Common App upgrade to ease application process
A new version of the Common Application set to be released in 2013 will increase the efficiency of the application process, according to The New York Times. The Common App has been in use in various forms for 36 years.
The new Common App may include a feature that allows an applicant to fill out only one question at a time. Their response to each question will dictate what question will follow, the Times reported. In the current version, students answer questions in each section that may not apply to them. There may also be a new feature in which inquiries can be sent directly to college counselors.
Yet another notable change may include prompt windows which will point out any errors in the application, according to Begincollege.com, and the version may be more iPad-friendly.
The overhaul will cost the 456 colleges that use the Common App a total between $7 million and $8 million,according to Begincollege.com.
The number of applicants using the Common App has the potential to pass 10 million students by the end of the decade, according to the Times.
Santorum calls Obama college ‘snob'
Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum called Obama a "snob" on the ABC News program "This Week"Sunday, referencing a Feb. 2009 speech in which Obama called for increased access to higher education. Santorum has since been criticized for his seemingly anti-college comments, according to the Washington Post. Obama and Press Secretary Jay Carney countered that the president's comments were intended to advocate for a range of higher education possibilities that would ideally be available to all high school graduates, rather than only advocating for traditional, four-year college programs. Santorum also said on the show that college campuses are liberally oriented and inhospitable environments for conservative students or students "with some sort of faith commitment," according to the New York Times. He also said Obama was suggesting students enroll in "indoctrination mills" on Glenn Beck's radio show last week, the Post reported. President Obama told governors Monday that all states should require students to stay in school at least until age 18 and that state budgets should focus on helping high school students attain some level of higher education, such as technical training, community college or four-year colleges, according to Fox News.
