Junior Parent Information Night

The college counselors will host our annual Junior Parent Information Night on Tuesday, October 18^th at 6:30 pm in the Strake Family Cafeteria at St. Agnes Academy.  This is an excellent opportunity to meet your daughter's counselor and learn about the junior programming at St. Agnes.  The college counselors will also be discussing testing, the college admissions process, trending and preparing for senior year and the college application process.  We hope that you can join us. Light snacks will be served.

Attention Sophomore Parents

The sophomores will take a standardized test called the PLAN on Thursday, October 27^th.  We are asking that all sophomores report to the old gym that morning no later than 7:45 am that morning.  We want to make sure that we are finished prior to lunch so the students must start the test no later than 8:10 am that morning. We will be dismissing the sophomores after the test that day.  If they cannot leave campus prior to our 2:50 pm dismissal, they will be able to have lunch and then they will need to report to the library for the afternoon.  However, if you can arrange for them to leave the campus at 11:30, that would be our preference. 

As a "pre-ACT" test, the PLAN can serve as a predictor of success on the ACT.  In addition to the academic portions of the test, the PLAN includes sections which focus attention on both career preparation and improving academic achievement. We feel this opportunity to take another practice standardized test helps students feel more comfortable testing and in turn will help them to be more successful when they take the test "for real" as a part of the college admissions process.  We use the scores and information gathered on this test and those from the PSAT as part of each student's Sophomore Conference in the early spring.   Please encourage your daughter to get a good night's rest the night before the test and to eat a good breakfast in the morning. She will need to bring two #2 pencils and her calculator with her the day of the test.  She will attend her afternoon classes on the day of the PLAN.

Results of the PLAN and the PSAT which was given on October 12^th will be mailed home in mid-December.

From 1961 to 2008, the cost of college tuition has grown 185%, while the median family income in the US  has increased only 64%.  What is even more startling is that from 1993-2008, loan debt has risen 150% from average $9250 to $23,300 at private schools and in public schools risen 152% from $8,000 to $20,200. For the first time, we are going to start seeing parents and students both with loans from college.

In 2008, the Department of Education passed a bill requiring colleges to be more transparent about the costs associated with their institution. The Ed.Gov website states: In accordance with the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 (HEOA), by October 29, 2011, each postsecondary institution in the United States that participates in Title IV student aid programs must post a net price calculator on its Web site that uses institutional data to provide estimated net price information to current and prospective students and their families based on a student's individual circumstances.

What does this mean? By Oct 29, colleges and universities must have a "calculator" or way of estimating the total net cost for a student at their institution located on their website. This can be called a "cost estimator" and may be located in the financial aid section or even the admission section of a college website.  This application is commonly referred to as the Net Price Calculator. In short, net price can be different than list price and those involved in paying for a higher education need to understand the difference. The net price includes the cost of attendance (tuition, books, fees and room/board) minus any grants/scholarships. This calculator does not factor in work study (a need based program) or use the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) as determined by the FAFSA.  To use a Net Price Calculator, families must enter financial information which is not saved by the college or used in any other way. Keep in mind, the more accurate the information entered, the more accurate the net cost will be.

We are hopeful that by institutions becoming more transparent with the public about their costs, parents will be able to make a more informed decision as to which colleges are worth the price and which are not. If you want to see an NPC already up and running, check out the one for Claremont McKenna.