In recent years, colleges have begun experimenting with a number of techniques to make textbooks more affordable for, and more likely to be purchased by, college students.  From on-demand textbook printing at the University of Michigan to on-campus and online textbook rental options nationwide, it seems like at least two or three textbook pricing revolutions roll out each year.  This year, however, Williams College in Massachusetts is trying something entirely different:  giving textbooks away for free.

Starting this fall, students who receive financial aid at Williams will be able to charge their textbooks to their bursar accounts–an option available to students at many colleges–and then will receive college-based grants for the amount of their textbook purchase, which as far as Williams officials know, is an offer unique to their campus. The textbook program, as well as the reasons for its inception, were highlighted in a recent blog post in the New York Times’ college admissions blog, The Choice.

Williams previously offered financially needy students $400 book grants each semester, but found that some students still weren’t buying all their required textbooks, as they felt the money they spent on books was still coming out of their own pockets.  A textbook lending program through the library was used to supplement it, but there were concerns that students couldn’t make full use of borrowed books.  To allow students to highlight and annotate books, as well as reference them in subsequent semesters, the college decided to make sure students were able to purchase all required texts.  Thus, the current grant program was born, which Williams officials expect to cost roughly the same as the combination of the previous grant and library lending programs but to serve students more completely and efficiently.

Little touches like free textbooks can go a long way towards swaying students still working on their college search.  Regardless of the college you attend, you may want to factor textbooks into your scholarship search, as well.  While textbooks don’t seem like much individually, when the costs are added up, they can become a sizeable portion of a student’s college costs.  With many students paying for textbooks out-of-pocket, they can quickly create a problem with money management, increasing work burdens, credit card balances, or student loan debt.

Posted: under College Costs, College Grants.
Tags: books, College Costs, College Grants, institutional aid

Comments (0) Oct 27 2009

On Tuesday, the College Board published the latest installment in its Trends in Higher Education Series, annual reports detailing changes in college costs and student financial aid. These newest reports cover the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 academic years and provide some insight into how economic difficulties have affected paying for college. Despite the recession, tuition continued to rise at a pace comparable to previous years, but financial aid has undergone some changes.

Between 2008-2009 and 2009-2010, tuition increased 6.5% at 4-year public colleges and 4.4% at 4-year private colleges. Tuition and fees for in-state students at four-year state colleges rose from $6,591 to $7,020. Out-of-state tuition and fees at public colleges rose to $18,548, a 6.2 percent increase. Private college tuition and fees rose to $26,273. Total costs of attendance also rose to $19,388 for public colleges (a 5.8% increase) and $39,028 for private colleges (a 4.4% increase). Rising college costs are attributed to declines in state funding and massive endowment losses brought about by the recession.

Despite tuition increases and greater financial difficulties for students and families, total student borrowing dropped by 1% when adjusted for inflation in 2008-2009.  Federal student loan borrowing increased by $11 billion, or 15 percent, to about $84 billion. Most strikingly, there was a 50% drop in private loan volume in the 2008-2009 academic year, as a result of the tightening of credit markets.  The 2008-2009 academic year also saw a growth in grant aid (both need-based and merit-based college scholarships and grants). About 2/3 of full-time undergraduates receive grants and the average grant was $5,041. The College Board anticipates that students will receive an estimated $5,400 in grant aid and tax benefits in 2009-2010.

A large portion of grant aid is made up of merit-based awards, like academic scholarships, which worries some analysts who are concerned with the increasing cost of tuition pricing lower income families out of college entirely. While, after adjusting for aid, the average net cost of tuition actually has declined for families over the period covered in these reports, another recent report by Postsecondary Education Opportunity research Tom Mortenson showed that students from the poorest families tended to have the largest amount of unmet financial need. The sharp drop in private loans suggests those families may be less likely to be able to secure funding to cover that unmet need, even if colleges and the federal government have made more aid available this year.

Much of the growth in federal student loans and college grants and scholarships is likely due to the increased amount of aid colleges and the federal government made available to struggling students as a result of the recession.  However, much of this emergency aid is intended to be temporary, so these changes may turn out to be anomaly, rather than an overall trend.

Posted: under College Costs, College News, College and the Economy.
Tags: College and the Economy, College Costs, College Grants, college news, Financial Aid, Student Loans

Comments (0) Oct 21 2009

The global economic recession of 2008-2009 has had an impact on seemingly every aspect of life, especially large expenses like college tuition.  There has been much speculation about the economy’s effect on college financial aid, and as the fall semester gets underway at colleges across the nation, information is starting to emerge that helps paint a picture of paying for school in a recession.  So far, the results are mixed.

While a poll by Gallup and Sallie Mae showed fewer students borrowing for college this year, a survey conducted by NASFAA, the National Association of Financial Aid Administrators, shows more students applying for and receiving federal student financial aid this year than last year.  Additional data from the Department of Education also backs this up, showing 25 percent more borrowing in federal student loan programs this year.

The NASFAA survey of nearly 500 financial aid offices shows that in comparison to the same time last year, 61 percent of colleges and universities are seeing an increase of 10 percent or more in financial aid applications, with 63 percent of institutions also seeing a significant increase in Pell Grant awards this year.  Only 8 percent of institutions saw no increase in aid applications, with only 5 percent reporting no increase in Pell awards.  Also, despite 65 percent of schools seeing an increase in financial aid appeals by 10 percent or more, 51 percent saw an increase of 10 percent or more in the number of students with unmet financial need.

Additionally, the majority of colleges have increased institutional aid (such as scholarships and grants), with 74 percent of four-year colleges and universities offering some increase in aid.  Community colleges were the majority of institutions not increasing aid, with many citing a lack of available funding as the reason for this decision.

Many of the changes found by NASFAA and the Department of Education can be attributed to the federal response to the economic downturn.  The increased borrowing is most likely due to the increases in loan limits, with larger unsubsidized Stafford loans being made available to both undergraduate and graduate students in the last two years.  Financial aid administrators speculate that the increased aid awards are likely due to a combination of the increasing unemployment rate, changes in rules for adjusting financial aid awards, and nationwide awareness campaigns to let those collecting unemployment benefits know they are eligible for increased financial aid for college.

Posted: under College and the Economy, Financial Aid.
Tags: College and the Economy, College Grants, Financial Aid, stafford loans, Student Loans

Comments (0) Sep 24 2009

The House of Representatives is poised to vote today on legislation to eliminate the Federal Family Education Loan Program and increase funding for Federal Pell Grants.  The bill, currently known as the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009, is widely expected to be approved by the House, possibly with some amount of bipartisan support.  While most of the provisions in the bill have relatively widespread backing, one element has generated a fair amount of controversy.  Under the proposed legislation, all federal student loans, such as Stafford Loans and Plus Loans, originated after July 1, 2010 would be part of the Federal Direct Loans Program, rather than the current bank-based system.

While initially both sides appeared ready for battle over the proposed legislation, controversy and rhetoric have cooled since the legislation was introduced.  Alternative proposals that preserve some element of FFEL or otherwise grant a larger role to banks than in the bill currently before Congress have been proposed, but ultimately failed to generate the savings the Congressional Budget Office estimates this plan to carry, and thus have gained little momentum. Some Representatives still suggest submitting the proposal for further study and reviewing alternatives, but the plan to eliminate FFEL has gained the most widespread support.

Many Republican lawmakers still oppose the proposal to switch entirely to Direct Loans, with some making comparisons to the bank bailouts of earlier this year and the healthcare legislation currently being debated.  The move to direct lending has also been repeatedly framed as eliminating choice for students, though the choice of direct loans versus bank-based loans has always rested with colleges and never with student borrowers.

Despite these objections, though, the bill appears to have the support necessary to pass the House and move on to the Senate, where it may face greater challenges.  The option of passing it through the process of budget reconcilliation, which requires only a majority vote in the Senate, has been proposed, but whether the Senate goes that route remains to be seen.

Posted: under College Grants, College News, College in Congress, Financial Aid, Student Loans.
Tags: College Grants, College in Congress, college news, Direct Loans, FFEL, Financial Aid, stafford loans, Student Loans

Comments (0) Sep 17 2009

Earlier this summer, it came to light that for some students in Illinois, being accepted by state colleges was less about what they knew than who they knew, as an investigation into admission practices revealed the existence of a special clout list of well-connected applicants to the University of Illinois.  Now, the Associated Press is reporting that some college scholarships in the state may be governed by a similar principle.

Each Illinois state representative is given the equivalent of two four-year full-tuition scholarships to award to his or her constituents each year.  Some representatives choose to break up their scholarship awards into eight one-year full-tuition awards, while others choose to hand out two-year or four-year scholarships.  At least 83 of these scholarships went to students with some form of political connections between 2008 and 2009.  Of these scholarships, 41 went directly to the children of donors to the politician making the award.

While the lawmakers award the scholarships, the universities are responsible for finding the funding for each award.  After state colleges and universities, as well as the majority of the state’s grant programs for low-income students have faced steep budget cuts this year, these General Assembly scholarships have drawn substantial ire from critics who feel the $12.5 million currently allocated to the program could go to better use elsewhere.

Representatives deny impropriety, but it seems that families in Illinois who have seen their 529 plans shrink in the recession may want to consider taking their college savings and investing them in their representative’s next reelection campaign.

Posted: under College Culture, College Grants, College News, College and the Economy, Scholarships.
Tags: College and the Economy, College Culture, College Grants, college scholarships, local scholarships, Scholarships, state news, state scholarship

Comments (0) Aug 26 2009

Over the course of the last year, a number of colleges and universities have begun to offer scholarship opportunities for people who have found themselves out of work and in need of further education or job training.  Yesterday, U.S. News profiled several newer community college programs, including several full-tuition scholarships, but even more awards are out there.  Here’s a run-down of some of the scholarships for displaced workers that we’ve found.

Community College Scholarships

Scholarships for recently unemployed students offered by community colleges are the most common.  Colleges in several states are offering free tuition for one to two semesters, or even more, for displaced workers.  Some, such as Oakton Community College in Illinois and the Community College of Allegheny County in Pennsylvania stipulate certain degree or certificate programs for their tuition benefits, and others, like several community colleges in New Jersey, will allow students to enroll in any course with empty seats.  Others are offering partial tuition discounts, such as Anoka-Ramsey Community College in Minnesota.

Michigan has launched a state-wide No Worker Left Behind program, which provides up to two years of free tuition for unemployed and underemployed workers at state community colleges.  Students can also apply the credits towards an undergraduate degree at a state college or university.  To qualify, students must be pursuing degrees that will lead to employment in high-demand occupations.

Undergraduate Scholarships

This summer, DeVry began offering scholarships to students who have enrolled at one of the seven schools owned by DeVry and who have lost their jobs in the last 12 months.  As one example, the Employment Gap Scholarship gives students $1,000 per semester towards their tuition at DeVry.

Many other four-year schools have also launched generous aid programs, or even offered full-tuition scholarships, for new and returning students who are facing economic difficulties.  A number of these scholarships and grants may be available to displaced workers, especially if you now qualify for a Federal Pell Grant after losing your job.

Scholarships for adult students are also worth looking into. While only a few are specifically for the recently unemployed, several are designed to generously aid adults who are enrolling in undergraduate programs.

Graduate Scholarships

In addition to offering free career center services, several universities are also aiding their alumni through tuition discounts on graduate programs and additional certification and training.  Manchester College in Indiana will allow students who fail to find a job or a graduate program within six months of graduation a year of free coursework.  Similarly, St. John’s University in New York allows laid off alumni to attend its graduate programs for half price.

Government Benefits

Recently, the Obama administration began a national push for states to grant full unemployment benefits to recipients who choose to enroll in a college degree program, as incentive for unemployed workers to attend college.  Additionally, financial aid adminstrators have been instructed to use greater lattitude in dealing with financial aid appeals from students who have lost their jobs, which could result in more federal grant money for returning students.

Posted: under College News, College and the Economy, Financial Aid, Scholarships.
Tags: College and the Economy, College Costs, College Grants, college news, college scholarships, community college, Financial Aid, full-tuition scholarships, graduate student scholarships, local scholarships, need-based, returning students, Scholarship Search, Scholarships, Tips

Comments (0) Aug 20 2009

As the start of the fall semester approaches, students across the country are finding themselves in a precarious position when it comes to financial aid.  As we’ve previously mentioned, several states have been forced to make deep budget cuts this year, canceling or reducing funding for scholarships and grants, in some cases after award notices have already been sent to students.  This has left students scrambling for last-minute student loans, and in some cases facing the difficult decision of whether to take a semester off while trying to procure alternate funding.

The Wall Street Journal and U.S. News both feature articles this week that offer up alternatives for students who have come up short on funding for the fall.  While scholarship opportunities are still available for the coming academic year and should be pursued, students who need immediate sources of funding may want to check out private loans, peer-to-peer lending, and emergency loans and other aid offered by some universities and state agencies.  Reducing to part-time enrollment or transferring to a cheaper school are also last-resort options that may be better choices than taking an entire semester off or putting tuition on a credit card.

An appeal to your college’s financial aid office can also produce more financial aid, especially if your financial situation has changed since you completed the FAFSA, or if your parents were turned down for a federal PLUS loan.  Additional loans, and even some grant aid, may be available if you ask.

In addition to trying to find new sources of funding, some college students are also petitioning their state legislators to get grant and scholarship funding restored.  Lawmakers in Utah have listened, promising to reinstate full funding to the state’s New Century Scholarship program, whose awards they had previously planned to cut nearly in half.  Students in Michigan also may yet get a reprieve from budget cuts, as the governor of Michigan and numerous state legislators are vowing to do what they can to keep the state’s popular Promise Scholarship program intact.

Even if states manage to find funding for grants and scholarships this year, the next fiscal year could also prove challenging.  Students in cash-strapped states who are planning to rely on state scholarships to pay for college may want to start looking into alternate funding now.  One of the best ways to do this is to start with a free college scholarship search.

Posted: under College Costs, College Grants, College News, College and the Economy, Financial Aid, Tips.
Tags: College and the Economy, College Costs, College Grants, college news, Financial Aid, Scholarship Search, state grants, state news, state scholarship, Student Loans, Tips

Comments (0) Aug 19 2009

Rising unemployment rates and other symptoms of the ongoing recession continue to drive more people to attend college and look for ways to pay their bills, causing an uptick in state and federal financial aid applications. However, states are also hurting for money to meet financial aid requests and other budget demands. According to the Associated Press, 12 states have made significant cuts to state grant programs so far this year, with additional cuts likely. At least anecdotally, these cuts are already leading to more reliance on student loans, especially among groups that, according to a brief published this week by the College Board, may already be finding themselves overburdened with debt.

This week, the College Board released some new numbers on student debt loads and borrowing habits, culled from the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, data released every four years by the Department of Education.  Students at for-profit colleges are the most likely to borrow (96-98 percent graduate with some amount of loan debt), have the largest average debt loads at graduation, and are also some of the poorest college students (students at for-profit schools received 19 percent of the federal Pell Grants disbursed in 2007-2008 despite making up only 7 percent of the college-going population).  With additional sources of need-based aid drying up, these students may find themselves even more burdened with debt.

Students at other types of schools have also had to do more borrowing in recent years, according to the study.  A full 59 percent of college students graduate with some amount of student loan debt, including 66 percent of bachelor’s degree recipients.  While most students took on manageable amounts of debt, 10 percent of students at four-year public schools, 22 percent of students at four-year private colleges, and 25 percent at four-year for-profit colleges borrowed more than $40,000 to attend college.

The average loan debt of undergraduate students in 2007-2008 was $15,123 (this is all students, not graduates), up 11 percent from the last time the survey was conducted.  While increases in loan burdens were most modest at four-year state and non-profit colleges, reductions in state grant programs that are often earmarked for students at state colleges or nonprofit private colleges could send these numbers climbing.

You may want to consider statistics on student debt as a factor in your college search, but keep in mind that there are alternatives to borrowing.  Scholarship opportunities exist for students at every type of college pursuing many different types of degree programs.

Posted: under College Costs, College Grants, College News, College and the Economy, Financial Aid, Student Loans.
Tags: College and the Economy, College Costs, College Grants, college news, Financial Aid, grants, private loans, state colleges, state grants, state news, student debt, Student Loans

Comments (0) Aug 12 2009

We’re nearly a week into August, and for many students, that means that back-to-school preparations have begun.  Whether you’re picking out notebooks and XL twin sheets, or trying to squeeze one last trip or a few more hours of work into your calendar, now is a good time to start looking ahead to the fall term if you’re in college.  This includes thinking about financial aid.  One of the least pleasant aspects of the start of the semester is finding yourself in the line for the college financial aid office as it grows to epic proportions the first week of class.

Luckily, at most colleges the fall rush has not yet started, so if you have some extra time now, you can take steps to make sure you won’t find yourself standing in a packed office and trying not to panic on the first day of class.  From a financial aid office veteran, here are three things to check into now to avoid waiting in line later.

First, if you are applying for federal student financial aid, by now you should have filled out a 2009-2010 FAFSA and received a financial aid award notice from your college’s financial aid office.  If you’re still waiting to complete a FAFSA or hear back from your school, now would be a good time to take care of these things.  You may want to call your college’s financial aid office, or check your account online if you have the option, to make sure that everything is in order for timely disbursement of your fall financial aid.  Ask if you have any other paperwork you need to complete (such as verification or a master promissory note), especially if it is your first time receiving financial aid.  Double check disbursement dates, as well, so you know when you are due to receive the money.

Second, if you’ve won any scholarship awards (and we hope you have!), now would be a good time to make sure you know when you will be receiving the funds, whether the checks will go to the school or to you, and whether you will need to sign anything or wait for the school to do any additional paperwork before you receive the money (the financial aid office may need to recalculate your aid based on the scholarships you’ve received).  Many scholarship providers notify you of disbursement arrangements or include this information in their official rules, so review correspondence with them, as well as information they’ve published.  If you have questions, you can check with your college and the scholarship provider.

Finally, make sure you will have sufficient funds to cover your bill and make arrangements if necessary to take care of whatever costs grants, scholarships, or federal student loans do not cover.  Your parents may want to take out a PLUS loan, or you may want to take out a private loan to cover whatever gap is left.  You will want to do paperwork for these as soon as possible, as processing times may take up to a few weeks, especially once things get busy.  Many colleges also offer payment plans if you’d like to pay the rest of your bill without borrowing, but you cannot afford to do so all at once.

Posted: under Back to School, FAFSA, Financial Aid, Scholarships, Student Loans, Tips.
Tags: Back to School, college, College Grants, college scholarships, college tips, FAFSA, Financial Aid, scholarship tips, Scholarships, Student Loans, Tips

Comments (0) Aug 06 2009

While it may be grabbing most of the headlines, the federal “Cash for Clunkers” program is not the only government grant program to run out of money well ahead of schedule this year.  The state funding allocated to Illinois Monetary Awards Program (MAP) grants, college financial aid awards for needy students, was slashed during state budget cuts this year. As a result awards have been cut in half for all students and have been denied outright to over 130,000 students who applied after May 15, a significantly earlier cutoff date than previous years.

Typically, Illinois MAP grants award up to $5,000 per year to the neediest college students in the state, provided they submit their financial aid applications by mid-August.  This year, however, the deadline was moved up to mid-May due to budget cuts.  Even students who applied on time will still receive reduced funding, as the current budget for the program can only cover grants for one semester of study.  Students at community colleges, who typically apply for financial aid later in the year and often have access to fewer financial resources, are likely to be the hardest hit.

Illinois isn’t the only state forced to make cuts to its college grant programs.  California and Ohio are among others that have recently gained attention for cutting aid to college students.  If you live in a state that’s been forced to reduce student financial aid, you still have options to pay for college.  Before looking into student loans or considering a semester off, conduct a free college scholarship search. Scholarships, including state and local scholarships, are still out there despite the recession.

Posted: under College Grants, College News, College and the Economy, Financial Aid.
Tags: College and the Economy, College Grants, college news, Financial Aid, grants, state grants, state news

Comments (0) Jul 31 2009