Student Loan Blog : College Student Loans

Sen. Edwards Ends College Scholarship Program Originally Proposed As a National Model of Higher Education

Student Loan Girl — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 20:50:00 GMT

After awarding more than 191 college scholarships over the past three years, a North Carolina scholarship program begun by former U.S. Sen. John Edwards is ending with the Class of 2009, according to an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education, (“John Edwards Ends Scholarship Program He Called a National Model,” August 1,2008).

Established in the state’s Green County school system in 2005 using private donations, the College for Everyone Scholarship Program paid the tuition, fees, and book costs of eligible North Carolina students at any public college in the state for one year. In return, the student agreed to work at least 10 hours a week while enrolled in college, take college prep courses in high school, and stay out of trouble.

Originally proposed during Edwards’ 2004 democratic presidential- nominee bid, and set up after his return to North Carolina, the program was intended to improve college access for all students and to be a major component of his 2008 presidential campaign platform. The former senator had hoped the program would serve as a national model of higher education.

Some educators were surprised to learn the college initiative was ending, but Pamela Hampton-Garland, College for Everyone’s program director, said that the scholarship program had always been intended to be a three-year pilot effort. It will end with this year’s graduating class at Green Central High School.

Green County school district superintendent Patrick Miller, praised Edwards’ initiative, saying it “certainly was an accelerant” in helping his school system increase the number of students who are college-bound. The district serves a population that falls below state averages in both income and education.

When the program was initiated in June of 2005, the percentage of graduating seniors who applied to at least one college was at 74 percent. With the help of Edwards’ program, this spring, 94 percent of the program’s final graduating class applied to at least one college.

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Study Abroad Reform Bill Stalls in Senate

Student Loan Girl — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 21:54:00 GMT

The Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act, a bill that supports study abroad reforms, and is one of 35 bills that compose Sen. Harry Reid’s Advancing America’s Priorities Act, has stalled in the Senate, according to an article in Inside Higher Education (“Senate Strands Study Abroad Bill,” July 29, 2008).

Supporters of the study abroad bill, which include more than 35 higher education and student support groups, had hoped the Simon Act would pass before legislators broke for summer recess. But legislators are still debating the study abroad bill, and the 35 other related bills tied to Reid’s proposed legislation because of its estimated $10 million price tag.

The study abroad act aims to expand study abroad — which is dominated largely by white, upper-middle income students — to include low-income students who are minorities or are studying math or science. According to a 2007 report on international educational exchange, 83 percent of Caucasians in the United States study abroad, compared to 17 percent of minorities.

“These are the types of students [for whom] it’s difficult to take a semester away,” said Jennifer Poulakidas, vice president for congressional and governmental affairs at the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges.

The Simon Act would also promote less-popular study abroad locations, such as those outside of Western Europe.

The act was inspired by a 2005 report conducted by the Commission on the Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Fellowship Program that suggested that American colleges and universities should increase the number of undergraduates who study abroad from about 250,000 to 1 million individuals.

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Despite Greater Benefits Under New GI Bill, Vets May Still Opt for Trade Schools, Community Colleges

Student Loan Girl — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 22:38:00 GMT

Recently published research from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs indicates that approximately 57 percent of those veterans who used their GI Bill benefits in fiscal year 2007 attended either community colleges or for-profit institutions.

Veterans tend to enroll at these types of schools because they often cater to veterans’ needs, are more convenient, and in the case of community colleges, are cheaper than their four-year counterparts, according to an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education (“Cost,Convenience Drive Veterans’ College Choices,” July 25, 2008).

Even with the new GI Bill giving veterans sufficient benefits to cover the more expensive four-year colleges in their state, many educators, legislators, and other experts are skeptical about whether veterans will actually choose to attend these schools.

Convenience May Win Out Over Added Benefits of New Bill

The current GI Bill only covers 73 percent of a veteran’s tuition, fees, and room and board at a four-year public college, and only 31 percent of the costs at a private four-year school. Veterans often choose to attend community colleges, since their GI Bill benefits cover the costs of these schools in full.

But veterans may choose to attend a particular type of school for its low costs as well as for its services, according to Keith Wilson, director of the education service at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Most veterans go back to school to build on a particular skill set gained in the military and are looking for programs that enable them to balance their studies, with work and family life, Wilson said.

Community colleges near military bases and schools, such as American InterContinental University, University of Maryland, and Tidewater Community College, do just that. They are set up to more specifically to address veterans’ needs by extending more academic credit for military experience, helping veterans access their federal benefits, and accommodating vets with physical and emotional disabilities.

Anthony Mabutol, a Navy veteran, told the Chronicle that he began his education at Tidewater for “practical” and “financial” reasons. He said he probably would still select Tidewater, even if he had more generous GI Bill benefits. The only difference, he said, is that the added benefits would allow him to eliminate his part-time job while attending school.

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College-Bookstore Bill Could Lower Textbook Costs for Students

Student Loan Girl — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:12:00 GMT

College students may soon be getting some relief when it comes to the $900 they spend on textbooks annually, although these new savings may be too minimal to notice.

A new bill before Congress being supported by college bookstores, HR 5546, would allow bookstores to negotiate the fees they have to pay to banks when students purchase books using credit cards, according to an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education (“College Bookstores Back Bill That Could Lower Their Credit-Card Fees,” July 16, 2008).

These fees, which average 1.75 percent of the total textbook purchase, are passed on to students in the form of higher prices for college books and may be partly responsible for this trend of escalating textbook costs.

Since 2003, the nation’s college bookstores have paid about $85 million in fees for students who purchased textbooks using credit cards, the National Association of College Stores estimates.

If the new bill becomes law, college bookstores would not only be able to negotiate credit card fees with banks, presumably lowering the fees, but they would also be able to pass their savings on to students in the form of lower textbook costs.

Critics say that the bill may harm smaller banks and credit unions, and they point out that there is nothing in the measure that indicates bookstores’ savings from the reduced fees will be passed along to consumers or students.

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All Veterans Qualify for In-State Tuition at Ohio Colleges With New GI Promise Legislation

Student Loan Girl — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 22:19:00 GMT

Ohio governor, Ted Strickland, recently announced the implementation of The Ohio G.I. Promise, the first plan of its kind in the nation to extend in-state tuition rates to all veterans who attend an Ohio state public college or university on the GI Bill, according to an article in The New York Times (“Ohio Gives Veterans In-State Rates at Public Colleges,” July 9, 2008).

Just last month, President Bush signed the new national GI Bill which will double veterans’ benefits and allow soldiers to receive the equivalent of full scholarships at any public university or college in the state they reside.

Under The Ohio G.I. Promise, veterans, their spouses, and their dependents who are residents of any state may attend one of the Ohio’s 36 colleges and universities at the same in-state tuition rate enjoyed by legal Ohio state residents.

The move to implement the G.I. Promise bill is to attract more veterans to Ohio’s public colleges, which have experienced declining enrollments over the last several years, and to add some 230,000 students to the state’s school system over the next decade.

“If we are able to attract veterans to Ohio, we can link them and their families to internships, co-op and other opportunities, and if they get good jobs here, we’ll have Ohioans,” said Eric Fingerhut, chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents. “We want veterans to know Ohio wants them to come here, and that we think they’re incredibly valuable high potential students.”

To meet the needs of the much-anticipated growth in veteran enrollments at Ohio colleges, Fingerhut told the Times that the state school system will significantly enhance the infrastructure that caters to military veteran students.

“We already have a number of very good programs, which we’ll be expanding, to provide the type of counselors, advisers, and mentors who can work one on one with veterans to help them make the transition to civilian life and navigate the academic environment,” he said.

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New Certificate May Boost Credentials of Community College, Trade-School Graduates

Student Loan Girl — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 22:49:00 GMT

Students attending community colleges, trade, or professional schools may soon be required to pass yet another exam and receive additional credentials, the Career Readiness Certificate, before landing a job, according to an article in Inside Higher Education (“The New Exit Exam ... for Jobs,” July 9, 2008).

Introduced in 2004 by the state of Virginia, the Career Readiness Certificate is now being used or is in the process of being incorporated into programs as a qualifying tool in as many as 30 states for jobs that don’t require a bachelor’s degree.

The CRC-certificate model is based on a three-test product developed by ACT that measures an individual’s ability to read and locate information, and gauges applied mathematics skills. Test-takers can achieve bronze, silver, or gold certificates based on their performance to show how “trainable” an employee may be for any job.

Considering the state of the U.S. economy and the reality of globalization, the CRC is “an idea whose time has come,” according to Barbara Bolin, president of the National Association for Career Credentialing.

“Over the last 10 to 15 years there has been a weakening confidence in the academic credentials with which people graduate from high school and college,” Bolin said. “The CRC is the perfect complement to those credentials.”

Many two-year schools are beginning to require that students obtain the certificate either to qualify for admittance into various programs of study, or to receive a certificate of completion from certain programs.

For example, at Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College in South Carolina, students in fields that do not have a national certification program must complete the Career Readiness Certificate test.

Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, in North Carolina, has lowered the attrition rate in its pharmacy technician program to zero after requiring a certain level of achievement on the Career Readiness Certificate for entrance into the program. And at Piedmont Community College, also in North Carolina, upper-level nursing assistant students are being given the Career Readiness Certificate to boost their credentials.

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Interest in Online Courses Rising as Gas Remains Above $4 Per Gallon

Student Loan Girl — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 22:42:00 GMT

Students at many colleges are opting for online courses this summer in an attempt to save money on gas, according to an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education (“Gas Prices Drive Students to Online Courses,” July 8, 2008).

"All across the country, community colleges and universities are getting requests for online programs specifically with students mentioning the price of gas," said Ray Schroeder, director of learning at the University of Illinois at Springfield. At many schools online education is booming, and enrollment numbers are up:

15 percent at Harrisburg Area Community College of Pennsylvania
18 percent at Northampton Community College, also in Pennsylvania
25 percent at Brevard Community College in Florida
29 percent over the previous summer for the Tennessee Board of Regents

While it may be too soon to tell, some experts believe that the increased interest in online courses could change how some schools do business. For instance, many colleges may begin offering a wider range of online courses in several different subjects.

Other schools have already begun experimenting with blended courses that incorporate both on-campus and online meetings, so that students can cut back on the number of days they have commute to school each week.

But some officials say that the rise in online enrollment may be a trend that only pertains to summer courses, because those classes tend to meet more frequently causing more days of driving for students during the week.

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Many Private Colleges Face Uncertain Financial Futures, Moody’s Says

Student Loan Girl — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 00:12:00 GMT

In the last few years, private colleges have experienced significant financial growth. However, due to the tumultuous student-loan market, sagging economy, and poor performing investments, small private colleges may start to see a different financial picture for 2008 and 2009, according to an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education (“Moody's Report Paints Gloomy Financial Picture for Many Private Colleges,” July 3, 2008).

A Moody’s Investors Service report from a survey of almost 300 institutions indicated that for 2007, private schools tended to fare well:

Student revenues were up, with net tuition rising 5.8 percent over the previous year
Median operating cash flow margins rose from 12.7 in 2006 to 13.5 percent in 2007
Total financial resources (a school’s total net assets less investments in college facilities) rose a median of 17.2 percent for 2007

However, the Moody’s report indicated that due to a weakening economy and a “challenging investment environment,” the growth is slowing, and projected that 2008 "will reflect declines in financial resources for most institutions." These factors may also directly affect endowments at private institutions, which will likely see slowed growth or even negative returns in 2008.

Many private institutions have also begun to experience a strain on their financial resources when it comes to servicing their debt. In many cases, debt payments have doubled or tripled due to variable- rate interest increases, forcing many institutions to come up with the extra funds to cover their payments. Since schools operate on limited budgets, producing the cash to cover the shortfall has put many colleges and universities in precarious financial positions.

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Club Ed: University With Four-Star Service Caters to Students

Student Loan Girl — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 00:24:00 GMT

President of North Carolina’s High Point University, Nido R. Qubein, who is also a motivational speaker and businessman, believes that students should be treated like customers and should enjoy obtaining their education, according to an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education (“Club Ed: This University Is at Your Service,” July 4, 2008).

Qubein’s philosophy is evident in the university's slogan: "At High Point, every student receives an extraordinary education in a fun environment with caring people." To that end, Qubein began his endeavor to renovate the school’s body, mind, and soul by hiring a director of WOW!, a position with the sole purpose of coming up with innovative ways to please students:

An ice-cream truck that gives out free frozen desserts across campus
Cafeteria music, from live jazz, to music videos that are played on several flat-screen tvs
A concierge desk that handles maintenance requests, dry cleaning, and wake-up calls
Birthday cards with Starbucks gift cards from the president, and birthday sing-a-long celebrations in the cafeteria for every student
The “multiplex” which, once completed, will house a movie theater, steakhouse, and sports bar

Some have said that High Point emphasizes “goodies over substance,” however Qubein contends that all the extras are part of a larger purpose.

"When the students know you care, they reward you by doing well in the classroom," he says. "Then they reward you by telling their friends, and by their parents becoming your donors."

And it appears that president Qubein’s unconventional way of running a college is working. Not only has freshmen enrollment tripled since he took over as president in 2005, but the school’s donations have increased by more than $100 million, allowing for extensive campus remodeling and the construction of 12 new buildings, with six more underway.

Students love the changes, Qubein says, and faculty members are on board as well; they receive 2-percent bonuses at Thanksgiving, have had their classrooms renovated, and have seen an increase in funding to their departments.

Other colleges are starting to notice and even imitate High Point’s methods. Qubein claims that he receives inquiries from presidential search committees monthly, and that spies visit the campus all the time. An unsubstantiated report indicated that nearby Liberty University now has its own ice-cream truck that makes rounds during finals.

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Obama Promises Aid to Struggling College Students in Michigan

Student Loan Girl — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 20:43:00 GMT

Showing his support for college students in Michigan, the state with the nation’s highest unemployment rate, democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama listened to Wayne County Community College students talk about their struggles of trying to balance rising college costs and high fuel prices, according to an article in The Washington Post (“Obama Promises Tuition Tax Credit,” June 17, 2008).

Obama met one-on-one with Marilyn Pace, a dental hygiene student, who broke down in tears as she relayed how she was falling behind in school payments after paying $4-a-gallon for gas to get to campus. The senator encouraged Pace, telling her that she would “be cleaning teeth in no time,” while promising students at the event that he would help them pay for school with a $4,000 tax credit.

Students who devote 100 hours of community service would be rewarded with a $4,000-credit to help pay for college tuition and fees. The program will cost approximately $10 billion annually, according to the Obama campaign.

“This isn’t an issue you hear Sen. John McCain talk about much,” Obama told The Detroit News when speaking about financial aid for college students (“Obama Comforts Student in Taylor, Promises College Aid,” June 17, 2008). “It’s not just that he doesn’t have a real plan to make college affordable. It’s that he has voted time and time again to stop us from making college affordable.”

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Who Wants More Money for College?

Student Loan Girl — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 07:01:00 GMT

The easy answer is “everyone does,” of course. This is especially true if you are putting yourself through school and do not have mom and dad to help you pay for your college education. But, whether you are just starting out or even one year away from your degree, we all need more money for college.

Apparently, the government is starting to hear our cries. According to the June 8, 2007 article by Andy Guess, titled “More Money All Around,” that appeared in Inside Higher Ed, “A House of Representatives panel presented a bipartisan gift to educators, researchers and college students on Thursday when it approved legislation that would significantly increase the maximum Pell Grant and support for the National Institutes of Health in the 2008 fiscal year, while at the same time protecting other student financial aid programs whose funding the Bush administration has proposed cutting off completely.

“The 2008 spending bill passed the newly Democratically controlled appropriations subcommittee that allocates funds for health, education and jobs programs without a single ‘nay,’ illustrating a spirit of bipartisanship in marked contrast to last year’s vote along party lines.”

Pell Grant May Be Raised Again for 2008

This bit of news is extremely exciting for college students. The actual Pell Grant increase is not huge, but represents a shift in policy. It appears the government has not only realized that college costs are steadily rising, but has also chosen to take action to help offset those costs by allocating more grant money for students, for the second year in a row. While the bill is not yet law, it may soon become so, if all goes well.

As reported in the article, “The bill would raise the maximum Pell Grant to $4,700, a $390 increase over the 2007 level that would add $2 billion to the program’s cost. The increase, which would represent the largest for the program in nearly a decade, is not accompanied by the administration’s requested cuts of the Perkins Loan and Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants Programs, which would be financed at their 2007 levels under the House legislation.”

Legislation Receives Support

While most students and their parents naturally support this legislation, many others are likewise commending it. As stated in the article, “‘I think the bottom line is the bill provides one of the largest increases for Pell in the history of the program,’ said Cheryl Smith, staff director for the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies.

“The Association of American Universities also welcomed the outcome. ‘This legislation provides greater college opportunity for millions of needy college students, whose participation in higher education is an essential ingredient of American competitiveness,’ the association’s president, Robert M. Berdahl, said in a statement Thursday.”

The student loan advisors at NextStudent are helpful and knowledgeable about student loans. They are a trusted source in getting you the appropriate information about your student loan consolidation, student loan options and helping students get the college financing they need. Go to www.nextstudent.com for more information.

Be sure to tune in next Thursday for my next blog on student loan advice.

Student Loan Girl

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