The human brain is mind-blowing. The fact that I’m even able to say something like that is evidence of just how advanced that gray matter really is. Think about that, about thinking, and you’re showing off your capacity for metacognition, something uniquely human. The brain has plenty of other features that keep us from dying, tipping over, and over heating, among other things. Perhaps the most useful feature of the human brain, though, is our capacity for learning.

When we’re born into this world, we’ve got a brain, but it doesn’t know how to do much. Think of a brand new computer with a bunch of peripherals plugged into it. Our arms, legs, eyes, ears, nerves, and taste buds are sending our undeveloped young brains all sorts of interesting information. Gradually, we figure all of it out. There’s no pre-installed software; our brains learn how to use the data, work the limbs, and–this one’s really neat–communicate with other humans by making sounds. Most of us don’t remember this period of our lives; we were very young at the time. What happens in those first few, critical years affects the rest of our lives. The amount of new pathways that the brain is forming when we’re young is positively staggering. Until recently, it was thought the brain stops this neurogenesis around age 20. New studies suggest that we keep making new pathways well into old age, which is good news for those of us who like to learn new things.

When it comes to actually sitting down and doing it, learning isn’t always fun. There are a few things that you can do to change that, though, and I don’t just mean by making dirty mnemonic devices.

The Three Coolest Ways to Learn New Things

#1–Go to sleep. Bringing into question all of those all-nighters I pulled in college, a new study shows that our brains are still learning when we’re at rest. It’s relatively well known that naps are awesome. Less well known is the fact that if you take a nap after learning a new task, you’ll remember it better than your caffeinated classmates. The new study from the lab of New York University cognitive neuroscientist Lila Davachi shows that we also remember things better with a moment’s rest. From the Time Magazine article on the study:

The 16 participants who served as Davachi’s guinea pigs in the study were each scanned, while at rest, before the experiment began. Then, each volunteer was asked to lie flat on the bed of an fMRI [functional magnetic resonance imaging] machine, outside the magnet, while shown a series of paired images. First they looked at pairs of faces and objects, and were instructed to imagine the person pictured interacting with the object (such as a beach ball). Then they got a few minutes’ rest, before being rolled into the magnet for another scan. The experiment was repeated with pairs of new faces and scenes. Afterward, the participants took a pop quiz to measure their recognition of the faces, objects and scenes they had previously seen.

Keep this little tidbit in mind the next time your boss catches you goofing off–you’re actually resting to improve your memory consolidation abilities.

#2–Rock out with your Bach out. Classical music is good for lots of things. Having even an elementary knowledge of your likes and dislikes in the genre makes you more appealing to prospective dates, for example. Listening to classical music has also been linked to increased IQs, lower blood pressure, and greater retention of material learned.

A new report suggests that learning an instrument in elementary school can actually give a child’s confidence a shot in the arm and help with learning in other areas. As a reformed band geek and someone who likes to see extracurricular activities getting funding, I’m excited by this news. For those of us not in elementary school, other studies have shown that learning an instrument later in life helps with memory and brain function.

If you’re planning on heading back to school, start by learning how to play guitar. Not only will it help you out on the learning front, but you’ll be the coolest nontrad student around.

#3–Play on the computer. As I’ve noted in a few other blogs recently, educational videogames are gaining popularity. There are actually full-on schools using videogames to augment the learning process. Instead of rote memorization, students are immersed in worlds that trick them into learning. Imagine being a spy sent to gather information on the Spartans–in a game, of course–and report back; doesn’t that sound more fun than reading a book or sitting through a lecture?

Gaming isn’t the only fun way to learn on a computer, but it certainly helps. Language programs have started incorporating crossword puzzles, among other language-learning games, and situational, interactive conservation tools to make learning a new language on the computer more fun–and it’s working. These tools help keep learning a new language novel, fighting the boredom that shuts most people down.

You spent months agonizing over the decision. Should you stay or should you go? Well, after sleepless nights, countless conversations with friends, and some soul searching, you’ve finally nailed it down. Whether you’re going back to university for a graduate degree or seeking an entirely different career path, the decision to move on is a tough one. Perhaps tougher still is the realization that things aren’t going to change immediately. Don’t do anything rash! Check out these tips for staying motivated in the interim.

Prospective Grad Students and Career Changers: Fear Not, Change Is on the Way!

1. Make a List. Chances are you’ve got a few loose ends to tie up, applications to get in the mail, and financial obligations to consider. Take some time, and make a list. Be realistic; be honest. Going back to school, even for a short time, can be quite a financial bear. If you need to start saving now–or, more importantly, stop spending so much–figure out a reasonable amount that you can squirrel away. If you need to take the GRE, start studying. If you need letters of recommendation, start shooting off emails. The decision may have been difficult, but going through with it can be excruciating if you aren’t prepared.
2. Make Peace. Wherever you’re moving from, it’s fair to assume that you aren’t happy there–or you wouldn’t be dreaming of a better, different tomorrow. Sorry to bring this up, but you’re going to be there for a while longer yet. If you keep hating it, you’re only going to drive yourself insane, sop make peace with your current situation. Accept that you’re going to have to live with it for a while longer, but keep in mind, too, that it’s temporary. You’re on your way; don’t mess that up by melting down.
3. Begin the Countdown. If you know when the change is coming, start a countdown! First, putting the date on the calendar will be nothing short of encouraging (while you’re there, write down some of those deadlines, too). Once you start crossing days off that calendar, it’ll be easier to keep truckin’. Every single day that goes by, you’re closer to your goal. Tacking up little reminders is a good idea, too. You’d be surprised how much better your day is when you start it off by thinking about how close you’re getting to the big change.
4. Get to Work. You’ve got your list; you’ve got your deadlines. Start crossing off your to-dos. Rewrite that resume; prep that CV–whatever needs to get done, start doing it. Nothing makes the time go by like working towards a dream.

Career Change: Getting the Education You Need

Perhaps you’re still struggling with the decision to hightail it out your current situation. By taking an online course or two in the subject, you can gauge your interest in whatever subject or career you’re thinking about going into. These classes cater to the working individual. Flexible schedules and a work-at-you-own-pace attitude come along with many of these programs. A little time taking a class now could save you a future stuck in a different rut–or you might decide you love it and be that much closer to finishing up your career training.

We’ve all heard about it: print newspapers seem to be on their way out. Personally, I still get a lot of my news from the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, but I do so almost entirely online. (I say “almost” because I do pick up the tangible versions when I’m having breakfast over at my parents’.) Two years ago, when print newspapers started their big decline, The New York Times started looking into online education. At that point, they were just providing resources for non-credit courses at various college across the country. This spring, though, things are going to change.

Bring Me My Paper…and My New Online Certificate

In the spring of 2010, The New York Times Company will begin putting its stamp on online certificates in cooperation with four online colleges. Ball State is offering a certificate of emerging media journalism. Rosemont college is offering a certificate in entrepreneurship. Thomas Edison State College is co-sponsoring programs in both paralegal studies and nurse paralegal studies. Finally, the City University of New York will be offering a certificate in immigration law.

These certificate programs have quite a price and time range. That entrepreneurship certificate from Rosemont will cost students $1,950 a course–for six courses. The immigration law certificate program from CUNY comes in at four courses at $930 a piece. The two programs from Thomas Edison State College are both 45-week and $3,920. The Ball State program doesn’t have a price tag that I could find, but one of the courses, video storytelling, is actually starting on this coming Monday, at $235 if you want credit for it and $199 if you’re into education for education’s sake. In each of these situations, The New York Times Company will be sharing revenue from the programs with the colleges.

More Than Just a Stamp of Approval on Your Certificate

Why are these colleges partnering up with The New York Times when they already have plenty of established courses and degree programs? First, the stamp of approval is a nice touch that should draw some additional students. Second, and more importantly, The Times is providing professors and students with all the educational resources incorporated in its New York Times Knowledge Network. In the network students will find news archives going back to 1851; tools to match articles, graphs; and other content with lectures and notes for the class, and fully developed content modules for certain sections of the classes. The colleges themselves will still be taking care of the whole teaching thing–probably for the best, I’ve met some pretty interesting reporters.

Universities across America are making the news for all sorts of reasons. From green news to surprising finds in lavatories, things are hoppin’ on campus lately. Looks like we’re starting off 2010 with a bang!

Big News on Campus: 5 Universities Making Headlines

1. Blown Away at Southwestern. Southwestern University in Georgetown, TX has recently agreed to get all of its electricity from wind power. This isn’t just a publicity stunt, either. The university has signed up for a full 18 years of wind farming for electricity. Jake B. Schrum, president of Southwestern, hopes that this move “will be an inspiration to other universities to advance sustainability.” With 151 wind turbines generating between 0.7 and 2.3 megawatts a piece, this is quite a commitment to going green, something that college students go crazy for.
2. Art in the Toilet. David O’Connell, president of Catholic University in DC, found what could be a genuine Rembrandt. Where was this gem hiding? In the bathroom, of course. A far cry from flipping through magazines while on the John, this particular bathroom contained a single-piece art museum. The piece, which has yet to be officially verified as a Rembrandt, is signed twice by the great master. The question on everyone’s mind: how did it end up in the bathroom? Aspiring art students have a new standard to reach–be so good that when somebody finds your work hidden in a bathroom hundreds of years later, the media goes crazy.
3. The Look on Your Face. Terrorism is making its mark on our society; there’s no doubt about that. As anyone who’s been to an airport in the last couple of years can attest, these homeland security measures are getting a bit tiresome. Are we giving up our civil liberties? Muslims at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Services answer a resounding “yes”. The alma mater of a recent terror plot suspect, Tarek Mehanna, has banned all clothing that obscures the face, which is a big slap in the burqa for those doing so for religious reasons. The school’s spokesman, Michael Ratty, says that this new ban is unrelated to the terrorist incident, stating that they want to be able to identify anyone who steps foot on campus, but the timing is raising doubts. What’s next? A big, bushy beard ban?
4. Unionizing Online. The A.F.L.-C.I.O. is teaming up with the National Labor College and the Princeton Review to create a new online school for union members. The plan is a big one, hoping to provide affordable and accessible education and career retraining to the 11.5 million federation members and their families. This online college plans to begin offering classes this coming fall at the price of $100 to $150 per credit. They’re currently working on a survey to find out what kind of online degree programs would interest potential students.
5. Leading the Blind. In a recent deal they cut with the Justice Department, Arizona State University is ceasing its use of Kindles on campus. Why? Because, while these cool gadgets can read books aloud, Kindles lack a speech-enabled menu, which makes finding the read-aloud function nearly impossible for blind students. Until this functionality is enabled, ASU won’t be using the device after the spring semester. The issue is definitely moot. Accessibility is a huge issue; education shouldn’t be denied to anyone. On the other hand, regular books won’t read themselves to you at all, no matter how you push and prod them. It sounds like a pretty minor update to the device; I’m sure everything will work out–or a new gadget will jump in and steal the contract–either way.

For only being two weeks into 2010, there’s an awful lot going on in higher education. I have a feeling that we’re in for quite a year.

I had one year left until graduation, provided that I didn’t fail any classes, and school was getting to me. I remember the day clearly. I had an appointment with one of my professors, ostensibly to chat about graduate school. In the days between scheduling some face time and actually meeting with my professor, something had snapped.

The issue isn’t an uncommon one: I was upset with the world. Why did I need a piece of paper to convince people of my aptitude? Why couldn’t I get my foot in the door without a degree? Where was the justice? As I went through the iterations, axioms, and oversimplifications present in my complainings, my professor waited patiently. When I finished, he reassured me. My degree would not be worthless, nor would be the time I spent earning it. This is the world we live in, and if you want to play, more often than not, you need a college degree.

A year later as I walked across the stage, another one of my professors mispronounced my name and handed me a symbolic diploma (the real one was in the mail). In the time between the aforementioned meeting about grad school that had turned into a pep talk about the importance of continuing to show up to class, a new professor had joined the ranks of the English department. I only had the opportunity to take two classes from this new professor, but he became a friend and mentor to me. In that last year, I learned more than in any of the ones preceding. It’s safe to say that my mentor saved me from being one of the millions of college students who don’t finish their bachelor’s degrees in under six years, of whom a great deal never cross the graduation stage at all.

Why Do Students Dropout of College?

A recent study from Public Agenda (underwritten by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) found some interesting things about college dropouts. Of the 600 surveyed, only two in five finished their four-year degrees in fewer than six years, with only one in five who attempted two-year degrees finishing in fewer than three. The study found that, unfortunately and a little ironically, most of those who dropped out had financial trouble. I say “ironically” because getting a postsecondary education is supposed to be about ending personal financial hardship, not perpetuating it. The trouble is, of course, that while it’s been shown that higher education is quite an income booster in most cases, it’s a long-term one. In the short term, college students are still–and stereotypically–poor.

Of the dropouts, the study found that seven in ten had no scholarships or loans to help them out. Personally, I worked while earning my degree, but that money wouldn’t have even come close to covering all of my costs without the help of scholarships and the occasional cash-filled care package from my parents. More than half of the dropouts came from families with a household income of $35,000 or less, though, making parental funding difficult, if not impossible. No financial aid and no parental support would have meant that my already busy schedule would have been debilitatingly hectic.

It’s no surprise that the study found that being unable to strike a balance between work and school was a main cause of dropping out. There’s an answer, though. Online education offers students the opportunity to get work done on a flexible schedule. The truth is, nine-to-five jobs nearly always pay better than other jobs, and they almost always conflict with a regular class schedule. If you’re on the cusp of dropping out because of money issues, look into transferring to an online college. Another tip: apply for scholarships constantly. It’s tedious, but it pays off–not only that, but scholarships pay off without having to be paid off, making them a much better option than loans.

Hold fast, and consider your options before you bail out of college. You’ll thank yourself when you’ve got that diploma in hand.

In just a few days, everyone will be talking about New Year’s resolutions. This time of year brings out the cynics. I’ve heard more than a few people resolve to stop making resolutions. It’s true that New Year’s is a totally arbitrary time to decide to go back to the gym, start volunteering, or what have you. In the grand scheme of things, there’s no real difference between deciding to turn your life around on the first of January and deciding to do so a week later. So, why New Year’s?

• It comes with a built-in support group. Whether you bet your best friend that you can stick to your guns for longer or you agree to help each other make it through ’til next year, the fact that quite a few of your friends and family members are also resolving to better themselves in one way or another. Take advantage of the timing.
• It’s a line in the sand. There’s something nice about drawing a line. Once you figure out what your goals are and you make yourself a plan, it’s nice to have a firm start date. Everything before 1/1/10 is the old you, everything beyond it is the new, improved you.
• It’s a great excuse. Reinventing yourself can be fun. You can use New Year’s as an excuse to change things up. Rather than accusing you of having a mid-life crisis or falling off the deep end, your friends and coworkers will take the new you as a sign of the times–and the times are a changin’.
• Why not? Chances are that there’s something you aren’t happy about. It could be something small, like the way you compulsively hop out of bed in the middle of the night for a high calorie snack. It could be something a bit larger, like career happiness. Why let it fester? You’ve got three more days until you’re celebrating the New Year; make the celebration worth it with a resolution.

Education Is a Great Place to Start–And the Time Is Nigh

Not everyone is going to find the answer on campus, but nothing says “new you” like a revitalizing influence of learning. You might be gunning for a new degree in the same field or putting in the leg work for a total career shift. Whatever your motivation, if you’re dreaming of going back to school, the time to act is now. Deadlines for applications are coming up faster than you think, and you’ve got a laundry list of things to do. There are tests to take, admissions essays to write, and letters of recommendation to obtain–particularly if you’re going back for a graduate degree.

You’ve got three days to figure out what you want to do in 2010, make a plan, and start sticking to it. Make this New Year’s one to remember, and get started on the new you.

The holiday season has gotten a lot less stressful since I moved back home. The short drive to my parents’ house, where the tree awaits, reminds me of my early years in college. It wasn’t an incredibly long drive, only about seven hours, but it always made planning that much more difficult. Some of my fellow dorm dwellers weren’t so lucky. With home prohibitively far away, work schedules to keep, and the stereotypical college student poverty, quite a number of my friends had to pick and choose which holidays to head home for. Even I had to trade Christmas break for working through Thanksgiving one year, much to my parents’ chagrin.

Another Benefit of an Online Degree Program

Yet another benefit of online education, living at or near home doesn’t just reduce stress; it saves money. You won’t have to make that commute into school everyday, and you won’t have to move away from your home town. With the growing number of top-notch online colleges and the rapidly growing acceptance of online degrees, moving away to attend school doesn’t have to be mandatory. Whether you’re looking to hang on to great job while earning your degree or you’ve got family commitments that you can’t walk away from, your education solution is online.

What’s Stopping You?

That’s one less excuse keeping you from earning your next degree. You’ve got a few more days until it’s resolution time. Resolve to better yourself; resolve to go back to school. It’s never been easier. If you’ve got an Internet connection, you can get an education, and you won’t have to worry about making it home for the holidays.

I recently blogged about a great scholarship fundraising program. As it turns out, Arkansas isn’t the only state doing a scholarship fundraising lottery. Not only that, they’re not even the most successful. The Tennessee Education Lottery earned $280.2 million for education in the 2009 fiscal year–boasting sales of over $1 billion for the third year in a row.

This kind of financial aid innovation is extremely important in today’s economic climate. In California, students are taking to the streets to protest fee increases. Scholarships and grants are drying up, and loans of all kinds, including student loans, are harder to come by. If you’re considering going back to school, it’s time to put on your thinking cap. Figuring out how to creatively fund your college education can make your dreams of university come true.

Payin’ the Bills

The financial aid mainstays are scholarships, grants, student loans, and savings plans like the 529. These traditional methods for funding an education don’t always make ends meet, though. Many students are fortunate enough to find work related to their studies, but, unfortunately, many more are not. A nice perk of on-campus jobs is that they usually come with money-saving discounts on credits. Whatever type of employment a student ends up finding, it can be very taxing on an education.

Personally, my scholarships didn’t quite cover everything, so I worked nights and weekends in food service. Several of my fellow servers were also attending college. There were rumblings more than a few times about needing to get home to study or write a paper. These issues are not uncommon. Thanks to the fact that college students are usually pretty intelligent–and pretty broke–some creative ways to meet costs have surfaced.

Putting the ‘Fun’ in College Funding

One idea that tickles me (despite how practical it really is) is a lot like selling futures. As a college student, you’re probably planning on making it big. Sites like MyRichUncle.com make it easy for you to seek out a sponsor. If you do manage to get a “rich uncle”, you’ll be paying this loan back with a percentage of your post-graduation earnings. Other creative ways to handle your expenses range from no-nos like starting a paper-writing service to seeking out loan-forgiveness community service programs. There are also plenty of tricky ways to save money, which will help your limited budget stretch that much further.

Whatever you do, make sure that money doesn’t quash your dreams. There’s plenty of funding out there, if you’re creative enough to find it.

Some of my most memorable moments in college were protests. As a member of the Progressive Student Alliance, I remember heading out for a lovely Saturday morning protesting the war. We marched; we chanted; we bonded. We were full of that passion that comes with youth and moral absolutes. I even ended up giving activism training talks to fellow students. While my political stance has shifted a bit since then, I wouldn’t trade these experiences for anything.

Online Students Are Missing Out on Student Activism

Budget cuts and tuition hikes have California students taking to the streets in what’s being hailed as a new era of student activism. College students are notorious for marching with colorful signs to protest this, that, and the other thing. It’s a proud tradition, and online students are missing out.

Great leaps and bounds have been made in the virtual classroom. Students can connect in a myriad different ways. From discussion boards to video conferencing, communicating in the online environment has never been easier. Online students are at a disadvantage when it comes to rallying behind a cause, though. Chat room discussions, emails, even newer social networking platforms like Google Wave–all of these are fantastic for augmenting activism, but it’s the face time that makes the experience.

What’s the Problem?

It’s no secret that online students miss out on extracurricular activities. One the plus side, this lowers overhead for online universities, resulting in savings which are passed on to students. It’s the other side of the equation that many overlook: the college experience. Don’t get me wrong, online education is a fantastic tool, and I’d recommend it for anyone trying to fit a higher education into a busy life. There’s no denying, though, that there’s something that it lacks.

If you’ve got the time and resources to attend a campus-based program, do it. If this is your first degree, then you should most definitely seek out a campus-based program. College is a rite of passage, and college campuses are a hot bed of diversity and innovation. A booth you walk by on your way to the library could end up shaping your entire career–and changing your life.

It makes a lot of sense when you stop and trace everything back to the root. Unemployment went up. When unemployment goes up, people go back to school. The people who go back to school because they’re unemployed are, shall we say, less than affluent–they went back to school because they lost their jobs. Good on them! A higher education is a great way to improve your hirability. These people took advantage of financial aid to continue their education, which makes perfect sense.

When the Student Is Ready, the Funding Will Appear

On the governmental side of things, Obama has declared war on stupidity. Fantastic, wonderful–I for one like this war much better than our wars on terror and drugs (I think, too, that a war on stupidity would do triple-duty and help us out in those other two wars). His stated goal is for every American to enroll in some form of postsecondary education. To this end, some funding initiatives went through. The most important of which was an increase to the maximum Pell Grant, which is the most popular government-funding option for low-income students.

All Roads Lead to Online Education… Sort Of

So, we’ve got a greater number of low-income students going for postsecondary education, a governmental call-to-action for anyone considering enrolling in said educational programs, and more money being pumped into financial aid. Because it’s difficult to attend school without some kind of employment, and many of these new students have families to support, a more flexible option for education is preferable: online education. Online education has also gained quite a bit of credibility and even notoriety in past few years. It’s also got lower overhead–no commute, no parking fees, no need to get out of your PJs or eat anything other than cereal all day long.

Bringing It All Back Home: For-Profit Colleges Raking in the Government Funding

Again, it makes a lot of sense. Today’s students aren’t looking for a grandiose Western education replete with an unparalleled knowledge of the contemporary canon. No, they want a better shot at the limited jobs ASAP. This is why career-focused degree and certificate programs are gaining in popularity at the moment–and because they’re gaining in popularity, they’re the ones collecting the money that the government is handing out.

Pragmatism is the hallmark of many online universities, whether they admit it or not. It might not be everyone’s first choice, but it’s almost always the most practical, particularly for those looking for the aforementioned career-oriented schooling.

Since July 1, 2009, when the maximum Pell Grant went up, “Washington paid out 45 percent more through the program than during the same period a year ago [...] But the amount of dollars heading to for-profit, or “proprietary,” schools is up even more–about 67 percent,” the Associated Press found. With a few for-profit schools pushing the boundary of what’s known as the 90-10 rule (a regulation that requires schools to get at least ten percent of their funding from non-governmental sources), a few critics are suggesting that these schools are just cashing in on the gov’t-cash gold mine. From the AP:

The industry is “an aggressive sales operation that has a voracious appetite for recruiting the poorest students,” said Barmak Nassirian, associate executive director of AACRAO, a group representing admissions officers and registrars at traditional colleges. “The victims here are the students themselves and the taxpayers, who have to pick up the tab.”

Time will tell whether these colleges are doing more harm than good. In the meantime, I’m hopeful. A lot has changed in education since the 90-10 rule was necessary, and the students in these programs today are–hopefully–a bit more shrewd and bit more knowledgeable. Thanks to the Internet, it’s quite a bit harder for companies to get away with scamming students. I’m casting my vote in favor of the for-profit schools and hoping that the students enrolled go on to fulfill the dreams behind Obama’s plan: making America number one in education and building a brighter future on a strong base of higher education.