Stem Occupations Loan Forgiveness: Fill & Download for Free

Some professional organizations have grants-in-aid and scholarships for student members.Sigma Xi (honorary society for science) has small research grants for undergrads and grad students: Grants-in-Aid of ResearchHere is a list of various scholarships related to computer science: Computer Science Scholarships & Aid | ComputerScience.orgStart by checking if the relevant professional or honorary society for your discipline offers such research grants. The other thing to check out is if you might be entering a profession for which there is student loan forgiveness. For example, here is a program for students in North Dakota who get STEM degrees then stay and work in state: STEM Occupations Student Loan Program.

We live in a market-based economy. Presently, unemployment rates are low and the ability of people with degrees, some competence in technology, and the ability to reliably show up on time and work (all attributes needed for educators) can find higher paying jobs with lower stress outside of education. This is particularly true for STEM teachers, language teachers, and special educators.Incentive programs for new teachers have not been particularly successful due to inadequate funding, inefficient administration of the incentive programs, and in some cases outright fraud. A current example of the failure of incentive programs can be seen in the program, administered by the US Department of Education, that purportedly partially or fully forgives the school loans of borrowers that can demonstrate that they have completed school and are now employed in occupations that are deemed important by the federal government. Many teachers have been caught up in this ill-administered program and have been informed that they do not qualify for loan forgiveness due to inadequate paperwork, needlessly intricate qualification factors, or other bureaucratic problems. So now the forgiveness of student loans is off the table as an incentive for teachers, what else is out there?Some states have been quietly providing pay incentives to their newer teachers for some time. But many of these programs have been ended, as happened in New Mexico, due in part to state legislatures and governors attempting to balance state budgets. One bright spot is Connecticut, which has an ongoing Minority Teacher Incentive Program which gives limited scholarships to minority juniors and seniors enrolled in teacher preparation programs in the state. The program awards grants of up to $5,000 per year for two years and loan reimbursements of up to $2,500 per year for up to four years. The total cannot go over $20,000 per person.In the past, incentive programs were fairly common on the state and federal level for teachers wishing to specialize in science (following the launch of Sputnik and the resulting Space Race) and for those teachers willing to work in urban school districts. Most of these programs no longer exist, the victim of changing government priorities and funding cuts.Some states have considered extra pay based on the ability of a teacher to demonstrate rises in student achievement in their classes. The biggest problem with this idea has been that some if a teacher, in an impacted rural or urban school, cannot get their students up to their current grade level there will be no incentive pay for them. This sounds fair, until you understand that a teacher’s class may be working well below grade level and so such a teacher is not likely to get merit pay, even if they raise their student’s achievement multiple grade levels.Here is an example of the problem. A 5th grade classroom could be working at an average of a low 2nd grade level in reading, math, and writing. If the teacher moves them up, by the end of the year, to an average of a high 4th grade level in all subjects, as measured by state standardized testing, the teacher will have done a great job. However, if the students are still not at grade level, even though they’ve made wonderful academic gains (two+ grade levels in one year), the teacher will not qualify for a merit bonus. I speak from experience as this happened to me every year until CA ended the merit bonus program. So the incentive of merit pay may not be as motivating as it could be for teachers in school districts impacted by low student achievementSo we return to the original premise of my response of why don’t incentives seem to work. I would argue the point, that for incentives to work, they need to be straight forward, a part of a comprehensive state/federal program that’s going to be in existence for a while, well-managed, and reflect the realities of education in the United States. If we continue to overlook market forces in paying teachers, then incentive programs or not, it will be hard to fill all the job openings in this demanding, stressful, but ultimately rewarding occupation. If we saw beginning teacher pay go up, a student loan forgiveness program that really worked, and possibly some sort of home ownership or subsidized rental program for educators, then we might see teacher shortages alleviated.

Very interesting question. Obviously the future will surprise us but here is what my personal research, conversation with tech friends and entrepreneurs and my intuition leads me to believe.No, just the opposite. The trends in automation will have the opposite effect. It will become easier to retire. Also, managing student debt will become less challenging. Here’s why.Self-driving VehiclesOur society is about to undergo a second radical transformation, which, upon completion, will have more of an impact than the ubiquitous deployment of the Internet. This transformation will occur through autonomous vehicles. My rough estimates are that 1 in 5 jobs will be directly threatened by creation of self-driving cars. Jobs can be threatened in one of three ways. These are:Direct obsolescenceNetwork effect“Ineconomies” of scaleDirect ObsolescenceDirect obsolescence is the loss of employment due to a technological innovation that eliminates the need for a human actor.When thinking about how self-driving vehicles will displace workers, it is fairly easy to see how many positions (Uber driver, UPS delivery man, etc.) will be directly threatened through direct obsolescence. Here are just a few of the jobs at risk.1.6 million truck drivers800,000 delivery truck operators180,000 taxi drivers,160,000 Uber drivers,500,000 school bus drivers, and160,000 transit bus driversError Reduction LossesAn error reduction loss occurs when someone losses a job because a technological innovation performs with fewer errors than a human actor.Collision avoidance technology that will become available through automated vehicles will produce substantial network effect losses. Here are just a few of the jobs at risk:271,600 insurance adjusters, examiners, investigators, and445,000 auto body repairers“Ineconomies” of ScaleAn “ineconomy” of scale are employment losses stemming technological advancements that allow us to sustain or increase our economic output while radically reducing the capital resources (such as the number of vehicles) and human resources necessary to perform work.Ironically, when measured by time spent, parking is responsible for the majority of cost of owning a vehicle. As self-driving cars make their way into our lives, sharing vehicles through on-demand rental programs will become attractive and replace the concept of personal vehicle ownership. As vehicle ownership becomes a thing of the past, we will no longer be able to sustain the same number of auto manufacturers, dealers, and financiers. Here are some jobs at risk:436,420 Sales and Related Occupations184,560 Office and Administrative Support Occupations67,860 Management Occupations32,900 Business & Financial Operations OccupationsGuaranteed Basic IncomeA basic income is a form of social security in which all citizens or residents of a country regularly receive an unconditional sum of money.As the staggering number of job losses pile up we’ll begin to see a movement toward a new entitlement, universal basic income. If this seems far fetched to you, don’t take my word for it, listen to Elon Musk. It is at least possible that part of the UBI option provided to US citizens will include student loan forgiveness or tuition payments.Winners & LosersThe two major winners to UBI will create two main winners. These are:The American WorkerAmazon.comTo answer your question directly, UBI is equivalent to and will mean partial retirement. Individuals who wish to reduce their work hours or will effectively be “unemployable” will have the option of working less or not at all, albeit at a lower standard of living.Amazon.com, with its massive catalog, national footprint and focus on relentless growth will likely be the first company to offer a total life solution. In exchange for handing over your UBI check each month, Amazon will offer you a total lifestyle including food, clothing, housing and entertainment.Final ThoughtsBefore we decry the idea of giving people money for nothing we should ask ourselves, “why are we all working so hard?” Each of us does the best he can to save for retirement on an individual level. The purpose of individual retirement is to prepare for our senscience and (hopefully) enjoy a little leisure in our final days. Does it not also follow that all our toil would, in the aggregate, lead to a society where our basic needs are met and the majority of our time is spent pursuing something other than the gratification of our most basic needs?Food for though?