Scholarship Blogosphere

We may be called "Scholarship America," but we're nothing if not a worldwide organization. Above are recipients of the Red Tab Scholars scholarship, sponsored by Levi's for families of their employees across the world; this group is from Corlu, Turkey—just one of dozens of countries in which students benefit from the work of Scholarship America.

In 1990, the Charlie Mack Celebrity Basketball Game started as a simple charitable benefit event; since then, it's grown and evolved into the weekend-long Party 4 Peace, benefiting and bringing together organizations that work in a variety of ways to help young people live without fear and violence.

One of the most proven methods of doing just that is by encouraging educational achievement, and Scholarship America is pleased to be participating in this year's Party 4 Peace to do so. While she won't be playing ball in the celebrity game alongside NBAers Rudy Gay, Jameer Nelson and Elton Brand, Scholarship America's own Marian Marchese will be appearing at the Love for the Kids luncheon and panel discussion on Saturday, July 12 in Philadelphia. The luncheon will feature speakers from a number of organizations as well as kids from 12-16, and focus on peace and what to do to achieve it.

For more about the weekend itself, visit CharlieMackCelebrityWeekend.com; if you're in the Philadelphia area and are looking for tickets to the basketball game itself, they're available at the Temple University/Liacouras Center Web site.

For most students, summer vacation -- and the 4th of July long weekend -- is dedicated to friends, family, food and fun. But it can also be a great opportunity to volunteer, as more than 1,200 college students are finding out via Hope Worldwide's Rebuild the City weekend coming up in New Orleans.

On July 4, students from more than 150 colleges and universities will be cleaning up more than 100 empty lots in the Lower Ninth Ward of the city, one of the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina; the day will end with a special ceremony in the ward's Buck Park, welcoming back thousands of displaced residents to a neighborhood that's ready for real rebuilding.

Scholarship America, through our Dollars for Scholars chapters and disaster relief programs, was able to help hundreds of Katrina's displaced continue their college educations, and we're delighted that so many students -- not just from the area, but from across the country -- are willing to donate their time over a long summer weekend to continue to give back.

For more information on the program, visit Hope Worldwide's site at HOPEww.org.

Ralph "Cy" Seifert has been around Scholarship America since our earliest days as a coalition of community scholarship foundations in New England. Our founder, Irving Fradkin, awarded Cy a Dollars for Scholars scholarship in 1961, which helped him attend Brown University; since then, Cy has been a tireless organizer of chapters, and has served as president of Scholarship America, chair of our board, and, currently, as an Honor Roll Trustee.

Cy addressed the recent meeting of our Board of Trustees, and his speech is now available, in its entirety, on Scholarship America's YouTube Channel. Head on over and check it out, for a highly amusing and insightful look at Scholarship America's history.

ThanksUSA began in 2005 as an idea by two Virginia schoolgirls, Rachel and Kelsi Okun, who wanted a way to thank active-duty troops throughout the U.S. Armed Forces. The girls, with help from their parents and a small group of adults, developed the idea to raise funds for need-based scholarships for the children and spouses of active-duty military personnel. ThanksUSA was created as a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization to raise and award scholarships to these families. Scholarship America is proud to manage the application and awards process for ThanksUSA, which has to date awarded more than 1,350 scholarships for nearly $4 million.

The centerpiece of ThanksUSA is an annual "American History Treasure Hunt," which raises funds for scholarships as well as awareness of the organization, and offers prizes ranging from gift certificates to laptops. The third annual Treasure Hunt is going on now through August 15, so there's still time to play, or gear up for next year's hunt.

In addition, ThanksUSA is hosting a Pro-Am Tennis Tournament later this month, and is looking for players who'd like to have a great time helping a great cause. The tournament will take place on June 16 in Arlington, Virginia; for more information, contact Michele Stork at ThanksUSA. Once again, Scholarship America is proud to play a part in helping ThanksUSA thank those who serve, and to help them provide the gift of education.

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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