How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
Education
- Details
- Written by: Editor
The Matching Grant Program will help families open a college savings account and counter rising tuition costs, one of the most significant obstacles to securing a higher education.
“The wealth gap in our country is the widest it has been in 40 years and the ability to afford higher education is becoming increasingly difficult for low- and moderate-income California families,” said State Treasurer John Chiang, chair of the ScholarShare Investment Board. “To break the back of college unaffordability, we need to both tame out of control tuition increases and student loan debt as well as help families build college nest eggs.”
Research shows that children with savings accounts, however small, are seven times more likely to attend and graduate college.
To give California families an opportunity to pursue higher education and a bright future, ScholarShare529 will encourage families to open 529 accounts as part of the new Matching Grant Program.
The program offers flexibility as the funds can be used at any accredited higher-education program, including community colleges and trade schools, as well as for other approved educational expenses.
And, the savings in a ScholarShare 529 account will not impact eligibility for most state benefits, such as CalWORKS and CalFresh.
ScholarShare 529 is working closely with community based organizations (CBOs) across the state, including California Asset Building Coalition, Closing the Women’s Wealth Gap Initiative, Los Angeles County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs, United Ways of California, EARN, and Glendale Unified School District to ensure that eligible families receive the news about the Matching Grant Program and take advantage of this new incentive to save for college.
“Recent studies indicate that California will fall short about 1.1 million college graduates by 2030 if current trends persist. Making college more accessible to all Californians, regardless of income, is a necessity if we want to improve the overall fiscal health of our state and close the workforce skills gap,” Chiang said.
The Matching Grant Program, which opens on Jan. 1, 2018, offers a dollar-for-dollar match contribution of up to $200 on new accounts. Families that establish a monthly automatic contribution plan of $25 or more are eligible for a $25 bonus.
Eligible parents/guardians must be California residents at enrollment, have a valid social security number or a federal tax ID number, and have an adjusted gross annual income of $75,000 or less.
For additional information about eligibility, please visit www.mgp.scholarshare529.com.
- Details
- Written by: Editor
"It's very easy for leaders in higher ed to focus on only their own campuses or systems and not speak up on a national level around issues that really matter. Not only has Chancellor Oakley been a huge advocate for first-generation students and low-income students, he's used his platform to challenge his peers to do the same,” Autumn A. Arnett, editor for Education Dive.
The 2017 Dive Awards recognize the industry’s top disruptors and innovators. These executives, companies, trends and breakthroughs are transforming the industry and shaping the future. Education Dive solicited suggestions for title nominees from its more than 55,000 readers.
“This award is a great honor and a recognition that faculty and staff in our 114 colleges are deeply committed to the proposition that community colleges are the most important forces for social and economic progress for students of all backgrounds,” said Chancellor Oakley.
- Details
- Written by: Nicholas Phipps
LOWER LAKE, Calif. – In two weeks time we will mark the end of the third grading period and the halfway point of the school year.
Carlé’s Student of the Week was Nicholas Costillas and he was nominated by teacher Lance Christensen.
Lance said, “The reason I nominated Nico is because he’s always on task and makes sure to get all of his work done. He is a great student, keep it up.”
Cheri Johnson started the all-volunteer Totes for Teens when she was talking to a teenager and they asked why nobody does special things for teens at Christmas.
This moved her 15 years ago to start Totes for Teens, a volunteer organization in which she and a group of wonderful volunteers put together bags filled with amazing things to assist the students, such as jackets, sleeping bags, blankets and school supplies.
The volunteers are led by a committee that includes Gayle Albo, Lydia Pogue, Lynnette and Greg Bertelli, Diana Wiley-Bowers, Nancy Fahs, Barbara Harris, Teri Ballard, Jon Ryan, Terry Kalata, Frieda Camotta, Donna Sage, Peggy Foster and Denise McCracken.
Cheri and her committee together have helped more than 1,800 teenagers in the past 14 years. Some of these incredible volunteers put in over 100 hours of volunteer work this year alone! All students received handsized and handmade things like scarves, jewelry and clothing.
We can’t show our appreciation enough for what you do, not only for Carlé but also for students of the many different schools and school districts.
To show our appreciation we had some of our lead designers make every single one of the volunteers in Totes for Teens a coffee mug.
Cece Brown designed the mugs for Totes and Taylor Churchill and Vanessa Bigelow produced all of them. From all the students and staff at Carlé we are truly grateful to have you in and leading our community helping the youth of today, the future of tomorrow.
Ultimate Peace is an organization that visits the Middle East and unites kids of many countries and religions through the playing of ultimate frisbee.
Our designers, led by head designer Vanessa Bigelow, made more than 100 key chains for this organization and in addition held a contest to redesign their logo.
All the designs were sent to the Middle East where they were judged by the students taking part in the Ultimate Peace program. Ultimate Peace then sent our school photos with the players holding up the top designs that had been chosen.
Winners will get a free tshirt with their designs on them. Taylor Churchill won first, Stacie Clemons won second.
On Nov. 28 Bruno Sabatier of Woodland College visited Carlé. During this visit Sabatier went to each classroom and spoke to the students about the opportunities not only Woodland College offers but just the opportunities of education in general.
Sabatier also gave students information of upcoming classes during the afternoon(after Carlé gets out each day) for student’s convenience. As always we students and staff really appreciate the effort you put into spreading education in the community.
Alan Siegel, Carlé’s history, civics and economics teacher who was awarded State Teacher of the Year in 2005, was selected to work as one of this year’s Teacher of the Year site visit team by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson.
Site visit team member is one of the most prestigious titles a teacher can be awarded with, and in that capacity Siegel would be on the visiting team going to each and every one of the top 15 teachers who were selected by the other state selection committee on which he already serves.
However, Siegel – being committed to providing his students with a steady education – decided he would not be accepting the offer due to the extended time he would have to spend away from teaching.
This process would have pulled him away from us for two to three weeks of education and he felt that if the state was so kind to offer it again he could do it after he retires without affecting the education of his students. He was truly honored by the selection and opportunity.
Nicholas Phipps is a student at Carlé Continuation High School.
- Details
- Written by: Editor
In the lawsuit, Attorney General Becerra alleges that Ashford made false promises and furnished faulty information to students to persuade them to enroll. It also used illegal debt collection practices when students struggled to pay their bills.
Attorney General Becerra seeks restitution for students, a permanent injunction prohibiting similar activities in the future, and civil penalties from Ashford University.
“No school should ever steal the American Dream from its students, but that is exactly what Ashford University did,” said Attorney General Becerra. “Ashford University preyed on veterans and people of modest means. This for-profit college illegally misled students about their educational prospects and unfairly saddled them with debt. In today's economy, college is too pivotal and precious to let a predatory for-profit company swindle our daughters and sons out of the higher education they'll need to get ahead.”
In 2005, Bridgepoint Education bought a tiny non-profit Catholic university in Iowa named Franciscan University of the Prairies.
Bridgepoint cut the school’s ties with the Catholic Church, rebranded it as Ashford University, and exploited the school’s access to federal education funds to build an online empire with over 80,000 students by 2012.
Ashford University proceeded to close the original Franciscan University's brick and mortar campus in Iowa in 2016.
Attorney General Becerra alleges that Ashford accomplished its massive growth with an army of “Admissions Counselors” who were really salespeople working in toxic boiler-room conditions.
The complaint alleges that Ashford's administration subjected these "Admissions Counselors" to extreme pressure to meet enrollment targets and that it verbally and psychologically abused them when they fell short.
The complaint further alleges that:
– Ashford's salespeople made a wide variety of false and misleading statements to prospective students to meet their enrollment growth targets, including how much financial aid students would get, how many prior academic credits would transfer into the school, and the school’s ability to prepare students for careers in fields like social work, nursing, medical billing, and teaching;
– For-profit Ashford misled investors and the public in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission by inflating the percentage of working alumni who reported that their Ashford degree prepared them for their current job;
– Because of Ashford’s misrepresentations, Ashford’s students, many of them low-income, were often saddled with unexpected tuition expenses and other debts they could not afford. To collect that money, Ashford engaged in aggressive and illegal practices such as threatening and imposing unlawful debt collection fees.
Current and former Ashford University students and others who may have been harmed by Ashford’s misconduct who wish to file a complaint may contact the Attorney General’s Office at 800-952-5225 or www.oag.ca.gov/report .
Since assuming office, Attorney General Becerra has taken action to defend the rights of students in higher education.
He challenged the U.S. Department of Education's rollback of rules protecting students who take out college loans.
Becerra obtained more than $51 million in debt relief for Californians who attended corrupt Corinthian College, a for-profit school that defrauded its students.
He also urged Education Secretary DeVos to expedite loan forgiveness for Corinthian students.
A copy of the complaint can be found at www.oag.ca.gov/news.