Obama Wants to Keep College Within Reach for Middle-class Families

President Barack Obama is proposing to keep college affordable by yanking federal aid from colleges that don’t keep tuition down and provide good value.

Obama also called on Congress Tuesday to keep interest rates down on subsidized federal student loans. And he wants to make more work-study jobs available for students who are paying their own tuition.

As he has in the past, Obama asked Congress to permanently extend a tuition tax credit that pays up to $10,000 over four years.

The proposals came as part of Obama’s State of the Union address, which focused on boosting economic opportunity. Part of Obama’s argument focuses on the need to keep college within reach for middle-class families.

via washingtonpost.com

Tuition Rises, Jobs Are Few & Virginia Students Ask for Help

Rising college costs have far exceeded increases in disposable income in Virginia over the past decade, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia reports. The cost for an in-state undergraduate student living on campus accounts for 43.7 percent of per-capita disposable income, SCHEV estimates. That key measure of affordability is up from 32.2 percent in fiscal 2002.

About 58 percent of students who graduated from Virginia’s public and nonprofit private colleges in 2010 were in debt with loan amounts that averaged $23,327, according to the Project on Student Debt of the Institute for College Access and Success.

Nationally, two-thirds of 2010 graduates had loans that averaged $25,250, up from $24,000 for the Class of 2009.

The “What’s Your Number?” petition, a campaign by the student advocacy group Virginia21, has drawn support mostly from colleges students but also parents and new graduates to call attention to the financial burden caused by tuition that has doubled over the last 10 years.

via www2.dailyprogress.com

Making College More Affordable & Student Debt More Managable

Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan are traveling the country hosting conversations nationwide addressing the cost of college tuition and student debt on American families.

Watch the Video:

via ed.gov

HESC Launches Student Financial Aid Month

College-bound students and their families may be overwhelmed by the thought of paying for college in the months ahead. The New York State Higher Education Services Corporation (HESC) today announced its annual month-long campaign to help students and families understand the financial aid process and to encourage completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) – one of the most important tools in securing financial aid – early in the New Year.

The HESC website, www.StartHereGetThere.org, simplifies the financial aid application process for college-bound students and their families with helpful tips and tools, and a step-by-step tutorial for completing the FAFSA, as well as information about federal, state and college-sponsored aid, including grants, such as New York's Tuition Assistance Program (TAP).

Students and families with questions about the FAFSA may also call a toll-free HESC hotline, 1-800-808-1790, every Tuesday and Thursday from Noon to 5 p.m. throughout the month. FAFSA questions may be emailed anytime to FAFSAHelp@hesc.org.

via readme.readmedia.com

Jeannette Rankin Women’s Scholarship Fund

Single mothers over 35 years of age and with low incomes are also candidates for the Jeannette Rankin Women’s Scholarship Fund. Recipients come from diverse backgrounds but all have the goal of furthering their education to create a better life for themselves and their children. In 2010, the fund awarded 80 low-income women in the U.S. with scholarships of $2,000 each.

via Scholarships for Single Mothers

FAFSA Hooray - What is FAFSA?

Learn all about the FAFSA in this groundbreaking new video by Charta Squad

via youtube.com

33 Factors for How to Choose a College

There are many ways to choose a college. You could choose one based on where you want to live, where your parents went to school, or even where your friends plan to attend. When selecting a school, it’s important to consider various metrics in order to find the college that best suits you and your unique needs.

What metrics should you analyze when trying to find the best college for you? Here are some really cool ideas to get you started in the areas of academic life, student life, and financial factors.

via moneycrashers.com

11 Tips to Mastering the FAFSA

In a continuing trend of a widening gap between the cost of higher education and the family income required to pay it, 2012 is shaping up to be a struggle for parents and a boon for colleges, nonprofit or not.

For financial aid expert Kal Chany, the corporatizing of higher education is driving the trend.

“Most people assume that a college’s aid office is looking out for their best interests, but that’s not the case,”

says Chany, author of Paying for College Without Going Broke, a guide now in its 20th edition with a foreword by Bill Clinton.

“In reality there’s a lot of aid leveraging, and they are just trying to figure out the least amount they can offer you and still have you attend their school.”

With that in mind, Chany shares some essential tips for planning education financing in 2012... read more

Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez: Join Me for a FAFSA Workshop Near You

Garden Grove, CA - Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez is proud to invite you to the following series of free FAFSA workshops .  Academic advisors will meet with parents and students to provide assistance in filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid form and will discusss scholarship opportunities.

For more information, please call Rep. Sanchez' Garden Grove office at (714) 621-0102.

via lorettasanchez.house.gov

NIU Urges College-bound Students to File FAFSA

Last year, 8,101 undergraduate students at Northern Illinois University received need-based financial aid in the form of state, federal and institutional grants.

However, hundreds of thousands of eligible Illinois college students missed out on state financial aid by not completing the required Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) soon enough.

The U.S. Department of Education began accepting FAFSA forms Jan. 1 for the 2012-13 school year. For this new year, the NIU Office of Student Financial Aid recommends getting an early start on the college financial aid process with early FAFSA completion. NIU’s priority 2012-2013 FAFSA application date is Thursday, March 1.

via beaconnews.suntimes.com