Congrats to David Mauro for being awarded the Blogging Scholarship. David Cameron finished as the first runner up, and Thomas Peters is the second runner up.

A list of the finalists, along with their schools and blogs, is located here.

Here is a list of the 2008 Blogging Scholarship finalists. You can vote for the winner here.

David Malinowski, University of California at Berkeley, co-author of Found In Translation.

Brian Switek, Rutgers University, author of Laelaps.

Justin Higgins, The Ohio State University, co-author of Shots on the House.

Ross Taylor, University of Missouri, author of Rock M Nation.

Evans Boney, California Institute of Technology, author of Boneye.

Omar Hossino, Radford University, author of Abu Hatem.

Thomas Peters, Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception, American Papist.

Justin Varner, Penn State, author of Justin Varner.

Kyle de Beausset, Harvard College, author of Citizen Orange.

Jennifer Lynn Jordan, NYU, author of Per Omnia Saecula.

Thursday Bram, University of Baltimore, author of Thursday Bram.

Shanan Glandz, Ithaca College, author of The Spectrum.

David Cameron, UNC-Greensboro, author of USS Mariner.

Gavin Rehkemper, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, co-author of The Quad Blog.

David Mauro, Colorado College, author of Burnt Orange Report.

Evan Lisull, The University of Arizona, author of Desert Lamp.

Jonathan Dingel, Columbia University, author of Trade Diversion.

Pamela Aghababian, Simmons College, author of Cave Cibum.

Michael Snively, MIT, co-author of MIT Admissions.

Danielle Lee, University of Missouri – St. Louis, author of Urban Science.

This past weekend we were looking through some of the entries to pick the finalists for the blogging scholarship, and we are a bit behind schedule…this year there were over 5X the number of submissions as last year, and it is hard to pick a small set of finalists from such a large list. We made a lot of progress today though, and are looking to announce the finalists on the morning of the 6th. Sorry about the inconvenience!

We are now accepting submissions for the blogging scholarship, and the submission deadline is October 30th, 2008. One lucky blogger will be eligible for the $10,000 grand prize.

Our panel of judges will decide on 10 finalists and public voting will be enabled the morning of November 3rd. Voting will be closed on November 17th 2008. During this time, check our blog for announcements, updates, finalists, and voting information.

The Daily Record highlighted that the popping of the credit bubble has left many banks extremely under-capitalized, making them much more risk adverse and tightening their student loan standards. In addition to tighter standards, less loan providers leaves students limited options.

In response to the slowdown in what was once a $14.5 billion dollar private student loan sector, some schools have shifted resources from merit-based financial aid to need-based assistance.

Political Blogging Scholarship Winner

Congrats to Anthony Palmer – I as the winner of the 2008 Political Blogging Scholarship. Be sure to VOTE for real in November!Compare auto insurance
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So, What’s Your Choice?

Below are the 3 Finalists for the 2008 Political Blogging Scholarship. Voting will be closed on March 16th at midnight PST. Support your favorite blogger! Check out their blogs by following this post.

After careful review, we have decided on the three finalists. Here they are in no particular order. Public voting will begin shortly!

• David Manes – D
• Jake McGuire – R
• Anthony Palmer – I

Good luck to all three contestants!

Study in the Snow!

Remember when you told your parents you wished you could ski and snowboard for the rest of your life, or that your dream job would be to work at a ski resort? Believe it or not there are about a handful of unique college degree programs that could earn you a career you always dreamed of.

Pro snowboarder or Olympic skier might be out of the question, but if you’ve never considered the other wish-list careers that exist in the ski industry, here are a few to chew on:

• Ski resort managers and operators
• Adaptive ski instructors
• Ski and Snowboard teachers and coaches
• Safety specialists
• Resort and slope designers

Ski Resort Management

Ski Area Management or Ski Resort Operations degrees are on an upward trajectory. These hybrids span the gap between the specialized needs of the ski industry and the rest of the general recreation industry and hospitality and management degrees. So far I’ve tracked down 4 schools in the U.S. that offer degrees in ski area management:

• University of Maine-Farmington, Ski Industries Certificate Program
• Recreation Resource & Ski Resort Management, Lyndon State, Vermont, B.S. degree
• Ski Area Management Program, Gogebic Community College, Michigan, Associates degree.
• Colorado Mountain College, Ski Area Operations.

Winter Sports Management

The University of Maine at Fort Kent announced last week that beginning in the fall of 2008 it would offer the only major in Winter Sports Management available in the country. The difference between this and programs aimed at ski resort management, like those I listed above, is that UMFK is aiming its sights on smaller, non-profit winter sports venues (not big resorts) that it says have unique business and management needs.

Is this your classroom?

Most of these programs dedicate a big piece of their curriculum to field trips. You’ll find that the schools that offer ski industry majors are also located in prime skiing regions: Colorado and the West, the Northeast and even Canada. You learn on-site every gear and cog that makes a big time ski resort tick, from staffing (human resources) to slope and lift design and even the mechanics of slope grooming.

Ski and Snowboard Instructors

Your best bets for a college major that could land you as an instructor or coach on a ski or snowboard slope include first the University of Maine – Farmington’s Ski Industries Program. Students pursuing a Bachelors degree in any major may add on one of these dream-job specializations: Adaptive Ski Teaching or Professional Ski Coaching and Teaching. There may be no other formal college degree program quite like this.

The next best option is to look for programs that focus on outdoor or adventure sports education. Outdoor Education majors at Idaho State University have the option to load their major with courses that focus on winter sports education, like Avalanche and Winter Sports Safety, Winter Survival, and Snowboard, Ski, and Adaptive Ski Instructor Training courses.