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Education Aid, Inc. Announces New Jersey Student is First Winner of $5,000 Support a Student Scholarship Program

Rutgers University student benefits from innovative scholarship program.

Tenafly, NJ – (January 31, 2012) -  Education Aid, Inc. announced the winner for their first-ever self funded Support a Student Scholarship Program for a New Jersey student attending a New Jersey State school.  The recipient, Sasha Bostick, is a bachelor’s degree candidate studying Sociology at Rutgers University and a single mother of one.

The scholarship program was developed to help economically disadvantaged students who are at risk of dropping out of school due to a lack of financial support.  With the Support a Student Scholarship Program, Education Aid has developed an innovative approach to making education accessible to many students who would otherwise not be able to afford to go to school.  Students who need to work and go to school at the same time, especially single parents, face many responsibilities that sometimes prove to be too much of a financial burden and their education suffers as a result.

“In the Fall of 2011 I was thinking about dropping out of college after already taking 114 credits toward my major.  I am raising a son while attaining my bachelor’s degree.  I found myself having poor attendance because I could not afford daycare for my son.  Also, not having enough financial aid to pay for books was a major issue and caused me to fall behind in my courses.  I was selected to participate in this scholarship program through Education Aid and now I am receiving the daycare that I need for my son, enabling me to attend my night classes.  Education Aid also bought my required textbooks and replaced my broken computer, which I could not afford to fix.  I would not be enrolled in school this semester without this help, and will use this opportunity to attain my degree in Sociology.” ~ Sasha Bostick

She added that after graduating from Rutgers, “I hope to work in the field of Child Advocacy, which will allow me to give back to others the way that Education Aid has given to me.”

Bostick will be awarded $5,000 to pay for on-campus day care, textbooks, and school supplies for the 2012 Spring and Summer semesters.

Education Aid, Inc. is thrilled to be able to prevent a student from leaving school and enabling her to complete her degree.  “This type of aid is extremely limited and desperately needed by so many students,” said Karyn Balfour, the Founder and CEO of Education Aid.  “There are many costs, other than tuition, associated with earning your degree that typical financial aid packages do not cover,” said Balfour.  Without any financial support to help pay for these expenses, students are forced to work and go to school at the same time.  “When students are unable to pay for basic living expenses, they are put in a position where they need to choose between school and work.  Unfortunately, too many times they end up dropping out,” Balfour said.

About Education Aid, Inc.

It is the mission of Education Aid to change the lives of students around the country by providing them with the financial support they need to complete their education.  This is done through the Support a Student Scholarship Program. Participants of this Program will have payments made on their behalf for non-tuition related expenses that are not being covered by their current financial aid amounts.  Many economically disadvantaged students do not receive enough financial support to pay for such expenses and ultimately end up dropping out of school.  This Program was created to identify these students and provide them with the financial support necessary to enable them to complete their degrees.  You can read more about Education Aid at:   www.educationaid.org.

Yesterdays Capital Round Table conference for PE investing in EDU was a full house.  It was good to see some many of the industry’s players together in one room discussing current issues & trends facing Education.  In addition, Anthony Miller Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating officer at the U.S. Department of Education was there to answer questions regarding current and pending legislation.  Tony was refreshingly honest when he said the the Department understands and acknowledges that for profit education providers are critical to reach America’s goal of education attainment.  He praised the continued innovation provided by the industry and welcomes more of the same.

2012 Issues to remember:

The Change

MOST Important The three rules – #1 Student Success, #2 Student Success, #3 Student Success

Long-term strong demographics and demand create a solid base for growth

Regulatory changes are largely complete in post-secondary while valuations remain at historic lows

Dramatic changes in traditional schools are underway

Real opportunities exist to build world-class companies

Great outcomes=Great businesses

The next conference for PE in EDU I believe is in June or July, it’s worthwhile to attend!

ForProfitEDU.com Launches its Annual Lead Generation Benchmarking Survey Online. Employees & Executives at colleges who are members of the higher education community are invited to participate in this annual bench marking study to identify current trends and best practices in lead generation, advertising compliance & marketing

Monday, January 9th 2012 – New York, NY – ForProfitEDU.com announced today the launch of its Annual Lead Generation Benchmarking survey for the Higher Education sector. The survey, which is open to individuals that are directly involved with marketing in higher education, will examine where schools are focusing their online marketing efforts, what tools and tactics are most effective, and what challenges exist in this area. All survey participants may register to receive a free report with the results of the survey upon completion. According to BMO Capital Markets Equity Research, sales and marketing expenses can run above 30% of revenues for the majority of companies in the for-profit education space, with a growing proportion of that spend happening in online marketing. Despite this, there are very few objective resources that marketers in the education market can reference to get a better handle on the use of online marketing in the sector.

This survey will offer a clear set of benchmarks, while identifying current trends and best practices for marketing professionals.  When you complete this survey, you will be able to enter our sweepstakes for a chance to win a $100 Amazon.com Gift Card!

The survey takes approximately 5 minutes to complete, and can be accessed online at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2012collegeadvertisingandmarketingsurvey

It will be open to respondents until March 15, 2012 and a report on the results will be made available to participants by the end of March. Must be currently employed or within last 6 months employed with a school or responsible for the exclusive advertising and/ or lead buying for a school.  All survey entries will be screened and validated!

About ForProfitEDU.com

ForProfitEDU.com is a leading website resource & Networking group (7000+ members) for all those who work within, around or are interested in the For-Profit EDU industry. The site offers networking, research, consulting, news updates and commentary from members of the For-Profit EDU community. Contributors include those from the school side, as well as those that work at related services firms including the investment community (investors, analysts, venture firms & PE firms), marketing & advertising professionals, educators & curriculum development, career services & other related service providers. ForProfitEDU also provides research and consulting services to schools & other service firms within the industry. Areas of expertise include Advertising, Lead generation, Marketing Strategy & Execution, Admissions, M&A, Raising capital, Market research and Partnering to create & grow online schools.

Brian Stoffel from the Motley Fool recently wrote an article indicating he may have been totally wrong in his opinions relating to the for profit education industry.

I spent the better part of my first year at the Fool raging against the for-profit education community. And it was for good reason: Enrollment is dropping, they get too much money from the government, and students are defaulting on their loans at alarming rates.

But after watching a recent speech by innovation guru Clayton Christensen, I’m starting to wonder if I am reading the situation completely wrong.

1. Competing against non-consumption
Christensen says that most innovation comes from companies that are able to bring products to people that otherwise would have no access to them…

2. Using different metrics
A typical college or university focuses on the quality of the research being conducted by faculty as a preeminent metric for value and worth that a college has. While that might seem great, it doesn’t do much to ensure that students are actually being taught…

3. New customers will be enticed into the system
With the cost of sending a child to college sky-rocketing, more and more students may look at online schools as a viable alternative…

Link to complete article

ForProfitEDU would like to extend an exclusive invitation to you to attend The Capital Roundtable’s conference on Private Equity Investing in For-Profit Education Companies, being held on Thursday, January 12 in New York City.

As a partner, we have the privilege to put your name on our VIP list, allowing you to register for a special rate of $995 — $400 off the standard registration price.

This day-long conference is being chaired by Chris Hoehn-Saric, Senior Managing Director at Sterling Partners, and features 20 experts.

For registration or inquiries, just call Anna Fagan at 212-832-7300 ext. 0, or email her at afagan@capitalroundtable.com. Please be sure to mention our name”ForProfitEDU.com”.

For more details, click link below:
http://capitalroundtable.com/masterclass/Capital-Roundtable-For-Profit-Education-Private-Equity-Conference-2012.html

I hope to see you on January 12 for what promises to be a great day.

Have a Wonderful Holiday!

P.S. Since we expect this conference to attract a strong attendance, please register as soon as possible to reserve your seat.

Interesting article from University Ventures Fund:

If you’ve seen Moneyball, the new baseball film about the unlikely success of the Oakland A’s and their out-of-the-box-thinking General Manager Billy Beane, you may have already drawn parallels to the current state of higher education. If not, we’re pleased to do it for you!

Like baseball ten years ago, higher education is focused on what’s easy to measure. For baseball it may have been body parts, batting average and the number on the radar gun. For higher education, it’s the 3Rs: research, rankings and real estate. Each of these areas is easily quantified or judged: research citations or number of publications in Nature and Science; U.S. News ranking (or colleges choose from a plethora of new entrants to the ranking game, including the international ranking by Shanghai Jiao Tong University); and in terms of real estate, how much has been spent on a new building and how stately, innovative and generally impressive it appears.

Unfortunately, the 3Rs correlate about as closely to student learning and student outcomes as batting average or fastball velocity, which is to say, not at all. Buildings are the “ugly girlfriend” of higher education.

Universities that continue to focus on the 3Rs in the wake of the seismic shifts currently roiling higher education (state budget cuts, increased sticker shock, technology-based learning) are either not serious about improving student learning and student outcomes, or they’re like the baseball fan who has lost her car keys in the stadium parking lot at night: Where does she look for them? Not where she lost them, but under the light because that’s where she can see.

To read the entire article: http://universityventuresfund.com/publications.php?title=moneycollege-where-is-the-billy-beane-of-higher-education

New article by Michael Clifford on significant Ventures

Some would say that the for-profit postsecondary sector is on its last legs… DOA. Capitalism.” He calls this framework for success his Four Gospels of Higher Education:

Fifteen publicly traded education companies have seen their stocks decline by 33% on average since December 2009 versus a 5% increase for the S&P 500. Media accounts abound of allegations regarding improper practices at publicly traded companies, including marketing misrepresentation and fraudulent reporting of placement rates. Twenty state attorneys general are investigating for-profit institutions. No other sector has been as demonized as the for-profit sector has among state and federal politicians over the past several years.

to read the article in its entirety: http://significantfederation.com/eblast/2011.09.14/landing/

Education Sector has created such a measure, the “borrowing to credential ratio.”For each college, we have taken newly available U.S. Department of Education data showing the total amount of money borrowed by undergraduates and divided that sum by the total number of degrees awarded.

The results are revealing:

• Nationwide, the overall borrowing to credential ratio has risen sharply in recent years.

• Certain segments of the higher education industry—in particular, for-profitcolleges—are racking up far more student debt per degree than others.

• State policies matter a great deal, with seemingly similar public university systems achieving widely varying results for students.

• Among elite colleges and universities, some are making good on their pledgeto help low- and middle-income students graduate without major financialburdens while others are riding a wave of student debt to fame and fortune.

Keep in mind that this formula does not take into account the enrollment growth and thus lack of time for those new students to graduate, thus in many of the for profits case their number are artificially high as if they added 5000-35000 new students their numbers are significantly elevated due to their newness and do not reflect actuals.  This is a decent indicator for those schools with consistent flat enrollments

but not for those with rapidly changing enrollments.  Thus, those schools with declining enrollments may show better that actual results while those with enrollment growth will show higher inaccurate debt amounts.

 click here to viewreport: http://www.educationsector.org/sites/default/files/publications/Debt%20to%20Degree%20CYCT_RELEASE.pdf

You should check out the new study by Sage that goes into detail about the all out war in media coverage against the for profit education industry.  Utilizing various methods of analysis the study shows that clearly there was a tipping point in the negative media coverage relating to the for-profit education sector starting in May 2010.  Some again wonder who was behind this media push (short sellers or democrats seeking headline media attention), others simply shake their heads at the jadedness of many of the media outlets, and how news once known as unbiased coverage is now political rhetoric.  Which ever way you fall on this it’s clear that the media is hush hush about all of the positives while they stand on their soap box to scream about anything negative regardless of the accuracy.  It’s also clear how politics of the democratic party and self interest driven media sound bites clearly have played a role.   Just another reason the average American is being further disenfranchised with the political system and it’s win at all costs mentality, rather than working to improve the lives of Americans, they all too much focus on what ever helps them gain headlines, soundbites and re-election.

Linke to the study: http://sgo.sagepub.com/content/early/2011/07/08/2158244011414732.full.pdf+html

We like & support the actions & efforts of APSCU

Dear APSCU Members:

Today your Board of Directors has authorized the Association to file a lawsuit against the United States Department of Education regarding its gainful employment regulations. Although this lawsuit is fairly complex, the basic contention is that the Department of Education has over-reached its authority on the gainful employment rules, which was not authorized by the Congress of the United States. This lawsuit represents a significant investment of time and money by the Association in order to protect our students and institutions of our membership, but we think that there are critical issues involved which, if left unaddressed, will prove extremely harmful in both the near and long term. We will keep you informed of the progress of this action.

In addition, last Friday the Association appealed the ruling of the district court judge on our prior lawsuit that sought remedies to the recently promulgated state authorization, misrepresentation and incentive compensation regulations. We won a significant victory with the judge’s overturning of the requirements of online institutions to obtain recognition and licensure in all 50 states. However, the Board, after careful consideration, believes that an appeal of the judge’s ruling against us in these other areas is important to the members of our Association.

These two legal actions, coupled with our highly active legislative agenda, demonstrate the commitment of the Board to protect our students and institutions from the unfair attacks of self-proclaimed consumer advocate groups, short sellers, trial lawyers, the Department of Education and certain senators. It is important to recognize that this is a long-term battle, a situation in which we need “all hands on deck,” and we need your continued participation and involvement to be successful.

Last week the staff sent out an assessment notice that had been approved by the entire membership at our Annual Business Meeting held in Dallas in June. We are aware of the burden that these additional legal expenditures will place on our institutions. However, we feel absolutely committed in the rightness of our struggle against our critics and detractors and the important difference staying the course will mean to our students.

We are making progress, we are getting the word out, we are effectively challenging each and every negative press story, and we will continue to protect our students’ rights to access the higher education institution of their choice.

Respectfully yours,

Arthur Keiser, Ph.D.
Chairman, APSCU Board of Directors