Daily Aid 88: Massachusetts College Goal Sunday aftermath
I had the opportunity yesterday to meet with the Massachusetts College Goal Sunday team and review how our efforts in January went. By all numbers, Massachusetts was up 40% for families attending the event, which is a huge win for the program as it heads into its fifth year. A few interesting takeaways:
- college financial aid administrators are noting increases in applications from every part of the income spectrum, from families with nothing to families who were previously exceptionally well-off but have taken …

Daily Aid 87: President Obama: finish high school, one more year of higher ed
Student Financial Aid News
Last night, President Obama remarked:
Right now, three-quarters of the fastest-growing occupations require more than a high school diploma, and yet just over half of our citizens have that level of education. We have one of the highest high school dropout rates of any industrialized nation, and half of the students who begin college never finish.
This is a prescription for economic decline, because we know the countries that out-teach us today will out-compete us tomorrow. …

Daily Aid 86: Paying full price for college at a premium
Student Financial Aid News
From Boston.com:
As colleges and universities provide more financial aid to families hit by the recession, they are also more likely to give wealthier students preference in admissions and scholarships to help offset that extra cost, according to college administrators and consultants.
“The full-pay kid this year is going to be at a premium,” said Frank Vellaccio, senior vice president at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, which does not consider finances in admissions decisions. “Those students …

Daily Aid 85: Taxing online degrees, financial aid scams
Student Financial Aid News
From NASFAA:
“People claiming to represent the U.S. Education Department are calling students to offer scholarships and grants,” the Star-Telegram reports. “The callers ask for a bank or credit-card number, saying the information will be used for a $249 processing fee. But it’s a fake. … ‘Do not give your financial information to individuals making these claims,’ the department warns. If you receive a call, report it to 1-800-MIS-USED, or send an e-mail to oig.hotline@ed.gov. The government Web site www.ftc.gov/scholarshipscams …

Here’s the recording from the most recent Sunday Night Financial Aid.
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Enjoy!

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Reminders
+ Financial Aid Podcast Show Notes at FinancialAidNews.com.
+ Free scholarship search secrets eBook at StudentScholarshipSearch.com/ebook
+ Online degrees programs and directories at Edvisors.com
+ Free college scholarships contests!
+ Stafford loans | Other federal student loans
+ Parent PLUS …

I’m on the road today, out of the office, but wanted to answer a few questions along the way.
Jeff writes:
For My sons FASFA I indicated on campus housing but just realized that at Vir Tech second years students must find off campus housing. Which he has. Should I make the correction or leave as is?
Cost of attendance for on or off campus is probably very close, though I can’t tell from VT’s web site. I would go ahead and update the FAFSA just to be accurate in case of verification, …

Daily Aid 83: How I almost fell for a scam and saved myself
Student Financial Aid News
From the Chronicle:
The association for student-aid officials is urging the Education Department to rescind a decision, announced in the Bush administration’s final days, to end a program in which college financial-aid offices may use experimental approaches in the awarding and delivery of aid to students.
In a letter on Friday to Arne Duncan, the secretary of education, the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators says the program has allowed more than 100 two- and four-year …

Daily Aid 82: Massive identity theft scam warning
It’s President’s Day here, which means that normal stuff like banking and financial stuff is closed for the day. Not only is the Student Loan Network open, but we’re blowing the lid off of a very well done scam that has the potential to hook a lot of people. It’s like most other email scams – only someone actually put time and effort into this one.
It starts with a deceptively simple email purportedly from the IRS – which of course in this tax …

FAP899: Correction on FAFSA dependency overrides, jobs, free stuff
Listen now:[audio:http://media.libsyn.com/media/financialaidpodcast/20090213.mp3″>MP3 file
Weekly Financial Aid Roundup
There’s an epilogue to last week’s CNBC story.
What to do if your student loan company goes out of business!
Mail Bag
Robin, a financial aid administrator, wrote in with this vitally important update about FAFSA dependency overrides:
For Dependency Overrides the Federal guidelines are extremely clear. Being self-supporting is NOT grounds for an override.
Instead you must prove INVOLUNTARY DISSOLUTION OF THE FAMILY. This means you were forced to leave your parents’ home and have no contact with them. You must …

Daily Aid 81: How to automate followups for job hunting, stimulus, student loan consolidation
Student Financial Aid News
Yesterday, Congress came to an agreement on the final version of the stimulus package. Unfortunately, no one has any idea what’s actually in it. We do know some more education stuff got trimmed; I would hope the provision for increased unsubsidized Stafford Loan limits to have survived since there is no net taxpayer cost, but we’ll see.
From NASFAA:
“[T”>MP3 filehe credit crunch hit, and the market for student loans dried up. The freeze has left …