Notes in the Margins: Bulging community colleges, college cost calculators and touchy logos

Workers seek new skills at community colleges, but classes are full All over the United States, community college enrollments have surged with unemployed and underemployed people seeking new skills. But just as workers have turned to community colleges, states have cut their budgets, forcing the institutions to turn away legions of students and stymieing the efforts to retrain the workforce. (The Washington Post)

If your child resists college search A frustrated parent brought an unnerving problem to my Admissions 101 discussion. The student had gotten into a well-respected public university in his state and, the parent said, "adamantly refused to go on college visits or apply to any schools other than" his one and only choice. (The Washington Post)

Universities Tell High Schools Valuable Logos Are Off Limits Universities steadfastly protect their trademarked logos, which appear on everything from oven mitts to underwear, and their reach is increasingly stretching toward high schools. If a school’s logo can be confused with a university’s, or if it is capable of diluting its value, the universities often demand changes. (The New York Times)

More colleges, students using Common Application The Common Application is so much on the rise that young people are sometimes annoyed with schools that don't accept it. But some college officials say they worry that the shared form has heightened the admissions frenzy because students find it so easy to apply to multiple schools, occasionally including some barely on their radar. (San Francisco Chronicle)

Net-Price Calculator: The Latest Buzzword for College-Bound Families Students applying to universities in the fall of 2011 should have a new tool at their fingertips to approximate the answers to this crucial question and, at least in theory, to compare the potential expense of attending one institution with another. It is an online device called the “net price calculator,” and colleges and universities will be required by the federal government to have their own versions on their Web sites beginning late next year. (thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com)

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