FAP770: Two new scholarship search secrets

2 April 2008 1 views No Comment

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Student Financial Aid News
+ AP Newswire: Seventeen of the nation’s 50 largest cities had high school graduation rates lower than 50 percent, with the lowest graduation rates reported in Detroit, Indianapolis and Cleveland, according to a report released Tuesday.
+ Nationally, about 70 percent of U.S. students graduate on time with a regular diploma and about 1.2 million students drop out annually.
+ This may be a consequence of No Child Left Behind – the system has incentives for schools to increase standardized test scores, and the easiest way to do that is to encourage low performing students to simply drop out, boosting the high school’s scores
+ Food for thought: the United States graduates about 1.3 million people from college each year – the high school drop out rate is approaching the college graduate rate at an alarming pace
+ I’m leaving today for Atlanta to teach the fine folks at the SREB GoAlliance about new media tools to hopefully increase college access and affordability, and reach at-risk audiences
+ One of the most disheartening emails I’ve ever received on the show was from a girl on MySpace who will remain unnamed who said she wasn’t good enough to go to college
+ What does all this have to do with financial aid? In the big picture, statistically college graduates make more money over a lifetime than high school graduates. The more we can make college affordable and accessible, the better and stronger our country will be overall – and that means lower taxes for all of us, a better economy, improved society and culture
+ The Student Loan Network remains committed to helping you pay for college and will be coming out with some new resources this month

Scholarship Search
+ Today’s guest tips come from Nolan, a listener and reader of our free college scholarship search secrets eBook – Nolan’s racked up over $5,000 in scholarships so far
+ Searching local high school’s websites for local scholarships (higher chance of winning) and using a system like Google Alerts to check for updates.
+ Having a digital “filing system” for scholarships based on date due (Named “3-15 XYZ Scholarship” so it’ll be sorted by date due). Inside of the folder I have any relevant documents that go with the scholarship including the application (pdf or word), any relevant web pages printed out in PDF (using CutePDF) for easy printing and accessing, and any passwords or login information needed. With the deluge of information, this really helps me know where everything is and that it’s filed away on my flash drive and accessible wherever I need it (online or offline).

Mail Bag
+ Patti wrote in: Thanks for the helpful information on the Financial Aid Podcast. This is new to me. We have just established a Scholarship Coordinator position at the University of New England and I am that person!
+ I will be working with students in their search for external scholarships.
+ I am writing to ask for any advice you might be able to send my way to assist in my goal of pairing students with available scholarships. I have downloaded your publication – Scholarship Search Secrets – great resource!
+ Should students complete profiles on several web sites – or does the information go to the same data base?
+ I am listening to the Podcast as I write this. Our University is holding an “Experience UNE” Day today – and I’ve met with one family already. I sat with a student yesterday, while she completed a profile on www.scholarship.com
+ I intend to send the link to your Financial Aid Podcast to students in the hopes that they will use this resource and share it via their Facebook accounts.
+ I appreciate any advice you might be able to offer.
+ No harm in applying multiple places
+ Check privacy policies!
+ Help students create a system

Promo
+ Financial Aid Podcast Live: Surviving the Credit Crunch

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