What's new with Credo? Find it here.

Getting In Deep with Student Loans: The Current State of Student Debt from valorebooks.com.

by Justin Draeger at University Business Unless you live in a cave, you’ve seen the alarming headlines highlighting “exploding” college costs and “crushing” student loan debt. Because the media is trying to grab readers’ attention, these articles often use the most startling cases of these serious problems without providing context needed to fully understand the complexity of these issues. A simple internet search reveals the prevalence of these types of articles. Here are just a few recent headlines:

• College Costs and Student

For the past 19 years, Tim Fuller, now serving as as one of Credo's Vice Presidents and Owners, has conducted an annual study on the cost to recruit a traditional undergraduate student including admission budgets, staffing, salaries and funnel ratios. The study focuses on member institutions in the North American Coalition for Christian Admission Personnel (NACCAP), breaking down key ratios and comparisons by region, enrollment size and institutional type. The most recent study analyzes these important categories for fall 2011. Some study highlights include:

Developed over the past 9 months, with the assistance of Credo, Hardin-Simmons University's Campus Master Plan includes:

• Enhancing spatial organization to promote successful students and programs
• Provides new campus spaces for student leisure, wellness, discernment, and collaborative social and academic experiences
• Creates a  more pedestrian friendly environment

Read Hardin-Simmons University President Dr. Lanny Hall's remarks, and learn more about the plan here.

Private colleges and universities are not immune to the ongoing challenges of meeting students' needs and promoting their persistence, satisfaction, and achievement. Recruitment and retention are, in combination, the keys to enrollment health on our private college campuses.

This PowerPoint presentation delivered at the SACAC Annual Conference by Joretta Nelson, Ph.D., Vice President and Owner, Credo and David Lesesne, Dean of Admission and Financial Aid, Randolph-Macon College, highlights the most recent research related to improving student retention and provides practical recommendations

Everybody's Worried Now From:  Inside Higher Ed By:  Kevin Kiley A year ago, the notion that Smith College -- with a $1 billion endowment, high student demand, and frequently cited educational quality -- was raising existential questions, particularly about its economic model, seemed a fairly radical notion. But an idea that seemed striking in the past  -- that elite liberal arts colleges might have to make significant changes in the next few years if they are to remain relevant (or present) in the current

Enrollments Grow, but More Slowly From:  Inside Higher Ed By:  Doug Lederman As the recession took hold of the U.S. economy in late 2008, Americans did what they often do in bad economic times: went back for more schooling. That's why the last reportfrom the federal government about college and university enrollments showed a sharp increase (of 7.1 percent) in the number of students in postsecondary institutions in fall 2009. The upturn -- and the accompanying tuition dollars -- helped soften the economic

Colleges move out of the dorm business From American Public Media Marketplace ® by Amy Scott

College Completion Who graduates from college, who doesn't, and why it matters. Source:  Chronicle of Higher Education Beyond the College Degree Online Educational Badges Source:  The New York Times by:  Tamar Lewin What's so special about a diploma?  With the advent of Massive Open Online Courses and other online programs offering informal credentials, the race is on for alternative forms of certification that would be widely accepted by employers.

‘Adrift’ in Adulthood: Students Who Struggled in College Find Life Harsher After Graduation Source: The Chronicle of Higher Education

College graduates who showed paltry gains in critical thinking and little academic engagement while in college have a harder time than their more accomplished peers as they start their careers, according to a report released today.

Independent Colleges Are Keen on Affordability Goals, but Wary of How to Achieve Them Source: Chronicle of Higher Education Reacting to the higher-education proposals President Obama unveiled last week, the