While we’re on the topic of student loans and the lifetime of debt college grads will face, here are some informative articles and resources to peruse (find a paper bag and try to remember to breathe slowly and evenly).
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan explains why direct student loans are better for everyone but the banks, and why the banks are pissed about losing all those government subsidies. I’m siding with college students and direct loans, and will be far*ing in the general direction of the banks and their elderberry-scented mothers.
Under current law, taxpayers provide as much as $9 billion each year to subsidize guaranteed student loans issued by banks. The banks earn profits on the interest; if students default, taxpayers take the loss, not the banks. In other words, working Americans pay while bankers get rich.
Meanwhile, educators, engineers and computer scientists — the backbone of the new economy — face crushing debt from six-figure college tuitions. A study of national postsecondary student aid found that in 2008, two-thirds of college seniors graduated with debt averaging more than $23,000. That number will rise as public and private college tuition costs escalate.
…The Education Department has issued more than $187 billion in student loans since the Direct Loan Program was created in 1993. The number of universities participating in the program has more than doubled, to 2,300, in just the past three years. There is no justification to continue wasteful subsidies to banks. It is time to complete the shift to direct lending.
The president’s proposal, which has passed the House and awaits Senate consideration, represents the ideal hybrid of public investment and market-based management. Through direct lending, we get a bigger bang for taxpayer bucks while using competition and private-sector expertise to improve customer service.
Obama is upgrading the higher education system in this country (we hope), starting with an increase in Pell Grant award amounts. What does that mean for Pell Grant applicants? Who qualifies and for how much? Basically, the results of the FAFSA number-crunching are what determine a student’s eligibility.
…there is no “one size fits all” recipient.
Keep in mind, the Pell Grant is awarded to undergraduates with a high degree of unmet financial need; most Pell money goes to students with a total family income around or below $20,000. But, students whose families have a total income of up to $50,000 may be eligible too. In 2005-2006, students with family incomes of less than $20,000 accounted for 57% of Pell Grant recipients.
…Pell Grant qualifications can be affected by a student’s enrollment status as well as income earned through employment, too. Think about it – if you are enrolled half-time, your tuition is less and therefore you will require less aid. Undergraduates who work while they are enrolled are more likely to have incomes that decrease their eligibility for federal need-based aid (ahh, didn’t think of that, did you?). Some low-income students may even find themselves ineligible for Pell Grants because they are enrolled part time at very low cost colleges, or they work while they are enrolled, or do both. More…
Below is an excerpt from President Obama’s State of the Union Address 2010. I’m not on board with his primary and secondary education reform plans, which may be smarter than Bush’s NCLB Act, but are also more evil.
However, so far his plans for higher education look to be an improvement. I’m especially liking the Pell Grant increases, the lessening of student loan malevolence, and the attempt to have colleges and universities knock it the hell off already with the insane tuition increases.
Still, in this economy, a high school diploma no longer guarantees a good job. That’s why I urge the Senate to follow the House and pass a bill that will revitalize our community colleges, which are a career pathway to the children of so many working families. (Applause.)
To make college more affordable, this bill will finally end the unwarranted taxpayer subsidies that go to banks for student loans. (Applause.) Instead, let’s take that money and give families a $10,000 tax credit for four years of college and increase Pell Grants. (Applause.) And let’s tell another one million students that when they graduate, they will be required to pay only 10 percent of their income on student loans, and all of their debt will be forgiven after 20 years — and forgiven after 10 years if they choose a career in public service, because in the United States of America, no one should go broke because they chose to go to college. (Applause.)
And by the way, it’s time for colleges and universities to get serious about cutting their own costs — (applause) — because they, too, have a responsibility to help solve this problem.
Good news for FAFSA applicants: the 2010 version will be easier to apply for. The form is simplified and is no longer written in a language incomprehensible to even students with 4.0 GPAs and off-the-charts SAT scores. As an added bonus, volunteers will be available to help parents and students fill those suckers out.
While the total amount of grants and scholarships likely to be handed out this year won’t be anywhere near enough to meet most students’ needs, at least it will be easier to apply for aid. The online version of the notoriously headache-producing Free Application for Federal Student Aid, which is the scholarship application used by the federal government and most states, charities, and colleges, has been streamlined and simplified. Even better: There is a growing network of volunteers who will help anyone fill out the FAFSA free of charge.
Volunteer financial aid experts will be stationed at more than 800 YMCAs, churches, colleges, schools, community centers, and other locations around the country in January and February for College Goal Sunday events. The aim of the nonprofit events: to help students and parents get their aid applications in on time. Originally, College Goal Sunday events were held the Sunday after the Super Bowl. The program has grown so much in the past few years that many states now have several events on various days throughout January and February, says Marcia Weston, director of the program, which is funded by the Lumina Foundation and operated by the YMCA. Some states, such as California, use a different name for their volunteer event. But the College Goal Sunday website lists the times and places for events in 47 states plus the District of Columbia. Some sites will also provide transportation, she says. More…
While high school juniors and seniors are in full-on panic mode because the college application and acceptance process is hitting the fan in earnest for both groups of students, I’m hopeful everyone can manage to remember that college is not a life or death situation. Every adult involved in the life of an upperclassman tends to make it seem as though it is, but I promise you it’s not.
Breathe, people, and read this post in the NY Times education blog, Mom U. Regular columnist, Caren Osten Gerzberg, had her daughter write the post. Nicole is a high school junior and makes some excellent points with regard to the college admissions process and how it relates to the grand scheme of things.
Seriously, you are a single, unimportant speck in the universe. No one actually gives a rat’s ass which institution of higher learning chooses you for matriculation. And in ten years, neither will you. Perspective is a priceless tool.
1. Observe yourself.
2. Become familiar with your internal guidance system (IGS).
3. Use your imagination.
4. Look for your cultural match.
5. Take one step at a time.
6. Use your team.
7. Confront your fears as you go.
8. Maintain your privacy.
9. Don’t take college admissions advice from your friends…ever.
10. Be proud of who you are.
The little nuggets are worth the 3 minutes it’ll take you to read the post. Even preschoolers know to prepare before battle.
High school juniors: It is time. You and your parentals have probably been working toward this moment since preschool. The college application process of doom is about to begin. Hurl if you must, then pull it together and start thinking about which colleges you might want to apply to.
Maybe avoid doing what I did. I plunked my little self down in the high school counselor’s office and answered her “Which major?” question. She had gallons of information about the plethora of schools available to me. I waved them all away impatiently and asked for the helpful grid the California State University system sends out. Printed helpfully upon it is a list of every degree offered, with a dot next to the campus(es) that can deliver the goods.
I wanted simple: In-state tuition; close but not to close; far but not too far; no big-name schools; and I wanted my decision to mostly be based on academics, not on a school’s reputation for politics or parties. Three schools had my program: Long Beach (too SoCal), San Francisco (too close to my Machiavellian grandparents), and Fresno (perfect).
Sadly, not quite, as it turned out. The one drawback to Fresno State is that it’s in Fresno. Yes, Fresno did produce the Fresno Poets, and I’ll admit to the importance of that. But aside from a handful of people who can write interestingly, one has to dig deep to find culture. Also, I would generally advise against living in a place where the dust kicked up by farm machinery on the 80 million raisin-grape vineyards contains mold spores that can kill you. I like an exciting life as much as the next girl, but dying from dust is just dumb.
My attempt at simplicity, frugality and pure academic focus was noble. That being said, if I had it to do again, I would have chosen a school based mostly on academics, but also upon location. Because you don’t just study while away at college, you have to live there, too. If I had considered that, there’s a chance I may not have fled.
According to Time Magazine, this has been the decade from hell. Awesome. I’m going to cross “survive a crappy decade” off my list right away.
One could argue the point that it’s going to take us all a while to clean up after a decade this bad. College is too expensive and won’t help anyone to get a job in this economy, so why spend next year working too damn hard at school and the job you have to hold down in order to live somewhere other than a van down by the river?
I would suggest, to the college students (or recent college graduates who still haven’t found a job), that taking a gap year might not be a bad idea. Getting out of the country is the most expensive portion; you’d be surprised by how little money a traveler willing to rough it can subsist on, especially if one avoids Europe.
For inspiration, you can read Cody McKibben’s post over at Thrilling Heroics, in which he wraps up the year he just spent living in Thailand.
Posted by Alexa Harrington
There will be no condoning of violence from this girl. But I did get a sick little twist of satisfaction when I read the NY Times article about UC students protesting tuition rates. Students from UC Davis and UC Berkeley broke some windows and threw some flaming items at the home of UC Berkeley’s chancellor, Robert J. Birgeneau.
President of the UC system, Mark G. Yudof, also lives in Berkeley and had a run-in with irate students in August ’09 when the first wave of tuition-rate-increase sh*t was hitting the fan. I’ve already said what I had to say about that. (Not to ruin the ending for you, but none of it was nice.)
President Yudof said in a statement that he found the most recent attack “appalling” and “far beyond the boundaries of public dissent.” Really? I’m pretty sure the students who, until now, believed that they had the right to an affordable education are finding the 32% increase in tuition both appalling and far beyond the boundaries of public dissent.
