Category Archives: NEWS on College & College Funding

We will post various news and editorials that will broaden your knowledge of the entire collegiate funding dilemma. If you find a story that relates to the topic please send it to us and we will be glad to post it.

04/11/2012 · 6:26 pm

2012/13 Senior Current Issues and College Scholarships

Oakridge High School students are currently enrolling for 2012/13 courses. Senior Current Issues is the only course at our High School where you (the students) set the parameters of the curriculum.  We will spend the first few days next Fall talking about issues in the world and in the nation, and then go about laying out plans for the semester.  I am sure with 2012 as a presidential election year , that students will choose some role for the class in that election.  I’m equally convinced that they will want to spend time on college scholarship searches as well.  While we cover many other issues in class, national and international, we watch movies and we travel two times a year to Chicago as a group, scholarships for the past three years have been a chosen priority by Current Issue Seniors. They have seemed  appreciative of the time and direction given to a thorough college scholarship search.  I do not think that it is mere coincidence that students of Senior Current Issues have been historically successful in collecting college money.

Your senior year is going to be extremely  busy!  You’ll have jobs and athletics and clubs and homework to deal with.  Searching for and writing scholarship essays out of class is something that often gets pushed to the back burner in your final year of high school.

Not in Senior Current Issues – here it will be a priority.  And in the end where you land in September of 2013 is so much more important to your future than walking across that stage in June.

You might want to consider this when enrolling for classes for next year.

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· 6:08 pm

Students, Your Loan Rate is about to Double – WAKE UP!

Please go here for a detailed look at College Loans and Grants.

And go here to read how Congress is reducing its financial support for college students at the very time that tuition is rising through the roof.

Prepare yourself: on July 1, as many as 8 million college students will see their interest rates on federally subsidized student loans double, from 3.4% to 6.8%. According to the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, that increase amounts to the average Stafford loan borrower’s paying $2,800 more over a standard 10-year repayment term for loans made after June 30.  It’s worse for those students who take out the most money. Those who borrow the maximum $23,000 in subsidized student loans will see their debt load upped by $5,000 over a 10-year repayment plan and $11,000 over a 20-year repayment plan.

This is an excellent example of why you need to pay attention to what is happening in Washington D.C.  There is a huge difference between Democrat and Republican positions in regards to financing of higher education.   The Republican House Proposed Budget 2012  is not only calling for an end to subsidized Stafford Loans for students of low-income families, it also advocates for lowering the qualification for the full Pell Grant from a family income of $32,000 down to $15,000. $15,000?  That’s not enough to raise a family in much more than a cardboard box on the side of the street.  After adjusting for inflation, a $15,000 income threshold would be the least generous automatic- zero EFC provision in the history of the Pell Grant program, at a time when tuition is at historic highs.  The Obama Budget on the other hand, has proposed legislation to keep the 3.4% interest rate for subsidized Stafford Loans for needy families and advocates an increase in the Pell Grant maximum from $5500to $5635 in 2012/13.  Again, in a country as wealthy as ours this lack of support for the students of higher education is abysmal, but its far better than the Republican alternative.

Hard economic decisions must be made in this country if we are to reduce a $14 trillion debt.  You must make your own call on who you support at the state and national level in regards to this and many other significant issues that face this nation.  However, political choices that balance the budget on the backs of young people who are already suffering from crushing college debt, must be recognized and called out.

It is important for you to understand and consider these differences when making your own political decisions.  Time to get informed people.  Time to wake up!

 

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Filed under LOANS & GRANTS - What YOU need to know, NEWS on College & College Funding, Uncategorized

04/02/2012 · 9:26 am

How to Interpret Your College Financial Aid Letter

Check this link!

By April, seniors will be receiving letters from their perspective colleges.  The letters sent by the Financial Aid offices lay out the expected cost of school for 2012-13 and the aid package proposed by the University.  That package will include grants and loans and work study.  The key is NOT the final amount which you are expected to contribute.

The key is how that package is broken down.  You need to understand the differences between subsidized and unsubsidized loans.  Go here for that information.  You also need to find out if you must maintain a specific GPA to keep your financial aid.  You need to know if you must maintain full or part time status to keep your financial aid.  You need to know if a specific grant or loan is renewable or if it is a one year only offer.  All of these things are important.

This link provides you a generic financial aid letter that will help you to translate your financial aid package.  Take a look and bring your letter to class or the counseling office.  Make sure that I or Kelsey or a counselor go over that letter with you.  Make sure that your parents understand its implications as well.

Make sure that you understand all of your financial responsibilities before signing on the dotted line…particularly when it comes to the loans.

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Filed under LOANS & GRANTS - What YOU need to know, NEWS on College & College Funding