What is the value of a college education?
I have a very serious question for you. What is the value of a college education? At what point does your return on investment diminish to the point where the degree isn’t worthwhile, particularly when you factor in opportunity cost?
I’m of two minds on this topic. Traditionally, and statistically, a college degree is likely to help you earn more pay over your lifetime. Based on 2005 US Census data, it’s estimated that a bachelor’s degree is worth more than $1,210,760 in lifetime earnings …

Ed Roberts from the Podsafe Christmas show graciously allowed us to syndicate the Podsafe Christmas 2006 show, so for your fill of holiday music, here it is!
Listen live: [audio:http://media.blubrry.com/podsafechristmas/PodsafeChristmas.com/media/PSC30.mp3″>MP3 file
Direct MP3 file
Play List
+ “Give Me a Second Chance for Christmas” – Candy Butchers
+ “Some Christmas Huggin and Kissin” – Geoff Smith
+ “Making Angels” – Adrienne Pierce
+ “Christmas in Your Heart” – David Hoffman
+ “Walk a Thousand Miles” – Matthew Ebel
+ “Silent Night (Noche Del Paz)” – Mike Del Ferro (with Carla Novitus)
+ “The First Christmas Tree” – Karmyn Tyler
+ “Christmas …

At VON Boston, I had the opportunity to record Matthew Ebel playing live at the Roxy. This is a segment from that show, the song Goodbye Planet Earth from the album of the same title.

Get the album: Goodbye Planet Earth
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Direct Quicktime file download: …

SREB GoAlliance 2007 Meeting Followthrough
Last week I had the opportunity to speak as a general session speaker before the SREB GoAlliance, a great privilege, as the GoAlliance focuses on ways to help more kids get into college. Given how competitive the world is becoming, America needs more groups like the GoAlliance to keep our country moving forward.
Some followthrough from the meeting:
+ My slides as a 19.1 MB PDF slide deck
+ The “Did You Know” movie shown during the state updates
+ YouTube version of Did You Know
+ Podcasting presentation delivered to …

FAP672: Facebook privacy, Scholarship Search Secrets Preview
Listen live: [audio:http://media.libsyn.com/media/financialaidpodcast/20071120.mp3″>MP3 file
Student Financial Aid News
+ Inside Higher Ed: A new loophole was inserted with little notice into federal law last year to provide “financial aid for the rich,” according to U.S. News & World Report. The measure changed the way wealth is calculated to determine financial assets by excluding the assets associated with small businesses with up to 100 full-time employees. The measure is similar to provisions that protect farm owners from having to sell their farms to pay for college, but …

So, the big announcement in today’s show is that podsafe music will no longer be a part of the daily Financial Aid Podcast, at least for a little while. There are six key reasons for this, from least important to most important.
1. Music, due to its very nature, was only 30% of the show but 50% of the file size. Using LAME and a mostly-voice show, a 14 minute show is now down to 8 MB. The smaller and shorter I can make my shows, the more likely it is …

FAP671: College costs, FAFSA tips for the end of the year, Charlie Crowe
Click here to download the MP3 file
Student Financial Aid News
+ Inside Higher Ed: With debate over college costs intensifying, a report being issued today is likely to infuriate higher education leaders. “Over Invested and Over Priced: American Higher Education Today” is from the Center for College Affordability and Productivity, and charges that additional government funds for colleges support “frills” that don’t support education or economic growth — items like “fancy recreation facilities, larger university bureaucracies, and higher salaries …

Reduce Your Indoor Heating Bill with Humidity
Ever walk outside in the summer on a humid day and start sweating like crazy, then look at the thermometer and say, “It feels much hotter than that!” when it’s only 80 degrees out? (27 Celsius for our metric friends) A huge factor in how you perceive heat is humidity. That same day with low humidity might even feel cool in the shade.
Switch it around in the winter. As we turn on heating systems, we try to keep our houses and ourselves warm, but …

FAP670: College Opportunity and Affordability Act and File Sharing, Free Stuff Friday, Munk
Listen live: [audio:http://media.libsyn.com/media/financialaidpodcast/20071116.mp3″>MP3 file
Student Financial Aid News
+ An important blog post about Section 494 of the College Opportunity and Affordability Act which is a handout to the RIAA and MPAA, mandating that colleges enforce copyright instead of being protected like ISPs under the DMCA.
+ I oppose illegal file-sharing. I believe musicians deserve to be paid. I also oppose making colleges spend even a dollar to solve someone else’s problem. That money they’ll be required to spend on the …

Destroy Section 494 of the College Opportunity and Affordability Act!
Ed Roberts pointed this out via Ars Technica:
The House Education and Labor Committee unanimously passed the College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2007. Among other things, the COAA would require colleges and universities to adopt strict antipiracy policies and possibly offer students access to subscription-based music services like Napster.
COAA went through a markup session yesterday, and despite pressure from higher education groups like the American Council on Education, the copyright-related provisions were not addressed. Indeed, Section 494 looks to have survived …