Thursday, March 20, 2014
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Choosing the Right College, ed. John Zmirak, Ph.D.
Choosing
the Right College
Groundbreaking New
Guide Uncovers In-depth, Independently Researched Facts about America's Top
Colleges and Universities
"By far the best college guide in
America." --Thomas
Sowell
John Zmirak, Ph.D. is the Editor
in Chief of the new 2014-2015 edition of Choosing the Right College: the Inside Scoop on Elite
Schools and Outstanding Lesser-Known Institutions - "Easily the best of
the college guides," says American Spectator.
Springtime is just around the corner and that is the
time of year when high school juniors start meeting with their education
counselors to plan out college visits over the summer. It's also the time when
students and their parents start to panic over the never-ending rise in college
tuition and the debt they'll soon be racking up.
How bad is it? One recent study shows that 70 percent of
the class of 2013 graduated with college-related debt averaging $35,200. And
according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the total amount of student
debt has increased by a jaw-dropping 275 percent since 2003.
The average college student will owe upon graduation
nearly $27,000 - and some 10 percent of students will owe more than
$40,000. College tuitions have risen much more quickly than inflation,
their parents' income, or the salaries for entry-level jobs in any profession
apart from "international arms smuggler." What accounts for the skyrocketing
prices? [Go here for the shocking ways colleges have succumbed
to bureaucratic bloat...]
So the question is: Is college worth it? In many cases,
no. In fact, about half of all college graduates are working jobs that do not
even require a college degree. And no wonder. Employers are unlikely to be
impressed by the growing number of graduates with degrees in "Gender and
Sexuality," "Race and Ethnicity," and other politically-correct
subjects.
But there are ways to get a solid liberal arts
education - and the really good job prospects that follow from it -
without drowning oneself in debt. So says John Zmirak, editor of
the new 2014-2015 edition of Choosing the Right College. Published by the
prestigious Intercollegiate Studies Institute (founded in 1953), this invaluable
guide is packed with inside information on well over 150 colleges and
universities. Plus, new to this edition is an entire section showing how,
in each of the 50 states, one can get, at both state and
certain
private schools, an elite-caliber education at a rock-bottom price. Students and
their parents will learn:
- Which are some of the most overpriced schools - which offer the most bang for the buck - and which schools offer the most financial aid;
- Which courses and professors to seek out (and which to avoid);
- The truth about day-to-day student life: living arrangements, campus safety, extracurricular activities, the social scene, and political correctness;
- Which schools have solid "core" requirements - and what you can do if they don't;
- Statistics that colleges don't want you to know (such as the average student-debt load of graduates);
- A roadmap for getting a real education at any school; and much more...
"There are pockets of toxic ideology and large swathes
of boring mediocrity at most universities," says Zmirak, "but it's possible to
pick a healthy, tasty meal from the vast buffet that streams before you. There's
real meat among the glistening piles of spam. It's up to you to choose it. And
we're here to help." [more...]
About the Author: John Zmirak, Ph.D., Editor in Chief of
Choosing the Right College and
CollegeGuide.org received his B.A. from Yale University and a Ph.D. in English
from Louisiana State University. He has taught at LSU, Tulane, and the Thomas
More College of Liberal Arts. The author of several books, Zmirak has worked
extensively as a journalist, writing for publications ranging from USA
Today to Investor's Business Daily.
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