FAP773: Is your college degree brand worth it?

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Student Financial Aid News
+ Charlie Miller, former Spellings Commission member, has come out with a huge article on Inside Higher Ed about the true value of a college degree
+ Substituting some of his own assumptions for those used by the board — including six years of tuition costs (and hence two fewer years of work), private college tuition instead of in-state public tuition, etc. — Miller calculates his own college premium. “[P”>MP3 fileroperly using the present value of the lifetime earnings, adjusted for the cost of going to college and the difference in the number of working years, and excluding those graduates with advanced degrees, calculated at the three percent discount rate used in the report,” he wrote, “produces a lifetime earnings differential of only $279,893 for a bachelor’s degree versus a high school degree!”
+ A different analysis, “using assumptions more in line with current realities, might reach the shocking conclusions that American higher education today has gotten too expensive for what it produces; that it has become too costly for the typical student … that education (a college degree) does not pay!” Miller wrote.
+ More on this in News You Can Use.

Scholarship Update
+ Eugene V. Robles Fellowship
+ This four-year fellowship program, funded by the University of California Office of the President and the UCLA Graduate Division, supports a limited number of students who are entering PhD programs and are interested in a career in college or university teaching and research. The fellowship currently provides a stipend of $18,000 plus standard registration fees and nonresident tuition (for the first year only) if necessary. During the student’s second, third or fourth year, the Graduate Division provides a second year of support in the form of a Graduate Research Mentorship Award upon activation of the award by the student and the department. The student’s department is obligated to provide two or more years of equivalent support. Applicants must be nominated by their department/school. Students pursuing MD or DDS degrees are not eligible for this program.
+ Applicants must be either U.S. citizens or permanent residents and should demonstrate high potential and promise. Individuals from cultural, racial, linguistic, geographic and socioeconomic backgrounds that are currently underrepresented in graduate education are especially encouraged to participate in the program. The intent of this fellowship is to provide access to higher education for students who might otherwise find it difficult or impossible to successfully pursue graduate study. Applicants must complete both the Fellowship Application for Entering Graduate Students and the Diversity Fellowships – Supplemental Application. These forms, along with your Admission Application’s Statement of Purpose essay on your contributions to the University’s diversity mission, will be reviewed as part of your fellowship application.
+ Deadline December 15
+ Details at our free college scholarship search site

News You Can Use
+ A discussion on what the value of a brand name undergraduate degree is

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