For those of you who know you want to be educators and have a strong opinion on unions, the National Institute for Labor Relations Research has an award that you could be eligible for, whether you’re an undergraduate or pursuing an advanced degree. The institute’s $1,000 Applegate/Jackson/Parks Future Teacher Scholarship and this week’s Scholarship of the Week is available to any undergraduate or graduate pursuing a degree in education at any school in the United States. The award is named after three Michigan public school teachers who were fired for their refusal to pay union dues.

Much of the weight for this prize will be placed on the no more than 500-word essay you come up with demonstrating an interest in and knowledge of the Right to Work principle as it applies to educators. As with many career-specific scholarship opportunities, applicants must also show the potential to successfully complete a college-level program in education, as the award will be helping you become a future teacher, after all.

Prize:

$1,000

Eligibility:

Undergraduate and graduate pursuing a degree in education at a college in the United States. Officers, directors, and employees of the National Institute for Labor Relations Research, the National Right to Work Committee, Members of the Selection Review Committee, and their families are not eligible.

Deadline:

Applications will be accepted now through Dec. 31. Requests for applications will be sent via regular mail until December 15 and cannot be requested after that date.

Required Material:

An online application, which includes an essay, and current transcript. The scholarship will be paid to the institution of higher learning which the recipient plans to attend, and the recipient will be required to provide a copy of his/her transcript from that institution at the end of the academic year.

Further details about the application process can be found by conducting a free college scholarship search on Scholarships.com. Once the search is completed, students eligible for this scholarship award will find it in their search results.

Posted: under Scholarship of the Week, Scholarships.
Tags: Scholarship of the Week, Scholarship Search, teachers

Comments (0) Oct 19 2009

Pursuing a career in education shows a commitment to increasing knowledge and improving the lives of others.  However, in order to become an educator, you need a college education, and the prospect of a teacher’s salary can make many students reluctant to borrow heavily to achieve this goal.  Thankfully, there are a number of education scholarships that offer future teachers an alternative to student loans.  One of them is this week’s Scholarship of the Week, the Scholarships.com College Education Scholarship.  High school seniors and current undergraduate students are invited to write a scholarship essay explaining what influenced them to pursue a career in education for a chance to win a $1,000 college scholarship.

Prize:

$1,000

Eligibility:
Applicant must be a U.S. citizen, a registered user of Scholarships.com, and an undergraduate student or a high school senior who plans to enroll in a college or university in the coming fall.
Applicant must have indicated an interest in one of the following:

• Child Care/Education
• Education
• Health Education
• Music Education
• Special Education

Posted: under Scholarship of the Week, Scholarships.
Tags: college scholarships, education, essay scholarship, high school student scholarships, Scholarship of the Week, Scholarship Search, Scholarships, teachers

Comments (0) Jul 06 2009

Yesterday, President Obama signed into law a bill to expand Americorps, a national service program that provides small stipends to people of all ages engaged in volunteer work throughout the country.  The act, officially known as the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, paves the way for Americorps to grow in size from its present 75,000 volunteers to as many as 250,000 volunteers by 2017.

In addition to creating more volunteer positions, the Serve America Act will also increase the education stipend for volunteers to $5,350, the same amount as Federal Pell Grants.  This will enable more recent graduates and people currently attending college to participate in Americorps programs, which are becoming an increasingly popular alternative to employment in the current economy.

The national service bill, sponsored by Senator Kennedy, quickly made its way through both houses of Congress, receiving bipartisan support, as well as a ringing endorsement from President Obama, who has long been a proponent of community service.  Congress still needs to find funding for Americorps to begin to expand, but a provision to provide an immediate 25% increase in funding to the program was included in Obama’s 2010 budget proposal.

Posted: under College Grants, College News, College and the Economy, College in Congress.
Tags: career, College and the Economy, College Grants, College in Congress, college news, community service, education, Fellowships, service, teachers, volunteer

Comments (0) Apr 22 2009

A bill to expand AmeriCorps and create new community service opportunities has passed the House of Representatives.  The Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education, or GIVE, Act passed today with bipartisan support in the House, and a similar bill, named the Serve America Act, has also been approved by the Senate education committee.  It will move to the Senate floor early next week, where it is expected to be met with a similar level of enthusiasm.  National service has been a priority of the Obama administration, so expect to see opportunities for community service expand shortly.

Over the course of five years, the bill will appropriate $6 billion to AmeriCorps, increasing positions from 75,000 to 250,000 and also increasing education stipends to $5,350–the same dollar amount as Federal Pell Grants.  The GIVE Act also includes provisions to encourage middle school students to volunteer, as well as funding to increase volunteerism on college campuses.  The GIVE Act will create volunteer programs focused on issues that have become major priorities in recent years, such as education and healthcare.

This legislation is heralded as the largest expansion in national service since the Kennedy administration.  While AmeriCorps and other volunteer programs pay far less than a full-time job, many students have been showing increased interest in them due to the education stipends and living allowances they provide, as well as the opportunities for service and unique experiences volunteers gain.  People serving full-time in positions affiliated with AmeriCorps or other programs also qualify for a new federal loan forgiveness program, which forgives Stafford loan debt for public service employees after ten years.

Posted: under College Grants, College News, College and the Economy, College in Congress.
Tags: career, College and the Economy, community service, education, Fellowships, service, teachers, volunteer

Comments (0) Mar 19 2009

New college grads may face an especially tough time due to the recession.  The growth in anticipated new hires, which is measured twice a year by The National Association of Colleges and Employers, has been slowing since it reached a high in spring 2007, falling almost flat in the fall.  The numbers for spring 2009 show that for the first time in years, businesses actually anticipate hiring fewer college graduates this year than last–22 percent fewer, in fact.  According to The Boston Globe, the business and finance sectors have an even bleaker outlook, as does the northeastern region of the United States.

With this dim hiring picture in mind, soon-to-be college graduates are looking at alternatives to the traditional workforce. Additional education, teaching fellowship programs, and volunteer work are all proving popular. If you’re a college student staring graduation in the face, keep in mind the increased competition and start researching and applying sooner, rather than later.

Graduate programs, including ones offered by business schools, are seeing increased enrollment as many students choose to either delay their entry into the workforce or push up their long-term plans to attend graduate school.  Graduate students can potentially land full-tuition fellowships or assistantships, as well as generous scholarship awards.  Many graduate degrees can help recipients become more competitive when they do enter the workforce, even if the economy does not recover substantially.

Similarly, teacher certification programs, such as the popular Teach for America, are seeing an increase in applicants.  These programs offer a stipend, as well as teacher certification, and in some cases a master’s degree in education, in exchange for a commitment of one or two years teaching in a low-income school or a high-need subject.  Other programs exist with similar benefits, including teaching fellowships in several major cities such as New York and Chicago.  College students or recent grads who want to teach but don’t want to pay for more school may want to consider these options.

Other volunteer programs, like AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps, also are seeing more applicants.  Such programs often come with a stipend or living allowance, as well as student loan deferments or even loan cancelation or repayment benefits.  Students can also participate in many of these programs while still in college or while pursuing graduate degrees.  If you’re interested in an alternative to the post-collegiate rat race, there’s no time like the present to start considering your options.

Posted: under College News, College and the Economy, Fellowships, Graduate School, Tips.
Tags: career, College and the Economy, Fellowships, financial tips, Graduate School, graduate student scholarships, service, teachers, volunteer

Comments (1) Mar 18 2009