Are you thinking about enrolling in an online class? You’ll be in good company. According to a new report by the Sloan Consortium more than one in four students took at least one distance learning class in 2008. The study, called Learning on Demand: Online Education in the United States, found a 17 percent jump in the number of online students in just one year. Putting that in real terms, there were 4.6 million students taking at least one online class in ‘08, as compared to 3.9 million in ‘07. Just five years earlier, in 2002, fewer than one in ten students was virtual. Budget Considerations More and more brick-and-mortar schools are getting in on the online action, which, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education, may be in large measure a way to redress budget s...

If you have been watching the news from Haiti for the last almost three weeks, you may have felt helpless. I know I have. Sending off our donation was a step in the right direction, but the needs are so great and my check was such a very small drop in that giant bucket. In other words, I’m still looking for ways to help. Are you? We know that college students are more and more inclined toward volunteer work, according to recent studies. And I have no doubt that times of natural disasters like Haiti motivate even more students to look for ways to help. Enter Professor Deborah C. Jenson from Duke University. In the wake of the Haiti earthquake, Dr. Jenson developed a new course for Duke undergrads called, “Haitian Creole for the Haitian Recovery.” Her goal is get student...

Happy Saturday, dear scholarship seeker. If you are new to this blog, then welcome to your first Scholarship Weekend! Every weekend (well, almost every weekend), I post about three great scholarships with upcoming deadlines. We are in the middle of “high” scholarship season, so there is definitely no better time than the present to get your scholarship applying act together. This week, you might want to consider sending off applications to the $5,000 Wayne V. Black Scholarship for engineers (and a few other majors, too); the Caterpillar Scholarship for merchandising students; and the $1,000 Best Buy scholarship for high school seniors. 1. Wayne V. Black Scholarship: $5,000 Established in 2006 by the Energy Telecommunications & Electrical (ENTELEC) company, the Wayne V. Bl...

TGIF! Before you shut off your computer and go enjoy some well-deserved down time, I’ve got three scholarships you might want to spend some time applying to. There are going to be a number of really great scholarships with upcoming deadlines over the next six to eight weeks, so now is definitely the time to buckle down on your applications. This week, I have three great gigs: a $5000 “STOP Hunger” scholarship sponsored by Sodexo (the #1 food service provider on college campuses today); a $1,000 scholarship/lottery from US Bank (there are 40 of these available, which means your odds are better than normal!); and a $1,000 Voices for Animals essay contest. 1. Sodexo Foundation STOP Hunger Scholarships: $5,000 The Sodexo Foundation’s $5,000 STOP Hunger Scholarships encou...

Are you struggling to finish your Free Application for Federal Student Aid? The FAFSA was shortened a bit this year, but that federal form is no doubt still a bit tricky and time consuming. Yet, without a completed FAFSA, you are not eligible for any federal aid, including grants, loans and work-study. If you’d like to get some help with your FAFSA, check out this list of free events around the country to help you with your financial aid paperwork. Known as College Goal Sunday, the events are sponsored by YMCA, and provide free, on-site professional assistance in completing the FAFSA, plus one-on-one counseling sessions with financial aid professionals about applying for financial aid resources and completing state-wide student services applications. There is a long list of docume...

USNews & World Report ran an interesting article last week with eight financial aid trends for American colleges in 2010. The bad news is that college will cost more in ‘10 than ever before. But there is some good news, too. Here’s what USNews had to say (and what I think about it). 1. It will be easier to apply for financial aid. I talked about the changes to the standard application for financial aid a few weeks ago. In short, the 2010 FAFSA is shorter, too. The biggest changes? Eliminating redundant questions and spitting out an instant Estimated Family Contribution. 2. It will be easier to figure out just how much college will cost. A new law means that colleges have until late 2011 to put new web-based calculators on their website that calculate true costs of attend...

Happy Sunday! How’s your weekend? Fortunately for most of you, you’re getting an extra day off this week in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. What are you planning to do with your extra time? Be sure to set aside some of it to work on your scholarship applications! This week, I want to let you know about three great scholarship opportunities that should definitely be on your radar screen. There are several thousands of dollars from Walmart and the Sam Walton Foundation; $10,000 for the peace essay contest, and $1,000 from the Burger King scholars program. All of these scholarships have upcoming deadlines, so be sure to check them out ASAP. 1. Walmart Scholarships: $3,000 – $13,000 Say what you will about Wal-Mart, but the company’s foundation — the Sam Walton Fo...

An article earlier this week in the Army Times reports that veterans trying to pay for school with the post-9/11 GI Bill are still experiencing major delays. I first alerted you to the problem with GI Bill benefit delays back in September, when some 250,000 veterans were facing late payments as a result of backlogs in the system. At the time, the Department of Defense was reporting that it was upgrading its computer system and would have the kinks worked out by early 2010. Here we are, however, at the start of the new year and 26,000 students are still waiting for their benefits from last semester. The VA’s own records show that 48,000 claims are still being processed, which may include some for the spring semester. What will happen in the spring is anyone’s best guess, alth...

A number of the country’s top public universities are giving millions in financial aid to students from relatively wealthy families, while those from truly needy backgrounds are not receiving enough assistance, says a new report. Examining the period from 2003 to 2007, the report, called “Opportunity Adrift”, discovered that schools give as much financial aid to students whose parents earn more than $80,000 annually as they do to those whose parents earn less than $54,000 per year. The report suggest that universities have sought to recruit high-achieving students who can help them climb in national rankings, at the expense of their mission to educate their states’ own population. As a result, diversity has suffered. Financial aid from public universities has bec...

Happy New Year. Welcome to the first official Scholarship Friday of the new year. Most of you are probably getting ready to head back to school after the long winter break. I know with second semester starting up, that you will have less time to search for scholarships. But remember, this is the peak season for scholarship committees — so stay on the case. Today I’m making your search a little bit easier by highlighting three scholarships with upcoming deadlines. I’ve got a full-ride scholarship for African Americans attending a Historically Black College or University; a $40,000 scholarship for promising high school juniors with financial (or other) hardships; and up to $10,000 for women planning to study communications (some geographic restrictions apply). Scholarships ...