Daily Aid 20: A tomato in your financial aid

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Daily Aid 20: A tomato in your financial aid

7 October 2008 1 views One Comment

Daily Aid 20: A tomato in your financial aid

Student Financial Aid News

Community colleges and the government need to do more to make sure that community college students apply for federal student aid, according to a new report by the federal Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance. The report notes that many community college students are eligible for aid but never apply. In many cases, the report says, aid could allow the students to spend more time on their academic work and less time working to earn money — and such a shift in time could have a dramatic impact on completion rates.

Commentary

This is unsurprising. Community college students are the most likely to benefit from federal financial aid, since things like the Pell Grant can cover most of the cost of community college. Outreach is where the focus needs to be in order to increase awareness and eligibility for federal financial aid. The Student Loan Network, of course, is an avid proponent of all college students, regardless of need, filing the FAFSA to ensure that no aid opportunities are missed.

From NASFAA:

“Sen. Charles Schumer says particular attention needs to be paid during the current financial upheaval to make sure the student loan market is protected from the credit crunch,” the Associated Press reports. “The New York senator warned Monday that a tight credit market brings difficulties for students and their families looking to get private school loans to help cover tuition costs. He sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke asking that they pay particular attention to the student loan market as they go forward with the bailout plan approved last week.”

Commentary

No disrespect to the Senator from New York, but the uncomfortable truth is that the student loan world is no more insulated from the economy than any other industry, and as the economy continues to decline, so will everything connected to it.

The Treasury’s broad authority to buy up just about anything with the $700 billion bailout is vague enough to include private student loans, so if the economic crisis does become dire enough to severely impact financial aid, Secretary Paulson will probably attempt to intervene.

Scholarship Update

Central Christian College of the Bible provides a full-tuition scholarship for every full-time student. This scholarship drastically reduces the cost of attending college and provides students the opportunity to graduate without the burden of educational debt. This full-tuition scholarship may last for four or more years, so long as the student is enrolled as a full-time student. Also, this scholarship will increase with any future increases in tuition in order to ensure that 100% of tuition is covered by scholarship.

Details at our free college scholarship search site.

Eye on the Economy

Hat tip to Harvard professor Greg Mankiw and Jefferson’s Monticello for the Mortgage Lifter tomato story:

The Mortgage Lifter tomato was developed in the early 1930’s in Logan, West Virginia by a radiator repairman, M.C. “Radiator Charlie” Byles. Without any experience in breeding, he made a successful cross of four of the largest tomatoes he could find – German Johnson, Beefsteak, an Italian variety, and an English variety. Radiator Charlie sold the first seedlings of his new tomato in the 1940’s for one dollar each to customers who drove up to 200 miles for his famous plants that bore tasty tomatoes averaging two and a half pounds. With these sales, Charlie managed to pay off his $6,000 mortgage in only six years, and so the tomato was named Mortgage Lifter.

You may be wondering why this is at all relevant to financial aid. Here’s why. First, the fact that this tomato is being seen at farmer’s markets (Mankiw’s readers spotted this photo at the Dupont Circle market in Washington, DC) is indeed a sign of the times.

Second, and more important to you, this is a story of an average person taking charge of their situation at one of the darkest times in the American economy and creating prosperity for himself through innovation.

This is the lesson for all of us. As much as we all try to help, as much as companies like the Student Loan Network can, ultimately, your education is your responsibility to achieve and afford.

It’s also an inspiration. An average guy with a radiator repair history innovated enough to be able to make success during the Great Depression. He wasn’t a botanist or a Ph.D. He wasn’t a rocket scientist or from a privileged background, and yet made prosperity literally out of the dirt on the ground.

What will you do to innovate your way to prosperity in the current economy? How will you take charge of your financial and educational destiny?

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