Missouri Loan Forgiveness Program to Erase More Than $400,000 in Student Loans

Student Loan Girl — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 00:08:00 GMT

As part of a statewide effort to support education in math and science, the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority has agreed to forgive nearly $444,000 in student loans for almost 300 engineering and pre-engineering college students (“MOHELA Forgives Over $400,000 in Pre-Engineering Loan Program,” MarketWatch, Oct. 17, 2008).

The lender’s Prospective Engineering Student Loan Forgiveness Award Program will forgive up to $3,500 in federal Stafford student loans for any Missouri college freshman who enrolls in and completes two years of engineering classes in certain degree programs.

Students at 11 Missouri schools are eligible for the loan forgiveness program, which complements the state’s Math, Engineering, Technology, and Sciences Alliance (METS), an initiative created by Gov. Matt Blunt to improve student achievement in METS-based industries.

MOHELA’s loan forgiveness program will be funded, in part, by the revenues generated from tax-exempt bonds, says Raymond Bayer, Jr., MOHELA’s executive director and chief executive officer.

The state student loan agency also made a second announcement on Friday that it had recently closed on a $262.5 million bond issuance with Bank of America Securities (“MOHELA Announces $262.5 Million Bond Issuance,” MarketWatch, Oct. 17, 2008). This bond will give MOHELA the capital it needs to continue issuing federal student loans through the Federal Family Education Loan Program.

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New Missouri Law Takes Aim at Rising College Textbook Costs

Student Loan Girl — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 18:08:00 GMT

Before ordering a textbook or requiring that students shell out money for a new edition, college and university professors in Missouri will now be armed with two important pieces of information: the wholesale price of the book and exactly what changes have been made from one edition to another.

The Textbook Transparency Act, which Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt signed into law last week, will allow professors to compare book content and choose cheaper textbooks as long as the new textbook material doesn’t provide less educational value, according to an Associated Press article (“Mo. Law Could Lower College Textbook Costs,” June 29, 2008).

The act will also allow students to choose whether or not to buy the supplemental CDs and workbooks that are generally bundled with textbooks — a measure that is designed to cut down on students’ rising education costs.

The average college student spends $900 a year on textbooks and the wholesale price of college textbooks has increased 32.8 percent since 1998, almost double the 18 percent rise in cost for regular books, according to the National Association of College Stores. “I think [the price increase] is completely outrageous,” says Craig Stevenson, a University of Missouri student who lobbied for the textbook bill.

Missouri’s law is modeled after similar legislation passed in California, Washington, and Arizona.

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Student Loan Blog : Matt Blunt

Missouri Loan Forgiveness Program to Erase More Than $400,000 in Student Loans

New Missouri Law Takes Aim at Rising College Textbook Costs