We’ve written before about the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act , an excellent bill that would simultaneously save the government billions of dollars and increasing the financial aid available to students. I’m going to repeat that: This bill saves money and helps students graduate from college with less debt. Who could possibly object to that? The financial industry, of course. See, the bill saves money by cutting out the big lenders... 

In California , this is what giant budget cutbacks for the state university system look like: Because of state budget cuts to higher education, San Francisco State is now offering 3,173 course sections, 12 percent fewer than two years ago. From the university administration’s point of view, that is not as bad as it might have been: over $1.5 million in federal stimulus money prevented more draconian cuts. –snip– This spring, cutbacks... 

Today is World AIDS Day, a day reserved to increase global awareness of HIV, AIDS, and people living with the diseases. A few facts about HIV and AIDS that you might not know (from Twitter ): –10% of the world’s populations lives in Africa, yet 67% of all HIV cases occur there. –It only costs around 40 cents a day for the 2 pills that are needed to help keep someone with HIV alive. Join the campaign by shopping for certain products... 

Tomorrow and Friday I’ll be attending the A Better Deal conference, held by Demos. It’s about “securing our economic future now” and focuses on young people. It’ll be a great opportunity to follow up on the posts I wrote last month about the survey of young workers Working America and the AFL-CIO had done. I’m particularly interested to hear from Demos’ Tamara Draut, whose book Strapped: Why America’s 20- and 30-Somethings Can’t... 

Think your English Lit major will doom you to a four-digit income? Not so fast. According to the Department of Labor’s most recent mean wage statistics , a liberal arts degree can earn you a decent wage. Our list covers currently available jobs that offer high earning potential to people without a technical or scientific degree. Some jobs require licenses or a little additional education, but most can be accomplished with a liberal arts education.... 

Last week, Mitchell Hirsch wrote about the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act passing the House. One of the key things SAFRA does is to make it easier for families to apply for financial aid by simplifying the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, form. That sounds less flashy than increasing Pell Grants to $5,500, but it turns out it’s really important. (Those of you who…  Read More →