Today being Election Day and this being an education blog, I thought it proper to outline how this election will affect your pursuit of higher education. Higher education has been a very minor issue in this campaign, overshadowed by the country’s current economic woes and financial crisis. However, higher education will be a vital part of the long term situation of the economy. Many countries’ workforces have been catching up to the United States in terms of education. Some may even soon surpass us. This will bear down heavily on American jobs as other areas of the world, with cheaper workers can equal or better us in the areas of innovation and highly technical work.

With the election occurring as I am typing, I will outline what the candidates have stated concerning higher education and my analysis on how this will affect the average college student (Joe the Student, if you will).

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Tags: College Preparation, FAFSA, Financial Aid, Online Education by Nathan
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For many students, student loans are an inescapable part of being a student. The cost of higher education is rising, and even though some schools are taking steps to reduce the cost of education, the fact remains that education is much more expensive today than it was a decade ago.

And college debt statistics are scary – according to a recent College Board study, 20% of graduates will not be able to make any payments on the average amount of undergrad loan debt of $20,000. So, one of the most important questions students can ask themselves before applying for any loan or any school is – how can I limit my debt?

First, students should educate themselves about the many options for funding which are available to them besides loans, which always have to be paid back (with interest!). There are literally thousands of grants and scholarships available to students of all backgrounds and interests, and none of them require the students to ever pay them back!

Many students do not take the time to apply for these loans and scholarships because they think they won’t qualify due to income requirements, grades or factors like ethnicity or sex. However, the fact that most students don’t bother to research scholarships and loans means the pool of applicants is much smaller than it should be! What’s more, there are scholarships and grants which are completely based upon academics, not income, so virtually every student has a shot at them. Many students find that a combination of grants and scholarships can leave them with a small amount of money to borrow, which means a much smaller debt amount upon graduation.

Another great option for many students is “work-study.” This means that students work a certain number of hours per week in exchange for funding for their education. Some students paying for their own college education simply choose to work while they study; even ten hours of work per week can add up to $2500 per year or more, which can substantially reduce costs, and many students work much more during the year and even more during the summer. There are also loan-forgiveness programs available for certain majors such as education and nursing. Students who decide to teach in low-income districts are assisted with paying back their loans.

Finally, students are advised to not get trapped in to signing up for low-interest credit cards. While it’s a great idea to begin developing credit when you are young, too many students get carried away with credit card spending and then are strapped with extremely high interest rates they cannot afford to pay. Loan consolidation is always a good way to try to reduce payment amounts, and students can look into this option while they are still in college to try to lock in low rates.

Tags: FAFSA, Financial Aid by Jenny
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The deadlines for receiving FAFSA financial aid vary depending on the student’s circumstances, state of residence, and school she/he is attending or plans to attend. Some schools and states have different deadlines than the Federal Government and require additional paperwork. Also, students should check to see what is their school’s definition of an application deadline is. Some are receipt dates, while for others its the process date. As with all important applications and paperwork, its never a bad idea to turn in your forms early.
The Federal Government recommends that you submit your FAFSA requirement as close to, but not before, January 1st. That is, if a student wants to apply for financial aid for the 2009-2010 school year, submit your FAFSA as soon after January 1, 2009 as you can. Most schools require that FAFSA forms are submitted by spring in order to receive preference for the school’s financial aid for the following academic year. Students should check their school’s website or speak with a financial aid advisor.
The actual final deadlines posted by the Government are much later than that. The deadline for the 2007-2008 school year is June 30, 2008 for FAFSA on the Web, the primary FAFSA submission tool. Corrections to these forms must be completed by September 22, 2008. For the 2008-2009 school year, FAFSA forms must be submitted by June 30, 2009, while corrections have to be submitted by September 15, 2009.

Tags: FAFSA, Financial Aid by admin
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FAFSA – which stands for Free Application for Federal Student Aid – has made some important changes recently to both the form as well as to the application process. One of the most important changes is that students can no longer pick up the forms from their high schools, where they used to be distributed in bulk. Students now have to access the form online, they can download and print out the PDF version, or they may call to request up to three (3) paper copies of the form. The reason behind this change is that more students are using the online application. Also, high school juniors can now get an early jump on the FASFA process. Due to recent changes, juniors can now take advantage of the FAFSA4caster Web site, where they can take time to learn about the financial aid process, learn about their eligibility and many other pieces of information. This new site is a great chance for younger students to familiarize themselves with what can be a very overwhelming and scary process. The link to this Website can be found on the left-hand side of the mains fafsa.org Website. For the FAFSA form which is available as of January 1, 2008, there are a number of smaller changes which have been made which do not affect the availability of the forms. All of these changes are already worked into the forms, and the majority of the changes were made to clarify any ambiguous questions for directions. Some of these changes include:

1. The 2008-2009 FAFSA colors are orange for student information and purple for parent information.

2. Question 21 was revised to a more direct question by adding “are you female.” This question was changed in order to determine if a student is required to register with the Selective Service.

3. For Question 16 (on p. 7), specific instructions were added regarding marital status to clarify changing this information after signing the FAFSA.

Tags: FAFSA, Financial Aid by editor
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