2009 was a tumultuous year for the world of financial aid, from legislative changes to continued market instability. Let’s review the top 10 stories of 2009 as determined by you, our readers, after the break.

Focus on Financial Aid
A number of folks have asked recently about what their financial aid options are if they’re unemployed. Briefly, you have two major options:
1. Deferment. Economic hardship deferment is an entitlement, which means if you qualify, you get it, up to 36 months of no payments on your federal student loans. Note that this does NOT stop interest from accruing – the clock is still ticking every day you’re in deferment.
2. Forbearance. After deferment runs out, some lenders may grant you forbearance, up to 12 months at a …

FAP863: More options if you run into financial aid trouble
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Student Financial Aid News
+ Bloomberg: Just three days after the Fed approved a loan against Bear Stearns securities, Pennsylvania Democratic Representative Paul Kanjorski and 31 other lawmakers sent Bernanke a letter asking him to open the discount window to nonbank education-loan companies. Bernanke refused.
+ Scathing commentary in the Wall Street Journal: First, we will set up a single goal to represent educational success, which will take four years to achieve no matter what is being …

FAP858: FAFSA changes for 2009, record FAFSA applications
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Student Financial Aid News
+ SF Chronicle: Record numbers of college students are lining up for financial aid – and asking for more of it – as the nation’s economic woes hit campuses across the country. Nationally, 8.9 million students filed federal student aid forms during the first half of 2008, a 16.3 percent increase over the same period last year.
+ “What we are seeing is more people filling out requests for financial aid, and for those who …

FAP853: ACG and SMART grant issues, 2009-2010 FAFSA
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Student Financial Aid News
+ Higher Education Act Reauthorization
+ Inside Higher Ed: An audit by the U.S. Education Department’s Office of Inspector General has faulted the agency for not doing enough to reach out to recruit students from all schools for the new Academic Competitiveness Grant and National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent (SMART) Grant Programs. While Education Department officials have previously defended their progress in promoting these programs, the audit found that the department has …

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 …

FAP843: How to pick a student credit card, $25,000 scholarship
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Student Financial Aid News
+ Bloomberg: 9% of companies plan to hire. Wages fall 2.4%. 28% of companies increasing prices. Tough economic times – if you’re on the employment trail, there’s a difficult road ahead in the short term. Read Purple Cow and Free Prize Inside, both by Seth Godin, for ideas on how you can personally weather the slump and help your respective companies turn things around.
+ BusinessWeek: Universities and their alumni associations have discovered …

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FAP838: Student loans and bank failures
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Student Financial Aid News
+ IndyMac Bank failed over the weekend, taken over by the FDIC.
+ NASFAA: “After rushing to enact a law that makes it easier for students to obtain more federal student loans, Congressional leaders and lobbyists for for-profit colleges may now be close to a deal to help those colleges avoid an unintended result of that new law,” The Chronicle of Higher Education reports. “The parties are seeking a measure to keep the colleges from …

FAP821: Financial Aid and Small Business Guest Interview
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I had the opportunity recently to appear on Small Biz Survival, an excellent podcast hosted and produced by Becky McCray. We talked for a few minutes about small business and the FAFSA, the credit score in relation to private student loans, and small town scholarship opportunities.
Here’s the original show notes by Becky at her blog.
Did you enjoy today’s show? If so, please consider subscribing for free to get it delivered to you. Subscribing for free means you …

FAP816: International Student Financial Aid
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Student Financial Aid News
+ Corn hits record prices, tomatoes, all food in general, average gas prices above $4
+ Consider strongly your college’s meal plans as a way to hedge against rising food costs
+ Inside Higher Ed: Sallie Mae, (ticker: SLM) falsely rumored just weeks ago to be on the verge of leaving federal loan programs, issued a statement Tuesday saying that it would be able to provide federal loans to all eligible students at every eligible college and university. The …