Read this month’s Financial Aid Newsletter to learn more about FAFSA changes, plus how to compare private student loans, get federal loans, and find more scholarships.

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.

Financial Aid Podcast 935: FAFSA verification, tuition increases, holiday free stuff
Download the MP3 file now.
Weekly Financial Aid Roundup
From NASFAA:
More than three in four college financial aid offices reported an increase in the number of cases where they must verify information on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), according to NASFAA’s latest Quick-Scan Survey. The increase in the number of verification cases was more likely to affect two-year colleges and low-income students.
From Smart Money:
Although most universities won’t announce their new financial aid budgets until February, schools are clearly nervous. …

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 …

Financial Aid Podcast 933: ECASLA, UC Tuition, $10,000 Scholarship, Free Stuff
Download the MP3 file here.
Weekly Financial Aid Roundup
We’ve moved! The Financial Aid Podcast, as part of the Student Loan Network, will be a part of FinancialAidNews.com. Why? We’re looking to make FinancialAidNews.com an even bigger part of the world of financial aid and the podcast is now a part of that larger plan. Look in the coming weeks and months for more audio, more video, and more rich media resources as part of the new FinancialAidNews.com, now with podcast goodness.
The …

Student Financial Aid News
Want some really decent industry perspectives on the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility (SAFRA) act? Check out this article from Today’s Campus, which contains a series of interviews about the legislation and what it means. Some interesting quotes about the legislation:

“If you could make one change to those loans today, what would it be? Lower the interest rate on student and parent loans to bring them closer to market rates. They are presently almost double market rates. There is a huge element of unfairness here. …

Edvisors CMO Christopher Penn presented this session on Financial Literacy 2.0 at the Massachusetts Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators Annual 2009 Conference.
To get the most out of the presentation, watch it with a friend or colleague and participate in the exercises during the presentation. Take careful notes about your answers in the exercises and consider using the exercises in your own financial literacy presentations.
Video
Slides
Financial Literacy 2.0
View more presentations from financialaidpodcast.

If you’d like to re-use this video or the slides, please honor the Creative Commons license and provide a link …

FAP932: Scholarship craziness, heavy metal Hanukkah, MASFAA 2009
Download the MP3 file here.
Weekly Financial Aid Roundup
Why does college cost so much?
Merit based scholarships getting the axe.
Scholarship Update
Entertainment abounds in the results of our $10,000 scholarship. We hope to have a confirmed winner really soon.
In the meantime, our next $10,000 scholarship deadline is December 15.
Focus on Financial Aid
Notes from MASFAA.
Community colleges are seeing huge unprecedented enrollment numbers because of families’ financial situations
It is important for fin aid professionals to educate parents and help them understand why they may not qualify for aid
Personal …

Student Financial Aid News
From NASFAA:
“Two William & Mary professors tackle the ‘hot-button issue’ of the skyrocketing cost of higher education in a new book to be published by Oxford University Press next year,” Motley Fool reports. Author David Feldman says that he and his colleague Robert Archibald have developed new evidence suggesting that increases in federal financial aid actually lower the list price of tuition. “You need to understand that college is a service. As opposed to manufacturing, where labor is just one input in pricing and improvements in productivity …

Scholarships are a desirable type of financial aid because they don’t have to be paid back like student loans do. But do scholarships represent potentially taxable income? Some do, while others don’t.
Always check with a tax professional – but generally, a scholarship may be tax free if:

The student is a “candidate for a degree.” The term is defined broadly. Students attending primary and secondary schools can qualify, as can students pursuing degrees at colleges or universities or attending certain occupational training or continuing education programs.
The …