FAP591: Mortgage woes, NACUBO, creativity scholarship, mail bag, Munk

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FAP591: Mortgage woes, NACUBO, creativity scholarship, mail bag, Munk

30 July 2007 1 views No Comment

FAP591: Mortgage woes, NACUBO, creativity scholarship, mail bag, Munk

Listen to this episode now:
[audio:http://media.libsyn.com/media/financialaidpodcast/20070730.mp3″>MP3 file

Student Financial Aid News
+ Chronicle: The most popular giveaway at NACUBO among the numerous raffles and games of chance may be the iPhone. Or it could be the chance to play blackjack for a potential prize of a trip for two to Las Vegas. Or it could be the mountain bike. Or the $250 gift certificate to Whole Foods.
+ Those are among the prizes that are being given away to attendees at this year’s annual meeting of the National Association of College and University Business Officers. The prizes are not on an unprecedented scale. Such giveaways are a common practice and have been for years at meetings of this organization and many other trade groups.
+ However, the wide-open marketplace of this meeting stands in stark contrast to a recent meeting of student-loan administrators, whose leadership cracked down on giveaways and parties from corporate sponsors this year. The student-loan industry is a $85-billion-a-year business. But higher education is collectively a $400-billion-a-year industry, according to this group, known as Nacubo. And the 200 or so vendors who filled the exhibit hall at the convention center were trying to get their piece of that enormous pie.
+ The Student Loan Network is not exhibiting or attending NACUBO, but boy do I wish we were.
+ FT: American Home Mortgage Investment said it is delaying paying dividends on its common stock and may delay payments on its preferred shares because banks demanded it put up more cash after the Melville, New York-based mortgage lender wrote down the value of its loan and security portfolios significantly.
+ The move represents one of the first indications that the crisis facing sub-prime mortgage lenders in the US is expanding to affect lenders like American Home Mortgage whose borrowers tend to have higher ‘prime’ ore ‘near prime’ credit ratings.
+ If you’ve been using or leveraging home equity to pay for college, you really should check out the Parent PLUS loan, since it requires no collateral and is federally guaranteed, meaning that you get a great interest rate – 8.5% fixed, with lender forebearances while a student is in school
+ Chronicle: The University of Plymouth, in Britain, has established a region in the virtual world Second Life to educate students about contraception and sexual health. Avatars can even grab free condoms from a dispensing machine.
+ I should mention that virtual condoms do not protect you from either virtual or real STDs.

Scholarship Update
+ California Foundation for Gifted Education provides a scholarship award of $1000 to be given to a gifted high school student enrolling in an institution of higher learning during the next school year. This scholarship has a different emphasis than most; instead of stressing grade point averages, need, or community service, the intent is to support an individual passion for learning or creating.
+ 1. Student must currently be in grade 11 or 12, and attending classes in a recognized California educational setting. (Juniors expecting to participate in an early entrance program at a participating college or university are eligible.)
+ 2. Student must be planning to enter a recognized school of advanced education during the 2008-2009 school year.
+ 3. Student must demonstrate outstanding achievement in a chosen area of talent or giftedness.
+ Details at our free college scholarship search site
+ Scholarship Points alert! We are changing ScholarshipPoints.com drawings to MONTHLY as opposed to quarterly – more opportunities to win!
+ $250 monthly, $1,000 quarterly

Mail Bag
+ Courtney asks: If I receive any outside scholarships, can they be used for room and board or are scholarships strictly for tuition?
+ Depends on the terms of the scholarship
+ Rob asks: So I feel I’m late to the game, but I start a evening part time program at Florida International University Law School in about 2 weeks. I work full time and have a family (and I haven’t been in school for 12 years!) so I sort of forgot about the whole Financial Aid thing. Yes… lame. Any advice? Thanks!
+ File your FAFSA
+ Get a graduate private student loan first
+ Other private student loans at PrivateStudentLoans.com
+ Get a federal student loan to pay off the private
+ Fernanod writes: Hey Chris. I wanted to know if you could answer my question. I have a friend who is a U.S. citizen, but she hasn’t lived in the country for several years. My question is, is she an international student or and out of state student for tuition and other fees?
+ If she has not renounced her citizenship or done anything to have it revoked, then she would not be considered an international student at any US school. The conditions for loss or revocation of citizenship are:
+ http://travel.state.gov/law/citizenship/citizenship_778.html
+ As for out of state, it depends on how the school and state define residency. Generally speaking, you live in the place that your return address on your tax return specifies.