full two years.

Students who complete their accelerated degrees with a 3.0 GPA are guaranteed admission into Boston U’s graduate program for their subject. For adults going back to college to improve their job skills training and career opportunities, the school works with many corporations for tuition reimbursement.

Albertus Magnus College

Albertus Magnus College began providing accelerated degree plans and certifications for working adults in 1985. Participants may attend courses online, through a blended option, or face-to-face. Majors include a wide assortment of business and communications subjects, psychology, sociology, English, general studies, philosophy, religion, and humanities, and may be completed at the associate’s or bachelor’s level. There are also three certificate programs available — human resource management, management information systems, and business administration.

Participants choose between “team-based” and “modular” formats, depending on their circumstances. The former offers intensive courses that last between five to six weeks, while the latter allows them to choose two classes per every eight weeks. Albertus Magnus does accept a limited amount of transfer credits, and will count CLEP and DANTES exams as credit toward the accelerated degree.

For the modular format, students can expect to pay $1,398 for every three-credit course, a $50 application fee, and a $6 information technology fee per credit hour. Those opting for the team-based approach pay $408 per credit hour for tuition, a $50 application fee, a $50 registration fee, $6 per credit hour for an IT fee, and a $150 per course resource fee.

Albright College

At Albright College, students hoping to wrap up their degrees on time may take one of two paths. The Accelerated Degree Completion Program (DCP) offers bachelor’s degrees in six majors, requiring between 40 and 44 credit hours per semester, and classes meet for four hours one evening a week for five to seven weeks — supplemented by online learning. It takes an estimated 20-24 months to complete the program, which specifically targets adults over the age of 23 with work experience. In fact, if they already hold an associate degree, the school automatically qualifies them for a $2,500 scholarship. DCP is also a cohort learning model, with between nine and 15 students per class. Tuition covers absolutely everything, including textbooks and fees, and applies to all 10 campuses. How much students will spend hinges on their major.

Available on five campuses, the Degree Start Program only accelerates general studies courses to help students complete their bachelor’s faster. Like the DCP, it involves a four-hour blended class one day a week for seven weeks. Each class is worth four credits, so they wrap up the required classes quickly; Albright only accepts students with 48 or fewer credit hours. Best of all, along with the comprehensive tuition, enrollees receive a free course if they finish three Degree Start classes less than 12 months after finishing their first one. This could save them an average of $1,560.

University of Indianapolis

Enrollees in the accelerated degree program at the University of Indianapolis attend classes one night a week for five weeks, with new cycles starting every nine weeks. They may transfer in up to 30 credit hours from other schools or qualify via life experience, but they still need 124 hours to complete a bachelor’s degree. Available diplomas include a bachelor’s of science in organizational leadership, a bachelor’s of liberal studies, and an associate in life science. UIndy also allows students to mix accelerated with traditional courses. For the 2012-2013 academic year, the tuition for each accelerated class is $300 per credit hour.

The time breakdown the school recommends may not necessarily reflect every institution with an accelerated program. It does, however, provide insight into how many of these degree plans work. Traditional classrooms in a 14-week semester require an average of nine hours outside of class for every three hours inside. Accelerated courses lasting five weeks need 30 hours outside of class for every four hours inside.

Advice for Staying Ahead

“These programs are most beneficial for anyone who will need an advanced degree … in order to achieve a certain personal goal or occupation because they reduce the amount of time required to reach that stage in life,” says Strehle. “Typically, students who find the most success in these programs are those who are committed to their own education, have specific professional/career goals that they are working toward, and have good time management and organizational skills.”

If you want to thrive in an accelerated degree program and graduate early, you’ll need to follow a few guidelines:

• Plan ahead: Because accelerated degrees drop students right into the workforce in three years or fewer, participants really need to know where they’re headed. Without a solid plan in place, major snags could entirely derail your educational pursuits. It’s also important to not lose sight of your ultimate professional aspirations, either.
• Have specific career goals in mind: Not every accelerated degree inherently targets adult learners hoping to bolster their careers, but the programs’ structures make them a more viable option for them over “traditional” demographics. Students still trying to sample different fields — or who prefer interdisciplinary routes — will probably not work in these environments. The most successful graduates from an accelerated program know how the degrees fit in with their professional plans. Once you’re committed to a fast-track major, there isn’t much time to switch over to something else.
• Manage time: This is the single most important factor in determining accelerated degree success. Poorly managed time wrecks an academic program. If you have kids, a job, or other responsibilities that might infringe upon completing classes or homework, you might want to ask the school how much time their accelerated degrees require before applying. In Sterner’s words: ” Allow time for study. More is expected of students in a short amount of time, so set realistic goals for study time each week.”
• Manage stress: Accelerated programs are significantly more intense than their traditional counterparts. Planning ahead will help combat much of the anxiety that students might incur while enrolled. Especially if said planning ahead involves scheduling some rest. Your body and mind alike will appreciate the respite.
• Ask for help: Reaching out to faculty members, other students, and even professionals will save valuable time and cut back on potentially debilitating stress. In an accelerated program especially, you cannot afford to lose precious hours or days trying to solve a problem you find particularly baffling.
• Take part in study groups: Even students enrolled in cohort modules can benefit from the camaraderie and support study groups provide. Participation helps everyone involved sharpen their knowledge of subjects with which they might struggle. Sterner agrees: “Engage with faculty and fellow students. While this is required to meet minimum requirements for passing each course, take the opportunity to connect, network and learn.”

Career-driven students capable of handling intensive workloads should consider accelerated degree plans. So many of them provide far more flexibility than the traditional diploma while saving enrollees money and, ultimately, time. They’re options well worth exploring for the up-and-coming or established professional who wants all the skills without spending too much of their lives in the classroom.

The post The Best Colleges for Graduating Early appeared first on The Best Colleges.

However, not all college degrees take the same amount of time and effort or are the most

With these caveats in mind, we created a weighted formula that helped us rank 10 general college majors from easiest to hardest. We’ve updated this list using a formula that should create a more accurate picture of a major’s degree of difficulty. Using available data from the National Center for Education Statistics, we were able to identify three helpful categories: the average GPA within a major, the average time it took to complete a degree in that major, and the amount of work and leisure time students could afford while studying in that major. We assumed that more difficult majors result in lower average GPAs, longer completion times, and less time for outside activities, and developed the formula with that in mind.

The Easiest

1. Education: While we don’t ascribe to the idea that those who can’t do, teach, our research confirms years of evidence that those students who arrive in college with the lowest average SAT scores and graduate with the highest grades tend to be education majors. Education courses emphasize skills like oral presentation and classroom management, which, although they may be difficult for certain personality types, fall into the category of hard to master but easy enough to learn.
2. Humanities: Sorry, humanities majors: not only do you have to deal with constant queries about what you plan to do with your dance, English, or classics degree, as a group you’re one of the easiest majors a student can sign up for. The average GPA for humanities students trumped even education for highest percentage of students in the 3.5+ bracket. The good news is despite calls to shutter humanities departments because of a perceived weakness in degree marketability in the job market, a growing body of commentators is calling for more students to enter the field.
3. Math: With the third-highest rate of GPAs in the 3.5+ category and tied for the lowest median completion time, math lands in the easy category, popular belief notwithstanding. Math majors sail through college quickly and make good grades, even though nearly a quarter of them that work do so for more than 40 hours a week. It could be that the way many math subjects relate to and build on one another makes them easier for majors and difficult for non-majors who merely take a course or two.
4. Computer/information science: The inclusion of CIS in the “easiest” category may surprise some readers, but the major clocks the fifth-highest average GPA while recording the highest percentage of students working or doing leisure activities outside class for at least 40 hours per week. Because the major covers a broad range of topics on technology and information systems, graduates can land positions in tech support, information security, network administration, and elsewhere. But because it is a broad area, industry pros say becoming a programmer, for example, requires the more in-depth study involved in a computer science (CS) degree.
5. Health: The difficult years of schooling doctors have to endure before donning the scrubs are well-documented. But for those who wish to work a little more indirectly in the healthcare industry, there is this somewhat easier bachelor’s degree. Holders of a B.S. in health administration study to work on the business side, dealing with human resources and hospital operations. A B.S. in health and wellness allows more direct contact with “patients” but in a much lower-risk, preventative care environment that is more general in scope than the one a heart surgeon works in, for example.

The Hardest

1. Engineering: Congratulations, engineers, now you finally have some proof for what you’ve been telling everyone all along: yours is the hardest major. From chemical to civil to electrical to mechanical, the courses you take in chemistry, physics, calculus, statistics, geology, biology, and other tough prereqs give you the lowest rate of As and the highest rate of Cs for any major. Because of this, the path has a notoriously high dropout rate some have pegged as high as 60% per year.
2. Life sciences: It’s a rare student who doesn’t find at least one or two concepts that trip him up in cell biology class. The life sciences include anatomy, biochemistry, neuroscience, biology, genetics, zoology, and more tricky subjects, landing this field just behind engineering on the low GPA spectrum. Many graduates of a life sciences path go on to careers in the medical, dental, or veterinary fields, which famously require as many as seven or eight more years of difficult schooling, internship, and residency after a bachelor’s degree is earned.
3. Business & management: You may think what your boss does is not difficult at all, and you may be right; a degree in management is probably not what makes this category a difficult one. It more likely lands here thanks to the challenges of getting a degree in finance or accounting. Either way, the data shows well below half of business and management students are able to pull off a 3.5 or better, and they average the second-longest amount of time in which students complete their degrees.
4. Physical sciences: Physics, chemistry, and geology all fold into this major, making it one of the hardest paths to take on in college. With the lowest percentage of students able to work full-time (more than 30 hours a week) and the fourth-lowest rate of students with GPAs over 3.5, majoring in this field proves to be a challenging undertaking. And the uphill battle doesn’t end after graduation. A glut of graduates, a poor economy, and a move toward cleaner energy has created a troubling outlook for chemistry majors.
5. Social/behavioral sciences: This category seems to be a popular choice for students seeking an easy A, but they could do so more easily by picking something else. The social and behavioral sciences encapsulate what are sometimes known as the “soft sciences”: psychology, economics, sociology, anthropology, and political science. Although they are much more closely related by GPA to some of the easy major entries than they are to engineering, the social and behavioral sciences house the fourth-lowest number of fulltime workers and are tied for shortest median degree completion time.

The post Top 10 Easiest and Hardest College Degree Majors (Updated!) appeared first on The Best Colleges.

Table of Contents

• Cornell University
• Trinity University
• Yale University
• Texas Tech University
• Colorado State University
• California State University San Marcos
• What to Look for in Prospective Colleges

Andrea Schiralli’s parents never went to college. The NYC native’s mother was a foreigner who didn’t complete high school and worked two jobs. Schiralli’s father also worked long, hard hours.

“Basically, I watched my parents throw away 12 years of their lives just so my sister and I could go to college,” she said. “I never felt pressure from them to succeed, but I always just wanted to give everything I could and do my best.”

Schiralli earned her bachelor’s degree from Cornell University in 2010.

University of Michigan sophomore Irwin Tejeda fell in love with the town of Ann Arbor and knew that was where he wanted to attend school. Tejeda is part of the SEO Scholars Program, an eight-year academic program designed to help motivated low-income high school students gain admission to and complete college.

“From the get-go, my parents wanted me to go to college,” he said. “Like most traditional families, the goal was always for my siblings and me to be better than my parents.”

Schiralli and Tejeda are part of the roughly 30% of the nation’s entering freshmen who are first-generation college students, whose parents did not attend college.

College can be scary for first-generation students. They’re treading waters neither they nor their parents navigated before. And statistics show that 89% of low-income first-generation college students leave college within six years without earning a degree. More than one-quarter leave after their first year.

But more schools are recognizing the importance of not only recruiting these students but retaining them for the duration of a degree program. Through counseling programs and outreach initiatives and efforts, graduation rates for first-generation students are in a position to rise.

 

Cornell University

Recruitment efforts at this Ivy League institution in Ithaca, New York, include outreach by multicultural recruitment interns who are undergraduate students at Cornell. They work closely with undergraduate admissions to recruit students from the underrepresented groups at Cornell, which include first-generation students.

Cornell freshman Rafael Wilson, an SEO Scholar, was encouraged by his half-sister to apply to Cornell, where she also attended. He was motivated to apply for college because most of his father’s family went to college and he “didn’t want to feel like the left out one in the family.”

Cornell University also hosts the McNair Scholars Program, which prepares first-generation college students with financial need and other underrepresented groups for doctoral studies through involvement in research and other scholarly activities.

 

Trinity University

The goal of the Allies – First-Generation, Underrepresented Students program at San Antonio’s Trinity University is to educate students about potential challenges they will face in college. These include issues with financial resources, maintaining full- or part-time jobs, remedial courses, and lower GPAs and graduation rates.

The faculty, students, and administrators who make up the program were once first-generation or low-income students. The Allies program has strong alliances with Upward Bound as well as with the admissions and academic affairs departments at the school. In past years, Allies members outreach has included distribution of copies of books specifically for students as well as final-exam care packages for students.

Allies also implemented an early move-in program that allowed first-generation and underrepresented students to move in one day before the rest of students. The extra day allows students and their parents to attend programs where can meet key people from the financial aid office, business office, health services, counseling, and other first-generation and underrepresented students.

 

Yale University

This private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Conn., includes a freshmen population that is 12.1% first-generation students.

Joshua El-Bey, freshman at Yale University and SEO Scholar, chose Yale because it appealed to his interests: strong liberal arts curriculum, resources, and dedication to the environment. But he said what interested him most was the small class sizes, something he didn’t have in high school.

Yale College is the undergraduate program of Yale University. The admissions page of the college’s website offers advice for first-generation college applicants as well as videos from current students who have encountered some of the same obstacles first-generation students like El-Bey may face.

“The biggest obstacle has been myself. Coming from the inner city, from a diverse high school, and a family surrounded by a predominately black culture, I came to Yale with an identity that had to adapt to an institution that was polar opposite it seemed,” El-Bey said. “I had to learn how to use a level of tact that recognized the context I was in so that I could be comfortable around anyone, anywhere.”

 

Texas Tech University

Texas Tech University, in Lubbock, Texas, has made several efforts to attract and retain first-generation students.

Generation Texas (GenTX) is a statewide initiative focused on increasing the rates of college goers, especially for first-generation student groups. Texas Tech is part of South Plains Region of GenTX.

“College students from Texas Tech, known as GenTXperts, have been trained through the program to work with high school students and their parents to prepare for college as well as assist them with resources to apply and pay for college,” said Janie Ramirez, Outreach Programs administrator. “The GenTXperts provide one-on-one assistance as well as provide seminars for classes in the high schools.”

All GenTXperts are first-generation students, and the program provides them with part-time student work through work-study grant funds.

The Mentor Tech program was piloted in 2002 with 46 students and more than 100 mentors. Through faculty and staff mentoring and peer group networking, the program aims to improve retention and graduation rates of all students in the university, with a special focus on first-generation students and other underrepresented groups.

Texas Tech’s PEGASUS Program seeks to make the transition for first-generation college students successful by assigning first-year students a mentor (sophomores, juniors, or seniors) to help them develop peer relationships.

 

Colorado State University

Colorado State University enrolls nearly 30,000 students and was an innovator in reaching out to first-generation students when the school created the First Generation Award in 1984. The award program is only eligible to first-generation students and was created to encourage them to attend college and promote diversity within the university’s student population.

“It’s more than just giving money to a student,” said Mary Ontiveros, CSU’s vice president for diversity and associate vice president for the division of enrollment and access.

First Generation Award recipients are invited to an end-of-the-year banquet. Faculty members are present and the recipients are honored.

“The message given is pretty clear: we care about you, we want you to be successful, and we’re here for you,” Ontiveros said. “Even first-generation students who are not recipients are invited to a dinner in the spring. They come and we show them support for having made it through the year. We want them to come back and be successful.”

CSU also supports its First Generation Faculty. What began as a request for first-generation students to share their experiences through short radio announcements soon turned into numerous faculty members contacting Ontiveros and sharing that they used to be first-generation students and wanted to help current students.

“That became what we call our First Generation Faculty Initiative,” Ontiveros said.

A reception was held for the faculty so they could get to know one another. First generation faculty members meet up periodically to brainstorm ideas and effective ways to help first generation students.

“When we first started hosting the faculty luncheons, we asked them to share a little bit about their story, and it was fascinating how many people felt so much emotion about it,” Ontiveros said. “I spoke with several of the faculty members and they said [being a first-generation student and graduating] was a pretty emotional experience, but they didn’t realize how significant it was because nobody had ever asked them about it.”

Ontiveros said the school has done an incredible amount of work researching why some students are successful and others are not. Regardless of the variable – GPA scores, financial aid, racial/ethnic diversity, gender, etc. – research found that the chances of retention are less for first-generation students.

“This tells us that we need to be vigilant in helping our first-generation students,” she said.

 

California State University San Marcos

California State University San Marcos (CSUSM) is one of the campuses of the California State University system and houses more than 10,000 students. The school plays an active role in retaining its first-generation students through numerous programs and resources:

• Guaranteed Admissions: In 2006, CSUSM partnered with the San Marcos Unified School District to provide students a prescribed pathway to college with guaranteed priority admission to CSUSM if course and GPA requirements are met. Today, that partnership has expanded into ten unique partnerships with local school districts, a Native American tribe, and three foster youth entities. As early as the seventh grade, CSUSM and its partnering school districts work with students to begin thinking about and preparing for college by setting the expectation that they will succeed and providing a clear path on how to get there with the promise of guaranteed admission.
• College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP): This program, offered for first-year students only, aims to help students from migrant and seasonal farm worker backgrounds succeed in college. CAMP is a national program that has helped thousands of students accomplish their educational goals. CSUSM was awarded the CAMP grant in 2002. CAMP offers students pre-college transition and first-year support services to help develop the skills needed to stay in school and successfully graduate from college.
• Educational Opportunity Program (EOP): The EOP focuses on highly motivated, low-income, first-generation students that reflect the local and university community. EOP provides eligible students with a variety of support services intended to assist them toward the goal of attaining a college degree, including an EOP grant, transitional programs, a residential summer bridge experience, mentoring and counseling services, and learning community cohorts.
• TRIO Student Support Services (SSS): SSS offers personal, transitional, and academic support to students from first-generation, low-income, and disability backgrounds, enabling them to persist and graduate from CSUSM. SSS is a TRIO program funded by the Deptartment of Education and has been hosted at CSUSM since 1993.The program provides support to 200 students with a primary purpose to increase the retention and graduation rates of student participants.
• Faculty Mentoring Program: This program serves to enhance the retention and graduation rates of first-generation and economically disadvantaged students by reducing social estrangement and creating a university culture of positive participation and support. One-to-one student-faculty mentoring partnerships are created to foster a supportive environment where mentors provide guidance and encouragement to the students.

 

What to Look for In Prospective Colleges

The important decision on which college to apply for is something that’s best made after extensive research and consideration of numerous factors.

It would benefit first-generation students to speak with their high school guidance counselor or reach out to the financial aid and admissions office of potential colleges to see what kinds of scholarships are available for first-generation students. For example, the Hispanic College Fund and Sallie Mae offer a “First in My Family” scholarship to Hispanic students who are the first in their families to attend college.

Students should seek out schools that offer outreach or counseling programs to help freshmen matriculate into collegiate life. It’s more than just an enrollments numbers game.

“Students should ask themselves, ‘Do these schools care about my success?’ and ‘Is it more important for me to be admitted than to graduate?’” said Ontiveros. “Colleges should really be upfront and share information about their efforts because many students don’t know to ask these questions.”

Though graduating high school is a tremendous accomplishment and should be sense of pride, graduates should keep a forward-thinking mindset before entering college.

“High school graduation is the end of one journey, but we always try to communicate getting accepted into college is just the beginning to another journey,” Ontiveros said. “We find that once the student is admitted to a university, students feel pretty proud of themselves and not really thinking about what the next journey is going to be like.”

First-generation students, especially minority students, should look into different clubs, organizations, and programs at prospective schools that promote diversity. Multicultural offices are a great place to start.

As a first-generation Latina student, Schiralli said she enjoyed the diverse student body and environment at Cornell University.

“Cornell did a great job of having events for people of different backgrounds and despite issues with ‘self-segregating’ ethnicity-based living spaces, diversity was embraced on campus – not ostracized – so I think most students, regardless of background, were able to feel comfortable on campus,” Schiralli said.

First-generation students are not alone in feeling uncertainty their freshmen year, as most new college students battle through the same obstacles. The difference lies in the availability of a parent to offer guidance and advice to these students. First-generation college students might have supportive and loving parents who just don’t have the knowledge that comes from experiencing the pursuit of a four-year degree.

For this reason, higher education institutions that promote the recruitment and retention of first-generation students will benefit not only the students, but the nation as a whole by helping create a more educated workforce and increasing the nation’s population of adults with degrees.

The post The Best Colleges for First-Generation College Students appeared first on The Best Colleges.

Why DIY?

“You can do almost anything with a college degree, but if you can really specialize, it’s … leverage. You can really position yourself,” says Beth Kneller, Deputy Director of City University of New York’s Baccalaureate for Unique and Interdisciplinary Studies.

“Let’s say 100 students are applying for a master’s of fine arts program and 99 of them had art history as their major,” she explains. “The one student who might have had visual arts and cultural anthropology is really going to stand out to the admissions committee.”

DIY degree programs appeal to nearly every traditional and nontraditional student demographic out there. But regardless of their backgrounds, they do tend to have at least one thing in common. Kneller states that aspirant scholars “who have multiple interests” tend to flock to these interdisciplinary diplomas. They find the opportunity to channel their passions in creative ways an alluring prospect — and the increased chances of landing in a dream job or graduate program certainly do not dampen their enthusiasm.

Any aspiring students who believe a self-designed curriculum might fit their needs and wants should explore the programs offered at the following schools.

CUNY

CUNY’s Baccalaureate in Unique and Interdisciplinary Studies department boasts one of the nation’s most successful DIY degree programs. Its emphasis on independent thinking, cross-demographic appeal, flexibility, and devotion to mentorship and career prep all make it an appealing option for the self-driven learner.

“About 80% of our graduates are working in jobs related to their self-designed degrees,” Kneller says. “Fifty percent of our students go on to graduate school … but they also are able to position themselves well for graduate school. In an educational climate where only 60% of college graduates wind up employed in their chosen industries and overall graduate school enrollment is down, these statistics make the school stand out. “Our program is very similar to a graduate school model — where you’re working closely with faculty — so graduate schools like this program a lot.”

Kneller explains in depth how CUNY approaches its DIY degree plan: “It’s an individualized degree program that’s university-wide. There are 19 colleges at the City University of New York. Our students can be matriculated in any of those 19 colleges, but academically, they’re tied to our degree program. Each student works one-on-one with at least one full-time faculty mentor in designing their own curriculum.”

Mentorship is a major focus for the program, too. “The mentors work closely with students on choosing the courses for their individualized majors. So they mentor them from that academic perspective,” she says. “Some mentors work even more closely with their students. Some have co-authored papers with their mentees. Some have spoken at conferences with their mentees. And more often, the mentors are the people who recommend students for graduate school.” This personalized attention combined with full autonomy regarding which professors they can consult draws in a diverse range of applicants and enrollees.

She notes that the Unique and Interdisciplinary Studies program attracts more and more students directly from high school each year. Because K-12 merges subjects together rather than asking for a very narrow concentration, CUNY’s program appears much more comfortable. But despite this perk, this age range still comprises a small portion of the degree plan’s student body.

“We do have ‘traditional’-aged students, maybe 20% of our population,” she says. “Demographically, more than 50% are from minority groups. Maybe 60% are female … They’re drawn from all over the New York tri-state area … They’re equally split between part-time and full-time students.”

Despite the almost completely customizable experience, CUNY does place some barriers around its design-it-yourself degree. Specifically, the designers have to get … well … specific. “Our students have to come to us with a declared major. They can’t be undecided or just doing something very general, like liberal arts,” she says.

And she has no shortage of stories regarding what avenues these innovative, driven students decide to take. “One good example is the student who came to us [and] designed her degree in the sociology of volunteerism, and upon graduating was immediately hired to be the manager of volunteers for New York Cares. She came with that plan in mind — that was her dream job. She studied exactly what she needed to do that job, and New York Cares was incredibly impressed that that was her curriculum,” Kneller says. “So that’s a very typical story for our students. They come with an idea in mind. They focus on that in our degree program. And then they usually have an amazing placement rate at the end.”

Indiana University

Most students interested in Indiana University’s Individualized Major Program begin their interdisciplinary studies as sophomores or juniors, though a few slip in the second semester of their freshman year.

“The type of student we serve has interests that are not represented by any single department or degree option available at IU,” says Paul Aarstad, assistant director of the program. “Many are passionate about some problem like the environment or social justice. Others are interested in creative pursuits, like screenwriting or graphic design. Generally, though, they combine a non-conformist streak with the drive necessary to define their own course of study.”

Like other universities with interdisciplinary programs, mentors play a key role. “All students in the IMP have at least one faculty sponsor of their choosing,” Aarstad says. “The sponsor’s function is to help with the composition of the major (defining its focus, selecting classes), facilitating independent studies, and supervising the final project. In addition, each student is assigned a two-person faculty committee that evaluates the application and final project.” Though depending on the nature of their major, some students may need multiple faculty mentors.

As with most programs, graduation requires a final project – overseen by a faculty advisor – to prove that students expertly synthesized their elected disciplines together. This could be a traditional thesis, a performance, a curated exhibit, a movie, a book, a musical album, or even an internship. However, midway through the IMP, students must meet with their advisor, admissions committee, and other staffers to evaluate their progress. Internships and independent studies can both be taken for credit as well.

“Ours is a BA program housed in IU’s College of Arts and Sciences, so we don’t consider career preparation central to our mission,” he says. “Our best students are extremely competitive for professional- and graduate-school admission, as well as for jobs in their fields.”

Aarstad brings up a particularly notable success story, “Our most famous alum is Will Shortz (major title: enigmatology), the crossword editor for the New York Times.”

Lesley University

To participate in Lesley University’s self-designed major program, applicants need a 3.0 GPA and should start submitting their proposals during their second semester at the school. They earn either a bachelor of arts or a bachelor of science, depending on the disciplines involved and equivalencies with more traditional degrees. Enrollees in the program must complete a minimum of 30 credit hours within their personalized curricula.

Because the DIY plan reaches out to interdisciplinary-minded, self-motivated individuals looking for an edge in the work force, students are also required to take part in an internship before graduating. In fact, their initial applications have to assert where they plan to pursue internship opportunities and what they hope to gain from them. Failing to illustrate the real-world value of their self-designed degrees actively compromises their chances of entering the program.

During their stint in the self-designed major program, students select their own faculty advisor — or advisors, depending on their goals — to guide them. These mentors must be picked before entering the program. Once established, they oversee their sponsored students’ personal and professional progress, help them find fitting internships, and keep them on track with the requisite capstone projects.

New York University

The Gallatin School of Individualized Study at New York University launched in 1995 and has graduated 8,787 students since then. As of spring 2012, it currently hosts 1,482 undergraduates and 174 graduates, and it takes the former an average of eight semesters to finish their studies. Classes average about 18 students, and are taught both within Gallatin and throughout NYU. There is a core curriculum and the school does require certain foundation classes, even though enrollees enjoy more autonomy in the degree design process.

To graduate, students must complete certain academic objectives, including a senior colloquium, though the school affords participants a high degree of flexibility before they hit the final oral exams, projects, and presentations. Experiential learning is highly encouraged. Students whose plans involve engagement with the community or other “extracurricular” populations build up the skills they need to professionally thrive after college. This could mean anything from local volunteering to taking part in a study abroad program. They can even earn credit for taking private lessons, working internships, and even organizing small seminar groups. Some elect for a dual degree plan between DIY studies and a master’s of public administration, or overlapping with the environmental studies department. Gallatin also offers a master’s of arts.

Although students do enjoy access to faculty mentors and advisors to guide them, one of the standout offerings is the AlumniLink program, which pairs students with graduates who pursued similar career paths. Anyone currently enrolled — and, of course, any alumni — qualifies to take part. This provides even more opportunities for participating students to foster skills and knowledge for their future career endeavors.

Gallatin students have landed everywhere. One has gone on to head up successful social entrepreneurship initiatives. One is respected theatre directors. One runs a game developer. Their stories deftly illustrate the career success to be found in a well-planned, self-disciplined DIY degree program.

University of Washington

Copy on University of Washington‘s design-your-own major website bluntly declares it “the hardest major on campus.” As it points out, drawing up an intensive, detailed B.A. or B.S. curriculum usually falls on the professors, not the students. Participants in their program are called upon to take control of their educations, with a faculty advisor overseeing progress. Aspiring DIY students must choose their mentor and have him and/or her sign an agreement before applying.

Students who want to take part in the Individualized Studies may have no more than 135 credit hours completed before applying. They also must refrain from including “engineering” in the title, as it causes a conflict of interest with the College of Engineering’s interdisciplinary programs. Double majors are not allowed, and if an application is rejected, they won’t be able to try again. In fact, candidates must tell the school which traditional major they plan to take should they fail to enter the program. They only get one chance to impress, and that means avoiding anything that might hew too closely to a traditional major — not to mention coming off as vague or undisciplined.

Another interesting feature UW’s Individualized Studies program boasts is the faculty-designed degree plan. Currently only offered in Disability Studies and Ethnomusicology (Public Health, still advertised on the website, switched departments), the involved professors determine what direction the curricula take rather than students or administrators. At the graduate level, students pursue an Individual Ph.D., with functions that mirror those of its undergraduate counterparts — providing education and opportunities for more interdisciplinary types. UW has graduated over 100 students from its doctoral degree plan.

In Washington, the DIY degree does come with some career limitations. Those hoping to enter the education sector should know that the state rarely grants teaching secondary certification to independently designed diploma holders. (Elementary, however, is fine.) Anyone interested in pursuing an education career should meet with an advisor in the College of Education for more information.

Hamilton College

Hamilton College already enjoys a reputation as a leading liberal arts school for independent thinkers (and a leading liberal arts school, period), where students largely control what classes they want to take in what concentration. So it makes perfect sense that one concentration offered is interdisciplinary and self-directed. Students opting to take this path work closely with faculty members to design their own areas of inquiry.

The school encourages creatively welding two or more subjects together, though programming proposals do need approval from Hamilton’s faculty and staff. Students declare their desire to go interdisciplinary at the end of their sophomore year. Like their peers in more traditional majors, the college requires they reach out to their professors for guidance and insight on how everything fits together. This could mean anything from reading over their research and providing lab space to assisting them in organizing field trips.

As the website points out, participating in the interdisciplinary, self-designed curriculum will not preclude employment opportunities post-graduation. Though students decide which classes they must take, their relationships with their mentors and advisors keep them focused on skill-building for real world applications. They don’t approach the degree as an excuse to go easy on themselves. It’s a means to a passionate professional end. Alumni of Hamilton’s interdisciplinary program go on to serve as CEOs, doctors, architects, professors, and finance directors. Hardly unimpressive results.

Swarthmore College

Special majors at Swarthmore College take between 10 and 12 credit hours under their self-designed degree plans, and 20 credits outside their selected majors. The departments contributing to their interdisciplinary studies must approve their customized curricula. However, they also have a “regularized special majors” option. Offered in biochemistry, psychobiology, and a few other topics, these programs heavily recommend which classes enrollees should take.

“In some areas, special majors have been developed by previous students and are supported by faculty, such as astrophysics and neuroscience. In other cases, students, working with their faculty mentors, take the initiative to define their own distinct academic program,” a department spokesperson said in an interview.

“Examples of individualized programs of study include majors in health and social policy and technology and the human experience. All Swarthmore students are supported through the College’s mentoring programs and Career Services Office.”

Honors and double majors are both allowed for Swarthmore students looking to pursue a special major, though they cannot double major in two different interdisciplinary, self-designed studies. Special minors are not allowed, and only two credits may double count. All outgoing seniors must complete a final project, which could be a thesis, essay series, or comprehensive exams to be cleared for graduation. These are overseen by the faculty advisors who serve as mentors at the start of their academic careers.

University of Minnesota

Independent, interdisciplinary students at the University of Minnesota have a couple of different options available. The Inter-College Program (ICP), Bachelor of Individualized Study (BIS), and Individually Designed Interdepartmental Major (IDIM) offer programming suitable for varying needs.

The ICP is a bachelor’s degree ideal for students on flexible schedules, as it offers daytime, nighttime, and distance learning (including online) options. From there, they work one-on-one with advisors to draw up two-area, three-area, or thematic degree plans stemming from their ultimate career goals. B.A. and B.S. degrees are available, with the former requiring a foreign language regardless of the customized curriculum. They must receive approval from faculty and departments alike before moving forward. U of M notes that employers of their graduates appreciate the creativity and drive that goes into drawing up an independent curriculum.

At the BIS level, students blend three areas of study together rather than emphasizing one or two. IDIM is a B.A. program with three or more disciplines involved, mainly from the College of Liberal Arts. BIS requires an analytic paper before graduating, while IDIM students must complete a senior project with a minimum of two credits. Even before acceptance, aspiring students usually meet with advisors around six times to ensure the tightest, most effective curriculum possible. After acceptance, U of M makes them set up appointments with their advisors at least once per semester to keep everything on track. Signing up for classes and training off-campus and abroad are encouraged.

The Individual Approach

Although many students may approach DIY degree plans with apprehension, in reality they prove a thoroughly viable interdisciplinary pursuit — and certainly not a safe haven for slacking. Participants in these programs walk away with in-depth knowledge of their passions and how they fit together. And graduate schools and employers often find such innovative approaches and self-motivation attractive, if not outright show-stopping. Self-designed degrees take a little more work and a little more ambition than their traditional counterparts, but they can be a worthwhile professional investment in a world where so few college graduates enjoy working in their chosen fields.

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A Bloody History

Those familiar with the history of the game know that violence is nothing new, and that in the early days death was a not-uncommon visitor to the gridiron. In fact, over a century before President Obama voiced his worry over college players facing “concussions and so forth,” President Teddy Roosevelt called a meeting of several university football team representatives to push for safety measures after 19 boys were killed during regulation time in 1905. Four years later, the five-year tally was 113 dead, and finally changes began to take shape.

Out went the freedom to perform a “flying tackle,” a dangerous hit where a player launches himself off the ground into the ballcarrier. Also banned was the popular blocking method whereby players locked arms with each other to form a mobile wall. Nevertheless, helmets would not become mandatory in college football until 1939, and even they haven’t been enough to put an end to death by sport.

From 1931-2006, the number of fatalities directly or indirectly caused by football action at just the college level has averaged about 2.5 per year, with hundreds of severe injuries. For high school, the numbers for that period are far worse: nearly 15 fatalities a year on average, with concussions increasing 8% annually from 1997 to 2008, according to the American Journal of Sports Medicine.

The Rise of Brain Damage

Brain injury has become the elephant in the room for this sport that from the beginning has encouraged a culture where injured players are supposed to rub some dirt on it and get back out there. Only recently have we come to recognize the mortal danger of repeat concussions, or even just single traumatic blows to the head, which can be lethal in either the short- or long-term. In both cases, the results are tragic.

In the short-term, it’s high school- and college-aged kids who suffer spinal injuries or die after sustaining too many hard hits. Those that are fortunate enough to later thrive as college and pro athletes will absorb countless more hits, and almost certainly at least a handful of concussions, before they finally hang up their cleats. Far from being in the clear at that point, however, we now know the damage that has been done to their bodies will return to visit them, to stay with them.

Even worse than the shot knees, the aching backs, the arms that can’t be raised past 45 degrees, are the effects on the brain from all those blows given and taken, even if they aren’t concussive. The doctors call the condition chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. It’s accompanied by memory loss, dementia, aggression, and depression, and by the looks of research beginning to emerge on former NFL players, it’s an epidemic.

Though a couple instances had occurred as far back as the early 2000s, many fans’ first encounter with the term “CTE” came with the news of former NFL journeyman safety Dave Duerson shooting himself in the chest in February 2011, leaving behind a note reading, “Please, see that my brain is given to the NFL’s brain bank.” Fourteen months later, CTE sufferer and former Atlanta Falcon Ray Easterling also committed suicide. The next month, an even younger man took his own life. Beloved former San Diego linebacker Junior Seau (age 43) shot himself in the chest so that, like Duerson, his CTE-racked brain might also be preserved for study.

Unfortunately, CTE death is not native to the pros, possibly not even CTE-driven suicide. In 2010, an autopsy revealed University of Pennsylvania lineman Owen Thomas had early signs of CTE before he took his own life, despite never having been diagnosed with a concussion. Doctors cautioned against blaming the ailment as the primary cause of his suicide. The previous year, a 42-year-old former player had become the first former player diagnosed with CTE to die. As has happened in the pros, college players have begun to file lawsuits — in their case against the NCAA — alleging the Association did not do enough to protect them from injury.

Positive Changes

The NCAA is not waiting around to see whether the courts agree with the players that it hasn’t done its due diligence to keep student athletes safe. Before the 2012 season, the NCAA created a rule requiring players who lose their helmet during a play to sit out the following play. It also announced that kickoffs, a notorious source of injuries, would be moved to the 35-yard-line in the hopes of fewer runbacks. But some coaches, like Rutgers’ Greg Schiano and Georgia’s Mark Richt, have supported the idea of throwing out kickoffs altogether.

While these coaches represent the more radical end of the spectrum, colleges are researching to find ways to make the game safer. The Virginia Tech Hokies were the first to experiment with football helmets outfitted with sensors to measure the forces of impact from tackles. These Head Impact Telemetry Systems are now part of helmets used by the University of North Carolina, Brown University, and the University of Oklahoma. Purdue used the helmets to determine 700 was the safe limit for number of hits to a helmet in a season (the average player takes over 1,000). Stanford has installed $100,000 worth of high-speed cameras to study collisions in slow-motion.

Encouraging developments have also come at the conference level. The Big Ten has ramped up penalties for helmet-to-helmet hits, dropping suspensions on players that make such tackles. In 2011, the Ivy League announced it would restrict its teams to just two full-contact practices a week, three fewer than the maximum allowed by the NCAA. It was also the first to enforce tough punishments on players for high hits.

High school players have recently received some much-needed protective measures, as well. In the last few years, many states have been addressing the issue of return time after a concussion. Washington State’s 2009 Lystedt Law — named for a junior high school player who was hospitalized for two years after suffering multiple concussions in a single game — requires players to be cleared by a doctor before returning to the field. Thirty-three states and Washington, D.C. have since passed similar laws. Some require students to have parent-signed concussion information forms on file before they can don a jersey.

The Smart Athlete’s Survival Guide

Despite these institutional changes, the bottom line is that football as we know it will always be a violent game. It’s always up to luck or fate which athletes make it through unscathed, but the smart college football players can and should take responsibility for their own well-being as much as it is in their power by considering a few key points.

Glory is temporary, pain is forever. Some may notice we’ve reversed a popular cliche, versions of which have ushered forth from such male heroes as Bart Simpson and Lance Armstrong (well, former heroes, anyway). We reverse it because as obvious as it would seem to someone who’s never been there, the urge to sacrifice the body for school, coach, team, and the potential adulation of the country can seem like a no-brainer reason to play through pain, even when the body is screaming no. Many players lie to doctors to ensure they don’t miss playing time. But in so doing, young athletes are putting themselves at serious risk.

Though they’ve gotten much more vigilant about forcing players to sit out after a big, potentially injurious hit, coaches have a job to do, and some of them are not above fielding players who medically should not be playing. At the pro level, this is unquestionably the norm, but college athletes are also given strong painkillers to help them get through gamedays. Only two schools have banned the use of generic versions of Toradol, a post-operative drug that is not monitored by the NCAA and that carries the risk of fatal heart attack and organ failure.

Parents need to hold coaches accountable for prioritizing their sons’ health over wins. For their part, student athletes have to be courageous enough to bench themselves when they’re hurt. At 20 years of age, any glory they stand to get from aggravating an injury is not worth the risk of a lifetime of suffering. It might also help them to keep the following in mind …

Only 1.7% of college football players go pro. Odds are, if you’re a college football player, you know if you have any chance in hell of going pro. You have to be not only the best, most talked-about player on your team, you have to be one of the best 200 or so players in the nation. Going just by the odds, it’s almost certainly not going to happen to you. So is it worth lying to the team doctor about blacking out after that last play just so you can get back in the game? If there’s no million-dollar signing bonus hanging in the balance, the answer is no.

So hit the books. Even if you were to win the lottery and get drafted into the NFL, take a look at the number of pro players — both active and retired — who’ve gone back to school for MBAs and other degrees and ask yourself why millionaires would need to worry about a silly old college degree. It’s because many of them sacrificed their education for practice time, and when they hit the jackpot with their NFL contracts, they didn’t know how to spend the money wisely or how to sustain themselves when the contracts ran out.

If you’re a college football player, the worst bet you can make is that you will move on to the NFL. Take your education seriously so that, at the very least, you’ll have it to fall back on after they’ve inducted you into the Hall of Fame.

What Lies Ahead

We said at the start that college football is not going anywhere. But just to play devil’s advocate, what would a world without college football look like? The NFL recruitment process would change dramatically, without a ready pool of candidates to choose from. ESPN and other broadcasters would miss out on hundreds of millions of dollars, as would the schools with the biggest programs. But a huge chunk of schools would actually save money — according to the NCAA, 43% of them lose money every year.

A slightly less radical idea that is creeping ever closer to the mainstream is paying college athletes for their services. In the context of the health risks they shoulder, the courts may eventually decide — and they’ll have to be the ones to decide — that student athletes should be compensated for assuming those risks. Those who see such a move as the end of college football might turn out to be right, as all schools but those with the biggest programs might opt to just cut their teams rather than pay their players.

In the end, American college football fans will have to ask themselves what they want to see from the game. If they insist that play remains as hard-hitting as it has been, they’ll have to get comfortable with seeing paralyzed players carted off the field and footage of mothers crying in the stands. But if they’d rather every young football player be able to walk across the stage at graduation, they’ll need to keep an open mind about their beloved game. For our money, we hope the future of college football is one where, in the words of the president, we don’t have to examine our consciences quite as much.

The post Hard Knocks: College Football’s Wake-Up Call appeared first on The Best Colleges.

A degree in information technology and/or network management has become increasingly necessary in order to enter into and move up in this rapidly growing field. Every year more people are choosing to pursue their college degrees online because of the greater flexibility and affordability an online degree provides. For those looking to earn an online information technology degree, we’ve put together a list of the best online colleges and universities with online information technology programs and related degrees in 2013. Our information technology degree rankings are based on several factors, including school reputation (rankings, awards, recognition), student satisfaction (retention and graduation rates), peer and instructional quality (student-teacher ratios and acceptance rates), as well as overall affordability (cost and availability of financial aid). Only fully accredited online colleges and universities were considered.

#1. Kaplan University

An under-appreciated school with a growing online repertoire, Kaplan University displays strong student satisfaction and quality indicators. Kaplan offers an online associate’s degree in Information Technology, as well as online bachelor’s degrees in Network Security, Healthcare Information Technology, and Information Technology Management. Each degree is designed to prepare graduates for employment in a number of IT positions in education, manufacturing, or government.

–>Click here for more information on Kaplan University

#2. Rasmussen College Online

With more than 110 years of academic excellence, Rasmussen College is a trusted, respected, and accredited higher education institution. Rasmussen offers an online associate’s degree in Information Systems Management, with concentrations in Network Administration, Network Security, Database Administration, Web Programming, and Computer Information Technology, as well as an online bachelor’s degree in Business Management with and Information Technology concentration. To help you advance your career as quickly as possible, you can complete your Bachelor’s degree in our Accelerated Bachelor’s Degree Completion Program in as little as 18 months.* Our other programs also have a streamlined completion time: you can earn your Associate’s degree in as little as 18 months or a Certificate in as little as nine months. Time to complete is dependent on the number of credits taken per quarter, as well as the number of credits transferred, once they are reviewed and accepted by the university.

–>Click here for more information on Rasmussen College Online

#3. Walden University Online

Recognized for its online programs by U.S. News & World Report in 2010 and ranked #14 by the Online Education Database, Walden University Online is known not only for its quality online degree programs, but also for its commitment to diversity and social change. Walden offers an online Bachelor of Science in Information Technology designed to provide students with the technical skills needed to succeed in the field of information technology, while providing them with a strong understanding of key managerial and organizational concepts. In addition, Walden offers a variety of associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in other areas of information systems and technology, including healthcare informatics, information systems management, and data security.

–>Click here for more information on Walden University Online

#4. Champlain College Online

Ranked the #3 overall online college by the Online Education Database and #16 in our list of the top 25 online colleges and universities of 2011, Champlain College was named one of America’s “top up-and-coming schools” by U.S. News & World Report in 2010. Champlain College Online currently offers a Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Systems, with the opportunity for students to concentrate in Information Security, Computer Forensics & Investigation, Networking, and Web Design & Development. Champlain also offers a Master of Science in Managing Innovation & Information Technology that prepares graduate for careers as an IS Consultant, IS Director, IS Project Manager, or CIO/CTO.

–>Click here for more information on Champlain College Online

#5. Utica College Online

Founded by Syracuse University, and still maintaining close ties, Utica College Online was ranked #21 on our list of the top 25 online colleges and universities of 2011. Utica College Online offers one of the only undergraduate degrees cybersecurity with its Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity in which students can choose to concentrate in Cybercrime Investigation & Forensics or Information Assurance. Utica also offers a Master of Science in Cybersecurity Intelligence and Forensics. Both degrees will prepare graduates to take positions within the rapidly growing and high-demand cybersecurity field.

#6. Northeastern University Online

Northeastern University Online’s high graduation and retention rates, coupled with a very low student-teacher ratio and selective admissions, earned the schools a #5 ranking in our list of the top 25 online colleges and universities of 2011. Northeastern University Online offers a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology designed to prepare students the programming, system analysis, and software skills required to pursue a variety of careers in information technology. Northeastern also offers online master’s degree programs in a number of areas in information science and technology, including a Master of Science in Information Assurance and a Master of Professional Studies in Geographic Information Technology.

#7. Penn State World Campus

With its combination of outstanding student satisfaction indicators, high peer and instructional quality, a wide diversity of degree programs, and a world-class reputation, Penn State World Campus topped our list of the top 25 online colleges and universities of 2011. in partnership with Penn State’s highly regarded College of Information Sciences and Technology, Penn State World Campus offers an Associate in Science in Information Sciences and Technology, a Bachelor of Science in Information Sciences and Technology, as well as a Master of Professional Studies in Information Sciences. Each of these programs is offered in a fully online format and are designed to provide students with the theoretical foundation and skills needed to integrate information technology into different systems to improve their performance.

#8. UMassOnline

Winner of a number of Sloan Consortium and United States Distance Learning Association awards for its online courses and programs, UMassOnline was ranked #13 on our list of the top 25 online colleges and universities of 2011, displaying top-notch student satisfaction indicators and outstanding affordability. UMassOnline offers an Associate of Science in Information Technology and a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology, as well as a number of IT-related undergraduate and graduate certificates. The programs are designed to provide students with a broad knowledge base and the necessary skills for succeeding in any number of information technology jobs.

#9. Drexel University Online

Ranked #11 on our list of the top 25 online colleges and universities of 2011 for its outstanding student satisfaction and instructional quality indicators, Drexel University Online was also awarded the 2010 Sloan Consortium Award for Excellence in Institution-Wide Online Education and recognized as a top 100 university of 2011 by U.S. News & World Report. Drexel offers online bachelor’s degrees in Computing and Security Technology, Information Technology, and Information Systems, as well as a Master of Science in Information Systems and, starting in Fall 2011, a Master of Science in Health Informatics. All of Drexel’s online technology degrees seek to prepare professionals for a variety of corporate, government and non-profit organization positions that provide critical computer system administration and computing security.

The post The 10 Best Colleges for Online Information Technology (IT) Degrees for 2013 appeared first on The Best Colleges.

Many professional and amateur historians have blogs where they share history-related reflections, news, interviews, book reviews, images, and more. These blogs can serve as a useful introduction to the various areas of historical study, as well as a way to stay current in the field and meet other history buffs.

Below are our picks for the 25 most interesting and useful history blogs of 2013 in alphabetical order. Aspiring historians, established professionals, and curious learners will all find something worthwhile on this list. Only blogs active in 2013 were considered for inclusion.

Alistair’s African History Blog – Frequent, short, often fascinating posts on the deep, rich history of Africa.

American Creation – A fascinating, argumentative group blog exploring the history of America’s founding, with a particular emphasis on the religious dimension.

American Presidents Blog – Three history teachers blog interesting facts about the history of American presidents.

Quodlibeta – Opinionated, stimulating posts on the intersection of science, religion, and history from a group of Christian historians and philosophers.

Blog Them Out of the Stone Age – An American war historian brings a broad perspective to the history of warfare and raises provocative questions about war and education.

Civil Warriors – A group blog focusing mainly on the American civil war, but making many interesting, thoughtful detours into the craft  of constructing and teaching history itself.

Ether Wave Propaganda – An intellectually challenging and stimulating blog on the history of science and technology.

Frog in a Well: China – Interesting news and commentary on Chinese history and current events from a group of historians of China.

Frog in Well: Korea – Interesting news and commentary on Korean history and current events from a group of historians of Korea.

Got Medieval – A Yale graduate student of Medieval history discusses all things Medieval with wit, humor, and panache.

History and the Sock Merchant – Interesting insights and book reviews on modern history from an MA student of the subject.

History Unfolding – In-depth analysis of current events from the perspective of an American political and criminal historian.

Informed Comment – Well-developed and thoughtful commentary on the Middle East, history, and religion from a University of Michigan history professor.

Mulhlberger’s World History – A professor of history provides insightful news, commentary, and discussion on ancient, medieval, Islamic, and world history.

Past is Present – The American Antiquarian Society shares and discusses fascinating pieces from their vast archive of printed materials from early British North America.

Philobiblon – Thoughtful takes on women’s history, politics, science and books from a decidedly feminist perspective.

Points -  Members of the Alcohol and Drugs History Society offer “short and insightful writing about a long and complex history,” as well as fascinating interviews and book reviews.

Religion in American History – An expansive and engaging group blog looking at religion in American history and culture.

Sean’s Russia Blog – Insightful commentary on Russian history, culture, and politics from a history professor at Northern Illinois University.

Sparta – The official blog of one of the leading journals of ancient Spartan and Greek history offers interesting news, insights, and recommendations on the subject.

A Student of History – Thoughtful reflections, news, and reviews from an American military historian focusing especially on the Civil War, but also engaging broader questions of historical method and education.

Time to Eat the Dog – A historian of exploration shares interesting reflections, news, and commentary on the history and place of exploration in science and culture.

U.S. Intellectual History – Engaging and interesting thoughts, reviews, and news from members of the Society for US Intellectual History.

The Victorian Peeper – Fascinating images and commentary on Victorian-era England from a historian of 19th century Britain.

World War II History – Interesting daily news, images, and podcasts on the history of the Great War from a historian and WWII memorabilia collector.

The post The Best 25 History Blogs of 2013 appeared first on The Best Colleges.