Endowments and the Top Ten Most Funded Private Colleges in the US

In the course of choosing which college to attend, it is significant that students look closely at the diverse selection of both public and private colleges throughout the country. Various factors may be considered, whether it be a college’s location, popularity, prominence or the kind of courses it offers. Financial considerations also play a big part in selecting a college. Attending either a public or private college will entail costs, usually higher than what most students can afford firsthand.
 
In this respect, looking into how colleges are operated from a financial standpoint and knowing which institutions are provided the most funding may help identify which college may be able to grant the most financial assistance or offer partial to full scholarships to those that will qualify. Larger amounts of funding usually translate to better facilities, building maintenance, research grants, personnel, and faculty – all intended as investments in achieving better quality education.
 
Funding for colleges come in the form of endowments such as financial grants, donations, tuition fees, and government subsidies. Both public and private colleges receive endowments. The following is a list of the top ten private colleges according to endowment market value and assets as reported by the National Association of College and University Business Officers (2009):
 
1. Harvard University – established in 1636 and situated in Cambridge, Harvard has the highest recorded amount of endowments, set at USD 36.5 billion. Its schools in business, law, medicine, education, and engineering are among the most highly regarded in the academe. To date, Harvard’s student body has grown to 20,000 while over 2,000 comprise its faculty .

 
2. Yale University – with endowments of USD 22.9 billion, Yale is located in New Haven, Connecticut and is home to professional schools in public health, environmental studies, management, music, architecture, drama, management, law, and medicine. Its Graduate School of Arts and Sciences offers courses in arts, philosophy, engineering, and science .

 
3. Stanford University – founded in 1891, the student body at Stanford in California has grown to over 14,000 in 2008. Endowments of up to USD 17.2 billion provide for its graduate school of business, schools of education, engineering, earth sciences, humanities, law, and medicine. Continuing studies also form an integral part of Stanford’s set of academic programs and caters to about 9,000 students to date .

 
4. Princeton University – claiming university status in 1896, Princeton dubs itself as a research university, with endowments pegged at USD 16.3 billion. Located in Princeton, New Jersey, the Princeton School of Engineering and Applied Science offers both undergraduate and graduate studies in the fields of chemical, mechanical and aerospace, civil and environmental, and financial engineering. Interdisciplinary programs also offer degrees in many fields including anthropology, comparative literature, philosophy, languages, and finance .

 
5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology – perhaps the most prominent technical college in the US, the MIT in Cambridge is associated with earning degrees in science and engineering, although the list of programs also include pursuits in anthropology, literature, media arts, history, linguistics, as well as music and theater arts. MIT endowments have reached USD 10 billion .

 
6. Northwestern University – with its main campus in Evanston in Illinois, Northwestern was founded in 1851 and has a recorded USD 7.2 billion worth of endowments. To date, the academic programs offered by this institution are lead by studies in communication, arts and sciences, music, and engineering. This university is also comprised of a Law School, the Feinberg School of Medicine, and the Kellogg School of Management .
 
7. Columbia University – with estimated endowments reaching USD 7.1 billion, Columbia in New York City features programs in liberal arts, public health, engineering, and applied sciences. Also offered are graduate studies in business, arts and sciences, journalism, as well as a school of law, public affairs, and nursing.

 
8. University of Chicago – founded in 1890 and situated in Hyde Park in Chicago, this university’s endowments is estimated at USD 6.6 billion. Available academic programs include studies in biological sciences, humanities, public policy, social services and administration, among others. The University of Chicago is also home to the Booth School of Business as well as the Pritzker School of Medicine.

 
9. University of Pennsylvania – comprised of about 10, 000 undergraduate students and with endowments amounting to USD 6.2 billion, the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia offers degrees in arts and sciences, engineering, medicine, nursing, and is home to the Wharton School of Business. Penn also offers interdisciplinary programs spanning medicine and engineering, management and international studies, as well as technology management .

 
10. University of Notre Dame – with endowments estimated also at USD 6.2 billion, this Catholic university was founded in 1842 and is located in Notre Dame, Indiana. Four colleges are found within the institution, offering degrees in arts and letters, business via the Mendoza College of Business, science, and engineering. Notre Dame also features a Law School, a School of Architecture, and a Graduate School offering courses in humanities, engineering, and social sciences .

 
While the value of private college funding may generally be viewed as exorbitant, those at the top of the list are often the same colleges that are able to waive tuition fees for admitted students whose family incomes are below a certain level. Such opportunities serve to be valuable to students that have worked well enough to earn their degrees in any college that they choose. Note, however, that the private colleges that are most funded are not necessarily listed under the best private colleges nor the best in value throughout the US. In selecting which private college is most suitable, students must also take into account other factors concerning coursework value, existing facilities, curricular and extra-curricular resources, and the like. It is also important to know the values of a college’s total endowment rate as compared to a college’s endowment rate per student, derived from dividing total endowments over the number of students enrolled. A college with a large endowment but with too many students may not always be able to provide the required financial support.

 

Log on: http://www.matchcollege.com for further information.

Paying for College: 4 Tips for Parents

Going to college during a recession is getting more difficult for U.S. students. The national unemployment rate is hovering around 10 percent, college costs are rising much faster than the rate of inflation, and college savings and federal financial aid programs simply haven’t kept pace.

Most students hope to avoid college loans, but the reality is that today’s graduates leave school with more than ,000 in student loan debt.

Many parents don’t realize that the federal financial aid formula, which determines how much money in federal grants and college loans a student qualifies for, anticipates a significant family contribution to the student’s cost of college. As a result, families often underestimate the amount of money you’ll be required to provide when your children enroll at a college or university.

With college savings plans and investments having taken a hit over the past two years, a number of parents may not have the cash to meet their expected contribution. While most 529 college savings plans are invested somewhat conservatively, recent investment losses mean that the college savings account you set up for your child may have lost as much as one-third of its pre-recession value.

Helping Your Children Pay for College 1) Parent Loans

While government-backed parent loans, known as PLUS loans, are available through the Department of Education, financial advisors haven’t entirely warmed to the idea of parents taking on new debt at a time in your lives when your financial focus should be on saving for retirement.

Conventional wisdom holds that a worker shouldn’t retire during a recession, and to that end, many currently employed older workers have delayed their retirement plans in favor of working longer. The fact that you may be keeping your job as a protective move during the financial uncertainty of a recession, however, doesn’t necessarily mean that you should take on additional debt to help your children pay for college.

2) 401(k) Loans

An even bigger mistake parents may sometimes be tempted to make is borrowing from a 401(k) retirement account. Retirement account loans are available for certain expenditures, including college tuition and other education expenses for your children, but borrowing from retirement funds can be extremely risky, particularly during times like these of layoffs, employer cutbacks, and shuttered businesses.

Although 401(k) loans typically carry a repayment term of five years, if you lose your job for any reason while you’re still repaying the loan, you’ll have to replace any outstanding loan amount within typically 30–90 days of separation from your employer or face a steep tax bill and penalty charge.

If you’re unable to replace the 401(k) funds you borrowed, or if your employer goes out of business before you’ve repaid the loan, the IRS will treat the 401(k) loan as an early withdrawal and will tax it as income. State income taxes could also apply. The IRS will also assess a 10-percent early-withdrawal penalty.

3) Cutting College Costs

The key to reducing your children’s overall burden of debt from student loans is to reduce the cost of college upfront. For your college-bound children, cutting school expenses may involve considering a public university rather than a private one, attending an in-state school to take advantage of lower resident tuition rates, living at home to avoid room and board costs, working part-time while enrolled in college, or even working for a year or two to build up savings before enrolling.

4) Financial Aid

As a first step, you and your children should complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which determines how much federal financial aid money will be awarded to you in the form of federal grants and federal student loans.

Because of relatively low annual borrowing limits on federal student loans, your children may use up all their available federal student loan dollars and still have school expenses left to meet. Once students have exhausted all their federal financial aid options, non-federal, private student loans may be used to cover their remaining college costs.

Since private student loans generally carry higher interest rates and fewer borrower protections than federal student loans, financial aid officials will generally advise students to take advantage of all their federal financial aid options — including federal parent loans — before turning to private student loans. In these cases, be prepared to discuss with your children’s financial aid office the extent of your willingness to take out any parent loans.

In addition to applying for federal financial aid, your children should seek out college scholarships and other grants, which provide money for school that doesn’t need to be repaid.

TOP ENGINEERING COLLEGES IN INDIA

Engineering is a profession which is greatly respected by Indians and parents want their kids to pursue Engineering in their higher studies to get good and respectable jobs. After liberalization, the country has seen massive growth in privatization and with the coming of IT sector and emerging Indian companies like Infosys, Wipro and TCS engineering studies has become the priority for students.

With the growing demand to study engineering, more colleges are coming up in India. There are thousands of engineering colleges affiliated with various universities of India. Most of the colleges promise 100% placement to its students but, only few of them match the expectation of the students. Some of the well known Engineering colleges in India are:

Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur
Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur
Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai
Indian Institute of Technology, Madras
BITS Pilani
Delhi College of Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee
Jadavpur University, Calcutta
Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati

These colleges are credited for the production of some of the best Engineers of the world. The colleges are famous, across the globe, due to their excellent teaching quality, infrastructure and course curriculum. There are a large number of engineering colleges in India, which include both government and private colleges. The institutes offer wide range of undergraduate and post-graduate courses, suiting the requirements of the students. The colleges provide various specialization courses in the field of computer science, mechanical, electronics, information technology, chemical, biotechnology and biochemical.

Admission to these colleges is done through various common entrance tests such as IIT-JEE, AIEEE, etc on national level. Also, each state has their respective entrance exams for admission into few of the major educational fields. These exams have multiple choice questions, which tests the ability of the students in different fields. These are few of the toughest exams for which students start preparing years in advance. The entrance test is followed by short listing of students for group discussion with is to analyze their communication and leadership skills. Lastly, the admission process gets completed by a personal interview round with the final students. Students from all religions and strata’s take these exams and it is seen that majority of the small town teenagers crack these exams. This shows the talented young Indians are based in each and every part of India

The advantage of getting into top notch colleges is that a student gets to frame a better future for themselves. The top engineering colleges of India, along with the best education facilities also help the students with great job opportunities. The Indian middle class families, therefore persuades its children to study hard to get into these colleges. But, even these colleges are getting tough competition from other institutes that are mushrooming in the country and are providing same standard of education. Though there is a reverse side to it as well, because of so many colleges, engineering graduates face tough competition on the employment front and employers have many options to choose from. Country’s development largely depends on the IT sector and engineers who use their innovation, scientific and mathematical knowledge. The students studying in these engineering colleges are trained as per the requirements of the industry.

To become an engineer, the students need science background with math, in their high school and should have analytical skills. There is a perception that engineers are bookworms and geeks, but the notion is changing as maximum of them are also practicing their passion as other co-curricular activities. The IT companies in India also prefer hiring candidates who have multi tasking abilities and thereby adding prosperity to the growth of the company.

Choose Best College by Checking Out College Rankings

If one wants to choose the best college for pursuing higher studies then it is quite daunting. You can find that there is no dearth of good colleges when you start searching. However, if you want to locate the best one it is necessary to narrow down the options. Now you must be thinking how to find out which colleges are better than the other ones. Well every student has its own mindset and choice of college varies from one student to other. For instance, some students pay more attention to the infrastructure of college while some pay attention to courses offered.

If you have no particular requirements and searching for a college that is equipped with all essential features then college rankings would be helpful. Experts give these rankings by evaluating the quality of services being offered by the college. You can find that rankings are given to colleges on state level and international level. If you are planning to take admission in colleges outside your country, these rankings play pivotal role in making the best choice. The indispensible benefit of the rankings is comparison between different colleges. It is little difficult for students and parents to compare different colleges considering diverse factors individually. However, with the help of rankings, an overall comparison can be made and you can easily come up with best colleges.

Now you must be thinking how you can find college ratings for personal use. Well you need not be worried about this thing as these ratings are readily available on internet. One can find various directories online that list different issues related to choice of college. In addition, you can find other relevant information about colleges like eligibility conditions for admission, courses offered by different colleges, fees, scholarships, placement and many more. Undoubtedly, these directories and rankings can help in narrowing down the choices available but relying only on them would not be fruitful.

With the help of ratings, you can draw a rough picture in your mind and enquire more about the chosen colleges. Surely, you would zero down at best colleges after paying heed to all facilities available in college.

College photos – A good way to choose the right college!

Today, the choices for getting higher education are countless. Even in your place, there may be quite a lot of colleges or educational institutions. But, choosing the right college after passing out from high school is a big decision for every student. Not only student, their parents also face completely different sort of challenges while choosing the right college for studying further. If you and your parents are in such a situation, you will find a number of well known web portals that will offer all kinds of information in many forms such as college photos, college ratings, reviews, and much more.

A college holds a vital place in every student’s academic life. Therefore it becomes very significant to make a wise selection as this decision of yours is likely to have a lifelong impact. When you talk about a college, you would naturally feel like getting an idea of the college through images. In this scenario, college pictures present you a very helpful way in making the right selection. After all, where words are unsuccessful to state details, a picture can let you know a tale more clearly. They in fact help you to getting the right feel of the college or institution that you are interested in applying to. And that’s why today, maximum numbers of colleges add very attractive photos to their websites or include them into their college brochures. These photos typically include photos of every building that belongs to the college, campus, labs and classes, college hostels, college functions and sometimes, pictures of topper students.

Nowadays, the process of searching for a quality college has become much more simplified as well as easier. Rather than wasting their precious time in calling counselors, studying different college brochures or sitting at libraries for comparing different institutions, students favor to conduct an online search for the right college. Undoubtedly, countless college review networking sites will offer you right info about different colleges and educational institutions in the form college movies and pictures. Uploaded by insiders, these are quite reveling and motivating that give you a crystal clear picture of what you want to know.

Best college- A great strength for your higher education!

Choosing the best college is an important step for any budding college student. It’s impossible to know or even try to predict how well a college will work for every detail that can change your life. College exposed argues that this kind of experience can be found in many colleges of across the world. Higher education is one of the nations’ greatest strengths. Today, many good colleges offer diverse climates for learning. Students do themselves a tremendous disservice when they reject good options. In this scenario, college ranking opens the doors of opportunity in today’s world of education and helps students pick what is the best for them.

There are so many factors need to be considered so that you can zero-in on a few prospective colleges. One of them is “ranking of college”. Basically, college rankings provide the information to students that they need to make a genuinely informed college choice. Instead of numbers, the rankings offer a behind the scenes understanding of what college is all about what all students deserve to get out of their college education. The criteria employed by each ranking organization differ. The rankings also differ in the manner in which they are reported. Some organizations report rankings for best colleges overall while others are categorized by geography, highlighting best national or regional colleges. The main argument in favor of rankings is that they are a source of information about colleges and universities. Rankings can give students and parents’ insights about quality of academics and teaching. They also can give some insight into what everyday life might be like on campus.

The rapid rise of ranking and guidebooks as yardsticks for measuring quality in higher has caught many college administrators by surprise. The competitive nature of education and a strong consumer oriented relationship between students and institutions have created environment that has facilitated the success of college ratings. The most popular factor for rating a college is retention, as expressed either in year-to-year retention rates or graduation rates. Today, there are numerous portals that offer genuine college reviews and also provide rankings and ratings.

College Essay Writing Service

In the recent past, there have been a number of college essay writing service companies that have come up especially with the advent of information technology which has made the transmission of information much easier. However, this new developments present unseen challenges to college essay students all over the world. An African saying notes that when we have so many chefs cooking a single meal, you can be sure such a meal will not meet the required standards. Well, this currently seems to be the case for the college essay writing service industry.

While we do have some genuine companies offering stellar college essays, we still have some other college essay writing service companies who have given the rest of us a bad name by availing to student’s perennially low quality and plagiarized essays. Our writing service company is however different.

For close to 20 years now, we have been the market leaders when it comes to delivering quality to all our clients. We have enhanced our name and presence throughout the time we have been in the college essay market by ensuring that we follow and adhere to some basic essay writing standards.

Why we are the best

There are many reasons why we continue to attract high ratings through time as far as college essay writing service quality standards are concerned. To begin with, we have the most robust and vigorous writer hiring procedures in the whole industry. We believe, rightly so, that the only way we can guarantee quality to our esteemed clients is by ensuring that those who complete essays on behalf of all our clients are truly professional. With that in mind, we only enlist the services of individuals who have demonstrated experience in essay writing as well as individuals who have the necessary experience in the college essay writing marketplace. You can hence be certain that any college essay order you place with our essay company shall be done in a way that meets as well as exceeds your expectations.

Next, we have the most competitive pricing model in the college essay writing service market. We ensure that every unit you pay is worth it and on top of that, we do not have any hidden charges as our pricing is based on only two things which include the urgency of the paper as well as its length. Otherwise, everything else remains constant. This is in sharp contrast to a number of college essay writing service companies who will often charge you for a wide variety of unnecessary fees including but not limited to registration fees, writer selection fees etc. Our pricing is whole same to ensure that we cater for the needs of college essay clients across the board.

Next, we allow you to choose a college essay writer of your choice. That is, whenever you are pleased with a piece a given writer has completed forbs you, you can always request for that particular writer the next time you place an order with us. This also comes free of charge in sharp contrast to the other college essay writing service companies. Also note that we appreciate and understand the need for absolute confidentiality and you can be certain that any personal information you leave with us shall not be passed on or disclosed to any third party.

How to Graduate College Debt Free

The rising cost of college tuition is discouraging many prospective students from enrolling for higher education. Their fear of landing into a debt trap on account of student loans is undoubtedly genuine.

However, soon-to-be students can take heart from the fact that graduating college debt free is a real possibility. All it takes is a little bit of planning and applying yourself.

Before we delve deeper into how one goes about graduating debt free from college, let’s take a look at how much college actually costs.

According to a report published by College Board on Trends in College Pricing 2010, public four-year colleges charge an average of ,605 per year in tuition and fees for in-state students, whereas private non-profit four-year colleges charge an average of ,293 per year in tuition and fees. In comparison, the cost of tuition and fees at two-year public colleges is, on an average, ,713 per year. (collegeboard.com/student/pay/add-it-up/4494.html)

Whichever of these three options you choose, it is clear that going to college is an expense for you. So, if you are wondering how and from where to put together the money for college without resorting to student loans, here are some tips you may find useful.

Financial Aid to Cut Costs

The first line of aid comes in the form of scholarships and grants that are available to qualified college students. There are different types of financial aid for students which they can avail to pay their way through college.

In fact, the College Board report states that grants and other types of financial aid for students considerably lower the actual price an average undergraduate pays for his or her college education. Therefore, it’s important that students know the different financial aid options available to them for which they qualify, and the process of applying for them.

A lot of colleges also offer financial assistance for students to help them identify the grants and scholarships they are eligible for and guide them through the application process. Some of the popular grants and scholarships include:

 

Pell Grant: Awarded to undergraduate students from lower-income families.
Academic Competitiveness Grant: Awarded to undergrad freshman and sophomore students demonstrating academic excellence.
Merit-Based Scholarships: Awarded to students who demonstrate academic, athletic or artistic talent.

 

Unlike student loans, grants and scholarships don’t have to be repaid and make college education a lot more affordable for deserving students in need.

Choosing a Suitable Route

However, if you are unable to access these grants, scholarships and other types of financial aid for students, don’t lose heart and give up on your dream of going to college. There are a few other ways of graduating college debt free you could try out.

Many parents put away money for college for their kids, and if you are among the lucky ones whose folks had the foresight and resources to save for your higher education, then you can breathe easy since going to college will personally cost you next to nothing.

Another option you could explore is working for a few years before you start your post- secondary education, so you can save enough money for college. Not only it will help you learn the value of money but you’ll also appreciate your education a lot more. A lot of students work two jobs during summer and a part-time job during school to avoid debts.

And last, but not the least, consider going to an online school offering distance education, if a regular brick and mortar college does not fit into your financial scheme. The advantage with online schools is that you can save on boarding and transport, which could really bring down the cost of college for you.

How to Apply for a College Scholarship

How to Apply for a College Scholarship

When we speak of college scholarship application, the burden is always on the parents. Since they have the responsibility over the education of their children and they know what will be good for them, parents apply personally for the college scholarship of their children. Visit to - http://www.how-youcan.com/How-To-Apply-College-Scholarship.htm

What if we turn the tide? From primary to secondary education, your parents accepted the responsibility. But you are old enough to take care of a simple college scholarship application. It takes some courage, self-confidence, and some excellent academic records to apply for a college scholarship. Keep in mind that is you who will utilize the financial aid that comes with the scholarship and not your parents. Thus, applying for a college scholarship is now your business, and you can do it with less supervision from your parents. 

The procedure for college scholarship application is similar when you apply for college grant. You need to learn every scholarship opportunity available and make a list of potential prospects that you think will fit your personal needs. Once through with the list, you need to create an application letter and state your achievements (good high school scholastic records and recommendation letters from your high school director and teachers) and you are now on your way on getting into college for less, if not for free. 

The above-mentioned procedure is the most common way of getting a college scholarship. However, the chances of success lies in you, and you need to exert more effort to assure yourself of a financial aid when you go to college. To increase your chances, here are some pointers that you can consider:

•You should start as early as your high school years. There are many college scholarships that open during your senior high school year. In addition, these financial aid programs are only open in a specific period of time. Once the application closes, you have to wait for another year before you can file for your application. Starting early will give you better chances of getting the best financial aid available. 

•Give importance to the scholarship requirements. Keep in mind that among all available scholarships, there are only few that will fit your qualifications. Read the eligibility standards of the college scholarship that you want to apply. If you found out that the financial aid does not fit with the qualifications that you have, search for another. Do not insist yourself on scholarships where your chances of success is minute.

•Do not forget to complete the requirements asked by the college scholarship. Prepare the documents that are commonly asked by the scholarship grantee to its applicants. 

•Your application letter will be your “speaking alter-ego” to the sponsor of the college scholarship you have applied for. Thus, you need to create an application letter that will convince the sponsor that you honestly need the financial aid and you deserve to get one, state honest information in your application. Never include false information especially if your purpose is just to “flatter” the sponsor with your achievements. 

After you followed the aforementioned recipe, you are now ready to submit your application to the scholarship screening committee. Be prepared for other requirements (such as interviews and examinations) that will determine if you are eligible to receive a college scholarship. 

Follow the aforementioned college freshman’s recipe when you apply for a college scholarship.  And best of all, do not forget to pray that the sponsor would consider you eligible for the college scholarship. Good luck! Free College Scholarship Apply Here.. Below Now!!

The Reputable University to Pursue Your Online Degree Programs

Education is important for everyone on every age. Therefore, people try their best to pursue the education to attain the highest degree as possible. Conducting a learning process doesn’t necessarily mean that the students should attend the physical class meeting as the conventional method does. Today, the students can choose the online degree program as alternative to attain the higher education degree.

Online education is also preferred by the employees who have tight work hour schedule that leaves the least time allocation to add class meeting on their schedule. The online learning program is the best way for them to achieve Masters or Doctoral degree that may affect to their career advancement at the office. It is at your best interest that you are suggested to find the genuine and accredited university to conduct your online education program. Calsouthern.edu is one of the reputable universities that establish its online degree programs ranging from associate, bachelor, into doctoral degree.

The tuition fees payment options of the online degree program is adjustable with your financial capability to enable you following the higher education program. You can apply for the admission online or having a glance toward each faculty on the university online. Online law degree is one of the favorable degree programs in the university. Make sure that you get yourself well informed for the admission schedule before it’s closed, for a better career and future.