Reform Promised to Simplify Student College Grants
December 20, 2009 by Ailse Andrews
Filed under College Grants & Student Loans
Hey Readers! I’ve been comin across some crazy stuff the past few days from a few different blogs around the web which I just had to share with you. Check em out below…
Reform promised to simplify student grants
Education minister Batt O’Keeffe is to reform the way student grants are processed because of massive delays in the system. Concerns have been raised about … Read More…
As NC families struggle, college aid panel meets
The federal stimulus package approved this year raised the maximum Pell Grant for low-income students by 17 percent to $5550 next year, and the Obama … Read More…
College students find support in campus ‘posses’
So far, Obama’s focus has been on increasing access to higher education — especially for minority and low-income students — through expanded Pell grants and … Read More…
That’s all the news for today guys, so until next time, thanks for stopping by.
Mail this post
10 Secrets to Raising More Than $15,000 for College!
December 20, 2009 by Ailse Andrews
Filed under College Grants & Student Loans
Print Story: 10 Secrets to Raising More Than $15,000 for College – Yahoo! News
Grandparents are pitching in. Students are working more, and eating less. Parents are taking out more and bigger federal loans.
As the economy has declined and college costs have risen, families have buckled down and become more resourceful to pay for college.
[Slide show: 8 Steps to Raising Cash for College]
They have been so successful at funding tuition that college enrollment is up dramatically. A record 40 percent (or 11.5 million) of 18- to 24-year-olds are taking at least one college course this year. Add in all the adults returning to school because of the lousy job market, and the total number of college students is likely to exceed 19 million this year.
How are more students affording tuition even though many colleges’ prices are at record highs and many scholarship programs, private lenders, and family savings accounts have been wiped out?
1. Relatives: College officials around the country say they are noticing more checks coming in from grandparents, uncles, and other relatives to cover student bills. A survey by the MetLife Mature Market Institute earlier this year found that two thirds of grandparents had provided financial help to their descendents in the last five years. The average size of the help: $3,000. A quarter of the donors said they had increased their gifts because of recent economic troubles.
Other relatives are pitching in more, too. Maribeth Ford, a single mom, says she was surprised and thrilled when her brother hinted he would be willing to loan her son enough to cover the $10,000 gap between his scholarships, her loans, and Iona College’s $41,000 price tag. “I wasn’t expecting the level of help that he is offering. My son and I are very fortunate,” she says. “My attitude was: Apply for everything possible, ask for help where reasonable (the worst people can say is no), and my son had to contribute. Not a glamorous story, but one that’s working for us right now.”
2. Bigger and better tax breaks: The federal government estimates perhaps 2 million tuition-paying Americans will be able to get as much as $2,500 back on their taxes early next year by taking advantage of the new American Opportunity tax credit.
3. Scholarships: Although many state and private scholarship programs have been cut, the federal government has increased the maximum size of Pell Grants (which go to students from low-income families) from $4,731 last year to $5,350. In addition, many private colleges are giving significantly more and bigger scholarships to their students. Katie Stanko, a senior at Sharpsville Senior High School in Pennsylvania, says that she’s already lined up a promise of a $20,000-a-year scholarship from one private college. Add in Pell and state grants and, if she’s lucky, a few more private scholarships, and her “fairy tale isn’t too far from reality,” Stanko says. Her technique: “Start looking for scholarships in your junior year, leave no page unturned, and apply to every scholarship you qualify for. You never know unless you apply. So, that’s what I’m doing.”
4. Cheaper schools: The biggest increase in enrollment has been in two-year community colleges, which are the lowest-priced colleges in the country. The sticker price of a year’s tuition at an average community college rose by $220 this year, to $2,540, the College Board reported. But because of increased Pell Grants and tax breaks, the out-of-pocket (or net) price paid by community college students actually fell this year, the College Board believes. The average community college student got enough aid to pay all tuition, with $460 left over to help pay for books and supplies (which typically add another $1,000 to total college costs), the board estimates.
[See Who Really Gets the Most Financial Aid.]
5. Cutting other costs: Some colleges have noted that students are cutting back on all kinds of expenditures. At Goucher College near Baltimore, for example, school managers say students are choosing smaller meal plans. By switching from a 480-meal-per-year plan to a 380-meal plan, students can save about $400 at Goucher.
6. More student work: Colleges say more students are taking part-time jobs. At Pitzer College in Claremont, Calif., for example, 93 percent of financial aid recipients took work-study jobs this fall. In 2007, only 89 percent of aid recipients took such jobs. Since students who work more than 20 hours a week generally hurt their grades, schools typically cap campus jobs below that. Still, good work-study jobs allow students to earn at least $100 a week, or at least $2,500 for the academic year.
[Slide Show: Best Jobs for College Students.]
7. More, bigger, cheaper, and easier federal student loans: At least 6 million students are taking out federal Stafford student loans this year, up from about 4 million two years ago. Young freshmen can borrow up to $5,500. Upperclassmen 24 and older can borrow up to $12,500. The government has made it easier to repay those loans by allowing graduates to cap their monthly payments below 15 percent of their incomes.
8. More, bigger, and (temporarily) easier federal parent loans: Although parents are having a much harder time getting home equity or private loans, the government has eased a little of the immediate pain of taking out federal PLUS loans, which can cover a student’s cost of attendance (less any scholarships or other aid). Parents can now put off repaying their federal education loans until their student leaves school. That could come back to bite them in a few years, however, because the principal keeps building at about 8 percent a year. Parents who borrow the typical $8,800-a-year PLUS loan could easily owe more than $44,000 by the time their kid graduates. It would take payments of more than $500 a month to pay that off in 10 years. While some parents might get enough raises in that time to pay such big bills, Stuart Siegel, a private financial aid counselor in Erie, Pa., worries that lots won’t. Many parents don’t realize that even declaring bankruptcy doesn’t wipe out education loans, so some parent borrowers may be setting themselves up for financial crises in a few years.
9. Family savings: Although the investment markets’ meltdown has eroded most families’ savings, many parents find that they can free up hundreds of extra dollars once their student moves to campus. The federal government estimates teenagers cost parents more than $6,000 a year in food, clothing, transportation, and other extras. So parents who stop allowances and take away the keys to the family car (and suspend expensive teen car insurance) can reduce their costs by perhaps $4,000 during the nine months the student is at school.
10. Corporate largesse: More than 10 million American families are building up college savings by using credit cards or shopping through websites of rebate companies such as Upromise or BabyMint. Another option: More than 200 private colleges offer scholarships to parents of young kids when the parents shop or invest with members of the Tuition Rewards network.
–Searching for a college? Get our complete rankings of America’s Best Colleges.
Mail this post
Study The Facts About Private Student Loan Consolidation
December 1, 2009 by Ailse Andrews
Filed under College Grants & Student Loans, Loans & Debt Consolidation, Personal Finance
When students start out getting a college education, they frequently are not prepared for what will occur after they finish school. They need to start working for an entry level income and at the same time they have to pay back a mountain debt concerning their student loans. After 6 months of leaving school your lender will start demanding that you pay back your student loans.
Depending on the amount of debt you have, this may mean that you are going to be repaying those loans for anything up to 10 to 15 years. This is a huge burden and could cause you many problems. You have to get a way to manage this debt; one way is to do a private student loan consolidation.
You may ask for deferment for as much as two years before you start repaying your loans for reasons of monetary trouble. If you return to school, even part-time, your educational loans will go into deferment until you once again finish school.
If you opt to do private student loan consolidation, you have to grasp precisely what you are doing as you just get one chance to do that.
Know Your Options
You can go for deferment, which comes in 2 forms. You can try for straight deferment where you do not make standard payments on your loan for a specific time. During this time the interest of your student loans will still accumulate.
There’s also academic deferment; this is when you go back to college and you don’t pay any payments until you again stop studying.
For times of unemployment or for a while of medical emergency you can also apply for forbearance. This is where your loan payments will be paused for at least 6 months at a time to allow you to deal with the situation.
The other option, private student loan consolidation can make your life much easier. What you do is go to a private student loan lender and then you take out one loan to cover all the debt of your private student loan consolidation.
This means you take out one loan to cover everything, so you have only 1 payment every month. Rather than paying varying interest rates you pay one interest rate that brings you a lower overall interest rate.
The advantages of private student loan consolidation are that with a lower interest rate and an arranging a repayment period that is beneficial you give yourself breathing space. You repay cheap monthly payments that make sure that your credit rating stays healthy and gives you enough money to live on monthly.
Mail this post
government student grant – YouTube – Student Loans : How to Apply for Free Government Grants …
November 16, 2009 by Ailse Andrews
Filed under College Grants & Student Loans
Is there any grants for home owners that you dont have to pay back and how do i apply?
Why would a home owner need a grant? They have a great asset, property, that they can take a loan out on, or sell, if they need money.
You can check out the grant database at http://www.grants.gov , but I do not think you are going to find many where the tax payers have to give home owners money for nothing.
Back with more news for you today. It’s amazing how much good information there is on this stuff out there if you know where to look. Three in particular that I found really valuable were…
100 Great, Free Movies Online | Open Culture
Two weeks ago, we presented a list of 35 sites where you can watch free movies online. Now, we've taken the next step and added 100 high-quality films to our. … but you can find the complete list here. Beat the Devil (1953) Directed by John Huston, with Humphrey Bogart and Peter Lorre. Dementia 13 (1963) A horror film that was one of Francis Ford Coppola's early mainstream efforts. His Girl Friday (1940) Directed by Howard Hawks. A classic comedy with Cary Grant. …
Watch Did You Hear About the Morgans? opens December 18th, 2009 …
Use the Free Trials to access the latest releases right away! By live-tv-stream-online • November 15, 2009. Watch Did You Hear About the Morgans? opens December 18th, 2009 (wide) Romantic-comedy regulars Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica …
Open Educational Resources » Open Culture » 100 Great, Free Movies …
Two weeks ago, we presented a list of 35 sites where you can watch free movies online. Now, we've taken the next step and added 100 high-quality films to our list. Some films are contemporary, but many are classics created by legendary directors, … with Humphrey Bogart and Peter Lorre. Dementia 13 (1963) A horror film that was one of Francis Ford Coppola's early mainstream efforts. His Girl Friday (1940) Directed by Howard Hawks. A classic comedy with Cary Grant. …
Hope you enjoy the read as much as I did and please if you have something to say, use the comments form below to let everyone know your thoughts.
Have a great day!
Mail this post