The interest rate on new government-subsidized Stafford loans is set to double on July 1 – to 6.8 percent from 3.4 percent – unless Congress acts to stop it. And there’s no guarantee it will.

In his budget plan released on Wednesday, President Obama proposed having the interest rates on new Stafford loans tied to market rates.

Christian Walker, an economics and political science major at Northern Arizona University, needs Stafford loans to stay in school next year. He already expects to graduate with $50,000 in debt.

“Raising the interest rate on those loans just compounds the problem and increases the amount of money I’ll have to pay back after I graduate,” he said. 

It’s truly déjà vu for families who rely on Stafford loans to help pay for college. The interest rate hike was going to take effect last year, but faced with a nationwide backlash, Congress agreed to delay the increase for one year. So here we are again.

Student groups and college educators across the country have called on Congress to stop the rate hike, which would affect more than 7 million students. The consumer advocacy group U.S. PIRG estimates that doubling the interest rate on Stafford loans would add another $1,000 to the cost of each loan – and many students need one loan for each year of school.

Related: Will you be affected by an increase in student loan interest rates?

“The argument against it is the same as it was last year: The interest rate is way too high,” said Ethan Senack, U.S. PIRG’s higher education associate. “At a time when students and their families are already facing massive debt, this is a cost increase they simply cannot afford.”

The average student in this country already graduates with $26,600 in loan debt, according to the Project for Student Debt at the Institute for College Access & Success.

“It’s scaring everyone on campus,” said 19-year old Tori Uyehara, a freshman at Southern Oregon University. “We can’t afford the amount of interest we’re paying right now. Doubling the interest rate is just too much.”

What if the rate doesn’t go up as planned?
The non-partisan Congressional Budget office estimates the loss to the U.S. treasury would be nearly $6 billion a year.

But Terry Hartle, senior vice president of the American Council on Education (ACE) believes lawmakers should consider the interest rate spread when deciding what to do.

“The government is borrowing the money at about 2 percent and lending it at 3.4 percent," Hartle said. "They don’t need to get a 6.8 percent return."

The council, a trade association of about 2,000 public and private colleges and universities, wants Congress to keep the current interest rate and prevent student debt from increasing.

What can we expect?
As you might expect, Congress remains divided on this issue along political lines. Republicans think the rate should go up, Democrats don’t.

The Senate budget resolution, authored by Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) would keep the interest at 3.4 percent.

"The cost of a college education has never been higher, and students across our country can't afford higher interest rates for Stafford loans," Sen. Murray said in an email to NBC News.  

Republicans in the House are talking about a long-term solution that would change the way the interest rates on Stafford loans are calculated.

At a recent hearing on student loans, Rep. John Kline (R-Minn.), chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, said he wanted to see government “move away from a system that allows Washington politicians to use student loan interest rates as bargaining chips, creating uncertainty and confusion for borrowers.”

One idea being discussed is to replace the fixed rate arbitrarily set by Congress with a variable rate tied to some market indicator, such as Treasury notes.

Supporters of this idea, including some educators, believe a floating rate would make more families eligible for these popular loans.

In his budget plan released on Wednesday, President Obama proposed having the interest rates on new Stafford loans tied to market rates. Because those rates would not be capped under the President's proposal, consumer advocates are not happy with it.

In a joint news release, a number of consumer groups said: "While the President’s budget keeps rates low in the near term, we’re disappointed that it risks sky-high interest rates in the long term."

A final word
T.J. Legacy Cole, a political science major at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, needs a Stafford loan to finish his last semester. He knows how important it is to balance the budget, but he hopes Congress will consider the big picture.

“They need to understand that education is the key to our future, not debt,” he said.

What do you think? Share your thoughts with me on Facebook.

Herb Weisbaum is The ConsumerMan. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter or visit The ConsumerMan website. 

Related: 

Meet your new professor: Transient, poorly paid

As part of her push to turn around Yahoo, Marissa Mayer has taken some popular steps (like doling out free food and iPhones) and some not-so-popular ones (like making employees come into the office if they want those goodies — or their jobs). Now, insiders say Mayer’s fixation on college credentials is hindering Yahoo’s ability to hire top talent.

Recruiting experts say focusing on an applicant’s “pedigree” may seem like a shortcut to hiring only the cream of the crop, but this practice can have a negative impact in the long term, especially for tech companies whose survival depends on innovation.

On the company’s fourth quarter conference call in January, Mayer discussed implementing “rigorous hiring protocols” — a phrase unnamed company employees cited by Reuters say is code for a newfound zeal for high grades and degrees from prestigious universities like Stanford. (Yahoo declined to comment on what a company spokeswoman characterized as “rumors.”)

“Given the tight supply of tech talent... I think it’s a rather risky strategy to limit your talent pool with that kind of filter,” said Asa Sphar, vice president of recruitment and profiling at technology search firm CSI Executive Search, LLC.

“It doesn’t in any way mean there aren’t extraordinary people coming out of [less prestigious] colleges,” said John Challenger, CEO of executive outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. 

Some companies do use the college question as what Challenger called a “sorting mechanism” for sifting through resumes for entry level positions. “The name on the diploma really matters most in your first couple jobs.” To fill more senior positions, he said, “Only looking for grads from certain schools would be short-sighted."

“There’s an advantage in this kind of plan in terms of speed but there’s a big disadvantage in this plan in terms of innovation,” said Eric C. Peterson, manager of diversity and inclusion Society for Human Resource Management. Hiring people who have been educated the same way can make it easier for people to work together in teams, but it curtails the infusion of new ideas and perspectives.

Still, Challenger pointed out that some companies want their people to have similar educational backgrounds. “There are obviously companies that have cultures where a lot of people come from certain schools,” he said.

Feeling like the name of the school matters more than an individual's achievements can be particularly frustrating for the rank-and-file today. It touches on a larger debate as to whether a college degree is worth the investment when student loan balances are soaring and new graduates often struggle to find jobs.

According to a 2011 report from Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce, people with just a high school diploma earn an average of $32,600 a year, which adds up to $1,304,000 over the course of their time in the workforce.

By contrast, college graduates with four-year degrees have average lifetime earnings of $2,268,000 — nearly a million dollars more. Computer software engineers do even better than that, with an average lifetime paycheck of $3,554,000. Ironically, Yahoo’s last CEO, Scott Thompson, left the company after it was discovered that his claim to hold a bachelor’s degree in computer science was false. 

But hiring exclusively from prestigious universities can backfire, as Northwestern University assistant professor of management and organizations Lauren Rivera found in a 2011 paper. When evaluating job applicants who graduated from a “top five” school, companies “attributed superior cognitive, cultural, and moral qualities to candidates who had been admitted to such an institution, regardless of their actual performance” after they were actually hired.

Denise Lidell, founder of IT search and recruiting company High-Tech Professionals, said limiting the pool of potential candidates to a short list of schools has other down sides, too: It leads to positions staying unfilled longer, because there are fewer potential candidates. “They’re probably eliminating some top candidates,” she said. And when companies do find people that meet their specifications, they are more likely to be lured away by a competitor, given the high demand for tech talent.

There are some small indications that this hiring practice may be falling out of favor. An annual survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers about hiring attributes did find that the importance of school name has risen slightly, but the good news is that leadership positions held, major and grades earned, and extracurricular activities taken were all considered more important.

Rivera also noted that extracurricular activities could be a more valuable assessment tool for potential new hires, saying, “Participation in formalized extracurricular activities has become a new credential of moral character that has monetary conversion value.”

Focusing on elite schools to the exclusion of other factors like extracurricular participation is an especially bad idea for a technology company that needs a steady supply of cutting-edge ideas. “A lot of organizations out there want to be more creative, more innovative than their competitors,” Peterson said. “Hiring a whole bunch of people who think exactly the same way is not going to get you there... Groupthink is the antithesis of innovation."

Kevin Lamarque / Reuters

Graduating students at the University of Michigan commencement ceremony in Ann Arbor, Michigan in this May 1, 2010 file photograph. American families are failing to meet their college savings milestones as short-term needs and emergency savings take priority in family budgets.

Paying for your child's education is a laudable goal, but may not be realistic for some parents who could wind up jeopardizing their own financial future in order to help put their sons and daughters through college.

Parents who are saving for college frequently raid retirement funds — or plan to do so — to pay their child's skyrocketing tuition bills, according to a new study released today from the nation's largest student loan provider Sallie Mae. More parents are currently saving for their retirement than for their children's education, but these families often plan to draw from retirement savings to help cover the costs of college, especially as other goals — from building up a "rainy day" fund to increasing general savings — take priority. "The economy is putting pressure on families in terms of whether they're saving, how much they're saving and where they're saving," said Sarah Ducich, senior vice president for public policy at Sallie Mae.

The report "How America Saves For College" surveyed more than 1,600 parents with children ages 18 or younger and found half of parents said they were focused on college savings, while 60 percent were focused on saving for retirement. But if they have to choose, parents are opting to boost their retirement savings — 42 percent of parents who are not saving for college said they are saving for retirement.

The good news: More than three-quarters of those parents surveyed who are saving for college are also focused on saving for retirement.

The bad news: Many of those families who say they are saving for college also admit that they are doing so through their retirement fund. One-third intend to use these savings for college. The other two-thirds say that they would use their retirement savings to pay for college, only if necessary.

Families are more likely to use retirement savings to fund college as their children get older and the urgency intensifies. Less than half (44 percent) of families with children under age 6 would use retirement savings to pay for college, while more than seven in 10 (74 percent) families with teens would use their retirement for college, the survey found.

How much retirement money are they putting toward tuition and other college expenses?

Nearly 6 percent of parents in the thick of paying for college are drawing on retirement funds by taking a loan or withdrawal of about $6,475 on average, according to a 2012 Sallie Mae survey.

Unforeseen consequences
But here's the problem: Most parents don't realize paying for college with money withdrawn from a retirement account can result in a double whammy. First, the withdrawal can count as income, which is taxable. Plus, with that additional income, you'll reduce your financial aid eligibility the following year.

"Between the tax impact and the reduction in aid eligibility, the family may net very little return on their investment," said Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of Fastweb.com, a free scholarship matching service. "It also sacrifices retirement funds," he said.

By borrowing from your 401(k) or IRA, parents not only reduce their retirement balance, but also miss out accruing interest. And if you're under age 59 1/2 and take a loan from your 401(k), you'll have to pay back the loan with interest in five years, or immediately, if you change employers.

Jump start your college savings
So how can parents avoid raiding their retirement funds for college? It sounds very simple. Make a plan to save. The Sallie Mae study showed 70 percent of families with a set goal to save for college are confident they will save 10 percent of future college costs.

To ramp up college savings, start funding or add more money to a 529 college savings plan. A 529 college savings plan allows you to save money for college and then withdraw the funds for qualified college expenses tax-free. Studies show that people who use 529 college savings plans are more successful college savers than those without 529 plans.

The College Savings Foundation's 2012 parent survey found that 22 percent of 529 owners have saved between $10,001 and $25,000, while only 9 percent of non-529 account owners have saved a similar amount. Likewise, 18 percent of 529 plan owners reported saving between $25,001 and $50,000. Only 4 percent of non-529 account owners managed to save as much. Overall, parents who have not opened a 529 plan are the least effective college savers — nearly half have no college savings.

To help jump start your college savings, here are a few tips from Kantrowitz, who is also publisher of the financial aid information site FinAid.org:

• Make savings automatic, so you don't have to think to save.
• Increase the amount you save each year. You will quickly get used to not having the money in your checking account.
• Whenever you get a windfall, such as a big income tax refund or inheritance, contribute all or part of it to the college savings plan.
• When expenses change, resulting in some savings, devote the savings to college. "When your child no longer needs diapers or daycare, for example, redirect the savings to their college fund," Kantrowitz says.
• Use a rebating program, like Upromise, to help build your 529 plan faster.
• Finally, get grandparents and other relatives involved. Have them contribute to your children's 529 plans instead of giving gifts on birthdays and holidays.

Make college savings a true, family affair.

When it comes to college, cheap doesn't mean easy. Students and parents looking for the best degree for their buck can find some great ideas in the newly released Princeton Review Best Value Colleges for 2013.

Most of them are colleges which say they "meet 100 percent of need." You say what you can pay, and the school covers the difference. The trick is having the high grades and test scores needed to get in.

In compiling the list, what the Princeton Review looked for is those schools that provided a "good value, but weren't making families mortgage their futures," Robert Franek, Senior VP of Publishing and author of The Princeton Review's "The Best Value Colleges," told TODAY.

The company winnowed down to 150 schools, 75 public and 75 private, from the 650 the company considers the nation's academically best undergraduate institutions. Those schools were selected from the 2,000 from which the Princeton Review annually gathers data.

The colleges were evaluated on 30 different factors, including selectivity, test scores, scholarships, grants, number of student loans, and the amount of debt graduating students carried. The bulk of the data that went into compiling the results came from self-reported statistics provided by the colleges. A smaller component was a measurement of student satisfaction with their financial aid packages, determined by asking respondents to evaluate several factors on a five-point scale.

[RELATED: Backlash building against college rankings]

However, critics question the rigor of the aspect of Princeton Review's research that is based on student surveys.  The Princeton Reviews says the polls can be completed online "anywhere, anytime." In some cases, invitations to take the survey are emailed by the college to their student body.

The Princeton Review's use of student surveys, "is highly susceptible to self-reporting bias," said Jonathan Robe, Research Fellow at The Center for College Affordability & Productivity, which produces its own annual college rankings. "It's not an actual scientific sample. All its really measuring is 'of the students who report data.' Which may not be a representative sample for a prospective student. That's the methodology problem."

Colleges do not pay the Princeton Review to be included on the list, said David Soto, director of content development. Survey results are normally collected every three years, and colleges can request more frequent polling, but they're not assessed a fee, said Soto.

What really helped schools jump to the top of the Best Value list were those that meet 100 percent of students need. These schools will let the students pay what they can pay based on their FAFSA filling, and the college makes up the rest.

"These schools are love letters when it comes to students and financial aid," said Franek. So, "never cross an expensive school off your list just because it's 'expensive."

That said, "You have to get into these schools first," said Franek. "Some of them have 6,7,8% admissions rate." To gain admission, he said, the schools, "look at two levers: GPA and SAT scores. You need to do well in both," and, "start as early as possible."

 The Princeton Review's "Top 10 Best Value Public Colleges for 2013"

The skyrocketing cost of a college education and frustratingly low job prospects have more young Americans questioning the value of a higher education.

Is saddling yourself with so much early in your career worth it?

The simple answer is yes.

A worker with a bachelor's degree will earn $2.3 million on average over a lifetime, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Someone with a high school degree can expect to earn $1.3 million over a lifetime. That's a huge discrepancy. And it isn't shrinking. What I would say is that we have to be smarter about how we go about getting those college degrees.

Here are three tips to help you get the most bang for your education buck:

1. Shop for the best value in education
A college degree is necessary, but spending $50,000 in private school may not be necessary. Shop for the best educational value that you can find. That means maximizing your quest for scholarships and grants, taking the time to fill out the FAFSA and other financial aid forms and looking long and hard at the sticker price. Look at less expensive alternatives like public and community colleges. Community colleges can be a fantastic deal, particularly if you get into a program where there are agreements in place with four-year schools to allow you to transfer in year three as long as you maintain a B average. You get the four-year degree at a much more affordable price. 

2. Look for the most employable majors
Go into college thinking about your job prospects when you come out.  Strongly consider choosing an employable major. Here are some areas of learning that may do well in the coming years:

• Medical technician
• Nursing
• Education
• Math & computer science
• Engineering

That being said, it is important to study what you're passionate about.  But you should keep in mind the rule of thumb that you should try not to borrow more than you expect to earn in your first year out of college. So think about what you're likely to do with that history degree and how much you're likely to make. A website like salary.com can help you do a little research.  And if staying within those boundaries means choosing a less expensive school, that's at least something you will want to think about before you matriculate.

3. Make yourself the most marketable candidate
Employers want to see real work experience on the resume, of the sort that makes you valuable to them.  It's about showing that you're serious about this field as a career -- and about making the contacts that can help you get that first job.

Most college students these days need some financial help to pay for their education. Faced with soaring tuition costs, it's important for students and their families to compare financial aid packages from different schools. But the way it is now, it can be difficult to know exactly what is being offered in a financial aid package and what the net cost will be for attending that school.

The new Financial Aid Shopping Sheet, a template for financial aid letters prepared by the U.S. Department of Education and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, is designed to provide this information in a standardized format.

"Instead of being full of jargon and other information you might not understand, it gives you clear information about how much you have to pay, how much debt you'll need to take on and how much you might owe after graduation, including an estimate of monthly payments," explained Rohit Chopra, student loan ombudsman with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Fees will be broken down into categories, such as tuition, housing, meals, books and supplies. It also lays out clearly what is a loan and what is a scholarship.

“We've seen financial aid award letters that combine loans to make them look like grants — sometimes by accident, sometimes on purpose," said Rich Williams, higher education advocate with U.S. PIRG, a consumer group that strongly supports the new form. "Finally, for the first time, students can use this tool to make an apples-to-apples comparison of different colleges."

Kay Lewis, director of financial aid at the University of Washington, says many schools already provide this type of information, but the way it’s presented can be confusing.

"We hear from students that some of them don't find it easy to tell the difference between what are loans and what are grants on some award letters," she told me.

Lewis believes a cover letter with a consistent format would let families feel comfortable that they found the right information from each school.

The Shopping Sheet also shows what percentage of a school’s students graduate after six years — an indication of how successful that college or university is at providing the anticipated educational experience — and the loan default rate for students attending that institution.

The bureau is working on new online tools that will let families take the information provided on these Financial Aid Shopping Sheets and plug them into a Web tool or app that allows them to get personalized results. For example, they could enter how much they had saved toward college, or how much the student plans to earn while at school. 

The Shopping Sheet is voluntary
Colleges and universities are not required to provide the new Shopping Sheet, but most are expected to use it in some form.

Two weeks ago, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan published an open letter to college presidents across the country asking them to adopt the Shopping Sheet. He pointed out that this form was created with input from thousands of students, parents, college counselors, financial aid administrators and other higher education officials.

“Students should not have to wait until after they graduate to find out the size of their monthly student loan payment,” he wrote. “Our goal is that more students will arrive at school each fall less worried about how they will pay for college and more focused on how they will complete college.”

The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators doesn't like the Shopping Sheet. The group's president, Justin Draeger, says he is concerned with the use of a standardized form.

"Institutions need flexibility to design a financial aid award letter that best meets the needs of their unique student population,” he wrote on the group’s Web site.

Even so, 10 major institutions have pledged to adopt the form in the 2013-2014 school year. These include Arizona State University, Syracuse University and Vassar College, as well as the university systems in Maryland, Texas and New York. This covers more than a million students

In April, President Obama issued an executive order that requires schools that accept funding from military benefits to provide the shopping sheet to those students who use this military financial aid starting next year. It’s hoped this will encourage these 1,500 institutions to use the form for all students. 

Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) has introduced a bill that would require all institutions of higher education to provide the Financial Aid Shopping Sheet. The “Understanding the True Cost of College Act” has bipartisan support.

My two cents
We want our children to get a good education. But students and families must be able to budget for this major investment. They need a way to easily and accurately compare financial aid packages. The Financial Aid Shopping Sheet makes this possible.

Smart shoppers rely on standardized labels for nutrition information on food, energy consumption on appliances, mileage on cars and interest rates on credit cards.

Why in the world would anyone not want to provide this information for students? Don’t they deserve to make an informed decision about their future?

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CNBC

Sharon Epperson

 If you’re one of those parents who put off saving for college and is now panicking because your kid’s nearing the end of high school, it’s not too late.

But don’t keep procrastinating! It’s time to stop putting it off and act now, advised Sharon Epperson, CNBC’s personal finance expert during a live web chat Wednesday.

Many readers, including a few with upper-middle class salaries, were wondering how to go about footing the hefty bill for college if they didn’t have the funds, or the inclination to have saved for their children’s education when they were still tots.

“I have a son who will be in college in two years,” wrote Jeanne. “We have not saved anything for college. Our home has no equity available. We make roughly $180,000 a year as a couple. We are extremely stressed about how to pay for his college. Where should we start? What is the best way to pay for his college?”

For some, college savings plans and saving in general would still be a good idea, Epperson said.

“You and your son need to devise a plan to pay for his college years together,” she stressed.

“Number one: Ramp up your savings. Both you and your son need to start putting away as much money as you can into a college savings fund.”

And junior? “He should get a part-time job and put the money in a high-yield savings account,” she suggested.

As for a 529 college savings plan, she said,

“Open a 529 savings plan. Even though your son is only two years away from enrollment, this is a good way to earmark the money for college and possibly get a state-tax deduction. The best part: you can take this money out tax free to pay for college. Go to www.savingforcollege.com to learn more about 529 plans. Grandparents, godparents, close friends and relatives can open a 529 in your son's name as well.”

Epperson also took on the issue of student debt that’s a burden to so many graduates and parents lately.

“The key in repaying student loans it to choose the right type of repayment plan,” she maintained.

“Calculate your payments over the life of the loan and make sure there is no prepayment penalty in case you change your mind and want to pay more than is due,” she explained. “It's great to be able to defer loan payments while in school to focus on your studies, but paying a small amount each month, say $25, or paying the interest while in school, can shave 10 percent to 20 percent off your total loan cost over the life of the loan.”

You can see the entire Q&A with Epperson here:

Allison Linn

Some online schools are offering desperate jobs seekers the world. But don’t sign up before you do your homework.

Promises you’ll end up in your dream job or make big bucks once you graduate, may end up to be empty, warned Allison Linn, TODAY.com’s senior reporter who has covered how degrees impact employability. She was on hand to answer readers’ questions about the topic during our live web chat Wednesday.

Many readers wanted to know the real career value of online degrees, and some were considering the option after receiving tempting offers.

Richard Keating wrote:

“I just received a letter in the mail saying that I'm "pre-accepted" to an online university. They tell me that I can earn $50,000 to $80,000 more per year if I get an MBA with them and that I don't even need a bachelor's degree to start my MBA. Is this too good to be true?"

To that Linn cautioned:

“You know the old adage, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. It's true that an MBA can advance your career, but most legitimate schools require a bachelor's degree first. In addition, no one should be guaranteeing you a salary bump without knowing anything about you.”

Another issue plaguing the web chat participants was whether degrees from non-traditional universities were worth the money.

Michael Bok asked:

“How about a traditional brick and mortar school versus an online school or for-profit institution? Is my four-year degree from a for-profit institution going to be treated differently than a degree from a traditional school?”

Linn’s response:

“We are in a new world with the influx of for-profit and online schools. There are definitely legitimate online and for-profit programs, but you should vet them carefully and make sure you there isn't a lower cost option through a more traditional university. Although keep in mind that although things are changing, some employers still have a bias toward more traditional universities over for-profit and online.”

If you want to find out whether the school your considering is accredited check out the Council for Higher Education Accreditation's site.

Here’s a full transcript of our web chat with Linn:

Kyle Kurlick / AP

Appreciate and embrace the journey they are about to take. No one knows precisely what the post-undergraduate years have in store. That's the advice to graduates from Linda Bowden, president of PNC.

After the graduation caps land and the parties are over, two million college alumni will be heading out into the work world.

Some will end up being successful in their careers and others will end up on the wrong work path.

Wouldn’t it be great to know what people at the pinnacle of their careers did?

We’ve asked an array of business leaders from across the country to offer advice to recent grads based on the challenges and triumphs they’ve encountered in their careers. These top dogs offered insights on everything from mistakes they made and how their heros have changed over the years. Some common advice included try to travel as much as you can, follow your passion and learn from your mistakes.

Here’s their advice:

Brian Sharples, 51, CEO of HomeAway

Brian Sharples

(Colby College class of 1982)

Q. What’s the one piece of advice you’d give college graduates today?

A. If you want to be truly happy in life then pursue a career that is aligned with your passion. If you're lucky enough to understand what it is then get started early. Don't focus on money or what other people might think. In the long run, if you do what you love then great rewards, financial or otherwise, will arrive.

Q. What would you have done differently after you graduated college?

A. Before settling into work mode, I probably would have spent a bit more time traveling – seeing the world and meeting people along the way who have explored the planet and themselves. My perspective was too narrow for too long, and traveling may have helped me discover my own passions earlier in life.

Q. What was the biggest mistake you made?

A. I've made too many mistakes to list but I don't regret a single one. The most powerful and memorable learning is born of failure.

Q. What’s the one thing you learned in college that you wish you listened to?

A.  Almost everything. I was more focused on getting good grades than actually learning something. There's a huge difference.  Later in life you better understand the privilege of having four (or more) years to absorb knowledge without the distractions of the real life that will follow.

Q. Who was your hero when you graduated, and who’s your hero today?

A. I've never been into hero worship, but coming out of college it was probably some rock star or musician. These days I'm more fascinated with entrepreneurs who have a passion for changing the world, like the late Steve Jobs.  That said, I still think rock stars are pretty cool.

John Veihmeyer, 55, Chairman and CEO of KPMG LLP

John Veihmeyer

(Notre Dame class of 1977)

Q. What’s the once piece of advice you’d give college graduates today?

A.I enjoy spending time interacting with college students directly on campus through speaking engagements and our campus recruiting efforts. I will be teaching a course at the University of Notre Dame in the future. I also have the pleasure of speaking with KPMG’s younger professionals in various venues. 

Here’s the piece of advice I always pass along: Personal integrity is the critical success factor for an individual. And that includes a concern for others and your community. People who take a longer term view – who think about becoming a successful person first, and then a successful business person – tend to be more successful business people in the long run. Personal integrity is something you can and should be building from the day you start your career. As you progress to leadership positions with people reporting to you, the trust that you build up over time by doing the right thing, in the right way, will be essential.

Q. What would you have done differently after you graduated college?

A. In the first ten years of my career, I would have found some way to do a global rotation or work outside of the United States. Having a global perspective - an awareness of and sensitivity to international challenges and being equipped to work cross-culturally - is critical to succeeding in today’s global business environment, much more so than when I began my career. While I was fortunate to garner global experience over the course of my career, I believe this kind of experience early in my career, would have been invaluable.

Q. What was the biggest mistake you made?

A. We all make hundreds of mistakes. In fact, you are probably not challenging yourself enough if you are not making some mistakes. We shouldn’t be afraid to make them. The biggest mistake I almost made was turning down an opportunity to move into a different role within KPMG, which I initially viewed as a bad career move. Thankfully, I listened to the advice of a mentor and accepted the new role, and it turned out to be a great career move. The key learning for me here was to seek career guidance and inspiration from others rather than going it alone.

Q. What’s the one thing you learned in college that you wish you listened to?

A. Be a life-long learner. Don’t view college as the end of your learning experience. I’ve applied this lesson a lot in the past 15 years of my career, but I wish I did so more in the first 15 years of my career. Continuous learning and training in today’s fast-changing business environment is a must. 

Q. Who was your hero when you graduated, and who’s your hero today?

A. During summers in high school and college (I graduated from Notre Dame), I had the opportunity to work for my father. He owned a small business. Through his words and actions, my father taught me the keys to succeeding in business were treating everyone you come in contact with - from the most junior person employee to the biggest client - with respect, as well as always maintaining your personal integrity. A lot of people may not view this as a means to succeed in today’s business world, but those life lessons have served me well. My father has and will always be my hero.  

Rick Arquilla, 59, president and COO, Roto-Rooter

(Ohio State University class of 1975)

Rick Arquilla

Q. What’s the one piece of advice you’d give college graduates today?

A. Don't hide behind the Internet and e-mail to find a job. Get out there, meet people, and network!

Q. What would you have done differently after you graduated college?

A. Find the right corporate culture. Don't get hung up on what business the company is in.

Q. What was the biggest mistake you made?

A. Chasing money instead of my passion. Find something you are passionate about and the money will take care of itself.

Q. What’s the one thing you learned in college that you wish you listened to?

A. Memorizing and regurgitating will pass the course but it is not learning!

Q. Who was your hero when you graduated, and who’s your hero today?

A. Jack Nicklaus (1975 ). Ronald Reagan (Today).

Linda Bowden, 60, President, PNC, New Jersey

(Rowan University class of 1973)

Linda Bowden

Q. What’s the one piece of advice you’d give college graduates today?

A. I’d say that the one piece of advice for college graduates is that they should appreciate and embrace the journey they are about to take. No one knows precisely what the post-undergraduate years have in store. There are, however, certain traits that are invaluable to success. These include adaptability, determination, broadening your vision, being energetic both physically and emotionally, nurturing yourself, a willingness to be a team player, always acting in an upright and honest manner, not being afraid to be a rebel and being enterprising.

Q. What would you have done differently after you graduated college?

A. I would have worried less about thinking I needed to know it all. I began my post-undergraduate days in teaching, which is a terrific profession but eventually I began to have doubts that my chosen career was right for me, personally. I also would have been more fearless in terms of knowing it was OK to make mistakes—we all do, especially early in our careers.

Q.  What was the biggest mistake you made?

A. Staying too long in a role that I knew in my heart was not right for me was probably one of the biggest mistakes I made.

Q. What’s the one thing you learned in college that you wish you listened to?

A. As far as the one thing I wish I’d listened to while in college, it would’ve been the observation that it’s OK to fail. Your failures can sometimes be your greatest learning opportunity. It comes back to the idea of believing in yourself, and realizing those experiences represent an opportunity to learn and develop new skills.

Q. Who was your hero when you graduated, and who’s your hero today?

A. It would be my father. He was part of the greatest generation, and an honest and upright man. My father was always in a life-long learning mode and he encouraged that in us as well.    

Jim Goodnight

Jim Goodnight, 69, CEO of SAS

(North Carolina State University class of 1965)

Q. What’s the one piece of advice you’d give college graduates today?

A. If you want to be successful in business, make sure you have some understanding of analytics and when to use them. People who can use analytics - such as data mining and forecasting - to turn raw data into better business decisions have never been in greater demand. With all the talk of “Big Data,” organizations across industries need people who understand how to use analytics to make sense of it all. I encourage this year’s graduates to learn about how and when analytics can support their decisions.

Q.  What would you have done differently after you graduated college?

A. That’s hard to say. Things have gone pretty well. The one thing that felt like a mistake was my short stint in Florida. While I was in graduate school at NC State working on my PhD in Statistics, I took a year off to work on the Apollo space program in Florida. We worked in cubicles, we had to pay for a cup of coffee, and employees weren’t trusted. It wasn’t an environment anyone would enjoy working in. I left after a year. While it seemed like a mistake at the time, it was one of those formative experiences that shaped my thoughts about what a good workplace should be.

When I started SAS with John Sall and others a few years later, we decided to create a different kind of company. We gave people their own offices. We provided free drinks and snacks. We set up a sand volley ball court out on the front lawn and built a racquet ball court so employees could exercise on breaks. When one of our first employees had a child, we started an in-house daycare. Thirty-six years later, we still treat SAS employees well, because happy employees lead to happy customers and a healthy company. If a company treats its people like they make a difference, they will make a difference.

Q. What was the biggest mistake you made?

A. I bought an airline once. It was not a data- and analytics-driven decision. At the time, I wanted to maintain a hub at Raleigh-Durham International Airport. Four years and a pile of money later, the airline went bankrupt. It was a mistake, but it reinforced what I already knew - and unfortunately had ignored in this instance: Always check your data and run the analytics. 

Q. What’s the one thing you learned in college that you wish you listened to?

A. Listen to what your data and analytics tell you. I’ve made a few big decisions that resulted in red ink, such as buying the airline. In almost every case, those decisions were not supported with good data.

Q. Who was your hero when you graduated, and who’s your hero today?

A. Then: I admired my high school basketball coach and the leadership he showed. He always gave credit to others for successes and took responsibility when the team failed.

Now: Across industries, smart men and women are using analytics to help banks fight fraud, retailers stock the right styles and sizes, hospitals improve patient care, and manufacturers ensure product quality. Today, as we enter a new age of analytics, my heroes are the many analysts, quantitative experts and data scientists who apply their skills and new technologies to transform the way the world works.

AJ Khubani, 52, CEO of TeleBrands Corp., the marketers of “As Seen on TV” products

AJ Khubani

(Montclair State College New Jersey class of 1983)

Q. What’s the one piece of advice you’d give college graduates today?

A. For years I’ve advised students to decide what they are passionate about and to focus their attention on that. Their passion would eventually bring them tremendous personal and financial reward. Today I would add that they should put a bit more consideration into the financial reward part of their careers.

Q. What would you have done differently after you graduated college?

A. I am very happy with the direction and decisions I made after college. I wouldn’t change anything.

Q. What was the biggest mistake you made?

A. Taking too much risk in the business and putting ALL of my personal assets on the line and nearly losing everything.

Q. What’s the one thing you learned in college that you wish you listened to?

A. It is essential to have a monthly financial meeting.

Q.Who was your hero when you graduated, and who’s your hero today?

A. My father then and now.

Brian MacLean, 58, President and COO, Travelers Insurance

(Fordham College Rose Hill class of 1975)

Brian MacLean

Q. What’s the one piece of advice you’d give college graduates today?

A. My one piece of advice to college graduates is don't expect simple solutions to complicated problems. Most of life's really challenging issues are multi-dimensional and can't be solved with a sound bite or a one line vision statement. To resolve difficult issues you need serious people willing to work hard to understand different perspectives and look for collaborative solutions. It's never easy.

Q. What would you have done differently after you graduated college?

A. After graduation I wish I had stayed in touch with the people I had just spent four years with. Today's graduates have the advantages of cell phones and social media, but regardless of the technology you still have to make the effort. I lost something by letting those relationships get away.

Q. What was the biggest mistake you made?

A. I believe the most important and most difficult dimension to business decisions is the human element. Accordingly, my greatest challenge in business has been living up to the responsibility of managing people. When you are responsible for managing someone, or some group of people, your ultimate responsibility is to help them be as successful as possible. This involves assessing their performance and providing prompt, constructive and direct feedback. While it can be difficult to assess performance, it’s a lot harder to communicate your assessment to the employee in a direct and constructive manner. Because giving this feedback involves human emotions most managers, including myself, have made the mistake of not being as direct as they should be.

Q. What’s the one thing you learned in college that you wish you listened to?  

A. In my freshman year at Fordham I was told, "Try to get all A's.  You probably won't, but you'll have done your best." It was great advice, and it wasn't just about academics. I haven't forgotten the message, but I haven't always fully applied it either.

Q. Who was your hero when you graduated, and who’s your hero today?

A. My hero when I graduated from college was my older brother John, primarily because he helped me get a job.

Alexandra Levit

College graduates who got used to wearing flip-flops and pajama pants to school are going to have to spruce up their look a bit if they’re going to head out on the job-search trail.

Not only are flops out during a job interview, but don’t even think about donning scoffed up dress shoes, urged Alexandra Levit, a Gen Y career expert and author of "They Don't Teach Corporate in College" and "How'd You Score That Gig?"

Levit was on hand to answer questions from readers Wednesday during a live chat on job-hunting for recent grads.

One reader named Shawn asked her:

How should you dress for an interview?

Her reply:

You should wear a well-tailored suit in black or navy blue, non-scuffed up dress shoes, and a clean, not-too-busy tie. Make sure you are clean-shaven and carry a nice, leather portfolio or briefcase. Even if the employees aren't this dressed up, I guarantee that no one will fault you in an interview situation.

She also offered advice for the female grads out there:

For all of the women out there, same advice regarding the suit, although you can choose a pantsuit or a skirt suit. If you go with the skirt suit, I still think you should wear pantyhose (though some experts might disagree). Heels are nice, but don't go too high, as you don't want to trip or look wobbly. Go easy on the makeup and perfume, and wear tasteful jewelry in silver or gold.

And on the perpetual question of whether to pantyhose or not; or what color to wear when you opt to put on nylons, she said, “I think either black or nude are fine.”

On the pantyhose debate, she sided with hose-wearing advocates “because you don't know how conservative the company is. It's best to err on the side of caution. You want to look professional and put-together without drawing too much attention to the way you are dressed. The more seamlessly you fit it, the better.”

Other topics Levit tackled included everything from how much you should expect to make at your first gig and whether taking time off from the career job search to take a summer job, maybe at the beach, is a good idea.

Here’s the entire Q&A with Levit:

Join us next week for another live web chat on Today.

AP

Sure. Celebrate now. Because tomorrow you have to find a real job.

Nearly 2 million college graduates will be heading out into the tough job market this spring, and even though job opportunities are growing, the last thing grads need is to make dumb mistakes.

Many employers are eager to hire newly minted graduates. According to a poll by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, companies expect to hire about 10 percent more graduates from the Class of 2012 than they did last year. 

But that doesn’t mean you’ll easily be able to land the gig you want, because with an unemployment rate above 8 percent you still have to make a good impression.

According to a study of human resource managers by The Center for Professional Excellence at York College of Pennsylvania , there were three mistakes young job-seekers make that were among the most damaging to their job hunt:

• not dressing properly for the interview (39.9 percent),
• being late for the interview (29.1 percent)
• and not being prepared for the interview, which includes not knowing about the company (25.9 percent.) 

"Recent graduates might be dreading the job market, but if they know the common mistakes people their age are making, they can hopefully avoid some job-hunting pitfalls,” said Josh Tolan, CEO of online jobs site Spark Hire.

“The biggest mistake recent college grads make is overestimating their degree and underestimating experience,” he said. “The degree is certainly important, and you’ve put in a lot of hard work to be able to move that tassel. But hiring managers and recruiters are looking for professional experience as well.”

Here’s a rundown of some other common mistakes grads make when they start pounding the pavement for jobs:

Relying too much on job boards: Job boards are no subsitute of networking, but don't tell that to most recent grads.

Larry Chiagouris, a professor of marketing at Pace University’s Lubin School of Business, has done his own research of graduates and has found that 55 percent still rely heavily on job boards rather than personal connections.

“Use of a job board is not a mistake. What is a mistake is misuse of job boards,” he explained. “What many students do is they fool themselves into thinking that spending 15 or 30 minutes a day searching on job boards and clicking on job to submit a resume will result in a job. Fewer than 5 percent of jobs are obtained from the use of job boards.”

Not singing your own praises: One thing grads have to learn pretty quickly is that they have to become their own best cheerleader.

“Given the fact that there are thousands of graduates joining the search pool with each commencement weekend, if you aren't able to articulate clearly and plainly why you are uniquely positioned to be the successful candidate, you will not be competitive in the job market,” said Mary Evans, executive director of the Career Center at Hamilton College.

Liberal arts graduates, for example, have to be able to convey “how their education differentiates them from the other candidates using real examples of demonstrated leadership, critical thinking, and writing, research and communications skills,” she advised.

Wasting your time on the wrong job: Sometimes graduates aren’t quite sure what job they want when they get out of college and end up applying for positions that just sound fun, or lucrative, instead of figuring out what suits their background best.

“Grads shouldn't waste time applying for positions for which they are not qualified — it's a waste of their time and the time of recruiters,” said Nancy Mobley, CEO of the HR consulting firm Insight Performance. “If the posting requires three to five years of experience, the company will want to see a resume that outlines that experience.  If the graduate doesn't have it, they shouldn't be applying.”

And sending resumes out willy-nilly is also a no-no, said Kristi Milczarczyk, senior recruiting manager of campus recruiting for The PNC Financial Services Group. 

"It’s good to have a few companies in mind, but new grads need to have a plan to keep their job search focused," she advised. "Same goes for applying to too many positions with the same organization."

Can’t let go of mommy and daddy: We’ve all heard about helicopter parents. But for those grads who want to look professional and persuade a hiring manager to hire them, they probably want to leave mom and dad out of it.

“I am hearing from employers who refuse to hire another recent graduate because they have encountered too many with parents who are overly involved,” said Tim Elmore, president of Growing Leaders, a non-profit that mentors Gen Y. “Parents are accompanying their kids on interviews, delivering their resumes and negotiating salary.”

His No. 1 tip to grads: “By no means should your parents be involved in any part of your job hunt.”

You may also want to consider leaving the nest. 

"Don’t volunteer that you still live at home with Mom and Dad if you don’t have to," advised Beth Gilfeather, CEO of Seven Step Recruiting. "Employers would much rather hire people who are out on an edge and have to support themselves." 

Not cleaning up your digital dirt: Younger job seekers tend to be more social-media savvy than their older job-hunting counterparts. While that can help grads, it can also be a liability if they’ve shared too much of their personal lives online.

“Social media posts and photos can hurt you,” said Lisa Marsalek, director of career development at Defiance College. “Employers are savvy and know to check places like Facebook. You want to make sure your online presence does not turn off an employer.”

How competitive is the post-grad job market this year, and what can you do to boost you chances of success? Below, college counselor Kat Cohen has tips for landing a coveted job offer that she shared on TODAY: