FAP545: iTunesU is a glimpse at the future of higher education, Black Lab
I was going to do a regular episode today until I saw an article on the Chronicle of Higher Education about something amazing.
+ The big news, the amazing news – iTunesU.
+ Go there in iTunes now
+ I’m pretty much going to rave about this for days.
+ Academic implications – what is the value of a college degree if the academic components are rapidly approaching free?
+ Colleges as communities
+ Colleges as certification bodies
+ MIT degrees certify a standard of …

The Financial Aid Podcast has made it as a podcast. How do I know? The show has a shirt.

I don’t know if these will be available publicly – if they are, they’ll be made available to the Loyalists first, so make sure you’re a member of the Financial Aid Podcast Loyalists group on Facebook!

FAP544: New student loan rates set, Latinos and financial aid, military student loans, Sophia Ramos
Student Financial Aid News
+ From BankNet360: Iowa Student Loan Liquidity Corp. will not charge military personnel interest on loans while they are deployed, the West Des Moines, Iowa-based nonprofit announced. Troops can receive the break for up to two years. Iowa Student Loan Liquidity has 347 employees, and holds $2.45 billion of loans made to 214,000 borrowers.
+ From Inside HIgher Ed: Latinos, on average, receive less federal aid for college than any other ethnic or racial …

So I’ve been playing around with the Facebook Development Platform, and managed to put together a Podcast Player for Facebook that will play a few episodes of a podcast, plus offer subscription links and all that great stuff. It’s a work in progress, and there are definitely things I want to tune up, but it will debut at PodCamp Europe. See you there!

Be sure to bookmark/tag this page as well. When the player becomes available, you’ll be able to download the source code here.
UPDATE: The player is now in beta …

FAP543: Facebook lending, Free Stuff Tuesday, bill of rights, Rayko KRB
Student Financial Aid News
+ From BankNet360 and the “Why didn’t I think of that sooner” column: The sixth-most-trafficked web site in the U.S. now has a personal lending element.
+ Facebook, the online social network, yesterday launched the person-to-person lending service managed by Lending Club. The service will allow users to borrow and lend money directly among each other. Borrowers can apply for loans of as much as $25,000, but they must have a credit score of at least 640 — …

FAP542: Student Loan Radio, Memorial Day 2007
A music special for Memorial Day. Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday that is observed on the last Monday of May (observed this year on 2007-05-28). It was formerly known as Decoration Day. This holiday commemorates U.S. men and women who have died in military service to their country. It began first to honor Union soldiers who died during the American Civil War. After World War I, it expanded to include those who died in any war or military action.
Podsafe Music
- Madly …

Out of the office today headed for Dayton, Ohio, for a Stephen K. Hayes seminar.
A few weeks back, I met up with the New England Podcasters at the Paradise Lounge in Boston for a night of independent music. Two podsafe artists, David McMillin and Todd Martin, played, along with a couple others. Here’s some admittedly shaky footage from the concert, shot on a little Nikon point and shoot camera. As an aside, I’ve found that Nikon’s point and shoot cameras take lousy pictures, but terrific video. Go figure!
iPod MP4 version: …

I’ve been a part of a project called Virtual Hot Wings, which is a fan-generated virtual CD for indie musician Matthew Ebel, who you’ve heard on the podcast a whole lot. I respect Matthew greatly for being a fantastic musician AND for breaking out on his own to do what he loves most, and helped with the creation of this CD. Here’s what is on it:

300 DPI cover art for printing your own jewel case insert
300 DPI label for printing your own CD label
4 complete free concerts of Matthew’s at …

FAP540: Google your next job on LinkedIn, half tuition scholarship, Virtual Hot Wings, Matthew Ebel
Student Financial Aid News
+ From BankNet360: Florida Atlantic University canceled a two-year-old agreement with University Financial Services, by which the school received $50 for every alumnus to consolidate student loans with UFS.
+ In exchange, the Clearwater, Fla.-based lender was permitted to use FAU’s name in conjunction with its web site and phone number. However, unlike many such agreements being criticized lately, FAU did not provide alumni lists and did not list UFS as a preferred lender.
+ …

FAP539: EASFAA Field Correspondent Jennifer Roberts, student loan interest rate update, Geoff Smith
Student Financial Aid News
+ From Inside Higher Ed: As a bipartisan and bicameral group of members of Congress introduced yet another expensive plan Tuesday to expand existing tax credits for college tuition costs, it is becoming increasingly apparent that lawmakers intend, one way or another, to again turn to the tax code to give students and their families some relief from soaring tuition rates. What is far less clear, though, is whether Congressional tax writers will ask higher …