Financial Aid Podcast

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Mon, 07 May 2007 08:58:04 -0700

NASFAA National Conversation Initiative at MASFAA Annual Conference

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 22:58:56 -0800

Dr. Philip R. Day presents at the MASFAA annual conference in the National Conversation Initiative.

The National Conversation Initiative (NCI) is NASFAA's campaign to increase college access and success for low-income, minority, first-generation, and other disadvantaged students by improving the U.S. financial aid system. Recommendations received during town hall listening sessions and comments from the higher education community will be analyzed and developed into final recommendations and suggested policies and courses of action. The enactment of solutions is the ultimate goal of the conversation and the campaign.

This video is especially for fellow financial aid administrators and colleagues, though students and parents will still get a good sense of how the financial aid industry perceives the challenges facing it.

Recorded and distributed with express permission of Dr. Day and NASFAA.

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Reminders
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+ Financial Aid Podcast Show Notes at FinancialAidPodcast.com.
+ Free scholarship search secrets eBook at StudentScholarshipSearch.com/ebook
+ Online degrees programs and directories at Edvisors.com
+ Free college scholarships contests!
+ Open an FDIC-insured savings account today!
+ Stafford federal student loans at StaffordLoan.com
+ Parent PLUS loans at ParentPLUSLoan.com
+ Graduate student loans at GradLoans.com
+ Private student loans available at any time - visit PrivateStudentLoans.com
+ FAFSA form tutorials and free help at FAFSAonline.com
+ The Financial Aid Podcast is a publication of the Student Loan Network.

I want to hear from you! Send me your comments, questions, and feedback using this handy contact form!

Daily Aid 46: Internships, Philadelphia scholarships lost

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 22:58:56 -0800

Daily Aid 46: Internships, Philadelphia scholarships lost

Student Financial Aid News

From NASFAA and the Chronicle of Higher Education:

"Cooperative education helps students beef up their r

Daily Aid 45: Saving vs. investing, 2009 student crunch

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 03:08:45 -0800

Daily Aid 45: Saving vs. investing, 2009 student crunch

Student Financial Aid News

From NASFAA and the Wall Street Journal:

Florida's state universities, squeezed early by the slumping economy's effect on tax revenues, instituted a three-year cap on freshman enrollment last year. The mammoth California State University system -- with 450,000 students -- has announced plans to reduce its head count by up to 10,000 students for the next school year. Absent a boost in state funding, the smaller, more-selective University of California system has warned of a similar reduction. Enrollment limits are also under consideration in Tennessee and Washington.

"As public colleges grapple with reductions in state funding, the prospect of reduced access to higher education is looking more likely," The Wall Street Journal reports. "[T]he pressures are threatening to restrict access to higher education at a time when the economic crisis is driving more Americans to seek new degrees or additional training, a common reaction in a downturn. College enrollment typically increases during a recession, but some observers wonder whether a continuing slump will actually keep enrollment numbers down next fall."

Commentary

This will be an interesting challenge - will the largest incoming class in history face fewer seats than ever? If so, combined with already slated tuition increases will make competition and therefore pricing for college higher than ever. This is yet another wrinkle in the coming financial aid crisis, and an unwelcome one.

Start planning out your financial aid now for 2009. Chances are you're going to need more than ever, from scholarships to grants to federal student loans and possibly private student loans.

From the New York Times:

The rising cost of college -- even before the recession -- threatens to put higher education out of reach for most Americans, according to the annual report from the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education.

Over all, the report found, published college tuition and fees increased 439 percent from 1982 to 2007, adjusted for inflation, while median family income rose 147 percent. Student borrowing has more than doubled in the last decade, and students from lower-income families, on average, get smaller grants from the colleges they attend than students from more affluent families.

"If we go on this way for another 25 years, we won't have an affordable system of higher education," said Patrick M. Callan, president of the center, a nonpartisan organization that promotes access to higher education.

Commentary

We don't have an affordable system of higher education now, compared to other first world countries. A look across the ocean at Europe shows that while some nations are moving towards a for-profit model, many nations still subsidize the higher education of their citizens, understanding full well that a dollar (or euro or krona) invested today in a citizen is likely to yield many more in both GDP and tax revenue down the road.

Scholarship Update

MPI Scholarship Program. College Education Funding is money designated for college work towards undergraduate or graduate degrees and requires acceptance in a program of study. The application deadline for the next major funding for the academic year is March 31, 2009. However, additional money could be available in the fund, so applications are accepted throughout the year. Application for these scholarships must be made a minimum of three (3) months early so as to meet your needed deadline. For example: If you are attending a winter semester, you must submit your application three (3) months minimum before you need to know if you received an award. Please see the following for specific qualifications for our current Category I scholarship fund.

Details at our free college scholarship search site.

Eye on the Economy: Investing is not saving

A bit of a rant as I hear more questions from families about 529 savings plans and other investment vehicles for putting money aside.

Investing is not saving. Investing is a form of gambling.

Saving is setting money aside with a goal - preservation of capital. Whatever you put into savings, you expect there to be that much when you go to find it later. Put $20 under a mattress, and when you come back, there should still be $20 there. Put $20 into a savings account (disclosure: paid link) and there should always be $20 available to you.

We've gotten confused. We've confused saving and investing, believing that saving should provide yield or pay interest. While savings accounts have paid interest in the past (and still do today), typically the interest paid doesn't even keep up with inflation, so we've looked for more and more ways to improve the interest we're paid on our savings.

Here's where we get into trouble. There are investment vehicles masquerading as savings vehicles, and they're not. A 401K is not a savings account. A 529 college investment plan is not a savings account. Why? The definition I use for an investment vs. savings is that in an investment, there is a non-trivial chance of you losing the principal. That is, put $100 into an investment and when you come back, you may have $96 or $125 or $0.

Saving: a very small chance of losing your principal, or original money.
Investing: a greater chance of losing your principal.

What a lot of families are realizing today, with the market and economy the way they are, is that 529 college plans and 401k retirement plans are very much investments, and they're losing value rapidly.

If you're in this situation, what should you be doing? Three things. First, talk to your financial planner about reallocating your investments or cashing them out if you need the money soon, within a year or two. If you don't have a financial planner, get one. Many community banks and credit unions have one on staff that's free or has a nominal fee for customers.

Second, looking towards the future, be very careful about what you do with your money. Saving money is important, absolutely. Consider how you want to save it, and whether preservation of capital is more important than growth of an investment. Know the difference between saving and gambling so that you can make smart financial decisions no matter where you are in life.

Third, start saving. Even if it's just a dollar a week, start putting money aside as you can. The more you save, the more room you have in tough times. Just as the current recession can't last forever, neither can the best of times. Save in tough times as you can, and save aggressively during good times.

Full disclosure: I am not a certified financial planner, CPA, or hold any form of certification or qualification for financial advising. As with all financial advice you find on the Internet, take it with a grain of salt and understand that you are solely responsible for the choices you make.

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Daily Aid 43: Financial aid crisis arrives, December scholarships

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 05:43:39 -0800

Daily Aid 43: Financial aid crisis arrives, December scholarships

Student Financial Aid News

From NASFAA and the Wall Street Journal:

"As Americans curb their spending and battle to keep up with credit cards and mortgages, another type of debt is starting to overtake people: student loans," The Wall Street Journal reports. "Although the U.S. has experienced economic downturns before, never has one converged with such high levels of student debt. The fear is that default rates on student loans will increase, as seen in the mortgage and credit-card worlds. This time around, lenders - both federal and private - are working with borrowers to renegotiate loan terms to keep default rates low."

Commentary

I would wholly expect defaults to increase on student loans. To combat this, students, especially college graduates, should look at deferment, forbearance, and student loan consolidation as measures to stave off default. We've got a helpful library of forms that will assist you in filing for any of these three options.

From NASFAA and the Sentinel Journal:

"Rheannon Gustafson could be a harbinger of things to come," The Journal Sentinel reports. "Even after receiving federal loans, the 19-year-old freshman from Salem still owes about $3,200 for tuition and expenses at Winona State University in Minnesota this semester. Her parents can't afford to fill the gap - they filed for bankruptcy this year. Neither Gustafson nor her parents can get private loans, because lenders have tightened standards during the credit crunch. Gustafson couldn't find a job near school that could cover the bill. This perfect storm of economic circumstances has caused Gustafson and her parents to decide she's dropping out after her first semester."

Commentary

The coming financial aid crisis is no longer coming. It has now arrived. If you haven't already talked to your college's financial aid office and applied for as much financial aid as you can, now is the time to do it. Reports like this will only become more prevalent in the days and weeks to come.

Scholarship Update

The Hispanic Scholarship Fund has done a fabulous job of documenting awards that open up their application periods in December of 2008. Make sure you check out the list and apply for as many as you're eligible for!

Details at our free college scholarship search site.

Mail Bag

Tosha writes:

If you get married say in September of the year before and your new spouses income is extremely high but you didn't live with them, how come they still use their income?

The FAFSA uses their income because the government's formula assumes that your spouse will be supporting you.

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Daily Aid 44: 2009-2010 FAFSA eBook Special Announcement

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 05:43:38 -0800

Daily Aid 44: 2009-2010 FAFSA eBook Special Announcement

I'm proud to say that after an incredible amount of labor, research, and collaboration, my new FAFSA Guide eBook is published and ready for your enjoyment. It's 47 pages, a line by line guide to the 2009-2010 FAFSA, and will help you pay for college. It's also totally and completely free.

Download your copy here.

If you are a financial aid administrator, high school guidance counselor, or other representative of an institution of higher education, please link and share the eBook with your students. This guide will help them complete the FAFSA correctly and quickly!

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FAP888: Rachel Schmidt, Cleveland State University Interview

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 23:48:31 -0800

FAP888: Rachel Schmidt, Cleveland State University Interview

Listen now:

Expert Interview

I had a chance recently to speak with the director of financial aid at Cleveland State University, Rachel Schmidt, about all kinds of financial aid advice, from finding scholarships to College Goal Sunday to appealing your financial aid award for more aid. A terrific 27 minute interview!

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Happy Thanksgiving and leftovers

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 23:48:30 -0800

As we celebrate Thanksgiving this year, please consider this super-easy leftovers tip: whatever you don't need, whatever's extra, please donate to a local food pantry, soup kitchen, or homeless shelter. Even just an extra can of cranberry sauce or can of coffee makes a difference, and it's so easy to do.

Don't know where the nearest one is? Use this Google Maps query. Go to maps.google.com and type:

food pantry near your town, your state / zip code

Example:

food pantry near 02169
food pantry near Quincy, MA

You might want to call ahead and ask if they accept actual leftovers; some pantries require food to be unopened for safety.

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Daily Aid 42: Tuition and preparedness, jobs, mailbag

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 19:21:29 -0800

Daily Aid 42: Tuition and preparedness, jobs, mailbag

Student Financial Aid News

A few days ago, the state of South Carolina's student loan agency announced that it would no longer be able to meet private student loan needs beginning as early as spring of 2009. As always, feel free to check out www.PrivateStudentLoans.com, a Student Loan Network site, for additional options.

One of the quieter discussion topics at the recent MASFAA conference was on the topic of preparedness for college. It was pointed out by many that if you're academically unprepared for college, you're better off doing some preparatory work in a community college or other transitional program rather than pay full tuition and expenses for an extra year of catching up to other peers. If you're not sure you're ready for college, take an online course or even a free course in iTunesU to judge for yourself. If you feel lost after even just a couple of sessions, it may be an indicator that you need to do some transition work - and you won't have to pay full price.

From NASFAA:

"The national and regional recession is putting many college students in a stagnant position: They may not be able to afford college because their family households are losing income, but then they may struggle to find jobs once they do graduate," The Citizen-Times reports. "According to Marjorie Ellis, director of career planning at Appalachian State University, the job market is down, and it's showing on campus. The Career Development Center has had a couple of companies cancel interviews citing the current state of the economy and the effect it is having on their business."

Changing times require changing measures to stay ahead of the pack. Make sure you check out our Killer Cover Letter eBook and LinkedIn techniques video to keep your career prospects moving ahead.

Scholarship Update

Today's feature is the Amigas Latinas for College directory, a well organized niche scholarship directory focusing just on Hispanic women's scholarships.

Details at our free college scholarship search site.

Mail Bag

Fawn writes in:

I am an US citizen but I would like to go to grad school abroad, can I still qualify for financial aid?

It depends on the graduate school. A select few schools are Title IV certified, which means they're recognized by the US government and US financial aid can be applied there. Some other foreign schools also have tuition agreements with US universities, where you pay your bills at a US school but attend overseas. Check with the school you're thinking about attending for more information.

Adri writes in:

What paper work is required to show to prove that I am supporting myself?

Typically, for a professional judgement override, a financial aid administrator will ask to see rent, utilities bills, and other forms of identification which establish you living on your own at a separate place from your parents.

Mel writes in:

I am a 22 year old student. I have been living on my own for 3 years and yes I have had the FAFSA problem. I say if I am old enough to gamble money in Vegas, I should be old enough to be considered an Independent person. Who made this law? Why 24? My parents don't pay anything for me nor do they have the money to pay for school. I tried the override thing but schools are tougher than ever and I didn't get any help. I have a friend who had parents pass away and I am helping her. She lives with me and I am supporting more than 50%. Will this be considered in my FAFSA? Have any advice?

The law was made by Congress in the Higher Education Act and regulatory interpretation set up by the US Department of Education. If your financial aid advisor was unable to help, you may want to approach your school's director of financial aid with the appropriate documentation and make your case there. Be prepared with tons of paperwork!

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FAP887: Scholarship Search Secrets at MASFAA

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 23:26:19 -0800

Enjoy this session at MASFAA, and please feel free to share it.

Scholarship Search Secrets

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Direct link to MP4 video file.

Download the Scholarship Search Secrets eBook for free here.

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Yes You Can: An open message to my colleagues

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 23:26:17 -0800

The #1 question I receive at conferences and events from financial aid administrators and others is, "Can we share your stuff/link to your web site?".

Yes, you can.

In fact, I encourage you to do so. Please free free to share the Scholarship Search Secrets eBook at www.studentscholarshipsearch.com/ebook. Please feel free to share the Financial Aid Podcast. Please feel free to share our many resources at the Student Loan Network. Feel free to link directly to any of our web sites.

As I write in our eBooks, explicit permission is granted to anyone employed at an institution of higher education, non-profit agency, or advocacy group to share with your audience any of the resources we've made public and link to any of our web sites. You don't need to ask in advance to link to us or download & share our eBooks and other materials.

Yes, you can.

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Daily Aid 41: MASFAA Financial Aid Conference Day 2

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 13:35:32 -0800

Still on the road today, attending the last day of the MASFAA financial aid conference. Some insights from yesterday...

The state of Massachusetts so far has not cut budgets for financial aid for FY09, which is good news for Massachusetts students. That said, with the current economic pressures, that status is not guaranteed in the coming year. At the same time, Massachusetts colleges, especially public and community colleges, are reporting record enrollments. One community college leader reported that they were bursting at the seams, saying that enrollments were challenging their resources.

At a regional update, many financial aid administrators reported they are starting to receive more appeals for financial aid than normal in the last two weeks. Students are asking for more aid because of economic pressures on their families.

There were a ton of debt numbers with regard to college students in the financial literacy session. A few select ones:

- Over 60% of first year college students max out their first credit card within a year.
- Indebted adults between 18-24 pay on average 30 cents of every dollar earned on debt.
- Over 1/3 of college students graduate with $10K or more in credit card debt. Not student loans - credit card debt.
- Over 25% of college students regularly pay late fees on credit cards.

During a conversation about scholarships, one of my colleagues pointed out that 2008 scholarships and endowments were already funded at the end of 2007, which means that 2008 scholarships are largely unaffected by the economy. Not so for 2009 - so expect scholarship hunting to be a lot more competitive, with many more students chasing potentially fewer dollars. Be prepared for this by hunting now - add December 31 to your scholarship search queries to see if you can round up some last end-of-year scholarships now.

Finally, this coming year is going to be one in which you'll need a good relationship with your financial aid officer. Between new latitude for professional judgements and new economic pressures, that relationship could mean quite a bit.

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Daily Aid 40: The MASFAA Financial Aid Conference, Day 1

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 22:28:11 -0800

Daily Aid 40: The MASFAA Financial Aid Conference, Day 1

It's been a fascinating and somewhat troubling time here at MASFAA, the Massachusetts Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. Fascinating because I've picked up a ton of useful information about changes in financial aid, gotten great feedback on the Scholarship Search Secrets eBook and the FAFSA Guide eBook that we publish, changes in financial aid procedures, and other great tips from colleagues about how to handle certain situations.

A few changes I thought especially noteworthy:

- The FAFSA changes for this year that are significant, such as dislocated worker and homeless youth, have no official documentation for verification, which means that financial aid administrators and government officials are having to create forms for documentation.

- Professional judgement overrides for financial aid administrators have been made more flexible, including an unusual override that lets a student borrow up to the full amount of an unsubsidized Stafford loan without the FAFSA.

- Convicted sex offenders no longer qualify for the Pell Grant. However, there's no process in place to document or verify who is or is not.

- There are a lot of ambiguities around the labor language for dislocated workers. For example, who is underemployed vs. unemployed. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has some measures, but do BLS/Department of Labor definitions apply to the Department of Education?

- For colleges that use institutional methodology for determining financial aid need, there will now be discrepancies between that method and federal methodology, which is what the Department of Education uses. Some of the items that the federal methodology eliminated, such as foreign income, are still used by institutional methodology, which means that some students will have different need levels depending on what college they apply to.

Because of the many regulatory and procedural changes in the upcoming year, the most important piece of advice I can give is that it's vital, absolutely essential, that you have a good relationship with your school's financial aid office. Do your level best to be on great terms, first-name basis, with your financial aid counselors and staff, because with all of the ambiguities and interpretations for the new changes, that relationship may determine how much help you get.

There are some other, smaller bits of information which will find their way into the FAFSA guide and other publications, blogs, and newsletters in the days and weeks to come, but these were some of the highlights from the event so far. Today is day 2, and lots more to study and learn.

As for troubling, in many private conversations with my colleagues, there's been a great deal of concern about the economy and where things are headed. The general consensus is that financial aid in the year ahead will be asked to do more than ever with fewer resources than ever, and that's a tall order in any environment, much less in the current economy. We'll see what's ahead, and as always, you'll get the news first from the Student Loan Network and the Financial Aid Podcast.

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FAP886: Mark Nazario, Cleveland State University Interview

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 05:33:43 -0800

FAP886: Mark Nazario, Cleveland State University Interview

Listen now:

Expert Interview

I had a chance recently to speak with the director of undergraduate admissions at Cleveland State University, Mark Nazario, about getting into college, what's important, what's not, and what students should be doing to improve their chances of getting into the school of their choice. A terrific 18 minute interview!

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MASFAA 2008 Financial Aid Conference

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 05:33:42 -0800

I'm had the opportunity to share some materials at the Massachusetts Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators 2008 annual conference, and materials from my presentations are here for you to enjoy. If you attended one of my sessions, thank you so much for being a part of the sessions, and please give me feedback about how the session materials can be more useful to you, as well as how the Student Loan Network can better help you!

One question that came up after the sessions was whether or not you could share any of this or link to it - yes, absolutely. You don't need permission to do that - please DO link to the eBook and share it with as many students as you want, put the link into presentations for financial aid nights, however you want to share it, please do.

I also want to say a special thanks to the Conference Committee and MASFAA leadership for the opportunity to share some of the stuff I'm doing with the Student Loan Network, and I hope to see you at an upcoming PD&T or financial aid event soon, like Massachusetts College Goal Sunday!

eBooks references

Scholarship Search Secrets eBook
2009-2010 FAFSA Line By Line Guide eBook

Scholarship Search Secrets slides

Scholarship Search Secrets

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Scholarship Search Secrets Video

Social Networks and You slides

MASFAA Social Networks and You

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Social Networks and You video

Web Site Hot Seat/Web Site Live Demo slides

MASFAA Web Site Hot Seat

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Web Site Hot Seat/Web Site Live Demo video

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Daily Aid 39: Twitter scholarship, no bailout for student loans yet

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 10:25:57 -0800

Daily Aid 39: Twitter scholarship, no bailout for student loans yet

Student Financial Aid News

From Bloomberg:

The Bush administration told congressional aides it won't ask lawmakers to release $350 billion remaining as part of the $700 billion U.S. financial- rescue package, people familiar with the matter said.

The administration of President George W. Bush ends in less than 10 weeks, and a delay in submitting a request to lawmakers would leave it to President-elect Barack Obama to tap remaining funds in the bailout fund.

Commentary

For those hoping or waiting for bailout funds for the student loan industry, especially for private student loans, the wait will be longer, at least until the Obama transitional government is seated on January 20, 2009. What does this mean for you? Unless the existing allocated funds from the bailout find their way to student lending, what we see is what we get for the moment. That means that federal student loans like the Stafford loan and parent PLUS loan remain plentiful, and private student loans remain restricted to only those with outstanding credit.

Some companies will turn over budgets and credit lines as the calendar rolls over, which is worth noting, but for the time being, assume that the credit crisis will continue to restrict availability of lending across the board.

Scholarship Update

This is really cool. We've profiled the Truman Foundation Scholarship before, but now they're keeping applicants up to date about the process via Twitter.

Here's the scholarship itself, valued at $30,000.

Here's their Twitter account. What a clever way to keep candidates informed that's lightweight and simple!

From the site:

Our updates could include everything from "Sending a mass email on appeals process." to "Notifying the Nashville Finalists by email." We will post if we have difficulty with our server or email. We will also post answers to frequently asked questions and make announcements about additions to the website. For those Faculty Reps who worry about missing updates, it is a good way to reduce anxiety during the application cycle. Everyone will know exactly where we are in the process at all time.

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The Perfect Senior Project

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 10:25:56 -0800

Over dinner with Professor Mark Frydenberg of Bentley University, the topic came up about how new media could be used as part of a senior project. Here's an idea I'd love to throw out to other college seniors and students to see what you think. We know new media is powerful. You have unparalleled access to some of the smartest people in the world, some of the most well connected. At the same time, as a college senior, you're looking to do something to make your mark on the world right away, because distinction will set you apart from the millions of other degree holders graduating this year. Distinction will help you land a job, perhaps even get you an offer before you start looking.

So what could you do as a senior in marketing, business, or information systems? Try making a real-life case study of new media put to use. Pick a local charity that needs the help, and focus an all-out campaign on raising money for that charity using all of the new media tools and connections that you've got. Figure out how to find potential donors on Twitter and LinkedIn, gather allies and collaborate using Facebook and Google Docs, and use the opportunity for a senior project to make the world a better place. The charity will benefit, your community will benefit, and you'll have something for your LinkedIn profile that you can be super proud of.

5 most recent Financial Aid Podcast posts

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Daily Aid 38: FastWeb student loan survey, financial aid crisis

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:29:59 -0800

Daily Aid 38: FastWeb student loan survey, financial aid crisis

Student Financial Aid News

You might not know this, but I'm also the editor of FAFSAonline.com, our free FAFSA guide web site. We're getting ready to update the site for the 2009-2010 FAFSA and need your help. If you've used FAFSAonline.com, please leave feedback and suggestions on this blog post today so that we know what to do to make the site even better.

From Inside Higher Ed:

A national survey by FastWeb, a free scholarship identification service, found high percentages of students and families being rejected for just about every type of student loan. FastWeb acknowledged the dangers of selection bias in its survey and those who are satisfied with the availability of aid may be unlikely to use its services. But the large numbers of students who do suggest some significant numbers of families are experiencing loan rejections.

Commentary

Interesting that in the survey results, parents are being denied a federal PLUS loan at a rate of 55%. PLUS loans have much looser restrictions for credit history than private student loans, which means that at least for the audience sampled by FastWeb, consumer credit histories and ratings have deteriorated far more than is generally known.

Here's an important fact that is often overlooked. If a parent is denied a PLUS loan for any reason, the student immediately becomes eligible for additional Stafford loans, as if they were an independent student. If your parents are certain they'll be declined for a PLUS loan based on poor credit, this may be a way to get additional federal student loan money.

From The Albany Times Union:

Kathy Gailor, the Director of Financial Aid at the University of Bridgeport, commented on a hypothetical situation where federal aid was restricted in addition to the drying up of private loans:

"If there is a severe cutback in federal aid, students should immediately investigate the numerous private scholarship opportunities that exist. Many of these scholarships go un-rewarded every year despite the fact that a simple two page essay may be all that's required to apply. In addition, students should start looking for summer jobs now rather than, as in the past, waiting until Spring to begin the search."

Charlene J. Haykel, Managing Principal of the The Haykel Group, suggests high school parents should "borrow from the cash value of their life insurance policies; take an early distribution Roth IRA (if parents have one) but only after financial aid has been awarded so it won

FAP885: Financial aid crisis, student loans, free stuff

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 12:30:53 -0800

FAP885: Financial aid crisis, student loans, free stuff

Listen now:

Weekly Financial Aid Roundup

Federal student loan programs get a shot in the arm.

A massive overview of the new GI bill.

The Coming Financial Aid Crisis, Part 2.

Scholarship of the Week

The Assumption College Merit Scholarship Program was established to reflect the College's commitment to upholding a campus culture that champions academic excellence and student leadership. Scholarships of up to $20,000 are awarded to students whose high school records demonstrate strong academic achievement, leadership, and potential for success at Assumption College. All students who apply and are admitted to Assumption College are considered for these awards. Presidential Scholars will receive scholarships of $20,000. These scholarships are guaranteed for four years, provided the recipient maintains the required level of academic achievement at Assumption.

Details at our free college scholarship search site.

Jobcast

With the most recent jobs report showing significant weakness, there's never been a better time to focus on improving your personal career network. Start by using LinkedIn to build out your profile and gather recommendations, then hit up social networks. Check out this video tutorial on powering your LinkedIn profile.

Mail Bag

Kelle writes in:

I've been thinking about getting my Masters degree, but I'd need to get some financial aid to do it. What's the chances of me actually getting funding these days?

For graduate Stafford loans, your chances are excellent. There's also the graduate PLUS loan to cover the remainder of the cost of education. Those are also widely available and can cover up to the cost of education.

For graduate private student loans, those are much harder to come by. Thankfully, the graduate PLUS loan can do exactly the same thing.

Be sure to do some exhaustive scholarship searches for your master's degree as well. Whereas a lot of undergraduate scholarships focus on need, graduate scholarships and fellowships tend to focus on field of study.

Free Stuff Friday

Free Christina Aguilera perfume.

Free 8

How to raise money for the Student Platinum savings challenge

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 12:30:52 -0800

I've been watching the Student Platinum $500 Savings Challenge bloggers for a few days now, and something interesting has struck me.

Everyone is talking about how they'll save money, about how they've committed to putting money aside. Except for a few folks doing the soda can recycling thing, no one is talking about how to bring more money in the door. Saving is easier when you have more money to work with - which seems like a blatantly obvious, trite thing to say, except that it's not on anyone's radar.

Don't get me wrong. I encourage frugality. I encourage cutting back on discretionary expenses. However, at some point, you can't cut any more. You can't staunch expenses any further without a serious, really unpleasant reduction in your quality of life - which in turn makes you less likely to stick with a savings program.

So let's talk in this blog post today about how to get more money coming in the door.

Obviously, as many have mentioned, working a job is a way to bring in some income, and the more you work, the more money you bring in. Downside - the more you work, the less time you have for academic study, which is the point of college.

Incremental income can indeed come from recycling, especially if you're smart about it and gather recycling at the right times & places, like after frat parties when there's literally cases of empties just sitting on the sidewalk. A guy in my town cruises up and down the streets on garbage day and simply loads boxes of recycling into his station wagon before the town claims them.

The recycling idea is a starter for a much bigger idea, the idea of arbitrage, unequal pricing for equal things. Take a look at the free section of your local Craigslist. How many of those items could you obtain? If you live in a major city, chances are there's a ton of free stuff that someone is just too lazy to get rid of, so they list it for free, even if it's still usable or an easy fix if you know the right people.

Then take the free stuff, assuming it's in good condition, and resell it. List it on Craigslist in the appropriate for sale section at cut-rate prices, or on eBay if it's sufficiently valuable enough. List it on your campus bulletin boards and other places buyers congregate. Got a TON of stuff? Find a local flea market and rent a table once you've gotten a resale business going - the local flea market here charges $60 per week for a large booth, so if you can swing that with previous sale profits, you can gain access to a lot of buyers and foot traffic.

Think that's fast money? Try services like PhoneRaiser to recycle old phones and stuff.

Not up for the challenge of a physical goods auction house? Look online. See what affiliate programs like Shareasale (disclosure: paid link, hereafter [PL]) you can sign up for, and then see what merchants whose stuff you like you can resell. I'm serious when I say that the Financial Aid Podcast sold over $700 in random stuff like Halloween costumes and personalized checks. For a major corporation, that's barely a soda budget, but for a college student, that's rent in some parts of the country - not to mention an easy win for the $500 savings challenge. You can sign up for programs like Shock Coffee [PL], and resell on your personal web site highly caffeinated beverages [PL] as well as many, many other products.

Saving doesn't just mean reducing what you spend - it also means earning more. Try some of these approaches and see if you can bring some more cash in the door to help you achieve your savings goals.

5 most recent Financial Aid Podcast posts

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