Sarah Wood

A graduate degree is not required for most business positions, but it is advantageous – especially for employees looking to climb the corporate ladder, earn a higher salary or sharpen leadership skills.However, the current job market is competitive, says Liz Chilla, senior director of full-time programs in the MBA Career Management Center at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School in Georgia.MBA graduates “cannot underestimate the importance of networking in getting selected and preparing fo…

An MBA is a game changer for many professionals – a way to build specialized skills, make salary gains and valuable professional connections, or even change careers. But it’s not the right fit for everyone. Before committing to graduate business school to pursue a master of business administration degree, it’s important to consider the time commitment, costs, potential return on investment and your personal career goals, experts say. “You don’t do it because you don’t have anything else to do,”…

At first glance, the sticker price of private colleges with an online degree program may look daunting. Of the 145 ranked private schools offering online bachelor’s degrees that submitted tuition data to U.S. News in an annual survey for the 2023-2024 school year, for instance, the average total cost to enroll was $64,325. On average, students pay nearly $531 per credit at the 156 ranked private schools that provided that information to U.S. News.However, some private schools offer significantly…

Is Santa Clara University (Leavey) the best business school for you?

For students wanting to expand their knowledge in college, most schools offer a minor, which can complement a student’s major or be in a completely unrelated field. Students who are passionate about several subject areas can double minor – which comes with its own set of challenges, including a significant time commitment. However, “any minor should not distract from a major,” Nicole Maurantonio, director of advising and professor of rhetoric and communication studies at the University of Richmo…

Get to know these people on campus Stepping onto campus as a student for the first time can be overwhelming. However, one way to mitigate the challenges of the college transition is by finding a supportive community. “These relationships – whether with peers, faculty or staff – serve as a crucial support network,” Luis Inoa, associate dean of student living and wellness at Vassar College in New York, wrote in an email. “Students inevitably face personal, social, or academic roadblocks; having a…

College visits Often the first step a student can take to determine whether a college is the right fit is visiting its campus. While walking tours led by current students are common, many schools offer several other ways to explore and learn about campus, including through self-guided and virtual tours or open houses and overnight stays. Here’s a look at eight different types of campus visits – which aren’t always available at every school – that a student may encounter during their college sear…

Many U.S. colleges and universities are rooted in decades or centuries of history, but not all stand the test of time. Whether it’s due to low enrollment or financial instability, some schools are forced to merge in order to stay afloat – or they close altogether.Between July 2004 and June 2020, nearly 12,000 college campuses closed, including both for-profits and nonprofits, according to the U.S. Department of Education’s Postsecondary Education Participants System. Closures continue to hit col…

Online learners may want to consider faculty diversity when narrowing down their college list, in addition to other factors like degree options, research opportunities, program cost and learning structure. K-12 students benefit from having teachers who look like them, research indicates. Black students who have at least one Black teacher by third grade, for instance, are 13% more likely to enroll in college, according to a research study published in 2018 by the National Bureau of Economic Resea…

The first step prospective and current college students can take toward receiving financial aid is filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, known as the FAFSA. But due to the bipartisan FAFSA Simplification Act passed in 2020, families are seeing major changes on the 2024-2025 form. One major change is replacement of the expected family contribution – a formula to determine need-based financial aid eligibility based on answers families provide on the FAFSA – with the student aid…

Another delay is causing grave concerns among students, parents, colleges and higher education advocates about the rocky rollout of the 2024-2025 FAFSA.Since its soft launch in late December, the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid – which is used to determine college students’ eligibility to receive financial aid – has been plagued with delays and challenges, including glitches and technical errors for students and parents trying to fill out the online form. The U.S. Department of Edu…

Becoming a college president is not for everyone. The demands – including long work hours and crisis management – and increasing public visibility of the job may be why many college presidents are serving shorter terms than in recent decades, some experts say. According to a 2023 report from the American Council on Education, college presidents were in their position an average of 5.9 years in 2022, compared with 8.5 in 2006. The decline in average time served over that period was steady. “I am…

The words “co-op” and “internship” are sometimes used interchangeably, as both are hands-on work experiences that students may complete in college. However, there are major differences between these two work-based learning opportunities. Some colleges require all students or just specific majors to complete an internship or co-op before graduation. And even if there’s not a requirement, experts advise students to still seek out these opportunities with help from career services at their school.”…

Attending and completing medical school is no easy feat, as it involves exhaustive amounts of studying and years of training with often high-stress days. Before making a lifelong commitment, medical school hopefuls should do their research – including learning about the responsibilities and time commitment of being a licensed doctor – and explore the various subspecialties that interest them. Medical school typically lasts four years, but three-year accelerated programs have been emerging.Once s…

Peculiar college minors Minors are areas of college study that allow students to dive deeper into a certain discipline and possibly complement their major. For example, a student pursuing an international relations major may want to minor in a foreign language. Minors also provide students with the chance to explore and develop knowledge of other academic interests not necessarily related to their major. Depending on the college or university, there may be anywhere from just a few to hundreds of…

While substantial college donations from billionaires (often as high as seven or eight figures) make headlines, most alumni gifts are much smaller. According to the “2022 State of Alumni Giving” report from Hanover Research, 24% of alumni survey respondents said their most recent contribution was less than $100, while one-time gifts of $10,000 or larger made up just 3% of all donations.Donors earning an annual salary of at least $150,000 were more likely to have donated to their alma mater than…

Schools rooted in Catholic traditions Students looking to attend a school steeped in Catholic church traditions and values may be interested in one of these 14 schools, which are highly ranked in their respective U.S. News categories. Many of these colleges and universities have origins dating back centuries, with several considered the oldest Catholic or Jesuit schools in the U.S. Students at religious schools can often expect smaller class sizes and a lower student-to-faculty ratio. Note that…

Where U.S. students study abroad Especially throughout 2020, travel around the world was significantly restricted due to the coronavirus pandemic. That in turn meant study abroad programs were limited or paused. But the number of U.S. students studying abroad in college has since started to rebound. According to the 2023 Open Doors data from the Institute of International Education, 188,753 American students pursued opportunities abroad for academic credit in 2021-22, compared to just 14,549 stu…

On top of tuition and fees, housing, books and other supplies, international students face additional costs compared to their domestic peers when studying at colleges in the U.S. Some of those supplementary expenses include visa application fees and international airfare. While earning an education in the U.S. can be expensive – especially with fluctuating exchange rates – there are ways for international students to reduce their total cost of attendance. Although funding for them is often more…

Applying to college can be an arduous process, and hours spent responding to prompts and trying to find ways to stand out from peers on paper can create a fear of rejection for many students. To minimize that stress, more colleges, university systems and companies have moved toward a different application process known as direct admissions. Under the direct admissions approach, a college makes an offer of admission before a student has even applied – if they meet certain academic and, sometimes,…