Hello everyone! While I may not be keeping my mind stimulated by taking summer classes such as some of the other bloggers, I have been doing a lot of traveling, which has stimulated my mind in a completely different way. Traveling really makes one aware of all the endless possibilities the world holds, and during my trip I did a lot of contemplating about my plans for the future, more specifically next year. This is where I could use your advice.

On Monday I returned from a three week long trip to Germany and Spain. I flew over alone and visited family (I am half Spanish). While there, my Spanish family proposed that I spend a year in Spain, in between high school and college. My first thought on this was “No way, I’m going to college directly after high school.” This of course has always been my plan, but my Spanish family thinks it is important that I spend a year in Spain to learn the language (I do not speak fluent Spanish), and the culture. Their proposal was that I live with family or on my own, while taking some courses at the local university. Read the rest of this entry »

The New York Times reported today that some of the country’s largest banks, including Citibank and JPMorgan Chase, are extending fewer loans to students at two-year colleges and for-profit institutions (though not at top universities):

The practice suggests that if the credit crisis and the ensuing turmoil in the student loan business persist, some of the nation’s neediest students will be hurt the most. The difficulty borrowing may deter them from attending school or prompt them to take a semester off. When they get student loans, they will wind up with less attractive terms and may run a greater risk of default if they have to switch lenders in the middle of their college years. Read the rest of this entry »

The event flyer for a Wednesday evening discussion on the subject poses a different question, one that sounds sort of odd considering the school district’s notorious drop-out rate:

“Are Oakland students 100% Graduated, 100% Prepared?”

I’m not sure I could name one school district which could answer that question affirmatively. But district staff will also ask more nuanced questions Wednesday night, such as what the audience thinks about Read the rest of this entry »

This headline caught my attention today when I got home from school and glanced at the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle. It interested me because this decision will have a big impact on myself and others my age; and the headline picture consisted of students protesting at the state Capitol.

The picture reminded me of a previous heated debate over a blog entry about students protesting at the Olympic torch relay.

These possible budget cuts would raise the already high college tuition and also require colleges to cut down on spending, which sounds like bad news to me. As a junior in high school, college is constantly talked about, encouraged, and expected of me. I have no doubt that I will be able to get into a good college, but paying for it is another thing. Read the rest of this entry »

The Education Report welcomes another student voice to the blog: Diamond Broussard, a junior at Skyline High School, who will occasionally contribute her musings on high school life. If other students would like to submit pieces for consideration, they can e-mail me at kmurphy@bayareanewsgroup.com. -Katy

As my senior friends are graduating and moving on to better things and prepping for their futures, and as they have overcome the drama of choosing a college that suits their career goal – or for that matter, any goal  — my junior friends and I are beginning to have a little anxiety about the future. 

Often times we are pressured by family members or friends or teachers to know exactly what we want to be and what we want to achieve in life. Although I have known since junior high school that I want to attend a university and later have a career in fashion, and more specifically own my own boutique, other classmates are unsure of what path to choose, for many reasons, but one in particular: what job is right for my GPA or IQ.

My friend Christina and I had a conversation about how important being smart is when considering colleges.  Read the rest of this entry »

The Sallie Mae Fund’s Paying for College Bus Tour makes a stop at Lighthouse Community Charter School (345 12th St., Oakland) tonight, with a light dinner at 6 p.m., a workshop at 7 p.m. and college counseling from 8-8:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

If you can’t make it on such short notice, you might find this Web site useful. It offers online scholarship searches, for example, and lists of scholarships designated for African-American and Latino students.

Considering last year’s probes into the student loan industry, I’m sure Sallie Mae and other lenders are eager to improve their public image. (The Sallie Mae fund is a charitable organization sponsored by Sallie Mae. And, as one of its spokespeople noted, the bus tour started three years before the investigation.) But hey, free money is free money.

Isn’t it?

image from beasiswa.terbaru’s site at flickr.com/creativecommons

Today at Oakland High, war resister and former Navy sailor Pablo Paredes debated Army recruiter Sgt. Jose Delao about the role of military recruiters in high schools — and the benefits and risks of joining the service.

Some of the questions from the crowd:

- Why do you recruit us young people? “We’re going to die, but for what, you know?”
- Why is it that the military recruiters come to the low-income high schools?
- What are the benefits for veterans (Be specific, please)?

It was an intense hour — and, for the most part, civil. At one point during the question-and-answer session, though, Read the rest of this entry »

March 2 (actually, March 3 this year) is the deadline for Cal Grant applications.

Whether you know exactly what a FAFSA is, or you thought it was someone’s last name, you might find one of the upcoming Cash For College workshops helpful.

Even if you think your family income might be too high to qualify, I hear that it doesn’t hurt to bring in your tax and income documents just to be sure. Many of the workshops are staffed with people who speak various languages, and they help families fill out those cumbersome forms.

The Cash For College Web site has a calendar which lists the places and times of each workshop. It also includes a list of what to bring. Oakland High, Skyline, Oakland Military Institute, Castlemont, Fremont and Laney College all have sessions scheduled between Jan. 30 and Feb. 23.

image from Argenberg’s Web site at flickr.com/creativecommons