The College Solution


Book Description

“The College Solution helps readers look beyond over-hyped admission rankings to discover schools that offer a quality education at affordable prices. Taking the guesswork out of saving and finding money for college, this is a practical and insightful must-have guide for every parent!” —Jaye J. Fenderson, Seventeen’s College Columnist and Author, Seventeen’s Guide to Getting into College “This book is a must read in an era of rising tuition and falling admission rates. O’Shaughnessy offers good advice with blessed clarity and brevity.” —Jay Mathews, Washington Post Education Writer and Columnist “I would recommend any parent of a college-bound student read The College Solution.” —Kal Chany, Author, The Princeton Review’s Paying for College Without Going Broke “The College Solution goes beyond other guidebooks in providing an abundance of information about how to afford college, in addition to how to approach the selection process by putting the student first.” —Martha “Marty” O’Connell, Executive Director, Colleges That Change Lives “Lynn O’Shaughnessy always focuses on what’s in the consumer’s best interest, telling families how to save money and avoid making costly mistakes.” —Mark Kantrowitz, Publisher, FinAid.org and Author, FastWeb College Gold “An antidote to the hype and hysteria about getting in and paying for college! O’Shaughnessy has produced an excellent overview that demystifies the college planning process for students and families.” —Barmak Nassirian, American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers For millions of families, the college planning experience has become extremely stressful. And, unless your child is an elite student in the academic top 1%, most books on the subject won’t help you. Now, however, there’s a college guide for everyone. In The College Solution, top personal finance journalist Lynn O’Shaughnessy presents an easy-to-use roadmap to finding the right college program (not just the most hyped) and dramatically reducing the cost of college, too. Forget the rankings! Discover what really matters: the quality and value of the programs your child wants and deserves. O’Shaughnessy uncovers “industry secrets” on how colleges actually parcel out financial aid—and how even “average” students can maximize their share. Learn how to send your kids to expensive private schools for virtually the cost of an in-state public college...and how promising students can pay significantly less than the “sticker price” even at the best state universities. No other book offers this much practical guidance on choosing a college...and no other book will save you as much money! • Secrets your school’s guidance counselor doesn’t know yet The surprising ways colleges have changed how they do business • Get every dime of financial aid that’s out there for you Be a “fly on the wall” inside the college financial aid office • U.S. News & World Report: clueless about your child Beyond one-size-fits-all rankings: finding the right program for your teenager • The best bargains in higher education Overlooked academic choices that just might be perfect for you




Indentured


Book Description

“How can the NCAA blithely wreck careers without regard to due process or common fairness? How can it act so ruthlessly to enforce rules that are so petty? Why won’t anybody stand up to these outrageous violations of American values and American justice?” In the four years since Joe Nocera asked those ques­tions in a controversial New York Times column, the National Collegiate Athletic Association has come under fire. Fans have begun to realize that the athletes involved in the two biggest college sports, men’s bas­ketball and football, are little more than indentured servants. Millions of teenagers accept scholarships to chase their dreams of fame and fortune—at the price of absolute submission to the whims of an organiza­tion that puts their interests dead last. For about 5 percent of top-division players, college ends with a golden ticket to the NFL or the NBA. But what about the overwhelming majority who never turn pro? They don’t earn a dime from the estimated $13 billion generated annually by college sports—an ocean of cash that enriches schools, conferences, coaches, TV networks, and apparel companies . . . everyone except those who give their blood and sweat to entertain the fans. Indentured tells the dramatic story of a loose-knit group of rebels who decided to fight the hypocrisy of the NCAA, which blathers endlessly about the purity of its “student-athletes” while exploiting many of them: The ones who get injured and drop out be­cause their scholarships have been revoked. The ones who will neither graduate nor go pro. The ones who live in terror of accidentally violating some obscure rule in the four-hundred-page NCAA rulebook. Joe Nocera and Ben Strauss take us into the inner circle of the NCAA’s fiercest enemies. You’ll meet, among others . . . ·Sonny Vaccaro, the charismatic sports marketer who convinced Nike to sign Michael Jordan. Dis­gusted by how the NCAA treated athletes, Vaccaro used his intimate knowledge of its secrets to blow the whistle in a major legal case. ·Ed O’Bannon, the former UCLA basketball star who realized, years after leaving college, that the NCAA was profiting from a video game using his image. His lawsuit led to an unprecedented antitrust ruling. ·Ramogi Huma, the founder of the National Col­lege Players Association, who dared to think that college players should have the same collective bargaining rights as other Americans. ·Andy Schwarz, the controversial economist who looked behind the façade of the NCAA and saw it for what it is: a cartel that violates our core values of free enterprise. Indentured reveals how these and other renegades, working sometimes in concert and sometimes alone, are fighting for justice in the bare-knuckles world of college sports.




Pay for Play


Book Description

In an era when college football coaches frequently command higher salaries than university presidents, many call for reform to restore the balance between amateur athletics and the educational mission of schools. This book traces attempts at college athletics reform from 1855 through the early twenty-first century while analyzing the different roles played by students, faculty, conferences, university presidents, the NCAA, legislatures, and the Supreme Court. Pay for Play: A History of Big-Time College Athletic Reform also tackles critically important questions about eligibility, compensation, recruiting, sponsorship, and rules enforcement. Discussing reasons for reform--to combat corruption, to level the playing field, and to make sports more accessible to minorities and women--Ronald A. Smith candidly explains why attempts at change have often failed. Of interest to historians, athletic reformers, college administrators, NCAA officials, and sports journalists, this thoughtful book considers the difficulty in balancing the principles of amateurism with the need to draw income from sporting events.




Student Athlete's Guide to Getting Recruited


Book Description

"A resource for high school student athletes on how to win athletic scholarships, get recruited by colleges, and excel as college athletes. Includes tips for student athletes on how to communicate with college coaches and market themselves, navigate the NCAA rules, and select the right college"--




College Athletes for Hire


Book Description

Many books have been written on the evils of commercialism in college sport, and the hypocrisy of payments to athletes from alumni and other sources outside the university. Almost no attention, however, has been given to the way that the National Collegiate Athletic Association has embraced professionalism through its athletic scholarship policy. Because of this gap in the historical record, the NCAA is often cast as an embattled defender of amateurism, rather than as the architect of a nationwide money-laundering scheme. Sack and Staurowsky show that the NCAA formally abandoned amateurism in the 1950s and passed rules in subsequent years that literally transformed scholarship athletes into university employees. In addition, by purposefully fashioning an amateur mythology to mask the reality of this employer-employee relationship, the NCAA has done a disservice to student-athletes and to higher education. A major subtheme is that women, such as those who created the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW), opposed this hypocrisy, but lacked the power to sustain an alternative model. After tracing the evolution of college athletes into professional entertainers, and the harmful effects it has caused, the authors propose an alternative approach that places college sport on a firm educational foundation and defend the rights of both male and female college athletes. This is a provocative analysis for anyone interested in college sports in America and its subversion of traditional educational and amateur principles.




The Athletic Scholarship Playbook


Book Description

Your family's athletic scholarship dream can become a reality when you apply the recruiting steps clearly laid out in the Athletic Scholarship Playbook.You're a parent. Your son or daughter is a talented high school athlete. You know they have what it takes to compete at the next level and you want to see them get recruited by college coaches. You believe they are athletic scholarship material.Or you're an athlete. You dream of being recruited by college coaches and earning an athletic scholarship. But you don't know where to start.You see other athletes in your city receive full rides and you wonder how they got discovered. Did coaches just find them or is there more to it?You want answers.Jon Fugler takes the mystery out of recruiting and athletic scholarships, providing parents and student-athletes a clear, actionable plan.Athletic scholarships are not just reserved for the best athletes in the city, county, state, country or even team. Every high school athlete who can compete at the next level has a good opportunity for an athletic scholarship. You just need to know the steps to getting noticed and recruited.This Playbook is your recruiting roadmap that will lead you to success, covering steps for all sports, both men's and women's. This complete, detailed, how-to guide covers everything from how to get discovered, how to move up multiple coaches' prospect lists, NCAA and NAIA eligibility and recruiting rules, producing an effective video, choosing the right camps, tournaments and showcases, what to ask coaches so you get the full picture about their program and your status, how to make the final school choice, and much more.Whether you're just starting out or you've been at it for a while, Jon's step-by-step approach will empower you to take control of the recruiting process. You'll get results, even begin hearing from college coaches in the next 30 days.These are the same things Jon discovered to get his twin sons fully paid educations ... at the school of their choice ... playing the sport they love. Since then, Jon has been coaching parents and athletes for over 15 years, helping them achieve their families' scholarship dreams. In this book, he shares the very same things he has taught families like yours.You'll know exactly what you need to do to get on the radar of college coaches, stay on their radar and get offers. Here's a quick look at the key elements you'll learn in the book:* The #1, most powerful way for your son or daughter to get college coaches' attention quickly (in the first 30 days) - this works like crazy! * Jon's proven five-step strategy for landing an athletic scholarship at a school you can trust is the best fit. * What you must do before you even think about getting your son or daughter's name in front of college coaches. * The secret to getting the best offers from the right schools. * How to make your student-athlete stand out and get noticed among all the other prospects. * The proven method for your kid to constantly move up on a coach's prospect list. * How to get the contact info for 75 coaches in less than an hour - not only is it possible, it's easier to do it this way. * When and how to use video.* How to choose camps and showcases so your athlete is in front of the right coaches.* How parents and athletes can work together as a team to get the best results.* How to evaluate your scholarship offers and make the final school choice that is truly the best fit.This book is the culmination of Jon's 15+ years of work with parents and athletes and his proven, step-by-step system for recruiting. You'll come away empowered to run your own recruiting campaign.




Debt-Free Degree


Book Description

Every parent wants the best for their child. That’s why they send them to college! But most parents struggle to pay for school and end up turning to student loans. That’s why the majority of graduates walk away with $35,000 in student loan debt and no clue what that debt will really cost them.1 Student loan debt doesn’t open doors for young adults—it closes them. They postpone getting married and starting a family. That debt even takes away their freedom to pursue their dreams. But there is a different way. Going to college without student loans is possible! In Debt-Free Degree, Anthony ONeal teaches parents how to get their child through school without debt, even if they haven’t saved for it. He also shows parents: *How to prepare their child for college *Which classes to take in high school *How and when to take the ACT and SAT *The right way to do college visits *How to choose a major A college education is supposed to prepare a graduate for their future, not rob them of their paycheck and freedom for decades. Debt-Free Degree shows parents how to pay cash for college and set their child up to succeed for life.







Big-Time Sports in American Universities


Book Description

This book expands on the argument that spectator sports, despite their problems, have become a central function of American universities.