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 Maybe you’re interested in attending college but concerned about paying for it. Or perhaps you’re unsure of which student loan is best for you. Either way, the Web site Mapping Your Future can help.
Mapping Your Future is a resource sponsored by agencies that insure against defaults on student loans. The Web site provides loan information for students of all ages, as well as for parents and counselors. Among the site’s resources are descriptions of the types of loans available and an interactive calculator that helps students determine how much they can afford to borrow on the basis of an expected salary, the loan’s interest rate, and the repayment period.
For example, according to the calculator, a student who expects, after graduation, to make $25 an hour can afford to borrow about $30,000 for a 10-year loan with an interest rate of 6.8 percent. (Among the other career exploration tools available on the site are links to BLS occupational data, which can help students and counselors determine prospective wage data to enter into the calculator. Find these links on the Mapping Your Future site or go directly to www.acinet.org/acinet.)
The Mapping Your Future site also offers online student loan counseling, which allows students to complete required entrance and exit loan counseling sessions from home.
To investigate the resources offered by Mapping Your Future, visit www.mappingyourfuture.org. |
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 How long do people usually stay with one employer?
According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the median tenure of wage and salary workers was just over 4 years in January 2008.
The most significant determinant of median tenure was age: Older workers were usually with their employer longer than their younger counterparts. Employees aged 55 and older had a median tenure of about 10 years, several times that of workers aged 25 to 34, whose median tenure with an employer was slightly less than 3 years.
Public-sector employees had almost twice the tenure of those in the private sector. Public-sector workers spent a median of about 7 years with their current employers, compared with about 4 years for private-sector workers. One reason for this difference was the higher median age of public-sector employees: About 75 percent of government employees were aged 35 or older, but 60 percent of private-sector employees were in this group.
Data on employee tenure come from responses to supplemental questions to the Current Population Survey and are collected every 2 years. These data are accessible online at www.bls.gov/cps. For more information about employee tenure, write to the BLS Current Population Survey program, 2 Massachusetts Ave. NE., Suite 4675, Washington, DC 20212; call (202) 691–6378; or e-mail cpsinfo@bls.gov.
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 Movie, TV, and video fans should see what the Association of Moving Image Archivists is up to. Its fellowship for film archivists—the historians responsible for preserving and restoring film, television, and video images—provides more than just money for school.
In addition to providing a $4,000 scholarship for academic study, the association’s annual fellowship includes free registration to the association’s conference and a 6-week summer internship at film restoration facilities in Los Angeles. Some of these facilities support the fellow’s school with current research and technical resources.
Eligibility requirements, application instructions, and forms for 2009 are available from the association beginning in January. The fellowship is awarded in late June or early July.
For more information on the fellowship program and other scholarships, visit the Association of Moving Image Archivists’ Web site at www.amianet.org/events/scholarship.php; write to the association at 1313 N. Vine St., Hollywood, CA 90028; call (323) 463–1506; or e-mail amia@amianet.org. |
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All students have different learning styles and strengths. For those who struggle in a traditional classroom environment, an educational diagnostician can help.
Educational diagnosticians are a type of special education teacher. These workers have a number of different titles, such as learning consultant or learning disabilities teacher, and their responsibilities vary. But all assess and diagnose learning problems.
Educational diagnosticians usually begin by assessing a student’s strengths and weaknesses through tests. They then create a unique learning program for the student and monitor his or her progress. Educational diagnosticians often work on a team with other assessment personnel, such as speech and physical therapists and school counselors. They also communicate with teachers, administrators, and parents about the student’s educational development.
BLS does not collect data on educational diagnosticians, but anecdotal information suggests that their wages are comparable to those of school counselors. Employers usually look for educational diagnosticians who have at least a master’s degree, State certification, and several years of teaching experience.
For more information about working as an educational diagnostician, visit the Council for Exceptional Children’s Web site at www.cec.sped.org or contact the council by writing to 1110 N. Glebe Rd., Suite 300, Arlington, VA 22201; calling toll free, 1 (800) 224–6830; or e-mailing service@cec.sped.org. |
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Parents know that their college-enrolled children rely on them for help with tuition or meal plan payments. As graduation nears, however, many parents discover that their children seek another valuable parental resource: advice.
Data from a National Association of Colleges and Employers survey reveal that most college seniors planning to enter the workforce after their 2008 graduation reviewed job offers with their parents. Although students of both sexes are likely to discuss job offers with parents, the tendency is stronger for females (about 72 percent) than for males (about 66 percent).
Students consulted with others, too. Additional sources of advice included nonparent relatives, friends, faculty members, and workers in career centers. About 17 percent of female seniors and 21 percent of male seniors reviewed job offers without any input from others.
For more information about this and other studies by the association, visit www.naceweb.org; write to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, 62 Highland Ave., Bethlehem, PA 18017; call toll free, 1 (800) 544–5272; or e-mail Edwin Koc at ekoc@naceweb.org. |
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