FAP884: Online degrees, cost of college, free stuff challenge

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Weekly Financial Aid Roundup

This week we talked online degrees with Adrian Marrullier. Go listen!

Kim Clark had a great piece on the value of a college degree.

We also talked about the CSS profile in depth with feedback from two financial aid administrators.

A reporter asked this week about President Obama’s education plans. The short version that we know of is tax credits for community service, combined with increased focus on the Federal Direct Student Loan Program, along with modest increases in grants. When asked about how to pay for the increases, his campaign did mention that we spend $12 billion a month in Iraq that would more than pay for all of that and then some. We’ll see what comes to pass in the weeks and months ahead, and of course share with you how you can take advantage of new changes as they become law.

Featured Scholarship of the Week

Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellowship. $21,500 for one year of service. The Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellowship, a project of the Congressional Hunger Center, is a unique leadership development opportunity for motivated individuals seeking to make a difference in the struggle to eliminate hunger and poverty.

Each year 20 participants are selected for this eleven-month program. Fellows are placed for half their term of service with urban and rural community-based organizations all over the country involved in fighting hunger at the local level, such as grass roots organizing groups, food banks, economic development agencies, local advocacy groups and faith-based organizations. They then move to Washington, DC to complete the year with national organizations involved in the anti-hunger and poverty movement, including national advocacy organizations, think tanks, and federal agencies. Through this unique program, the Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellows Program develops effective leaders with a deep understanding of hunger and poverty at both the local and national level that enables them to find innovative solutions and create the political will to end hunger.

Details at our free college scholarship search site.

Mail Bag

Dave writes in:

Chris, something has been bothering me for a long time, and you’re just the guy to ask about it.

I’d like to know why the hell college is so outrageously expensive.

Schools pay no taxes.

With the exception of a few star professors and some top administrative staff, they don’t usually pay their employees all that well.

Most have been around long enough that their buildings are all paid for. And tax free, as well.

They charge two to three times the going rate for housing. They overprice food by 150-200%. They price books at 800-1000% of what they should. (I don’t buy the “limited market” excuse. I can get ONE hardcover book printed at Lulu for a little over thirty bucks. If I go for a thousand they cost about ten bucks each. There’s no valid excuse to price a textbook at $100 or more.)

They get millions in donations every year. Some get tens or hundreds of millions. All tax free.

And yet, the price of education has grown at about three times the rate of inflation.

Is there any valid reason for this? Or are schools just greedy, screwing students (and parents, like me) for as much as they can, because they can. I strongly suspect the latter.

What’s your take on this?

This is all about supply and demand.

Free Stuff Friday and Challenge
+ Prilosec?
+ Bruce Springsteen single
+ Free dog bone?
+ Free Kids meal at Dennys for up to 3 kids in a household
+ Free Frozen juice bar samples
+ Calendar of free chocolate at Godiva stores
+ Use VLC to watch CNN live, full screen, no ads

Remember the free stuff challenge: for consumer goods, grab up free stuff if you can, even if you don’t need it, and donate it to shelters

Free stuff challenge idea: every time you stay at a hotel, take all the free stuff you’re allowed to, like soap, shampoo, etc. and donate these to shelters. Hat tip to the Obama campaign for this one.

Free Song of the Week

New single from Matthew Ebel, Lost on Block Island

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Reminders

+ Financial Aid Podcast Show Notes at FinancialAidNews.com.
+ Free scholarship search secrets eBook at StudentScholarshipSearch.com/ebook
+ Online degrees programs and directories at Edvisors.com
+ Free college scholarships contests!

+ Stafford loans | Other federal student loans
+ Parent PLUS loans at ParentPLUSLoan.com
+ Graduate student loans
+ Private student loans
+ FAFSA tutorials and free help
+ The Financial Aid Podcast is a publication of the Student Loan Network.