There's lots of new info this week for those thinking about college, plus many other education topics in our weekly roundup.
Schools on the mainland brace for Puerto Rican students
There is no date to reopen schools in the hurricane-ravaged U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. Education Week
reports that
Schools in New York City, Miami, Orlando and other places with sizable Puerto Rican populations are
preparing to receive
But commercial flights
off the island
College Scorecard update
This week the Department of Education let fly a lot of new data.
On Thursday,
the College Scorecard
, an online tool meant to help families choose a college based on indicators like cost, repayment and graduation rates, got a big update. New features include a side-by-side comparison tool. And, there is a personalized cost tool: If you put in your family income, the site can estimate how much the college will cost. The data is downloadable for scholars as well as other sites that use the information. For example, when you search the name of a
college on Google
Oct. 1 is the date to begin applying for college student aid
The
Free Application for Federal Student Aid
The IRS
data retrieval tool
New data on student loan repayment
Also this week, the department reported three-year default rates for student loans.
The
newest data show
Colleges with extremely high default rates are supposed to face sanctions from the federal government. But, just six colleges run afoul of the current rules. One potential reason
noted by
Students who use tax-credit scholarships in Florida are more likely to attend college
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and President Trump have highlighted the wide range of school choice options available in Florida (and our
reporting
The report found that "Participation in the FTC program increased college enrollment rates by 6 percentage points, or about 15 percent." The program did not increase college completion, however.
Poor parents are working harder, but students still start school behind
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