Regarding prepatory programs

[gibby]

<p>Also, please read: [Harvard</a> Summer Program Recommendations Come at Hefty Cost - Bloomberg](<a href=“Bloomberg - Are you a robot?”>Bloomberg - Are you a robot?)</p>

<p>

While the colleges say they help prepare students for the transition to university, critics charge they give false hope of gaining admission, are unfair to poor students who can’t attend and add to the debt burden by depleting parents’ savings.</p>

<p>“A lot of these programs really prey on the anxiety of parents about getting kids into selective colleges,” said Elizabeth Morgan, director of external relations at the National College Access Network in Washington. “It’s a revenue strategy. It’s available to those who can afford it.”</p>

<p>Filling the dorms for the summer is a common method for colleges to make money, said Jamie Merisotis, president of the Lumina Foundation, an organization that works to expand student access to higher education.</p>

<p>“Colleges and universities are facing lots of budget pressure, and many of these programs draw $5,000, $7,000 or $10,000 per student in a few weeks,” Merisotis said. “That’s pretty good money from the perspective of the universities.”

</p>

<p>

“Parents should not see participation in this program as a way to help the student get into Columbia or any other university,” said Kristine Billmyer, dean of the school of continuing education at Columbia. She said that 25 percent of summer program alumni between 2000 and 2012 did go on to attend Columbia in some capacity, for undergraduate, continuing education or graduate school.</p>

<p>“These programs are not a back door to the university, nor should they be,” said James Miller, dean of admissions at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. “It’s something that not a lot of people can afford, so we don’t want to advantage those who have the opportunity.”</p>

<p>A summer job in a field of interest can be just as substantive, Miller said.

</p>