Student Union
- By Pete Musto
Students Get Better Help About College from Social Networks
In the Midwest state of Michigan, one counselor may advise up to 750 students at a time about going to college.
The American School Counselor Association says it should be 250 to one.
“Some school counselors are probably in a spot where maybe they cannot provide the individual services ... getting the students exactly what they need,” says Terri Tchorzynski, who earned the American School Counselor of the Year award in 2017.
A study this year asked 22,087 Americans about their college experience and where people received advice about what to study and whether the advice was helpful.
Only 64 percent said “formal” sources of advice - such as school counselors, websites and print media - were helpful. More helpful were social networks, like friends and family, 83 percent said. Informal work-based sources, like bosses and co-workers, were the least used, said 20 percent.
Brandon Busteed said he was surprised by the results. Busteed is the executive director of education and workforce development at the Gallup research company, which conducted the poll.
“It’s a call to action on a number of fronts, certainly to think about how we improve the formal advising that happens in and outside of schools,” he told VOA. “But also to think about how we can ramp up the number of touch points between employers … and students.”
Johnny C. Taylor Jr. is the president of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, which supports historically black colleges and universities, across the United States. Taylor helped connect Gallup and the Strada Education network, a nonprofit organization that supports the growth of higher education within minority communities.
In addition to being overworked, Taylor says, school counselors focus on education and might be less informed about how to become a chemical engineer or graphic designer, for example.
Schools need to strengthen relationships with local employers and national professional organizations, Taylor says. These connections can help counselors help students know more about what and where to study to prepare them for careers. It also gives students chances to meet professionals and ask questions a counselor might not think about.
Taylor says this is especially important for poor and minority students. Both socially and professionally, they are typically less exposure to people with high skilled jobs.
“Many of them are first generation. And as first generation students, they simply don’t have engineers, doctors, lawyers in their families to give them this advice,” Taylor says.
“The result is that they make really, often times, poor … college-going decisions and ultimately have a certain level of regret about what schools they chose, what majors they chose when they did go to school, and, ultimately, what careers they found themselves in.”
Also, Taylor notes, school counselors should realistically speak with their advisees, noting difficulties in finding a job in some fields or the consequences of heavy student debt, he says.
Tchorzynski says she uses many tools to help her students. She makes regular presentations on financial aid, gives special tests to help students connect their characteristics with fields of study or career paths and directs students to websites that provide information on colleges and universities.
Tchorzynski, Busteed and Taylor all agree that students need to put time and effort into their search to result in the best outcomes. But students need help to head in the right direction.
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Trump administration opens antisemitism inquiries at 5 colleges, including Columbia and Berkeley
The Trump administration is opening new investigations into allegations of antisemitism at five U.S. universities including Columbia and the University of California, Berkeley, the Education Department announced Monday.
It's part of President Donald Trump's promise to take a tougher stance against campus antisemitism and deal out harsher penalties than the Biden administration, which settled a flurry of cases with universities in its final weeks. It comes the same day the Justice Department announced a new task force to root out antisemitism on college campuses.
In an order signed last week, Trump called for aggressive action to fight anti-Jewish bias on campuses, including the deportation of foreign students who have participated in pro-Palestinian protests.
Along with Columbia and Berkeley, the department is now investigating the University of Minnesota, Northwestern University and Portland State University. The cases were opened using the department's power to launch its own civil rights reviews, unlike the majority of investigations, which stem from complaints.
Messages seeking comment were left with all five universities.
A statement from the Education Department criticized colleges for tolerating antisemitism after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and a wave of pro-Palestinian protests that followed. It also criticized the Biden administration for negotiating "toothless" resolutions that failed to hold schools accountable.
"Today, the Department is putting universities, colleges, and K-12 schools on notice: this administration will not tolerate continued institutional indifference to the wellbeing of Jewish students on American campuses," said Craig Trainor, the agency's acting assistant secretary for civil rights.
The department didn't provide details about the inquiries or how it decided which schools are being targeted. Presidents of Columbia and Northwestern were among those called to testify on Capitol Hill last year as Republicans sought accountability for allegations of antisemitism. The hearings contributed to the resignation of multiple university presidents, including Columbia's Minouche Shafik.
An October report from House Republicans accused Columbia of failing to punish pro-Palestinian students who took over a campus building, and it called Northwestern's negotiations with student protesters a "stunning capitulation."
House Republicans applauded the new investigations. Representative Tim Walberg, chair of the Education and Workforce Committee, said he was "glad that we finally have an administration who is taking action to protect Jewish students."
Trump's order also calls for a full review of antisemitism complaints filed with the Education Department since Oct. 7, 2023, including pending and resolved cases from the Biden administration. It encourages the Justice Department to take action to enforce civil rights laws.
Last week's order drew backlash from civil rights groups who said it violated First Amendment rights that protect political speech.
The new task force announced Monday includes the Justice and Education departments along with Health and Human Services.
"The Department takes seriously our responsibility to eradicate this hatred wherever it is found," said Leo Terrell, assistant attorney general for civil rights. "The Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism is the first step in giving life to President Trump's renewed commitment to ending anti-Semitism in our schools."
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STEM, business top subjects for international students
The Times of India breaks down the most popular subjects for international students to study in the U.S.
STEM and business lead the pack. Read the full story here. (January 2025)
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Safety and visa difficulties among misconceptions about US colleges
U.S. News & World report addresses some of the misconceptions about U.S. colleges and universities, including the difficulty of getting a visa.
Read the full story here. (January 2025)
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Work opportunities help draw international students to US schools
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British student talks about her culture shock in Ohio
A British student who did a year abroad at Bowling Green State University in Ohio talks about adjusting to life in America in a TikTok video, Newsweek magazine reports.
Among the biggest surprises? Portion sizes, jaywalking laws and dorm room beds.
Read the full story here. (December 2024)
