FAP851: Earning money using affiliate programs, Cappex scholarships
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Student Financial Aid News
+ Inside Higher Ed: As the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate prepare to vote today on legislation to renew the Higher Education Act, various higher education groups offered their two cents on the merits and drawbacks of the sweeping measure. The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators endorsed the bill, especially its call to increase Pell Grant spending and a change to make the grants available to students year-round. “These increases in …

FAP850: MEFA Massachusetts Student Loan Interview on WGBH Video
I thought I’d publish the actual video from the WGBH interview about MEFA the other day as a download, as opposed to making you watch it only on the web site. The video runs about 8 minutes long, and my thanks go to the staff of WGBH for a great interview and a great studio experience.
Direct video file download: MP4 file
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This time, I and my coworkers at the Student Loan Network made a brief appearance on WCVB Boston 5 about the MEFA student loan issues.

MEFA customers, make sure you’ve maximized your federal student loans such as the Stafford loan and the PLUS loan, and if you still need a private student loan, investigate ours at privatestudentloans.com.
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Reminders
+ Financial …

FAP849: MEFA Private Student Loan troubles, dwindling scholarships
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Student Financial Aid News
+ MEFA shuts down lending for the fall semester – see the video from WGBH, MEFA Student Loan Troubles
+ 40,000 students, parents, and families, over $500M
+ If you had MEFA student loans in the past, or were planning to take out a MEFA private student loan, the Student Loan Network may be able to help – visit www.StudentLoanNetwork.com
+ A disturbing trend I don’t have metrics for yet – the number of scholarships that are …

On September 1, the Financial Aid Podcast will become a weekly show, as opposed to a daily show.
Why?
We’re at a critical time in our economy, in our education system, in our society as a whole. Politics and other transient issues aside, there’s a greater need now than ever before for research & development, for more tools, better financial literacy tools, for more advanced ways of helping students pay for a college education in a way that’s sustainable and affordable. Over the past 3 years, I’ve been able to develop a …

I had the opportunity to speak about the recent MEFA news on WGBH tonight as part of their program, Greater Boston.

If you’ve been affected by MEFA’s withdrawal from lending, the Student Loan Network might – MIGHT – be able to help. Visit www.StudentLoanNetwork.com to see what resources we have available.
Additional MEFA-related coverage:

Boston Globe
Wall Street Journal
Boston Herald
NY Times
Boston Business Journal
WBZ
Boston Metro
Bostonist
NECN

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FAP848: How to shop around for student loans
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Student Financial Aid News
+ NY Times: Banks struggling to recover from multibillion-dollar losses on real estate are curtailing loans to American businesses, depriving even healthy companies of money for expansion and hiring.
+ Two vital forms of credit used by companies — commercial and industrial loans from banks, and short-term “commercial paper” not backed by collateral — collectively dropped almost 3 percent over the last year, to $3.27 trillion from $3.36 trillion, according to Federal Reserve data. That …

FAP847: Payday loans, foreclosures, PLUS loans
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Student Financial Aid News
+ Tons of foreclosure news – foreclosures up 122%, some states tripling or quadrupling
+ If you’re a parent, the new legislation for PLUS loans is in effect – if you need to borrow to pay for education, take a look at the PLUS loan
+ Payday loan alert from yesterday
+ Stafford federal student loans
+ Parent PLUS loans
+ Private student loans
Scholarship Update
+ Create an original Starship Troopers 3: Marauder poster or video Public Service Announcement and be eligible …

Just crossing my desk now from Twitter:

A bunch of payday loan sites are advertising their loans as alternatives for student loans.
Let’s be as clear as we can. Payday loans are NOT student loans, and shouldn’t be used as such.
Payday loans, if you’re unfamiliar with them, are small, short term loans that are borrowed against an upcoming paycheck. Typically, the fees for payday loans are on the order of $15 per $100 borrowed, and the loan is due usually within a few weeks of borrowing it.
Due to the extremely short-term nature …

FAP846: FICO scores, NASFAA survey, cover letters
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Student Financial Aid News
+ An interesting development in private student loans and credit scores
+ NASFAA released a survey of financial aid officers about their concerns over the credit crunch – some highlights:
+ 44% of financial aid officers are very concerned, 46% somewhat
+ 43% think families and students are concerned, 12% very concerned
+ 26% have a backup plan in case funding is not available
+ That data makes ME concerned – if 90% are concerned or very concerned, why do …