FAP672: Facebook privacy, Scholarship Search Secrets Preview

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Student Financial Aid News
+ Inside Higher Ed: A new loophole was inserted with little notice into federal law last year to provide “financial aid for the rich,” according to U.S. News & World Report. The measure changed the way wealth is calculated to determine financial assets by excluding the assets associated with small businesses with up to 100 full-time employees. The measure is similar to provisions that protect farm owners from having to sell their farms to pay for college, but businesses with up to 100 full-time employees can be much more valuable, allowing some to shelter considerable wealth while qualifying for aid, the magazine said.
+ We actually covered this tip a while back in our interview with Reecy Aresty
+ From the Chronicle: There are hundreds of plug-ins for Facebook, the popular social-networking platform. One lets you display your picks for upcoming college basketball games. Another can help you determine “What Kind of Drunk Are You?”
+ And one of the newest Facebook tools can apparently send your college application to any of hundreds of major institutions (using the Common Application). It’s called the College Planner tool, made by Embark as a way to drum up business.
+ A quick look at the Facebook tool, though, shows that Embark’s experiment in viral marketing might be backfiring with some students. Each Facebook tool allows people to post comments on it, and one student wrote: “this thing doesnt even work, i dont trust applying to college through this.” Others complain that the tool’s drop-down menus don’t contain the college majors they are considering.
+ Embark is also a company acquired this year by student loan lender MRU Holdings – so be aware if you use the Facebook application that you are turning over your college admissions data to a company owned by a student loan provider.
+ “We may share some or all of the information we collect, as described above, with affiliated companies and with third parties (i.e. nonaffiliated companies) as permitted by law. For example, we may share some or all of the information we collect with the following types of affiliated companies and third parties:
+ Companies with whom we conduct joint marketing campaigns;
+ Companies that provide products and/or services, such as companies engaged in banking, credit cards, consumer finance, consumer computer products, travel, insurance, as well as other direct marketers and retailers;
+ Companies that perform services on our behalf; and
+ Other third parties as required by law, such as in response to a subpoena.
+ I’m not saying don’t use it, I’m saying know what you’re getting into.

Scholarship Update
+ Minority Scholarship Awards for College Students
+ Applicants must be AIChE national student members at the time of application, undergraduates in chemical engineering during the 2007-2008 academic year, and members of a minority group (i.e. African-American, Hispanic, Native American, or Alaskan Native) that is underrepresented in chemical engineering. Students may apply who will complete the chemical engineering baccalaureate degree requirements in mid-year (i.e., after one semester, or one or two quarters), but such applicants, if successful, will receive prorated awards. The selection of recipients will be based on the applicant’s academic record, participation in AIChE student and professional activities, career objectives, and financial need.
+ Deadline May 15 of each year
+ $1,000 award x 10 awards
+ Details at our free college scholarship search site

Scholarship Search Secrets Preview
+ Tip #3 – constructing your scholarships portfolio
+ From the upcoming eBook, Scholarship Search Secrets Fourth Edition

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Reminders
+ Financial Aid Podcast Show Notes at FinancialAidNews.com.
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