Posts Tagged ‘Financial Aid’
What to Know About the Occupy Student Debt Campaign
It was bound to happen.
The price of college tuition matched with a not-so-great outlook for jobs with the salaries to pay off big student loans is making students mad. The system is broken. And just like the thousands of Occupy Wall Street protesters, students want to be heard.
The Occupy Student Debt Campaign is founded on 4 principals:
1. The single, largest step we could take to alleviate future student loan debt would be to guarantee tuition-free education for students enrolled at public colleagues and universities.
2. Student loans are not consumer loans, and they should not be packaged as if they were consumer credit debt.
3. Students at private and for-profit universities and colleges have a fundamental right to know how their tuition dollars are being allocated and spent.
4. The student loan industry has profited from borrower vulnerability through predatory lending practices such as compounding interest rates, high collection fees, and few consumer protections.
The campaign is asking borrowers to default on their student loan payments after one million individuals have similarly signed the debtor’s pledge. But before you decide to sign anything and default on your own debt, think about it. Perhaps the ideas of the pledge hit at your heart strings, but the reality of defaulting on your loans will have long-term effects including the garnishing of future wages and tax refunds and other penalizing tactics that could be huge roadblocks for building your life. It’s basically like a black mark.
The realistic lesson we can take from this? Do your homework before you sign for a student loan. Really understand what you are getting into before you sign your life away. The more informed you are about your finances, the more in control you can be.
Do you feel like your in control of your college tuition?
Breaking Down Confusing Financial Aid Awards
Sure, writing college essays, asking for teacher recommendations, getting the grades, and everything else that goes into your college applications is a pain. But at least it’s a pain point you can precisely target and attack by submitting your applications before the deadlines.
Financial aid, on the other hand, is a much more challenging beast to tame. Getting and understanding your financial aid award is so gosh darn confusing. And it’s not even your fault! It’s the way colleges have traditionally illustrated a student’s financial aid award that’s the problem (one of them at least).
The College Solution‘s Lynn O’Shaughnessy explains that award letters are misleading. They often make parents think that their student received a big scholarship to help pay for college when in fact, the award letter is padded with loans. When it comes time to figure out how much out of pocket a family will have to pay for college by subtracting the awarded aid, students’ families don’t realize that some of that aid includes loans that will accrue interest and push up costs in the longer run.
Yes. This is a bummer. But if you’re in the know, you can make a better decision on where you should enroll if cost is a big factor in your choice. Read in between the lines. Compare your college financial aid awards and make sure you know which includes loans and not just all scholarships and grants.
Don’t not fret (too much). This issue has not gone unnoticed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Department of Education, which announced a plan to simplify the aid letters so that families can assess a school’s true cost and make comparisons more easily and knowledgeably. In fact, they want YOUR feedback on the draft of the form.
You can give your feedback here: http://tinyurl.com/3ve57mt
Here is the draft of the proposed financial aid letter. Notice that it provides the total cost of attendance, which is often an evasive subject, the loans are separate from the scholarships and grants, and monthly loan payments following graduation are included.
Would knowing what kind of monthly payments graduation help you make a more informed choice on which college you should enroll in? Leave a comment below on what you think about this issue!
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7 Scholarship Applications for Students to Complete Before 2012
There are so many scholarship opportunities out there, and as a blogger for Cappex, I feel it is my pseudo-superhuman duty to bestow some of them upon you for you to click on.
Students get so severely stressed out about finding scholarships even though there are thousands upon thousands upon thousands of scholarships out there to be had. A little work just has to go into it. Maybe some organization, some time to actually apply, some more time to review your work, and maybe a little more time to make it extra super appealing to whoever will be reading your application.
Just because you apply for a scholarship doesn’t mean you’ve done a good job at showing the scholarship providers that you deserve it. But you probably do deserve a nice hunk of free money; so take the time these scholarship applications probably deserve instead of just crossing your fingers that some Wizard of Oz type person will just pick your name out of a hat. Give youself a step up!
Start now. See if you’re a match for these scholarships, all due before 2012.
1. Dr Pepper Million Dollar Tuition Giveaway
Deadline: December 31
Award range: $2,500-$100,000
Quick fact: Open to high school juniors through college juniors, Dr Pepper will be awarding 50 different students with big, like really big, scholarships.
2. ScholarshipPoints.com Scholarship
Deadline: December 14
Award range: $500-$10,000
Quick fact: This scholarship’s application process shouldn’t take more than an hour or so.
3. Most Valuable Student Award
Deadline: December 2
Award range: $1,000-$15,000
Quick fact: Open to all high school students, this scholarship is renewable, which means it actually can add up to $60,000 total!
4. Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum Student Essay Contest
Deadline: November 11
Award range: $50-$100
Quick fact: Available for all high school students.
5. STOP hunger Scholarships
Deadline: December 5
Award range: $5,000
Quick fact: All grades, high school and up, with volunteer or community service are eligible to apply for this renewable scholarship–remember, renewable.
6. Imagine America Scholarship Program
Deadline: December 31
Average award: $1,000
Quick fact: High school seniors and college freshman must be attending or plan to attend a participating US career college.
7. Ecologist Initiative Scholarship
Deadline: December 31
Average award: $850
Quick fact: This scholarship is meant to engage young people from around the world in environmental clean-up and conservation projects. If that’s passion of yours, apply!
Will you apply to any of these? How much time do you spend on scholarships applications?
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Friday College Town Hall
In Friday College Town Hall, we post a question about college, and you leave an answer in the comment field.
Today’s question:
Total outstanding student debt has passed $1 trillion, more than the nation’s credit card debt.
Do you think students are fully aware of the scale of debt they’ll accrue paying for college before they’re already standing knee deep in it?
Have a thought or an answer? Leave a reply below.
We’ve also asked our @Cappex Twitter followers to chime in! Here’s what people are saying on Twitter:
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11 Most Economically Diverse Colleges
As college tuition becomes a steeper mountain to climb every year, it’s nice to see that some schools value economic diversity. After all, there has to be some place the rest of the 99% can enroll in a higher education.
The US News and World Report created this list of the most economically diverse student bodies by researching the percentage of undergraduates receiving Pell Grants for low-income students. Pell Grants are generally given to undergrads who come from families with incomes under $20,000.
So, it’s not the perfect measure, because, who knows, there may be some schools out there admitting thousands of kids just above the Pell Grant line, but it’s still a pretty good barometer to see how many low-income students are on a given campus.
So here are 11 universities who have made a big commitment to economic diversity:
1. New Mexico State University
Percent of undergraduates receiving Pell grants: 87%
Quick fact: NMSU is the only research-extensive, land-grant, USA-Mexico border institution classified as Hispanic serving by the federal government.
2. Jackson State University
Percent of undergraduates receiving Pell grants: 81%
Quick fact: A member of the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund, JSU holds an important place in the history of US civil rights.
3. South Carolina State University
Percent of undergraduates receiving Pell grants: 80%
Quick fact: Quick fact: It is the only state funded, historically black land-grant institution in South Carolina and is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund.
4. Texas Southern University
Percent of undergraduates receiving Pell grants: 78%
Quick fact: As a result, of Heman Marion Sweatt, an African American man, who applied to the University of Texas School of Law but was denied admission because of race,the state founded Texas Southern University under Senate Bill 140 by the Fiftieth Texas Legislature on March 3, 1947 as a state university to be located in Houston and to serve African Americans in Texas.
5. Kent State University
Percent of undergraduates receiving Pell grants: 77%
Quick fact: During the late 1960s and early 1970s, the university was known internationally for its student activism in opposition to US involvement in the Vietnam war, due mainly to the events of May 4, 1970 where Ohio Army National Guard unit fired at students during an anti-war protest on campus, killing four and wounding nine.
6. Texas A&M University
Percent of undergraduates receiving Pell grants: 73%
Quick fact: The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M’s enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school history.
7. Florida Institute of Technology
Percent of undergraduates receiving Pell grants: 69%
Quick fact: Florida Tech’s curriculum is largely focused on engineering and science fields.
8. Tennessee State University
Percent of undergraduates receiving Pell grants: 66%
Quick fact: TSU is the only state-funded historically black university in Tennessee.
9. Our Lady of the Lake University
Percent of undergraduates receiving Pell grants: 61%
Quick fact: OLLU was founded in 1895 by the Sisters of the Congregation of Divine Providence, a religious order originating in Lorraine, France, during the 18th century.
10. University of Texas – El Paso
Percent of undergraduates receiving Pell grants: 60%
Quick fact: UTEP is the largest university in the U.S. with a majority Mexican-American student population (about 75%).
11. North Carolina A&T State University
Percent of undergraduates receiving Pell grants: 56%
Quick fact:North Carolina A&T athletic teams are referred to as the “Aggies,” which is a diminutive name for “Agriculture” which is the “A” in A&T.
How are you paying for school? Leave a comment or question below.
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10 BIG Scholarships With Upcoming Deadlines
Scholarships! Scholarships! Scholarships!
Maybe over the last couple of months you’ve heard your teachers, guidance counselors, and parents tell you to apply apply apply, but you’ve just never quite gotten your act together. Well–now’s the time. And that includes students in any grade in high school and even college students. We’ve included 10 big scholarships that have a range of eligibility.
And for you high school seniors…Even while you’re hustling to get your college applications done and submitted on time, you can/should still be applying for scholarships instead of waiting until spring. They’re a great way to save money on college, and some are fairly easy to apply to. Just schedule some time in your calendar over the weekend (between practice and homework and applications and friends), and apply to a few scholarships. If you take time in the application, you may be pleasantly surprised in the future when you’re awarded a big hunk of cash to help pay for college!
1. Horatio Alger National Scholarships
Deadline: October 30
Average Amount: $20,000
Awards Granted: 104
2. Coca-Cola Scholars
Deadline: October 31
Average Amount: $10,000
Awards Granted: 50
3. Voice of Democracy Scholarship Program
Deadline: November 1
Average Amount: $10,000
Award Range: $1,000-$30,000
4. Intel Science Talent Search
Deadline: November 2
Award Range: $1,000-$100,000
Awards Granted: 300
5. FIRE’s “Freedom in Academia” Essay Contest Scholarships
Deadline: November 5
Award Range: $1,000-$5,000
Awards Granted: 7
6. PBA/NCA Sally Beauty Scholarship
(for cosmetology students)
Deadline: November 15
Average Award: $1,000
Awards Granted: 7
7. Susan G. Komen for the Cure Scholarship Program
(for breast cancer survivors and those who have lost a parent/guardian to breast cancer)
Deadline: November 15
Average Award: $10,000
Renewable
8. Ashley Soule Conroy Foundation Scholarship
(for students planning to study abroad)
Deadline: December 1
Average Award: $2,500
9. Most Valuable Student Award
Deadline: December 2
Award Range: $1,000-$15,000
Awards Granted: 500
10. Stephen J. Brady STOP Hunger Scholarships
Deadline: December 5
Average Award: $5,000
Awards Granted: 5
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10 Cheapest Private Colleges and Universities
Often times, students nix the private colleges on their college search lists because they figure they’re going to be more expensive than public schools. But, that’s not always the case! A lot of times private colleges and universities have huge endowments and can offer many more, and often larger, grants to admitted students.
US News recently published a list of the 10 least expensive private colleges and universities for 2010-2011. As you go through the list, compare the numbers with the average cost of tuition and required fees for the 2010-11 school year which was $26,079.
Here are the 10 least expensive private schools:
1. Berea College
Tuition and fees 2010-2011-$910
Cool fact: Berea College charges no tuition; every student is provided the equivalent of four-year, full-tuition scholarships and has to take part in a work-study.
2. Brigham Young University-Hawaii
Tuition and fees 2010-2011-$4,330
Cool fact: The university owns the Polynesian Cultural Center, the largest living museum in the state of Hawaii, which employs roughly one third of the student body.
3. Brigham Young University-Provo
Tuition and fees 2010-2011-$4,420
Cool fact: Stephenie Meyer, author of the Twilight series, is an alum.
4. Lane College
Tuition and fees 2010-2011-$8,000
Cool fact: Planning for the school had begun in 1878, but the school’s establishment was delayed by a yellow fever epidemic in the region in 1878.
5. Life University
Tuition and fees 2010-2011-$8,622
Cool fact: Life University remains the largest school in the chiropractic profession.
6. Blue Mountain College
Tuition and fees 2010-2011-$8,870
Cool fact: The college officially became co-educational in 2005.
7. Park University
Tuition and fees 2010-2011-$8,898
Cool fact: The original concept called for students to get free tuition and board in exchange for working up to half day in the college’s farm, electrical shop or printing plant.
8. Mountain State University
Tuition and fees 2010-2011-$9,000
Cool fact: The university has gone through 3 name changes: Beckley College, The College of West Virginia and now, Mountain State University.
9. Philander Smith College
Tuition and fees 2010-2011-$9,450
Cool fact: Philander Smith College was a pioneer during the civil rights movement as many of its students engaged in nonviolent resistance against segregation laws
10. Alice Lloyd College
Tuition and fees 2010-2011-$9,500
Cool fact: The college is one of two colleges in Kentucky–the other is Berea!–and one of eight in the nation–that have mandatory work-study programs.
Want to share your thoughts on this? Leave a comment!
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Not All College Freshman Classes Are Filled Yet
May 1st has historically been the day that college admissions have the best idea of who will make up their freshman classes. This is still traditionally true for elite private institutions and some public universities.
Still, according to a recent article from Inside Higher Ed, there remains another group of schools, generally private schools without massive endowments, that have not filled their freshman class. In some cases, they are trying post-May 1 tactics to fill their class, and not just to persuade admitted students to enroll, but actually seeking out new applicants for the fall.
This gives college-bound students a unique opportunity since some of these schools are making moves to attract more students. For example, the University of the South announced that it’d be discounting tuition, fees and room and board by 10%, which definitely increased the number of deposits it received this year.
A lot of these schools also depend on the “melt” from other schools’ waiting lists. And if you’ve read our earlier blog post about waiting lists, that melt could be a significant number of students! Just the waiting list at Duke University included 3,382 applicants. That means the chances of getting into schools off the waiting list their currently on is very slim. Why not go to a school that really wants and needs you?
Here are some colleges that still have availability for the fall:
Here’s the complete list of schools that have not yet filled their freshman classes yet.
Have an opinion on this post? Comments and share!
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7 Easy College Scholarships for High School Seniors
For all you college-bound seniors on the brink of graduation, get ready, because we’ve found 7 great college scholarships that you should apply to today!
You may have already fallen ill with senioritis, but paying for your college education is not an option, and here are 7 easy scholarships to help you start chipping away at that big tuition number.
1. Ayn Rand “Atlas Shrugged” Scholarships
84 scholarships between $50-$10,000 will be awarded to applicants who submit an essay on the book Atlas Shrugged. That much money is definitely worth a book report.
2. Directron.com College Scholarship
If you’re a tech geek, this scholarship should be easy as pie for you. 6 scholarships between $300-$1,000 will be awarded. Deadline’s approaching, so start this one ASAP.
3. The Big Dig Scholarship
Can you think of one item sold in stores today that will be immensely valuable in 200 years? We have a feeling you’ll be able to think of something for a $3,000 scholarship…
4. Share Your Story Scholarship
Got a story to tell? This program is giving away $1,000-$9,000 to 6 applicants.
5. Cardonors.com Scholarship
Looking for an easy, no-stress scholarship to apply to? This $500 scholarship has a super easy application you could complete by the time you finish reading this description!
6. Healthy Lifestyle Scholarship
This $5,000 scholarship is designed to award students who embrace healthy lifestyles. So put down the Funyons for this scholarship.
7. C.I.P. Scholarship
The College is Power scholarship is here to help students pay for tuition, books, room and board, computers or anything else related to your education! With a straightforward application and a deadline approaching, you should apply today!
And juniors! Don’t worry, here are some scholarships that could work for you!
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