Donors Giving Big Gifts

It’s nothing new. Alumni have been gifting their alma maters for years. But a recent article in the Corvallis Gazette-Times caught my eye and got me to thinking.

The Oregon State Endowment

It seems the former Chairman of Dow Chemical, Robert Lundeen, has pledged 3 million dollars to Oregon State University to fund various programs, including individual science and engineering scholarships. Now, if you’re an engineering student looking for financial aid, this may interest you, especially if OSU is on your list of acceptable schools.

If it wasn’t before, it may be after you see how much money the school hands out just for engineering scholarships (in large part due to Mr. Lundeen and other alumni). Are you ready for this? OSU offers their engineering students a collective $5.3 million per year in scholarships.

If you’re interested in finding out more about the OSU engineering program, including scholarships, contact Jim R. Lundy, Assoc. Dean, Jim.Lundy@oregonstate.edu. You can also visit the College of Engineering website.

Keep Your Ear to the Ground

The real point here is that every time you see a news item about so and so donating so many millions to such and such school, check it out. It may affect your field of study and lead you to a scholarship you wouldn’t have otherwise gotten. Or, as in the following example, instead of scholarship funds, this generous gift created a business center that expanded the entire program.

The Berry Center

Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, was recently the recipient of a $5 million gift to endow a program to prepare future business leaders. As reported by the AP in the Belleville News-Democrat (subscription required however can also be read on Cornell’s website), the Berry Center opened October 13 and will have a large role in preparing students who study Economics, Business and Public Policy to get a more well-rounded experience, including off campus study, internships and research projects.

From the sound of things, students involved with economics and the Berry Center are in for some awesome field trips. Because of the creation of the Berry Center, there are unique opportunities at Cornell that weren’t in place before James McWethy, a 1965 graduate of Cornell gave so generously to honor his grandfather, Lester Berry of whom the Berry Center is named after.

Business students who would like to read more about the Berry Center and Cornell College may visit the website by clicking here.

Those of you looking for scholarships and/or deciding on which school to attend, take notice of news tidbits about gifts such as these. You may be surprised how these endowments could change your life.

Going the Criminal Route to Pay for School

A piece in the October 16, 2006 online edition of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette relates the story of a woman who forged a bankruptcy court judge’s signature in order to obtain federal student loans to continue her university studies. Seems she needed to prove she had arranged re-payment of her debts in order to get the loans and in order to do that, she needed the judge’s signature. Since her case was still pending at the time the signature was needed, she took matters into her own hands.

She got caught and is now charged with a felony carrying a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. She’s thrown herself on the mercy of the court and among other blatherings, stated she “didn’t want to owe the school money.”

Ok, so the lady has 4 kids and is separated from her husband. Still, she’s not so very different from the millions of other college students trying to make it through school. Yes, college is expensive and all we hear lately is how much tuition has increased while aid has decreased. However, this sense of entitlement is sickening.

Funny how we don’t want the government to tell us to buckle up or reduce the fat in our McDonald’s fries but the minute we need something, who do we run to? And if it’s not enough? Well, some of us just curse the government and some of us commit fraudulent acts.

Anybody and everybody who has the inclination can go to college in the United States. There are enough scholarship, grant and loan programs to see us through. Ok, so maybe we’ll owe $25,000 by the time we’ve graduated or maybe we’ll have to get a second job or get a job. Perhaps we’ll have to work full-time and go to school part-time maybe we’ll have to work one semester and go to school the next semester but anyone can go to school without resorting to fraud!

It will indeed be a tragedy if they throw the book at this lady and give her anywhere near the maximum. Even convicting her of a felony will greatly reduce the vocational choices she’ll have and getting saddled with a tenth of a $250,000 fine will cost her more than the student loan she didn’t want to bother with in the first place. That doesn’t even take into account the fact that she is facing a prison sentence.

According to an article in the Journal Gazette, the newspaper featured on Fort Wayne Indiana’s Internet home page, distance learning is booming. As more and more students are signing up for not only Internet classes but full-fledge degree programs, more and more colleges and universities are getting on the distance learning bandwagon and offering dozens of majors online.

The article notes that in Indiana alone, there were 104,000 students enrolled in distance learning classes during the 2003-2004 academic year with nearly 90,000 of those enrollments for online classes.

Higher Education via the Super Highway

Distance learning is nothing new. Many colleges and universities have been offering distance learning classes via cable television since the 90s. However, even though that method of distance learning is still alive, online classes are definitely the majority when it comes to off-campus enrollment.

It can be and often is more expensive per credit hour to attend school online but in almost every instance, the money saved in gas, clothing, lunches out and other incidentals is going to offset the increase in tuition. This is especially true whether you’re serving in the military halfway across the world or an hour or two away from campus.

Scholarships

What about scholarships though? You’re sure not going to save any money if you turn down a scholarship just to sit home in your pajamas. Well, the good news is with some scholarships it just doesn’t matter. If you’re accepted at the University of College, they don’t care whether you’re in class or in front of your computer at home. You’ll find private as well as institutional scholarships that will be awarded to the student enrolled in distance learning as well as both kinds that will not award scholarships to the students enrolled in the distance learning program. It all depends on who is awarding the scholarship and the criteria they have established.

The William S. Spears School of Business at Oklahoma State University offers scholarships for distance learning. Check with the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid.

Southwestern Oklahoma State University has a comprehensive distance learning program offering undergraduate and graduate programs. Their website states they do offer scholarships for distance learning but don’t state which ones. They do offer contact information though. You can read all about it here.

Non-Resident Savings

The per credit hour costs for distance learning can double if you’re an out of state resident, depending on the institution however many of them offer the same exact per credit hour cost for online attendance. This could end up saving you big bucks if you’re an out-of-state student.

You may have seen the AP story repeated dozens of times, one of which I caught on newsobserver.com about the marine who’s taking bids on the right to re-name him. It seems Sgt Cody Baker, who will be leaving the Marine Corps in a year and a half to pursue a college degree, has hit upon an outrageous, yet effective idea to raise funds for college.

All it takes is one Idea

You can read all about it on his website, choosemyname.com, but the gist of it is that Baker - who’s married and has a baby - is looking for a way to support his family yet spend time with them too. He’s looking for college money to help him do so. He’s also pledged a part of the proceeds to an orphanage in Thailand, the Im Jai House which he has helped to support for 6 years.

The bidding has already topped $26,000 and if the current bidder wins, on January 1, 2007, Cody Baker will legally change his name to Finest Freshest Fastest, which is the slogan of an online coffee vendor.

Make the Decision

Baker, 29 is making the rounds of the talk shows and according to him, having a lot of fun with this. His mother is praying for him he says. If she continues to pray for him, she’ll likely be praying for a college graduate because Baker has what all of us need. Sheer determination and creativity. He’s decided he’s going to college. No matter what it takes.

A piece in the online newspaper for Medford, Oregon, Medfordnews.com got me to thinking. Seems that Oregon State University has the number one college forestry program in America and it goes on to explain what makes the College of Forestry at OSU the best. I thought surely there would be scholarships for the best forestry program in the United States and sure enough, I was right. You can read about OSU’s scholarships for the College of Forestry here.

Who’s Number One in Your Field?

Now about the thinking part: I figured I would find the best college programs for other subjects and see what kind of scholarships I would find. It was so easy. I just picked one of my favorite areas of study, entrepreneurship programs, and performed a search to see what I would find.

Look to a Reliable Source

The Princeton Review, in conjunction with entrepreneur.com surveyed more than 700 undergraduate and business schools about their entrepreneurship programs for their 4th annual top 10 list of top entrepreneurial colleges. Actually, that’s 2 lists: One is a top ten list of schools offering undergraduate programs and the other is a top ten list of schools offering graduate programs.

The number one undergraduate entrepreneurial college program is offered by the University of Arizona. So off I go to U of A’s Eller College of Management where I find the McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship. Ahah! Not only are several scholarships offered but the narrative on the website states that the number of these scholarships has nearly tripled in the last several years. See the list here.

So is that all there is to it? Yep. Look for number one in whatever field you’re interested in and the scholarships will follow. It makes sense. Donors like to contribute to a successful program and once these successful programs get even more publicity they attract more donors.

I first learned about AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) when I read an article in The Record, a publication of North Jersey Media Group. AVID is a college prep program that begins in 5th grade and carries the student through high school and for 95% of AVID graduates, college.

Selection Criteria

AVID isn’t for all students though. This is a program geared toward the average student, making B’s, C’s or D’s who has the potential to succeed, but for one reason or another isn’t. Next, the student has to have the desire to go to college and be willing to work hard to get there. Finally, AVID is for the underserved, for example, those who belong to a low-income household or perhaps will be the first in their family to attend college.

AVID students not only take college prep courses, they also have an AVID elective that teaches them about time management, organizational skills and they participate in motivational activities that helps to raise their self-images. AVID students learn to be leaders and they learn study skills, analytical skills and critical thinking.

Numbers

You’ll find the AVID program in 2,300 middle and high schools. More than 115,000 students in 36 states and 15 countries are being served by the AVID. Since its inception in 1980, more than 40,000 students have graduated from the AVID program and 95% have gone on to college, with 75% of those students getting their education from a four year college.

The numbers are impressive, the students more so. Students who are benefiting from one teacher’s idea after court-ordered desegregation took place in San Diego more than 25 years ago.

To learn more about AVID, visit their website at www.avidonline.org.

It’s no secret that the average college graduate accumulates thousands of dollars in student loan debt. With some financial aid decreasing and tuition increasing, the future college graduate has to wonder if he or she can indeed make those loan payments on their beginning post-college salary.

While various entities and organizations address the problem of affordable higher education on a fairly consistent basis, some are offering innovative methods with which to accomplish the goal.

Just last month, a new loan forgiveness program for Iowa teachers who teach in critical shortage areas such as math, science and special education was unveiled. This program, the third such program for which Iowa teachers can qualify may forgive up to $9,000 in student loans over a period of five years. It’s called the Iowa Student Loan Teacher Educational Loan Forgiveness Program and has been implemented by a non-profit organization that uses interest income from student loans to benefit students.

According to the Des Moines Register, an Iowa teacher that qualifies for all 3 loan forgiveness programs could have as much as $30,500 over five years in student loans forgiven.

An article in the Stanford Report on October 4th, and picked up by the Associated Press the following day, highlights a new loan forgiveness program. The Stanford Teacher Education Program (STEP) is a Master’s program that will forgive half of a student’s loan after teaching for 2 years and the full amount after teaching for four years.

Student’s who qualify for the STEP program could receive up to $65,000 in loans and other aid to cover program and other expenses, including living expenses.

Stanford University is matching a $10 million dollar gift from an alumna to fund this program. The only criteria, as far as where a teacher must teach in order to qualify for the program, seems to be somewhere between the grades of Kindergarten and the twelfth grade for public school teachers and underserved communities for private school teachers.

Although it may be tempting to pursue such a career specifically to benefit from loan forgiveness, it may be best summed up by one Drake University student who plans on teaching English and therefore would not qualify for Iowa’s loan forgiveness program. “Teaching is a passion,” she states, “You have to love what you do. You don’t want to go into it just because they’re going to pay off all my loans.”

According to the Casper, Wyoming online newspaper, the Star-Tribune, Northwest College is actively seeking to recruit homeschoolers. Beverly Bell, director of financial aid and scholarships at Northwest College in Powell, Wyoming wants to reach out to homeschoolers but says doing so is “like trying to grab onto hot Jell-O.”

Bell would like to let them know that they’re eligible for the Hathaway Scholarship, a state of Wyoming scholarship named in honor of former Wyoming Governor Stan Hathaway. The scholarship offers both merit and need based awards to eligible students.

The truth is that although homeschoolers are specifically mentioned as being eligible for the Hathaway Scholarship, homeschoolers are in fact eligible for many scholarships. Some scholarships stipulate that homeschoolers must obtain a GED but for many, SAT/ACT scores are enough to compete.

At least one college, Columbia College of Columbia, MO has figured out how to reach out to homeschoolers. Realizing that homeschoolers number about 2 million per year and knowing that homeschoolers have out-tested their public school counterparts on the SAT/ACT for the last eight years, Columbia purchases mailing lists and then holds special recruiting sessions for homeschoolers.
Some colleges have set up admissions websites specifically geared toward college-bound homeschoolers. Homeschoolers have most, if not all of the advantages as their public school counterparts when it comes to applying for and receiving scholarships. True, many of the scholarships high school students learn about come through the guidance counselor’s office but with all the scholarship information on the Internet, homeschoolers have access to all the information they’ll need to succeed in applying for and receiving scholarships and other financial aid for college.

Colleges seeking prime candidates for admission would do well to learn how to grab onto “hot Jell-O.”

Realism Often Doesn’t Set in Until After Graduation

Many students go to college in the hopes of expanding their career possibilities or to prepare themselves for entering a profession that they are passionate about but that requires a college degree. The following article that appeared in June just after thousands of recent college grads were beginning to experience the realities of post-college life clearly illustrates an all-too common scenario that college grads are experiencing: having their job choices solely being influenced and determined by their student loan debt. According to the article, Joe Palazzolo, who recently received a master’s degree, has over $100,000 in student loan debt.

Full-fledged adult living will be postponed, and the communal living of his college days is going to be extended. Palazzolo needs roommates to share living expenses with, and he is forgoing a rite of passage of many adults: the purchase of a first home.

This scenario is unfortunately a reality for many of today’s college grads, yet it is a relatively new phenomenon. When the parents of today’s recent college graduates went to school, tuition was much cheaper and could be paid for by a steady summer job. According to this article by Lou Dobbs, middle-class families are severely affected by the rising cost of a college education, which has increased by as much as 44% just in the last four years. As college tuition increases, college graduates in the recent decade (and probably well into the future) leave college with a sometimes unmanageable amount of student loan debt. Student loan debt can not only affect or alter the career path of graduates, but it can also delay marriage and determine if, and how many, children they have.

New college students who know they will graduate with high student loan debt should keep these realities in mind because it might help them decide on the best college major for themselves. Sometimes college students shy away from certain majors that have excellent job prospects because they want to pursue a discipline that interests them. The reality is, though, that even when you select the major that is your first choice, your job choices in the decade following college graduation might be severely limited because of your student loan debt. If you realize entering college, that you might not have your dream job during your twenties, you might be more willing to consider college majors that have more lucrative job prospects.

Despite this student loan debt, the outcome is not bleak. On a somewhat optimistic note, do realize that the sum total of all student loans a recent graduate leaves college with often does not exceed his or her annual salary. A college graduate with a sizeable amount of student loan debt just needs to be flexible and creative when deciding on a career path. Steady employment for a few years at a job that is not the graduate’s first choice will probably be necessary.

Also, working a second job might prove to be beneficial if it provides enough additional income that it enables the college grad to pursue a less lucrative daytime career that he or she is very passionate about. While some flexibility and compromise might be needed in the short term, over the long term most college graduates will discover the recurring theme that many studies have demonstrated: having a college degree is correlated with increased income over the course of one’s lifetime. Most college graduates inevitably find that to be a worthy tradeoff for a mere four-year investment.