Scholarship Blogosphere

For a look at much more about Scholarship America than we have room to post here, check out the new issue of The Scholar, our quarterly newsletter, which is available for download right here.

This issue features a message from our president, Dr. Clifford L. Stanley, an update on the Dreamkeepers Emergency Financial Assistance program, a look at some dedicated students and their teacher in one of our Learning Communities, and much more.

Vanishing Graduates & Minnesota's Future is a documentary focusing on Scholarship America's home state of Minnesota, but the lessons in it are both universal and sobering. LearnmoreMN.org, an alliance of business, education and citizen leaders, has extensively studied the roots, causes and impacts of falling postsecondary graduation rates, and is working to reverse these worrisome trends; Vanishing Graduates is a powerful look at the state of higher education, and valuable viewing for anyone interested in learning how to face them head-on.

The entire documentary as well as a series of clips is available here, and is also airing on Twin Cities Public Television on May 11. You can also request a DVD of the program, and discuss the show as well as other Learnmore initiatives at the LearnmoreMN Blog.

Of all the ways we've seen to raise money for scholarships, volunteer Leroy Werkhoven of Toppenish-Wapato Dollars for Scholars in Washington just might have hit on the most grueling: starting this September, Leroy is hitting the road on his Trek Pilot 2.1 and cycling 3,000 miles from Santa Barbara, CA to St. Augustine, FL ... all to raise money for his local Dollars for Scholars chapter. His goal is to raise $100,000 for his chapter, a pledge of around $30/mile.

You can follow Leroy's training and his journey at his blog, Cycling 4 Scholarships: Leroy Pedals Coast 2 Coast. We'll also be setting up an online donation page; for now, if you'd like to sponsor a mile or two of his trip, you can donate by mail to: Kit Brown, Treasurer,Toppenish-Wapato Dollars for Scholars, 241 Joyce PL., Yakima WA 98908.

Best of luck to Leroy; check his blog -- or back here -- for updates.

Whether you're a homeowner or not, the fallout from the subprime mortgage crisis is hitting you one way or another—including in the world of higher education financing and student loans. Earlier this week, the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs held a hearing about the impact of the credit crunch on the quality and availability of student loans, and both witness statements and a video of the hearing are available at the committee's Web site.

Scholarship America's Curt Trygstad recently told Miami's NBC 6 about some useful tips for students looking for financial aid. As noted forest philosopher Winnie-the-Pooh once said, "You can't always sit in your corner of the forest and wait for people to come to you ... you have to go to them sometimes," and these are just a few suggestions as to just how to get out of the corner and start looking. Read the full story here.

In addition, InsideHigherEd.com recently ran its own piece about ways to find financial aid, and how students can learn to maximize it. That story is right here, and we'd like to hear more from you. Students, parents, counselors, lend us your secrets: how do you find, apply for, and manage financial aid? Let us know in the comments.