Studying Abroad in Germany, Free Study in Germany, Universities & Colleges in Germany: 2013-06-30

Saturday, July 6, 2013

Fostering Innovation in High Schools

Team testing in high schools mimics workplace problem solving, and studies show it can also boost student engagement.

Social media manager. App designer. Offshore wind farm engineer. Sustainability manager. Ten years ago, none of these jobs existed. Today, they are hot careers.

So how do you prepare high school students to work in – or create – a field that doesn't exist?

By injecting collaboration and creativity into the classroom, says Stephan Turnipseed, president of LEGO Education North America. Beyond their iconic building blocks, LEGO offers curriculum and professional development for teachers and sponsors robotics competitions for students.

"At 2 years old, when you do the standard creativity test, we are all – almost 100 percent of us – creative geniuses," he says. "By the end of 12 years of education only 3 percent score at that same level."

[Discover what the future workforce will look like.]

Turning that trend around requires occasionally tossing aside some steadfast notions in the education world, he says.

"We should be stressing things like collaborative test taking," where each member of the testing team has a role, Turnipseed says. "When I was a kid that was called cheating."

Tasking teens to work in pairs to solve problems more closely mimics real-world problem solving than traditional testing environments. It also boosts student achievement, according to studies.

One high school English teacher found that her students scored 20 percentage points higher than those who had taken the same test in previous years, according to one report. The difference: team testing.

"Students were listening to one another, talking to their peers about test items, trying to decipher the correct answer and debating why an answer was or was not the best response," the report notes.

Traditional testing methods are often criticized for promoting memorization over actual learning, but they can also stifle creativity, Turnipseed suggests.

"We ingrain in our students and our children that there is only one right answer," he says, adding that while two plus two equals four in a normal math problem, in certain realms of physics, it doesn't. "That's probably not the best way forward."

[Learn how teenage scientists innovated new medical therapies.]

Instead, teachers should create an environment where there are a variety of correct answers to a given challenge, Turnipseed says. That could mean having students devise a solution to an irrigation issue, or build a robot and then figure out how to make it go faster.

"You can't do this everywhere. But in STEM, it is absolutely doable. It is eminently doable," he says. "Of all the disciplines that we learn in school, STEM is an area where you can always have a world where there is more than one right answer."

Giving high school students opportunities to create and solve problems – and the freedom to devise multiple solutions – helps give classroom activities relevance and better prepares students for the workplace, he says.

Pulling that "imagination-creativity lever" can also inspire a student to be the next great inventor, he says.

"Start pushing kids to use their imagination and to use creativity in the appropriate environment and that would drive a lot of the results we need in innovation," he says.

Have something of interest to share? Send your news to us at highschoolnotes@usnews.com.

View the original article here

How to Save for College After a Parent's Death

Contributions from family and friends can make saving for college easier for a parent who has lost a spouse.

Jackie Livaudais knows what it's like to want to provide for a child's future when one's own is uncertain. She was pregnant with her third son when her husband, an Army ranger, was killed in Iraq.

Applying for assistance as a veteran's widow was difficult because her husband, Nino Livaudais, was killed early in the Iraq War. "At the time, a lot of programs were out of date," she says, using her experience with Utah's Division of Motor Vehicles as an example. "The DMV didn't know what to do with us or how to handle our paperwork."

While government programs have improved those processes, the challenge of making complicated decisions after a partner's death hasn't changed. As a volunteer, Livaudais helps other military spouses and their children get through those first months.

When it comes to saving for a child's future, her advice for anyone who has lost a spouse is to start a tax-advantaged college savings plan known as a 529 plan. But she suggests not contributing a lot of money before making other major life decisions, such as where to live.

Parents who have lost a spouse – as a result of military service or otherwise – should take the following steps to manage college savings.

[Take these steps before opening a 529 plan.]

1. Hold off on big 529 plan decisions: Surviving spouses may not be comfortable over the long term with investment choices made in the immediate aftermath of their partner's death. "Any time someone's dealing with loss, way too many people are trying to take advantage," says Tim Heaslet, a chaplain and chairman of the nonprofit Children of Fallen Soldiers.

It takes time to get comfortable with making financial decisions on one's own, especially if the couple made decisions as a team. "I never handled major financial decisions by myself," Livaudais says.

She says to start with "small, reasonable contributions to 529 plans and increase when grief isn't so heavy."

[Get tips on evaluating 529 plan performance.]

2. Encourage family and friends to open accounts for the child: Family, friends or coworkers could set up a plan for minors who have lost a parent, but the living parent or a family member needs to be named as the account's owner, says Paul Paeglis, executive director of the Ohio Tuition Trust Authority. This is so the family controls the plan's funds.

Contributions can be made by anyone. For the plan managed by the Ohio Tuition Trust Authority, individuals may write checks with the beneficiary's name on the check memo line, he says. "This is no different than third-party giving like families do for a child's birthday or holidays."

It's easy to contribute to a child's account by giving money to the parent, directly to a 529 plan or through a gift-giving program like Ugift or GradSave.

[Learn how to ask for contributions to a child's 529 plan.]

3. Start a memorial page for contributions: While GradSave offers all parents the option of setting up a website to crowd fund their child's education, families can also set up memorial pages. The funds raised can be sent to a 529 plan of the family's choice.

GradSave also recently started a special landing page featuring children who have lost a parent in the U.S. armed forces, where individuals who'd like to help a military family may do so. Landing pages are being planned for surviving children of police officers and emergency workers.

Livaudais' family has set up a memorial page. Her children are now 15, 12 and nine years old and each aspires to attend college.

Destre, 15, wants to be an artist or a musician. Carson, 12, wants to be a surgeon. Grant wants to be an Army ranger like his dad.

"A lot of businesses and kind Americans want to reach out and help kids," Livaudais says. Some reach out through donations and others through thoughtful messages and videos. She says those gestures show her children how much their father's sacrifice is appreciated.

Trying to fund your education? Get tips and more in the U.S. News Paying for College center.

View the original article here

Colleges Work to Retain Women in STEM Majors

A female engineer works in an oil field. All-female residence halls and mentorship programs in college can help women thrive in male-dominated majors.

Dorms dedicated exclusively to female engineers help foster a sense of community and offer support for students.

STEM fields suffer from an image problem. Often seen as a boys club or a path for geeks, colleges struggle to attract and retain women in science, technology, engineering and math majors.

Only about 25 percent of STEM degree holders are women, due largely to a lack of female college students studying engineering, computer science and physical sciences such as physics and chemistry, according to reports.

"I never felt like I was at a disadvantage because there were so many men in the room, but it was definitely noticeable," says Sarah Hefter Flanigan, who earned a bachelor's and master's in aerospace engineering from Virginia Tech and Cornell University, respectively. "You had to learn to interact with people in an academic and social environment where you were outnumbered."

Flanigan's drive to achieve her childhood dream – to be an astronaut and a Hokie – helped her overcome any STEM gender gap, but being outnumbered can be daunting for some aspiring female scientists and mathematicians.

"For me, it was obviously intimidating," says Amyriz Garcia, a civil engineering student at the University of Texas—Austin. "I was in an engineering major and being around engineers is kind of intimidating – especially men."

[See which top-ranked schools grant the most STEM degrees.]

Colleges and universities are working to stymie that feeling via outreach and mentoring programs.

"We're really trying to build that community so if they are the only woman in a class or on a project team they don't feel like the only one," says Tricia Berry, director of UT—Austin's Women in Engineering program. Female students account for just 10 to 15 percent of students in certain engineering majors at the university, Berry says.

Schools such as UT—Austin and Virginia Tech use learning communities to create that sense of belonging. These programs put new students in residence halls with more experienced female engineering students who can mentor them along the way.

Women in these dorms live, study and play together – volunteering for community service and competing on intramural sports teams – giving them the support system male students have had all along, Bevlee Watford, associate dean of academic affairs at Virginia Tech's College of Engineering, said at the U.S. News STEM Solutions conference last month.

[Discover the best engineering programs for undergrads.]

Roughly 1,000 of the school's 1,300 freshman engineering students last year were men. Those men can shout down the hall and easily find one or two students able to help them on a calculus problem, said Watford, who recalled feeling isolated as the only engineer on her floor when she attended Virginia Tech in the 1980s.

"No question this is in some way impacting students' ability to keep going through the engineering curriculum," said Watford, noting that the five-year graduation rate for women in these residence communities was 82 percent compared with 65 percent for all students.

Living in an all-female section of a residence hall as an undergraduate at Michigan Technological University helped Kaitlyn Bunker overlook the gender gap in her program.

View the original article here

Technology to Keep International Students Connected

smartphone, college student, college living

Apps and services such as Viber and WhatsApp offer affordable ways for international students to stay connected with family.

If homesickness is setting in, international students can let virtual communication ease the disconnect from loved ones back home or close friends who have traveled elsewhere to pursue higher education.

When I first moved to the U.S. on my own, using WhatsApp to shoot short text messages to determine "What detergent did my mom use?" helped me make simple decisions. Whenever I had a tough day, talking to my best friend – who lives in Australia – was made possible through Viber, as she listened to my tearful mumbles and consoled me.

The following are several options that can still give your mom the power to check in on what her baby is up to and help international students keep in touch.

[Take these steps to adjust to life at a U.S. college.]

• Skype: Schedule a Skype date with your family members or your best friends from high school. Seeing their faces and hearing their voices through this video and voice calling service will be comforting even if they're not in reach.

Talk about anything and everything. Talk about school, your new friends, your memories with this person, and most importantly, about the way that you're feeling. These are the people in your life who already know your personality, care for you and appreciate you for who you are. They are your greatest source of comfort and stability.

During finals season, my friends in Australia and I often Skype each other to have study sessions. This way we feel like we're still in high school at the library together, keeping each other focused.

• Google Hangouts: A Hangout is a great way to connect with several people via webcam at once. This will let you speak to both your grandma and mom at the same time or a couple of your friends in different locations for free – unlike Skype, which has many free features but charges for group video calls.

In addition, Google Hangouts allow you to share your screen so, for example, you can show your parents when you are booking your flight home. There are apps to play games together and Google effects so you can add masks and sounds to your Hangout, making it more interactive and personal.

[Learn the keys to understanding your American classmates.]

• Viber: This smartphone application allows you to make free calls over a Wi-Fi or data connection. However, the receiver must also have Viber in order for a call to be received.

Although there is a messaging platform within Viber, I've found that it is not as reliable as WhatsApp. But this app will surely benefit you by lowering the monthly phone bill.

• WhatsApp: This application, offered for smartphones to download, is a free texting application that uses Wi-Fi or cellular data so you can be in contact 24/7. Like Viber, it requires that both parties have the application on their phones.

Use WhatsApp to text pictures of what you are doing and eating to your mom so she knows that you're getting the proper nutrients. Have group chats with your friends and exchange voice recordings.

I use WhatsApp every day to keep in touch with my mom. Although the use of this technology may be a blessing for her because she can easily keep tabs on me, there's also a hidden downside to it.

She often complains about me texting her at 3 a.m. in her time zone to ask how to pick out certain grocery items. But since she loves me so much, she still replies.

[Get ready to have an American roommate.]

• Snapchat: Send quick and quirky periodic updates through your phone to show little snapshots of your day. The app only lets you and your Snapchat buddy see the photo for a few seconds, allowing your responses to be original and unique.

• Snail mail: In spite of all of these electronic and instant options to keep in touch, sometimes it's nice to scale things back and refer to more personal methods for communication. For special occasions like birthdays, the birth of a new family member or just to send a warm greeting, sit down with a card or paper and write a personal letter.

When loved ones receive this they'll often feel the heartfelt message and cherish your words even more. If you are lucky, they might even send one back – which will be a perfect memento to look at when days are a little rough from being far away.

Every year, my best friend and I have a birthday tradition of sending a humorous birthday card to each other along with a heartfelt letter. Sending your loved ones reminders of what they mean to you by doing something a little more special makes it worth the effort of stopping by the post office.

Nisa Taib, from Brunei, is a senior at the University of Washington, studying business administration with a concentration in marketing.

View the original article here

Understand Lower-Than-Expected June LSAT Scores

One common cause of lower-than-expected LSAT scores is test anxiety.

June LSAT test-takers will soon know their results on the law school entrance exam. The Law School Admission Council sends the scores out via email approximately three weeks after the test date, usually a few days ahead of the promised delivery date, so test-takers will either have just gotten scores or will get them very soon.

Not surprisingly, some prospective law students will be ecstatic with their performance, others will be satisfied that they scored in the range that they had anticipated and still others may be disappointed that they scored significantly lower than they had on practice tests prior to taking the real exam.

As the June exam is the first time many students take the LSAT, it can be both frustrating and surprising not to see results align perfectly with practice test scores. However, don't despair, I have witnessed hundreds of students dramatically improve their scores in October and December.

If you are stumped by the discrepancy between your scores on practice tests and your score on the June LSAT, you are not alone. Over the last decade, I have seen this issue frustrate a good number of students.

[See where law students have the highest median LSAT scores.]

The heartening news is that many of these students went on to continue their studies, retake the exam, improve their scores substantially and get into the law school of their dreams. The key to achieving this is understanding what caused you to perform lower than your abilities and creating a study plan before the October or December LSAT, when you can retake the exam.

This study plan should be focused on the types of questions in each of the sections with which you struggled on the actual exam as well as the number of questions you left blank or guessed on, which is an indication of challenges with the timing of the test. Before you can address these errors, you must first identify them.

The most common cause of lower-than-expected LSAT scores is test anxiety. When students take practice tests, they are more comfortable and therefore think more clearly than when they are sitting in the real exam.

[Stay focused on LSAT test day with these tips.]

It is particularly telling when a student misses substantial points on the first section. Those who suffer from test anxiety often struggle on the first section because they are nervous but eventually settle down and perform more consistently on the following sections.

If you believe that you experienced test anxiety during the June LSAT, keep in mind that your practice tests were or should have been real LSATs from previous years. Because those are actual tests, they are accurate measures of your ability, and therefore you are capable of attaining those higher scores on the real exam.

If you wish to retake the LSAT in October or December, make a study plan, continue taking real LSAT practice tests, and look for ways to manage your test anxiety.

There are, of course, other factors that could affect your performance on test day. If you had insufficient time to prepare – at least four to six months – you almost certainly did not reach your full potential.

One way to tell if you were not adequately prepared is to review the questions you got wrong and see if you can quickly identify your mistakes. If you are kicking yourself for making silly errors, then nerves probably got the best of you. If you have trouble understanding the correct answer, then you likely need more prep time to more fully grasp the material.

If you were ill before or during the exam, you likely did not score as well as when you were feeling your best. Being distracted by a recent family emergency or personal issue would also have a negative impact on your score.

If any of these is the case, you should retake the LSAT after you have resolved any matters that would cause you to lose focus. Continue to take three to four Real LSATs per week. I had a Stratus Prep student who undertook this strategy and increased by 15 points on her second attempt.

[Get tips on October LSAT success.]

Regardless of the cause of your drop in points, to ensure you do not repeat this experience, I advise you seek professional assistance leading up to your retake date. Enlist the help of a private tutor who can partner with you to address weaknesses in your performance and create a customized study plan to maximize your LSAT score.

At the same time, during the rest of the summer, start working on your applications by drafting essays and reaching out to recommenders so that your new score will be the final piece of your completed application when it comes time to submit.

You should submit as soon as you receive your October LSAT score – despite myths to the contrary, you do not want to apply until you have your score. It could dramatically affect your final school selection.

Are you considering retaking the LSAT? Let me know in the comments, email me at shawn.oconnor@stratusprep.com, or contact me via Twitter at @StratusPrep.

View the original article here

FAQs on the 2013 Teacher Prep Ratings

U.S. News has published a subset of the NCTQ ratings of programs that train elementary and secondary teachers.

The National Council on Teacher Quality has just released the first NCTQ Teacher Prep Ratings with U.S. News & World Report as the publisher. While the NCTQ website has ratings on 2,420 teacher preparation programs at 1,130 institutions, on usnews.com we've published a subset: overall program ratings for 1,200 undergraduate and graduate teacher preparation programs offered at 608 schools.

Here are answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about this project and U.S. News's role.

Why is U.S. News publishing NCTQ's ratings of teacher preparation programs?

U.S. News believes that teacher education programs have not been fully scrutinized in the past. There is a big push nationwide to improve both teacher quality and the quality of schools at the K-12 level. The new ratings are part of this national effort to hold teacher preparation programs accountable for the quality of their graduates.

We hope these new ratings will help lead to improvements in teacher preparation programs and address the lack of comparable information about these programs.

For more details, see U.S. News Editor Brian Kelly's opinion on the NCTQ ratings.

What role did U.S. News play in developing the methodology, collecting data from teacher education programs and compiling the NCTQ Teacher Prep Ratings?

U.S. News did not play a role in these areas. NCTQ developed the methodology with input from many higher education experts, collected the data used to compute the ratings directly from education schools and compiled and calculated the Teacher Prep Ratings.

Do these new NCTQ ratings replace the U.S. News Best Education Schools rankings?

No, the NCTQ Teacher Prep Ratings are offered in addition to what U.S. News does now. U.S. News will continue to publish the Best Education Schools rankings as part of our annual Best Graduate Schools rankings.

How are the U.S. News Best Education Schools rankings different from the NCTQ Teacher Prep Ratings?

The methodologies used to compile the U.S. News rankings and the NCTQ ratings are completely different and fully independent from each other.

The current U.S. News Best Education Schools rankings only evaluated the 278 graduate schools that grant a doctoral degree in education. The methodology focused on the research output of those doctoral programs and did not evaluate any teacher preparation programs at those education schools.

NCTQ's Teacher Prep Ratings evaluated 1,200 programs at 608 colleges and universities with programs that prepare elementary and secondary teachers and only rated the teacher preparation programs at those schools.

U.S. News did not use any data from the NCTQ Teacher Prep Ratings to compute our Best Education Schools rankings, and similarly, NCTQ did not use any data from the U.S. News Best Education Schools rankings to compute its Teacher Prep Ratings.

It's also important to note that the U.S. News Best Education Schools is a numerical ranking of each graduate education school based on how each school's data compares with all other graduate education schools.

In contrast, the NCTQ Teacher Prep Ratings use a star system that separately rates up to four teacher preparation programs at an education school based on how each program performed on NCTQ's rating standards.

Has U.S. News worked with other organizations to conduct rankings in the past?

Yes, many of the rankings U.S. News publishes are the result of finding highly knowledgeable partners and working with them to produce rankings.

U.S. News currently partners with Best Lawyers to publish the Best Law Firms rankings; with RTI International to produce our Best Hospitals rankings; and with the American Institutes for Research to create the Best High Schools rankings.

How can I locate the methodology used to compile the 2013 NCTQ Teacher Prep Ratings?

Visit the NCTQ site to find the complete methodology and other detailed information about how the NCTQ ratings were compiled.

I have a question about the data or methodologies used in the 2013 NCTQ Teacher Prep Ratings. Whom should I contact?

Please send your inquiry via email to Laura Johnson at NCTQ.

I am in the media and have questions about the 2013 NCTQ Teacher Prep Ratings. Whom should I contact?

Please send your inquiry via email to Laura Johnson at NCTQ.

View the original article here

Friday, July 5, 2013

Don’t Ignore a Low GPA in B-School Applications

Show admissions officers that you’ve grown and matured in an essay to counteract a low undergraduate GPA.

MBA candidates have anxiety over many facets of their applications, from less-than-stellar GMAT scores to weak quantitative profiles to blemishes on their academic records. One common weakness facing MBA hopefuls is a low undergraduate GPA.

Keep in mind that a 3.5 or better undergraduate GPA isn't considered low for the purposes of most MBA applications, so look at the mean GPA for admitted students at your target programs to determine whether you have an issue to overcome in that area.

[Find out which 10 schools receive the most MBA applications.]

Our client Spencer came to us for assistance with his applications to three top-five MBA programs. He had a successful track record as part of a business development team at a health care company, as well as great leadership examples on a nonprofit board. Spencer had achieved a strong, balanced GMAT score of 740. The main issue with Spencer's application was his 2.9 GPA from Boston University.

When we discussed his GPA in detail, Spencer said he was passionate about economics and did well with that subject and a few other classes that interested him. But he wasn't able to muster enthusiasm for his communications or literature classes – a reality that his grades reflected.

There were no extenuating circumstances that affected Spencer's GPA. He simply lacked the maturity to work hard in the classes he disliked.

The difficulty with a low GPA is that it's solidly in the past. When MBA programs look at academic records like the GMAT and GPA, there's a question of aptitude – if the applicant can do the work? – as well as application – if the applicant will work hard. It was clear that Spencer had the aptitude. Unfortunately, it wasn't clear that he would dedicate himself to his MBA course work.

[Match your personality with b-school teaching styles.]

Spencer directly addressed his low GPA in his optional essays. He made no excuses and admitted that he had lacked the wisdom to see the big picture during his undergraduate years.

He demonstrated that he had since developed the maturity to work hard in all classes, not just those he found intellectually interesting. He explained that he was a high achiever at work, had achieved A's in a set of pre-MBA classes and was prepared to dedicate himself to his MBA studies. Ultimately, Spencer's candor paid off and he was admitted to Columbia Business School.

Another client, Joe, had a fairly solid 3.4 GPA from his days as an undergraduate at University of California — Berkeley. Because his grades were decent overall, he wanted to gloss over the fact that he got a D in an introductory economics class. Joe assumed that the admissions committee would give him the benefit of the doubt and understand that this grade was a fluke.

While I understood his reasoning and sympathized with his desire not to dwell on a single failure, I fervently disagreed with this approach. If you don't provide those details, the admissions committee will make assumptions that may not be in your favor.

In Joe's case, the admissions committee may think he did not like or value economics as a subject, or that he could not grasp basic economic theory. Worse, they may wonder why he didn't feel the need to explain such a serious blemish on his record, which could lead them to doubt his judgment or presentation skills.

[Check out these six great careers for MBA graduates.]

As it turned out, Joe had a very good reason for the low grade, and the story behind the grade became an asset to his application. Rather than try to explain, Joe drafted an essay that focused on how he helped his family through a significant health and financial crisis. This included driving back and forth between Berkeley and San Diego on a weekly basis. The frequent travel, combined with a fairly inflexible professor, led to the D.

Joe's story revealed his personal priorities – his work ethic, dedication to family and determination. In many ways, it was the strongest essay he wrote. Joe talked about how he grew through this experience, and his honest self-reflection was rewarded with admission to the Wharton School.

These real-life examples show how addressing a low GPA in your MBA application is a critical step, whether it was caused by dramatic circumstances or mere laziness. Admissions committees really do consider applications holistically, so if all other aspects of your candidacy are strong, one flaw likely won't doom you completely.

Be honest, show introspection and growth and let the chips fall where they may.

View the original article here

10 Highest-Priced Public Colleges for Out-of-State Students

The U.S. News Short List, separate from our overall rankings, is a regular series that magnifies individual data points in hopes of providing students and parents a way to find which undergraduate or graduate programs excel or have room to grow in specific areas. Be sure to explore The Short List: College and The Short List: Grad School to find data that matters to you in your college or grad school search.

The University of Michigan and University of Virginia are two of the best public universities in the country. Students living in those states can get a first-rate education at a bargain, but undergrads crossing state lines to attend should expect to fork over some cash.

Sticker price for nonresident students at Michigan topped $39,000 for the 2012-2013 school year, making it the most expensive public school for out-of-state students. Virginia came in a close second with tuition and fees of more than $38,000 for nonresident students, according to data reported to U.S. News in an annual survey.

[Learn how to get in-state tuition at out-of-state colleges.]

The University of California—Davis, College of William and Mary, UC—Santa Barbara and UC—Los Angeles are also among the 10 priciest public schools for nonresidents. Each school also landed among the top 10 public schools in the 2013 Best Colleges rankings.

Out-of-state tuition and fees at these 10 schools averaged nearly $36,500 for 2012-2013, up about $1,000 from the previous year. By comparison, nonresident tuition averaged roughly $19,100 nationwide, according to data reported by 331 ranked public colleges. The University of California—Berkeley, UC—Irvine and UC—San Diego, which appeared on this list in 2011 and 2012, did not report 2012-2013 tuition and fees to U.S. News.

[Discover the least expensive colleges for out-of-state students.]

Prospective students don't seem to be deterred by the steep price tag. The number of nonresident applicants to the University of Michigan has exploded in recent years, according to local news site AnnArbor.com.

The influx of capital from out-of-state students can be good news for local applicants – if they can secure admission, that is. Public schools often rely on tuition dollars from nonresident students, both domestic and international, to fill budget gaps and ease public pressure over in-state tuition rates.

The University of California school system bumped international undergraduate enrollment to roughly 13 percent last fall, up from a historical average of 3 to 5 percent, according to the East Bay Express in Oakland, Calif.

"This has been a big boost for the UC's coffers, as international students pay nearly three times as much in tuition as Californians," the paper reports.

[Find advice and resources on paying for college.]

Michigan's governing board recently approved a tuition hike of 3.2 percent for nonresident students, allowing the university to cap the increase for resident students at 1.1 percent – the lowest increase in three decades, AnnArbor.com notes.

Below are the 10 most expensive public schools for out-of-state students. These figures do not include room and board, books, transportation or other costs. Schools designated by U.S. News as Unranked were excluded from this list. U.S. News did not calculate a numerical ranking for Unranked programs because the program did not meet certain criteria that U.S. News requires to be numerically ranked.

School name (state)Tuition and fees (2012-2013)U.S. News rank and category70, National Liberal Arts Colleges

Don't see your school in the top 10? Access the U.S. News College Compass to find tuition data, complete rankings and much more. School officials can access historical data and rankings, including of peer institutions, via U.S. News Academic Insights.

U.S. News surveyed more than 1,800 colleges and universities for our 2012 survey of undergraduate programs. Schools self-reported a myriad of data regarding their academic programs and the makeup of their student body, among other areas, making U.S. News's data the most accurate and detailed collection of college facts and figures of its kind. While U.S. News uses much of this survey data to rank schools for our annual Best Colleges rankings, the data can also be useful when examined on a smaller scale. U.S. News will now produce lists of data, separate from the overall rankings, meant to provide students and parents a means to find which schools excel, or have room to grow, in specific areas that are important to them. While the data come from the schools themselves, these lists are not related to, and have no influence over, U.S. News's rankings of Best Colleges or Best Graduate Schools. The tuition and fees data above are correct as of July 2, 2013.