MPA College Counseling

In recent years, multiple new laws have changed how students apply for financial aid and the kind of aid they may be eligible for. In this post, a higher education policy expert argues that at least one of these changes has been positive: On average, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid now takes much less time to complete. In both Junior and Senior Seminar classes this fall, this is a topic we'll cover in depth.

Good News! FAFSA is Actually Working It is possible to fix burdensome administrative systems

Members of the class of 2026 received acceptances from institutions in 28 states, D.C., and Canada. You can learn more about the graduating seniors' college destinations on this map!

MPA Class of 2026 College Acceptances - Google My Maps Mounds Park Academy

The 55 members of MPA's class of 2025 will attend 39 different colleges and universities this fall. The most popular are:
- St. Olaf College and the University of Minnesota with 4 students each
- and Carleton College and the University of St. Thomas with 3 each.
You can learn more about the graduating seniors' college destinations on this map!

MPA Class of 2026 College Enrollments - Google My Maps Mounds Park Academy

Hampshire College was in the news recently when the 59-year-old liberal arts institution announced its closure. Our office keeps a close eye on announcements like these, at a time when other schools may also face financial pressures. In this post, however, Department of Education veteran Dan Currell argues that these closures do not represent a larger trend, and students should focus on the health of individual majors rather than schools.

Are colleges closing? Not so much. Here's what to know.

The cost of college is often an important factor in a student's college choice. To better advise you, our office stays up to date on legislative changes that might impact financial aid -- including loans. As a reminder to parents: We also offer education and resources through our partnership with College Money Method; their workshop series breaks down the college financial aid process with sessions oriented toward each year of upper school.

This year's college graduates face a changed student loan landscape Student loan borrowers graduating college in May will face different repayment options than in prior years. Here's what to know.

In the spring, our office works to increase our knowledge of the college landscape by visiting schools our students are interested in. Last month, Dr. Quam visited the University of Virginia, a large (≈17,900 undergraduates) public research university in Charlottesville, VA. UVA is known for its Academical Village, a complex of student housing and faculty pavilions that marks the center of campus, and for its student-administered honor code. Popular majors include computer science, economics, business, public policy, architecture, and biology.

In the spring, our office works to increase our knowledge of the college landscape by visiting schools our students are interested in. Last month, Dr. Quam visited Hampton University, a small (≈3,700 undergraduates) private historically Black university in Hampton, VA (across the river from Norfolk). The alma mater of Booker T. Washington, Hampton is known for being the only HBCU to have had full responsibility for a NASA mission; majors in business, communications, and biology are popular, and the university also offers majors in less common programs like aviation and exercise science.

In the spring, our office works to increase our knowledge of the college landscape by visiting schools our students are interested in. This month, Dr. Quam visited the University of Richmond, a small (≈3,100 undergraduates) private university in Richmond, VA. Richmond is known for housing the nation's first undergraduate school of leadership studies—the Jepson School—alongside Division I athletics, a highly-regarded business school, and a campus densely packed with trees. Majors in economics and biology are popular, and the university practices need-blind admissions *and* meets every student's demonstrated financial need.

Veteran college counselor James Jump regularly shares reflections on ethics and the college admissions landscape on his blog. This piece on summer programs contains several thoughtful reflections on the place of summer activities in a college application.

Suburban Legends: Summer Smorgasbord Is there increasing pressure on students to use summers to polish their resume for college?

We're sharing a recent article on employment rates among recent college graduates. To us, this brings home the importance of thorough research on the career preparation resources at colleges a student is interested in; it can be helpful to ask about the percentage of graduates employed within 12 months, as well as resources available to alumni even after they graduate.

Popular college majors with the highest unemployment rates More than 100,000 U.S. college graduates earn these degrees yearly.