Student Loan Blog : graduate students

Program to Offer NY Students Low-Cost College Loans

Student Loan Girl — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 23:36:00 GMT

Despite New York’s $15 billion budget deficit, Gov. David Paterson announced he is creating a student loan program that would allow New York college students to borrow $350 million in low-cost private student loans directly from the state, reports The New York Times (“Governor to Unveil a Low-Cost Student Loan Program,” Dec. 15, 2008).

State officials say the new student loan program, meant to help the state “retain the best and the brightest young minds,” will offer lower rates than most private student loans — potentially as low as 8 percent. Interest rates will be adjusted annually based on market conditions.

Paterson plans to allocate $50 million in state funds to jumpstart the program and $10 million each year thereafter — a key recommendation of the Commission on Higher Education. The commission studied New York’s higher education system for more than a year and found that the state’s 1 million college and graduate students had taken out $2 billion in private loans, and that those students often paid as much as 12 percent on their loans, double the interest that students paid in states with low-cost student loan programs.

Paterson hopes the loan program will help ease the financial challenges that face students now that lenders have tightened their credit criteria and as public and private colleges consider tuition increases to cope with state budget cuts. To help balance the state budget, Paterson has proposed increasing tuition at the City University of New York and the State University of New York.

“One of the big problems in the student loan program is that it is drying up,” said Jeffrey Gordon, a spokesman for the budget division of the governor’s office. “People who were able to get loans last year can’t get them this year.”

Under the loan initiative, students at two-year colleges would be eligible to take out a maximum of $20,000 in loans, while undergraduates at four-year institutions could borrow up to $50,000. New York students pursuing both an undergraduate and graduate degree would be capped at borrowing a combined total of $70,000 in private student loans.

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Cornell Medical School in Qatar Makes History with Inaugural Class

Student Loan Girl — Fri, 09 May 2008 23:08:00 GMT

Cornell University’s medical school in Qatar graduated its inaugural class on May 8, marking the first time a U.S.-based medical school has awarded degrees outside the United States.

The 15 graduates of the Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar will participate in a second commencement ceremony later this month in New York’s Carnegie Hall, along with the rest of Cornell’s graduating medical class, according to an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education (“Cornell Graduates Its Inaugural Class at Its Medical College in Qatar,” May 7, 2008).

Eleven of the 15 graduates will enter medical-residency programs in the United States, one will pursue research in the United States, and three will continue their studies and training in Qatar.

The Qatari branch of Weill Cornell, located in Qatar’s Education City, is one of several U.S. medical schools forming partnerships with hospitals and universities overseas, The Chronicle reports, although none of these partnerships is as extensive as Cornell’s arrangement.

Weill Cornell’s six-year Qatari program includes two years of premedical study and four years of medical education. Students perform clinical rotations at the hospitals and clinics of Hamad Medical Corporation in Qatar’s capital, Doha.

In 2011, the school plans to add a 382-bed medical and research center that will focus on women’s and children’s health.

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Commencement Speakers to Remain Upbeat Despite Slowed Economy

Student Loan Girl — Thu, 01 May 2008 21:36:00 GMT

This year’s MBA graduates will be seeing a sluggish economy and perhaps even bleak job prospects. Yet many high-profile business leaders returning to their alma maters as commencement speakers are expected to remain upbeat in their remarks to students, writes Kelly Bronk of BusinessWeek (“Graduation Talks Accentuate the Positive,” April 24, 2008).

Top business schools that have landed Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, or Jeff Immelt, CEO of General Electric for their commencement ceremonies, tend to want their speakers to keep things positive, yet realistic when addressing students this year.

Graduation “is all about the kids,” James Ellis, dean of the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business, told Bronk. Holli Budd, associate dean for MBA administration and external affairs at the University of Rochester Simon Graduate School of Business commented, “It’s a time to celebrate their success and their future.”

In an effort to do just that, J. Peter Simon, son of Rochester business school's late benefactor William E. Simon, will tend toward optimistic remarks as opposed to focusing on the doom and gloom of a potential U.S. recession.

Robert Rodriguez, CEO of First Pacific Advisors and alumnus of USC’s Marshall School, may convey similar sentiments to students. Dean Ellis expects Rodriguez to empathize with students regarding the difficult economy, but also tackle what students can do to conquer the challenges ahead.

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Fewer Foreign Students Seeking Advanced Degrees in the U.S.

Student Loan Girl — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 03:44:00 GMT

The growth rate of international students studying at American colleges and universities has slowed, despite an increase in foreign applications to U.S. educational institutions for the third straight year in a row, according to a recent survey.

The 2008 edition of the International Graduate Admissions Survey, a review conducted annually by the Council of Graduate Schools, found that the number of international applications increased by just 3 percent in 2008, compared to a 9-percent increase in 2007 and a 12-percent increase in 2006.

Applications are down for students from China, Korea, and India, who together account for the vast majority of international students studying in the United States each year.

The CGS survey also found a continued slowdown in the number of foreign students applying to U.S. science and engineering programs — two fields that draw heavily on international students.

In the physical sciences, applications increased by only 7 percent this year, after gains of 12 percent in 2007 and 15 percent in 2006. Meanwhile, the number of engineering applications rose by just 1 percent, following a 13-percent increase last year and a 19-percent jump between 2005 and 2006.

International Applicants Hampered by Tighter Visa Requirements

The decline in applications may be partially attributed to increased competition from advanced degree programs abroad, Karen Klomparens, dean of the graduate school at Michigan State University, told The Chronicle of Higher Education (“Growth in Foreign Applications to American Graduate Schools Slows,” April 14, 2008).

Klomparens points to Australia, New Zealand, and Europe as favored student destinations offering increased choice in doctoral education.

Some international students may also be deterred by stricter U.S. student visa requirements following the September 11^th terrorist attacks in 2001. Foreign students applying for U.S. visas must now submit to extensive record checks, a rigorous interview process, and continued monitoring.

“There’s a growing perception among international students that the United States is not as welcoming to international students as it has been in the past,” study author, Ken Redd, told the Seattle Post Intelligencer (“More Foreign Graduates Forsaking U.S. Colleges; Visa Crackdown Cited,” April 13, 2008).

Redd’s review of international graduate applications is the first phase in the three-part CGS survey that will also track offers of admission and final enrollment numbers.

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Bear Stearns Takeover Leaves Business-School Students Scrambling

Student Loan Girl — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:13:00 GMT

BearStearns CEO, Jimmy Cayne, seems to have been the only former Stearns employee to make it out of the JPMorgan Chase buyout relatively unscathed — at least in non-CEO terms — walking away with $61.3 million in sold shares. Even though, in his own high-priced executive world, Cayne took his buyout at a massive loss: Just a year ago, his entire Stearns portfolio was valued at almost $1 billion.

Former Bear Stearns employees, along with Cayne, saw the value of their shares plummet 85 percent in the buyout to a mere $10 a share. Bears Stearns shares were trading at about $67 two weeks before the buyout and as high as $170 a year ago.

Now add to the list of people adversely affected by the Stearns debacle, business-school students whose full-time job and summer internship offers from Bear Stearns have recently been rescinded, according to a BusinessWeek article by Alison Damast (“Bear Stearns Rescinds Job Offers,” April 3, 2008).

A spokesman from JPMorgan Chase won’t disclose how many job offers to soon-to-be college graduates and MBAs have been affected by the dissolution of the firm, at least 12 students at New York University’s Stern School of Business have already received their unhappy phone calls from the company.

According to The New York Times, the final count of rescinded job and internship offers will tally in the dozens (“J.P. Morgan Said to Withdraw Bear Job Offers,” April 3, 2008).

Students Left Out in the Cold

When JPMorgan announced its takeover of failing Bear Stearns on March 16, the status of the student jobs and internships was still uncertain. It wasn’t until April 2 that students who were offered positions in the investment banking, sales, and trading and research units of the former company were notified about the fate of their job and internship positions.

Over the next few weeks, as the school year draws to a close, these students will be frantically trying to nail down offers for replacement positions.

“I’m not sure what we are all supposed to be doing now with the few weeks before start-dates, but I would imagine that, like me, the other 25 or so students who were to start as associates are all in a mad scramble to figure out what the future holds,” one student told BusinessWeek.

In the meantime, students who had their full-time job offers rescinded will be allowed to keep their signing and relocation bonuses and will also be able to use JPMorgan’s career-service resources.

And for those students who will no longer be interning with the company this summer, JPMorgan has offered a full 10 weeks’ pay if they find a new summer position with a nonprofit organization instead.

To Fear or Not to Fear the Economy

Although Bear Stearns is the only investment firm so far this recruiting season to withdraw already-extended job offers, fears about the current state of the economy and its effect, in particular, on the financial-services sector have left business-school students and administrators wondering about the security of jobs and job offers with other firms.

To some, the rescinded Bear Stearns offers recall the results of a similar economic downturn in 2001, Damast writes, when several companies that had hired students were forced to scale back.

Tom Kozicki, board president of the MBA Career Services Council, says he believes the Bear Stearns situation doesn’t necessarily foreshadow what lies ahead for the financial industry, but is definitely something business students need to keep in the back of their mind as they prepare for this particularly shaky job market.

“It sounds like the shoe has dropped. I think it’s unfortunate, but I don’t think it comes as a surprise to most people,” Kozicki told BusinessWeek. “The economy is shaky, [Fed Chairman Ben] Bernanke has indicated that he thinks we are going into a recession and I think that students need to be prepared for some uncertainty in the market.”

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Availability of Federal Perkins Student Loans Is Dwindling

Student Loan Girl — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 09:28:00 GMT

A growing shortage of funds in the federal Perkins student loan program could affect as many as 50,000 students in the upcoming academic year, according to a recent article in U.S. News & World Report.

Students who would have been eligible to receive a low-cost Perkins loan last year may not be offered one this year due to the limited availability of funds.

And the students who do manage to get a Perkins loan will likely see the size of their award shrink, writes U.S. News reporter Kim Clark (“Why Perkins Loans Are Harder to Get This Year,” March 25, 2008).

Schools Struggle to Replenish Limited Perkins Funding

Federal Perkins loans, which carry a fixed interest rate of 5 percent and are subsidized by the federal government, are reserved for undergraduate and graduate students who are considered to be “exceptionally needy.”

Financial aid officials at the nation’s colleges and universities are attributing the scarcity of Perkins loans to a combination of factors: the failure of federal funding for the Perkins program to keep pace with what has been a steady increase in college enrollment, and Perkins borrowers who are taking longer to repay their loans.

Schools are each assigned a fixed pool of Perkins funds from which to lend. Unlike other federal college loans, which are paid back directly to the government or to lenders in the federal education loan program, Perkins funds are payable to the school, with schools dependent on that repayment money to generate new Perkins loans for incoming and returning students.

The longer alumni take to repay their Perkins loans, the less money is immediately available to current students eligible for these loans.

Many Perkins borrowers, faced with rising interest rates over the last few years on everything from private student loans and federal consolidation loans to credit cards and home loans, have focused on repaying their higher-interest student loans and other debt, steering away from paying off their Perkins loan early and opting instead to take the full 10-year Perkins repayment term.

Adding to the problem, says Rick Shipman, director of Michigan State University’s financial aid office, is the fact that some students are able to discharge their Perkins loan if they go into the military or teaching.

“Their debts are forgiven by the federal government but the federal government doesn’t necessarily reimburse the school,” explains Shipman (“Credit Crunch Alarms Student Loan Lenders,” MSU State News, March 26, 2008).

Colleges and Universities Scaling Back on Perkins Awards

With less Perkins repayment money coming in and no government funds being added to expand the federal Perkins pool, schools are being forced to scale back their Perkins awards.

At Ohio University, Perkins funding is so limited, Clark writes, that officials anticipate a 12 percent decline in the number of Perkins student loans the school will be able to issue this fall.

Also expecting to make cuts to its Perkins student loans is the University of Maryland at College Park, which has seen its Perkins funding shrink this year to just half of the $2.3 million it had available last year.

At Michigan State University, where the Perkins pool has dropped from $7 million to $5 million in the last year alone, financial aid officials plan to eliminate over 2,000 Perkins awards in the fall and cut the average award from $1,200 to $1,000.

MSU expects to award about 4,400 Perkins loans to undergraduates in the upcoming academic year, down from the 6,600 it issued in 2007–08. The school already eliminated Perkins loans for its graduate students last year.

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Not Your Cookie-Baking Grandma, 94-Year-Old Aussie Gets Master’s Degree

Student Loan Girl — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 01:29:00 GMT

Australian Phyllis Turner is not one to sit back and kick up her Easy Spirits. The 94-year-old great-great-grandmother—the world’s oldest recipient of a master’s degree—has officially put many working professionals to shame.

In the face of this sweet, cane-toting granny’s accomplishments, who can offer up any excuse for not pursuing a graduate degree? Turner, who’s practically guaranteed the title of oldest Master’s recipient in the Guinness Book of World Records (although she has yet to apply), began her graduate studies at the age of 90.

This fearless rule-breaker is proof that you’re never “too cool for school,” or anything else for that matter.

Granny Rocks Academia, Not Her Front Porch

The silver-haired Turner received her master’s degree in medical science from the University of Adelaide in Australia last week, and her professors think she could more than handle the mental rigors of a doctorate degree. But she thinks it’s time to get out of the fast lane.

“I feel very, very happy after five years of study, but sorry that I am just a little bit immobilized," Turner told Australian media in an article by Rob Taylor picked up by Reuters (“Australian Granny, 94, Becomes World’s Oldest Master,” Aug. 1, 2007).

“Mentally she was like any other student. You couldn’t tell her thinking, her enthusiasm and her interests apart from somebody who was 25. She has a lively mind,” her degree supervisor, professor Maciej Henneberg, is quoted as saying. “She used to wake up at five in the morning and think about something, and then ring to say she wanted to check on it.”

Getting an Education Not Just Business, It’s Personal

People usually expect women Turner’s age to spend their time crocheting doilies or playing bridge and bingo with other seniors, not studying alongside college students 60 to 70 years her junior. But for Turner, getting an education was about taking care of unfinished business.

As a 12-year-old, she was forced to quit school to help her mother take care of her siblings after her father abandoned them. Then she raised seven children of her own and two stepchildren.

But once her children were grown, she enrolled in night school because, as she told a local radio station in The Associated Press coverage of her story, “I love study,” (“94-Year-Old Woman Gets Degree,” Aug. 3, 2007).

She means it too. “At 70, she enrolled at the University of Adelaide and at 72, she won a 12-month scholarship to study at the University of California,” the AP reports.

After studying in the Golden State, Turner enrolled at the Australian National University and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in anthropology. Then following the death of her husband five years ago, she decided to go for her master’s.

And if her family or her body didn’t have a say in it, she feels she could keep going and get her Ph.D. “The only trouble is, I'm short of years,” she tells the AP.

So common excuses like “I don’t have time,” “I’m too old,” or “I’m just too busy,” won’t fly anymore for all those slackers who have yet to make good on their goal of a graduate degree.

Are you willing to let a grandma from the Land Down Under show you up? Explore the financial aid options and loans available to you and make it happen.

Talk to the education finance advisors at NextStudent. They have all the information and advice you need on student loans. Check out www.nextstudent.com.

Student Loan Girl

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