Financial Aid Podcast 934: Everything you need for the holidays
Download the MP3 file here.
Weekly Financial Aid Roundup
Record debt: College seniors who graduated in 2008 carried an average of $23,200 in student loan debt. Meanwhile, unemployment climbed from an already challenging 7.6 percent in the third quarter of 2008 to 10.6 percent in 2009 — the highest third-quarter rate for college graduates aged 20 to 24 this decade. The Project on Student Debt’s new report, Student Debt and the Class of 2008, and an interactive online map include debt levels for …

Edvisors is hiring for a marketing associate.
Online Marketing Associate
* Are you a rising online marketing rock star?
* Do you possess the rare mix of a business mind with mad HTML and writing skill?
* Are you a resourceful, motivated and a never-say-die winner?
If you answered yes to all of those questions and want the opportunity to make your fame while working with college students online- this job is for you! We’re looking for the next great online marketing star …

Student Financial Aid News
From NASFAA and Reuters:
“The sponsor of a bill in the U.S. Congress to reshape the $92-billion student loan market told Reuters on Tuesday it will come to a vote soon and he disputed claims that its federal budget savings are overblown,” Reuters reports. “Representative George Miller, the Democratic chairman of the House of Representatives Education and Labor Committee, accused Republican critics contesting earlier budget savings estimates of ‘yet another predictable political gimmick.’ In an exclusive interview, Miller said ‘We are getting ready to take (the bill) to …

We are currently seeking a Senior Web Applications Developer to work full time in our Quincy, MA office. This person will work closely with other developers and marketing personnel to build interactive web-based applications on a LAMP platform. The ideal candidate has extensive experience building and maintaining complex web applications as well as managing internal projects from start to finish.
Responsibilities
* Transform high-level business requirements into functional code. Educate top management on pros and cons of various implementation options.
* Build and support complex customer-facing web applications in a LAMP development environment …

Student Financial Aid News
On Friday, July 24, the national minimum wage increased by 70 cents – from $6.55 per hour to $7.25 per hour.
From NASFAA:
By a vote of 264 to 153, the House passed its FY 2010 Labor, HHS, and Education appropriations spending bill (H.R. 3293) on Friday. The bill would provide level funding for most Title IV discretionary programs. The bill would set the appropriated amount of the Pell Grant to a maximum award of $4,860. A scheduled mandatory increase from the College Cost Reduction and Access Act (CCRAA) …

Student Financial Aid News
From Inside Higher Ed:
Education organizations received $40.9 billion in donations in 2008, down about 5.5 percent from the previous year, according to “Giving USA,” an annual report on charitable giving. Donations to all charitable organizations were down from individuals (always the largest source of gifts), bequests, corporations and foundations. For most colleges, these national figures will come as no surprise.
Commentary
I’m honestly surprised the drop in giving wasn’t greater. That said, that means there’s about 5.5% less scholarship money out there. More students are competing for the same …

What are you doing for your job search? How are you handling looking for work after college? Here’s a sampling from Twitter:
dluberda: Job hunting difficult for graduating college students…great…
elise27: trying to find a job…graduating soon and there are nooo jobs. scary
andrewvo: I’m graduating. May I have a job? You can find me online but I wasn’t in “ping pong playa” I produce and get coffee. Please?
jjnick: is a little worried about graduating in April. CNN just posted an article about graduating college seniors and I still don’t have a job!
alexfish: …