Syracuse Launches ‘Intelligence Community Center’

The Daily Orange: “Syracuse University will receive a $1.5 million grant from the United States Intelligence Community over a five-year period to educate and recruits students interested in the intelligence field … The Intelligence Community also designated SU as one of eight national Intelligence Community Centers for Academic Excellence. As part of the program, SU will lead a consortium of universities, including Norfolk State University in Virginia and The Grove School of Engineering at The City College of New York.”

“The consortium will work to meet the educational needs of the Intelligence Community, a federation of 17 separate federal intelligence agencies … SU plans to build partnerships with the institutions in its consortium to help attract a diverse body of students, such as military veterans, women and others from underrepresented backgrounds … SU’s $62.5 million National Veterans Resource Center, a regional hub for veteran services, is expected to open in January 2020.”

Georgia State Uses ‘AI’ to Reduce ‘Summer Melt’

Tech Advocate: “A matter that is related to admissions is the so-called “summer melt.” That happens when applicants that have been admitted to a university or college, don’t turn up to start their studies. Georgia State University in Atlanta has begun using an AI chatbot system called Pounce, to reduce these incidents.”

“During the summer of 2016, Georgia State created a list of more than 2000 questions and answers for freshmen. The questions pertain to issues like financial aid, courses, majors, housing, etc. In fact, many applicants don’t understand how admissions processes operate. The university then collaborated with the conversational AI-company AdmitHub to deliver those answers to students on text-based platforms they could access anytime via their smartphones.”

“By the time fall classes started, more than 200,000 questions by freshmen had been answered. The university credits the Pounce system for helping it to reduce the summer melt that year by 22%.”

FAFSA: Mind the Deadlines

US News: “For students seeking federal financial aid to pay for college, the deadline to submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, is on June 30 each year. But to maximize their chances of getting aid, every prospective and current college student would ideally promptly submit the FAFSA shortly after the application opens on Oct. 1 of the school year before the aid will be used … This means that rising high school seniors who plan to begin college in 2020 should prepare to fill out the FAFSA starting this October … To be eligible for federal financial aid like work-study, student loans and the Pell Grant, as well as a range of other college and state need-based aid, students must submit the FAFSA.”

“In addition to keeping the federal deadline in mind, they must juggle multiple independent FAFSA deadlines unique to their college and state. The difference between filing early, on time and late can amount to thousands of dollars in funding to pay for college.”

“The U.S. Department of Education publishes a list of state deadlines for the FAFSA annually, and Shank says students should also check their college’s website to find deadlines for specific grants and scholarships, or contact their financial aid office if the submission deadline isn’t clearly stated.” The priority deadline for Connecticut is midnight, February 15th.