Scholarship Blogosphere

Monday's Washington Post features an inspiring story about Ashley White, a recent graduate of Howard University in Washington, D.C. As a middle schooler, Ashley competed in the National Spelling Bee and was featured in the documentary Spellbound. By 18, though, Ashley had gone through a number of foster homes and found herself living in a homeless shelter with her newborn daughter.

The Post ran a story on Ashley in 2004; in an amazing display of community support, readers offered her financial support, jobs and mentoring. With their help, and through a series of part-time jobs of her own, Ashley was able to attend Howard, where she just graduated magna cum laude. In addition, one of those part-time jobs, at a nonprofit advocacy and support group for teen parents in the D.C. area, will now be full-time, as Ashley prepares to attend graduate school.

For more on Ashley White's remarkable story, you can visit her Web site; we at Scholarship America salute her efforts, and those of her community.

There's been a lot of talk, lately, about the rising cost of tuition for college students and the seemingly insurmountable debt that more and more college graduates are facing. (Thankfully, Scholarship America is helping to offset the cost of tuition by making available a wide variety of scholarships through community-based Dollars for Scholars chapters and Scholarship America's national scholarship programs, so students can graduate with fewer loans rather than more.) It turns out that this year's upcoming college graduates, who may be worried about being bogged down by large student loan payments, can worry a little less. CNN.com has recently reported that 2008 college graduates can look forward to entry-level salaries that are 4 percent higher than last year's alumni, according to a recent study by the National Association of Colleges and Employers. It gets even better - hiring those who are fresh-out-of-college is predicted to increase by 8 percent.

Salary increases vary according to the discipline - those with liberal arts degrees may see increases as high as 9 percent! Check out the article to learn more and to see where your degree fits in. (We should also note that these are national averages so salaries for your discipline will vary according to what region you live in.)

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.

The world of scholarships and financial aid is anything but simple; Scholarship America's 50 years of expertise are here to help guide you, provide advice, and discuss many other scholarship-based topics. During your visit or interaction with this web page, you will find frequent posts on what our donors, volunteers and staff are doing, as well as our take on the news that matters most as it relates to our organization. This will be a place for you to read, react and discuss whatever is on your mind.

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