In the last post you heard the horror story about how much college costs now.
Imagine what it will cost in 10 or 20 years. Regardless, it’s not too late to find a way
to make paying for college manageable — not easy, but manageable.
Parents and students have to work together to make college affordable.
The earlier you […]

Millions of seniors graduating from high school
will start turning their attention over the next few weeks
to paying for college.
Scholarships and grants (which don’t have to be paid back)
are the best options. But not everyone has the academic record
to win scholarships and merit aid.
About two-thirds of four-year college students who graduate
are typically about $20,000 in debt […]

Harvard University’s undergraduate tuition will rise 3.9 percent
next year to $31,456. The total cost of tuition, room, board and
student services fees at the Ivy League school for the 2007
academic year is $45,620.
Now let’s compare that to St John’s University where my daughter
is an undergraduate student. The total cost of tuition, room, board and
student services fees […]

While I’m on the subject of “what NOT to write in your
scholarship essay, let me mention a couple more things…
1) Don’t talk about religion. It’s fine to have religious
convictions and many of the scholarship judges will
appreciate that, but it’s also one of the quickest ways
to offend that one judge who doesn’t agree with you.
2) Don’t […]

Today is Easter Sunday - 4/07/07
Easter commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
It is the most important Christian festival,
and the one celebrated with the greatest joy.
It is a joyous day which can and should be enjoyed by all.
No matter what religion or beliefs are… Enjoy the day.
Celebrate it with your family, friends and loved ones.
PEACE to […]

My daughter is a Junior at St John’s University in New York City.
I just checked her financial aid record and discovered that so far,
it has cost over $82,000 to attend.
$82,000 THOUSAND DOLLARS.
$82,012.36 to be exact. And she still has at least one more to go.
The tuition is $24,400 per year (and increasing).
That adds up to […]

Student Loans - Grants - Schlorships
2006 was a record fundraising year for colleges and universities.
Nationally, donations from alumni rose 18.3 percent from 2005, according
to new figures being released by the Council for Aid to Education (CAE).
Colleges and Universities brought in an all-time high of $28 Billion Dollars…
– a 9.4 percent jump from the year before.
Stanford University […]

Federal Student Aid Information Center (FSAIC)
1-(800) 4-FED-AID - 1-(800) 433-3243
TTY users (for the hearing-impared) can call
1-(800) 730-8913
Callers in locations without access to 1-800 numbers
may call (319) 337-5665 (this is not a toll-free number).
The FSAIC staff can answer your federal student financial
aid questions and can give you all the help you need -FREE -
including:
* information about […]

When the borrower of a Student Loan graduates, leaves school, or drops
to a less than half-time status this date is called the Separation Date.
The separation date is used to determine the loan’s grace period and
the date the first loan payment will be due.
The Direct Loan Program offers a range of repayment plans:
Standard Repayment plan -
fixed […]

The Perkins loan program and Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants
(SEOG) are in danger of being eliminated by the Bush Administration.
Last Monday, The Bush administration proposed to slash subsidies
paid to financial institutions that make college loans.

President George W. Bush unveiled a broad overhaul of student aid programs
in his fiscal 2008 budget.
The White House said it wants to […]