Saturday, June 30
PG Grad Awarded New Scholarship
Prince George teen, Sanja Knezevic, is one of 60 B.C. students awarded the first 'Pacific Leaders' scholarships for children of BC Public Service employees.

In announcing the scholarships earlier this week, Deputy Premier Shirley Bond said, "Sanja has demonstrated strong academic achievement while at Duchess Park and is a very worthy recipient.

Sanja will receive the $2,500.00 scholarship when she enrols as a full-time student in an under-graduate degree program or a trade, technical or vocational program.

Successful recipients were chosen based on academic achievement (with a minimum B average), communication skills and an essay written on the value of the public service.

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posted by ^%&^ @ 7:01 PM   4 comments
Scholarship winner plans to map brain
"Most people don't really listen to what other people have to say," he says.

"When, like me, you're having to concentrate so hard on what other people say, you probably hear a lot more."

The 24-year-old Wellingtonian, who has just been awarded a $25,000 Fulbright Scholarship and the $15,000 Quest for Excellence Scholarship by the National Foundation for the Deaf, will shortly begin his PhD in psychology at Arizona University.

Mr Hall, who has a double degree with honours in psychology and economics from Otago University, will map the neurological processes behind everyday decision-making.

Having battled hearing loss since early childhood, he is particularly attuned to the problems some people have "making sense of the world".

"Every day we make thousands of decisions, most unconsciously," he said.

"I am going to be looking at the physical brain to trace those processes to work out why people choose to do what they do."

The weakness of much economic theory was that it was based on models that "assume people will behave logically".

"But we know people aren't logical."

Mr Hall said his research was not about "mind control", though he conceded there was the risk it could be hijacked by marketers who were very interested in what decisions people made.

His dream is to develop a tool for matching people to the jobs that would best suit them.

As a policy analyst for the Labour Department for the past 18 months, Mr Hall has become increasingly interested in the problem of New Zealand's low productivity, believing a happy worker is a productive worker.

Mr Hall, who has 82 per cent hearing loss, said he would never have been able to start a career - or even finish his education or enjoy a "normal" social life - without the help of hearing aids.

He has worn hearing aids in both ears since the age of nine.

"The last thing you want as a kid is to stand out, so I used to to avoid wearing my hearing aids whenever I could.

"But I worked out that people didn't notice my disability so much when I wore them because I could actually communicate.

"It was not wearing them that set me apart."

Throughout school he attended mainstream classes and received no special assistance.

"I could cocoon myself and just say, `Poor me, I'm deaf, the world owes me'.

"But the only thing I'm owed is the same chances as everyone else and that's what we get in New Zealand - it's up to me what I do with them."

Foundation executive manager Marianne Schumacher said it was this sort of attitude that had inspired the establishment of the Quest for Excellence scholarship in the first place.

"Phillip is a fantastic role model for the 450,000 New Zealanders who have difficulty hearing," she said.

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posted by ^%&^ @ 7:01 PM   0 comments
Riot-hit Gujarat children face uncertain future in Hyderabad
An uncertain future looms ahead for a group of Gujarat children who were brought here after the 2002 sectarian riots in that state with a promise of free education. The NGO that brought them here has suddenly shut down the residential school where they study, and they have nowhere to go.

The children, who were promised free education till Class 12, were shocked to see their school and hostel in the Tolichowki neighbourhood locked upon their return from Gujarat after a two-month vacation.

With nowhere to go, a group of around 45 children were forced to stay on the footpath for around two weeks. About 20 of them, including six who fell ill, returned to their home state while the others have decided to stay back here in the hope that the NGO - Muslim Educational, Social and Cultural Organisation (MESCO) - would admit them in other schools run by it.

The children who had to return to Gujarat include Nazim, whose tailor father was shot dead by the police during the riots. Nazim, who had passed Class 9, had come with his mother. He and the other children who returned were allegedly not given a certificate of their marks or a transfer certificate to enable them to continue their education in Gujarat.

Of the children who decided to remain, 16 were staying in Mehdipatnam in a small two-room house provided by a kind-hearted man. The children, aged between seven and 16, are feeling dejected seeing other children go to their schools, which re-opened early this month for the new academic year.

Another group of nine children is staying at another house. They have almost run out of the little money they had brought along. They told this IANS correspondent that they just don't know what to do now.

Taj Mohammed, the father of Class 9 student Irfan Siddiqui, has come from Ahmedabad to drop his son. He feels totally shattered. "The children were brought with high promises to fulfil their dreams of becoming doctors and engineers. In one stroke their dreams have been shattered," he said.

Giving reasons for the school's closure, MESCO secretary Fakhruddin Mohammed said that the lease for the school and hostel building had run out. The NGO offered to accommodate the children in another school, Al-Salaama, but said the children and their parents are not willing.

"The quality of education at Al-Salaama is very poor and the hostel there is already overcrowded," said Taj Mohammed.

"Our children have been studying in MESCO for five years. They want to continue their education. Why can't MESCO admit the children in other schools and hostels run by it," asked Ayesha Banu, mother of Class 8 student Mohammed Arif.

The parents alleged that though their children were brought with a promise of free education till Class 12, they were paying Rs.15,000 to Rs.18,000 annually for each child. "A few students were paying Rs.20,000 to Rs.25,000," said Nazeer Khan, father of another child.

"When they are not imparting free education to the children why should they refuse to admit the students in other schools run by them?" he asked.

One of the parents alleged that the NGO was running the school till the donations from various charitable organisations from India and abroad kept pouring in after the riots.

"They were running the school only to get the funds, and when the funds stopped coming from abroad they shut down the school," one of them said.

Nazeer Khan alleged that the NGO had sent back several children as their parents could not afford the hefty fees. One of them was Faisal, whose father was killed in police firing during the riots. The boy had to drop out of Class 4 two years ago as his mother could not pay the fees.

According to some parents, the school had closed due to an internal fight in MESCO.

"Director of MESCO Mohammed Azam and his son-in-law Fakhruddin Ahmed received huge funds in the name of these children. The funds were siphoned off," claimed a man who had played a key role in bringing the children to Hyderabad.

"The children who were studying with Gujarati as their medium of instruction had to struggle to switch over to English when they came here. Now if they are to return to Gujarat they will have to again switch over to Gujarati-medium schools," he said.

"After studying here for five years our children have attained non-local status in Gujarat. If they return it will also have a psychological impact on them," said Hafiz Suleman, who is from Gujarat's Mehsana district. (IANS)

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posted by ^%&^ @ 6:30 PM   0 comments
Path to sustainable growth and development
Some hard and possibly unpopular decisions will have to be made, but we will see if the elected officials mean the country any good or if they are only present to collect their salary cheques and get rich by unstated but questionable means. The new minister of finance will have to be more flexible and communicative and less combative with the private sector, as well as all the government agencies he ultimately presides over indirectly. He will have to manage the nation's funds and get value for every dollar he collects and subsequently spends. He will need to be proactive and not reactive. For too long, political committees have been established to evaluate different proposals, only to send in their recommendations and have them changed or shelved. I say we establish rules and laws and enforce them!

Here is my shortlist for the next government to seriously consider implementing.

. We are held to ransom annually by our dependence on oil imports, so make it mandatory for 25 per cent of all new cars to be Flex fuel cars and gradually increase the ratio to 85 per cent over five years to eliminate gasoline-powered vehicles. Flex car engines run on either ethanol, gasoline, or any combination of the two.

. The government of the day should pass a law forcing oil companies to add small quantities of ethanol to their gasoline. Make it mandatory for the gasoline retailers to retrofit some pumps to sell Flex fuel. In a bid to cut the country's reliance on foreign oil imports and help our own sugar producers, we should follow Brazil's example, where the government pushed alcohol-powered cars in the early 1980s. Jamaica does not yet produce enough sugar cane to provide all the raw material for an ethanol plant, but importing same from Cuba and Haiti could result in real growth and development in all three countries. With oil prices at a record high, there is a clear advantage to diluting gasoline or even substituting it with sugar-based ethanol. We need to plan for the future; oil is finite and it is going to get more and more expensive.

. In addition to the savings to operate a Flex car, the reduction in pollution will be a positive step for the environment. It should be noted that the technology is readily available. Unlike hybrid cars sold in the US, for example, flex cars sold in Brazil don't cost any more than traditional models. Ethanol engines use 25 per cent more ethanol per mile than gasoline. But ethanol can be sold at somewhere between a third to half of the price of gas and still obtain a reasonable profit.

. With the savings from the oil imports, the government could then complete the much-needed road infrastructure and maintain it!

. Forget about rejuvenating the railroad. It's not a dead horse. It's just plain dead!

. Look to the Ministry of Agriculture to promote non-traditional crops (basil, lemon grass, ginger, ginger lily, limes, nutmeg, peppermint and turmeric), and encourage the private sector to invest in these products, with a view to extracting the essential oils and generating some much-needed foreign exchange. Talk is cheap. You have heard the opinions from the economists, the experts, the world market. Now walk the walk! And lead the country.

. Enforce the litter act with the same enthusiasm, then ask the police to enforce the Road Traffic Act. Go into the poorer communities and "tell" the occupants that the law exists and it will be enforced. If they continue to dump refuse into the gullies, they will be removed forcibly from beside said gullies to discourage them.

. The pain of crime has affected us all, rich and poor, young and elderly. It is now permeating our schools. No school is immune. We all know discipline begins at home, but is reinforced at school. Allow the schools more freedom in establishing their rules and codes of acceptable conduct. Depending on the Ministry of Education to act as judge, jury and enforcer results in inadequate attention to our growing disciplinary problems in the education system. Justice delayed is justice denied.

. The masses blame lack of opportunities for the high level of crime. To some extent this is a contributing factor, so the creation of jobs needs to be prioritised. On the other hand, having the current laws and punishment reviewed could be a worthwhile exercise. Giving the security forces the necessary equipment and remuneration to perform their duties is of utmost importance.

. The promise of free education from one party and free health care for the young and the elderly from the other are merely demonstrations of how ignorant our aspiring leaders assume the citizens of Jamaica to be. They may actually wish us well but the reality is that "nothing in life is free". Someone will have to pay the cost of providing these services, ultimately the "taxpayer" - us. As Bob Marley would say, "Don't mek dem fool yuh"!

. The bureaucracy in the health-care system needs to be evaluated and revamped as soon as possible. The current CEOs and administrators should be held accountable or be replaced. Each hospital and health centre should be self-sufficient and earn its way with minimal subsidy from the government, if any. You may ask, what about the poor? Well, I say, what about them? Let them stop harbouring criminals. Let them find employment to survive. Let them stop idling at home and having so many children whom neither they nor the state can afford to maintain. Many of these so-called poor people are still looking for a hand-out from their political representative. Unfortunately, many of them will receive said hand-out over the next few weeks leading up to the election!

. For the next prime minister and government, I say to you, "Good luck", for you will surely need it. Start praying now, and pray every day because without divine intervention to guide our leaders, we are headed towards greater hardships, while forever being classified as a "Third World Economy".

I say to you, Prime Minister and Government , " He who knows what to do and does not do it, will live to want to do it, thinking of when he should have done it !"

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posted by ^%&^ @ 6:30 PM   1 comments
Tuesday, June 26
Student Loan Process Improvements
The province is hoping improvements to the Student Financial Assistance program will make it easier for students to apply for loans.



Student loan applications are now available on-line and the program call centre hours have been expanded.

Last year the province approved more than 13 thousand 5 hundred student loans totalling more than a hundred and 19 million dollars.

Loan recipients also got more than 35 million dollars in grants and bursaries.

One point 3 million dollars went to students with permanent disabilities, high need part time learners and female doctoral students.

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posted by ^%&^ @ 9:09 PM   0 comments
Community award finalists are revealed
YOUNG carers, charity fundraisers and youth leaders are among the finalists in a competition which rewards community spirit.

Six students from Coleg Glan Hafren in Cardiff have been shortlisted for the Active Citizenship in Education (ACE) awards for the concern and care they show for others. They are:

Single mum Machala Evans, 29, of Llanedeyrn, Cardiff, who balances her college course in science with being a mum as well as supporting family members who have mental and physical health issues.

Christopher Smith, 17, who is studying information and communication technology (ICT) was nominated for helping to raise money for charities such as the British Heart Foundation and Breast Cancer Care fund. His classmate Murad Khan, 18, has made the shortlist for helping elderly members of his local mosque as well as organising events for young people in Grangetown, Cardiff.

Darren Yorath, 17, of Whitchurch, Cardiff, volunteers with young people and teenagers at a youth club. The IT At Work student also helps a disabled neighbour with chores and raises money for charity.


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Gina Taule Hella and Fredrik Tangerås, both 17 and from Norway, helped police identify the perpetrator of an assault outside the college.

The winner, who will receive £250 from the Cardiff Bay Rotary Club, will be announced at a ceremony at the college next week.

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posted by ^%&^ @ 8:51 PM   0 comments
A bill to be considered by the U.S. House in July would cut federal payments to student lenders by $4.1 billion in fiscal year 2008, according to a Co
AN audit has uncovered a $70 million discrepancy between the student subsidies the Federal Government is estimated to have paid education providers and the actual amount accessed by students.

The figure was revealed today in an Australian National Audit Office report examining the Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) - the government assistance provided to tertiary students, including HECS, which they eventually pay back once they earn above a certain salary.

The report said the education department had estimated an amount of $1.72 billion in HECS-HELP payments went to higher education providers in 2005, whereas the actual amount of student loan assistance accessed was $1.65 billion.

"The net reconciliation variance of approximately $70 million represents an amount that was receivable by the department," the report said.

The education department had accounted for the variance in December 2006 instead of earlier in the 2005-06 financial year, the audit office said.

The report warned the department had not documented its procedures for preparing and approving estimates of HECS-HELP spending, increasing the risk the figure could be inaccurate.
Despite this, the audit office found that overall, the education department was effectively monitoring the amount universities charged students under the HECS-HELP scheme.

The department has accepted the report's recommendations.

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posted by ^%&^ @ 8:45 PM   0 comments
Galway Student Wins Top Design Award for New Wind Turbine
A revolutionary new design for personal wind turbines has won the top prize at the BSI Sustainability Design Awards 2007 in London. Ben Storan from Galway, a student graduating with an MA in Industrial Design Engineering from the Royal College of Art (RCA) London, has been working for the past year in conjunction with Imperial College London to design an affordable personal wind turbine suited to the urban environment.

The result is a unique design, which uses vertical, rather than traditional horizontal, rotation. This feature gives a slower rotational speed, which allows the turbine to capture more energy from turbulent air flow, common to urban environments. It also means quieter operation.

As a result, it is able to generate more energy than domestic models currently on the market. Similarly sized existing personal wind turbines claim to generate 1kW at a wind speed of 12 m/s, but typically produce just 40% of what is claimed. Ben Storan’s design should realistically produce 3 times that (1.2kW).

The clever vertical rotation design uses lightweight materials, which means Ben Storan’s turbine is more stable than other personal turbines leading to better energy capture and making it easier to install.

Speaking of winning the award and 3,000 first prize, Ben Storan said: “I’m delighted to win such a prestigious award. Growing up in the windy west of Ireland, I’ve always been acutely aware of the huge potential in harnessing such a free, clean and renewable source of energy which, along with a spinning clothes line, gave me the idea in the first place.”

Whilst still at the early stages of development, he hopes that his design will be in production in the not too distant future. Before attending the Royal College of Art , London, Ben Storan was a student at the National University of Ireland from 1999-2003 where he graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He also obtained an Art Portfolio Preparation Certificate for the Galway Institute of Technology in 2005

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posted by ^%&^ @ 8:33 PM   0 comments
Eastern Washington University Announces New Online Courses
Online career training courses are in heavy demand. Staying on the cutting edge of this popular educational methodology, Eastern Washington University recently partnered with Gatlin Education Services to provide online career training courses in the fields of healthcare, business, construction technology, Internet, design and technical, networking and CompTIA certification and video game design and development.

Accessible online, the non-credit courses can help individuals at any stage of their career. Whether the student is interested in switching career paths, obtaining advanced training and certificates, or a first-time job seeker in need of specialized training, EWU and Gatlin provide the necessary resources for workforce, corporate, vocational rehabilitation or individual career training, all from the convenience of your own home or office.

Gatlin programs blend various types of instruction in a unique format that provides a logical, comprehensive and effective education. The typical course combines online instructional content, traditional textbook material and instructor-facilitated lessons. Though the courses are self-paced, personal instructors are available to guide every student. This blended learning differentiates EWU and Gatlin courses from ordinary online courses. Each course is open enrollment and takes an average of 90 days to complete.

Web-based instruction is growing in popularity. Gatlin’s enrollments with their partner institutions have increased by 100 percent in the last year. The company has strategic partnerships with more than 600 institutions of higher learning worldwide.

“Between juggling a job, a home, a family and a social life, there isn’t always a lot of time left to attend an on-campus class,” said Stephen Gatlin, founder of Fort Worth-based Gatlin Education Services. “Online training offers the convenience of working from your personal computer and at your own pace. It’s a viable tool right now as evidenced by the growing number of people utilizing it, and is the way of the future.”

Established in 1989 by Stephen Gatlin, Gatlin Education Services is the largest provider of Web-based, instructor-supported training to community colleges and universities. Gatlin’s online career training courses are open enrollment, allowing interested students to start their desired training immediately. Gatlin’s courses are designed to provide the skills necessary to acquire professional caliber positions for many in-demand occupations.

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posted by ^%&^ @ 8:33 PM   0 comments
Monday, June 25
Maharey Free With Rhetoric, But Not With ECE
ACT New Zealand Education Spokesman Heather Roy today congratulated Education Minister Steve Maharey for pulling off, what may be, the biggest scam in New Zealand's history of Early Childhood Education.

"Mr Maharey has even managed to pull the wool over the eyes of the charitable trusts that provide funding to the Auckland Kindergarten Association - so well, in fact, that these trusts are now either opting out or threatening to opt out of the arrangement," Mrs Roy said.

"This means the AKA is at risk of losing $1.1 million of funding a year - and will have to charge parents an additional 50 cents per hour per child to provide 20 hours free Early Childhood Education for three and four-year-olds.

"So much for Mr Maharey's statement that: 'from July 1 tens of thousands of New Zealand parents will have more money in their hands every week' - or perhaps he simply wasn't including Auckland parents in that statement.

"A group of concerned parents - '20 Hours Free. Please' - has delivered a petition to Parliament urging the Minister to keep his election promise that '20 hours free education will be provided for three and four-year-olds at any licensed teacher-led service in New Zealand from July 2007'. Around the nation, 3,375 people have signed this petition.

"This just goes to show: Mr Maharey can fool some of the people some of the time, but he can't fool all of the people all of the time.

"Mr Maharey has put Early Childhood Centres in an untenable situation, stuck between parents on one side and the Government on the other - and unable to make either one happy.

"With ECCs facing a tough enough time as it is, the least Mr Maharey could do is come clean and admit that his interpretation of the term 'free' is different to that of the rest of the English-speaking world - then, perhaps, the AKA might be able to retain some of the funding they so desperately need to provide quality education," Mrs Roy said.

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posted by ^%&^ @ 9:36 PM   0 comments
Student Loan Financial Group Announces Interest Rates on Variable-rate Loans Increasing July 1st
Student Loan Financial Group , the premier financial center specializing in Federal Student Loan Consolidation , today announced that interest rates on existing variable-rate student loans will climb eight basis points, or .08 percentage points July 1, 2007. While interest rates on new Federal Stafford and PLUS loans are fixed under federal law, students, graduates and parents who have older, variable-rate student loans can take advantage of the lower rate if they apply for student loan consolidation by June 30.

Most federal Stafford and PLUS loans first disbursed before July 1, 2006 charge variable interest rates that are set by federal formula and based on the last auction of 91-day U.S. Treasury bills in May. Interest rates on loans disbursed after that date are fixed at 6.8 percent (Stafford) and 8.5 percent (PLUS).

"This Spring 2007, college grad's who still have variable rate loans may consider applying to consolidate before their six month, post grad grace period ends," said John Wrinn, President, Student Loan Financial Group. "Students can lock in a lower rate if they lock the rate prior to June 30th. Also, parents with PLUS loans will save an eight of a percent by consolidating before July 1st, instead of waiting.

When a student decides to consolidate their student loans, the loan consolidation lender pays off the student's current federal student loans in full and creates a new loan, with a new interest rate and a longer repayment term. Federal student loan consolidation has a fixed interest rate, based on the weighted average of the interest rates of the student loans being consolidated, rounded up to the nearest 0.125 percent or 8.25 percent, whichever is less.

For existing Federal Stafford and PLUS loans that still carry a variable interest rate, the interest rates as of July 1, 2007 will be:

Stafford Loans (in school, grace and deferment periods): 6.62 percent

Stafford Loans (repayment): 7.22 percent -- PLUS Loans: 8.02 percent

In addition, there is no credit checks, no fees, no prepayment penalties as well as student loan consolidation can reduce the monthly payment amount by nearly 50 percent. That is because student loan consolidation stretches the repayment period from the standard 10 years to up to 30 years, depending on the amount of the education debt.

Student and parent customers who consolidate their Stafford, PLUS and other eligible federal student loans using a Student Loan Financial Group Consolidation Loan can also reduce their interest rate by an additional 1.25 percentage points by making scheduled loan payments on time, and by using automatic debit to make payments electronically. Combined, these benefits can provide the average customer with $4,300 in savings on a $20,000 loan.

About Student Loan Financial Group
Student Loan Financial Group (SLFG) is a premier loan service that guides clients through the options and choices of student loan financing with ease and simplicity. Headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, SLFG specializes in student loan consolidation and has helped thousandths of students fulfill their ambitions of high education. Through an extensive network of highly specialized products, SLFG offers low rates, great borrower benefits and the best options available to solve a wide-range of consumer-financing needs. SLFG was incorporated as a privately held company in 2006; all of its shares are currently held by officers and employees.

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posted by ^%&^ @ 9:34 PM   0 comments
Tafford Uniforms announces nursing scholarship winners
Tafford Uniforms, a leading supplier of nursing uniforms, shoes, and medical accessories, announced that two students have been awarded the inaugural Tafford Uniforms Nursing Scholarship.

The scholarship program, announced in March 2007, was created by Tafford Uniforms to support the education and training of nursing students and help address the critical nursing shortage facing the healthcare industry in the United States.

This semester's winners of $1,000 scholarships were selected from an amazing group of applicants who will soon be serving in the nursing profession. The Tafford Uniforms Scholarship Committee received over 6,000 completed applications from approximately 1,600 schools across the country. Michael Allbritton, a single father with primary custody of three children, returned to school after raising a special-needs child.

Allbritton was awarded the scholarship to assist in his pursuit of a BSN degree from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. In his application, Allbritton stated, "With the opportunity presented, I am committed to succeeding, regardless of time, effort, or difficulty."

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posted by ^%&^ @ 9:33 PM   0 comments
SAE Institute announces a first of a kind scholarship program for the region
SAE Institute in partnership and with the support of Dubai Knowledge Village, Dubai International Academic City and the Australian Trade Commission & Australian Education International, a unique scholarship program for the region to follow in the footsteps of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation.

In attendance was H.E. Mr Jeremy Bruer - Australian Ambassador to the UAE, Dr. Kazim Ayoub - Executive Director of Dubai Knowledge Village and Dubai International Academic City; Mr. Steve Garrett, Consul - Education, Science and Training - Australian Education International and Mr. Romy Hawatt, Senior Executive of SAE International.

SAE is the worlds largest Creative Media & Communications Technology education & training provider in the fields of Film Making, 3D Animation, Multimedia & Web Design and Audio Engineering and has launched this first of a kind scholarship program in support and the facilitation of 240 selected students, from 9 regional countries, to study an Australian 1 year Diploma program at the SAE Institute - Dubai Knowledge Village campus for Lebanese, Egyptian, Sudanese, Indian & Pakistani students and also the new state-of-the-art SAE Campus in Amman, for Jordanian Iraqi, Palestinian and Syrians.

Dr. Ayoub Kazim, Executive Director of Dubai Knowledge Village and Dubai International Academic City commented, 'As a pioneering regional hub for education and professional development, Dubai Knowledge Village hosts several leading academic institutions. SAE Institute is one of the key providers of arts and creative media technologies education and we are supportive of their part-scholarship programme offered here. Moreover, we are glad that our business partner has chosen Dubai Knowledge Village to extend such a valuable programme to the students.'

Successful applicants will be able to study a fully Australian accredited course at either the renowned Dubai Knowledge Village educational zone in the UAE or the brand new SAE Institute campus in Amman Jordan. Upon graduation the student will be well positioned for consideration- subject to Visa application criteria at the time, to continue studies for a degree qualification at one of the SAE degree centers in Australia or elsewhere.

Mr. Steve Garrett, Consul - Education, Science and Training, Australian Education International stated that 'SAE Institute provides not only a high quality education, it addresses a gap in the market by providing unique courses unlike anything else in the region, and this is done successfully with SAE's qualified teachers and the latest technology and equipment. I encourage those who are keen to pursue a career in Audio Engineering, Film Making, Digital Animation or Web design to apply for an SAE scholarship'.

In order to provide this unique study program to as broad an applicant base as possible the SAE scholarship fund will pay 50% of the published course fees on behalf of the successful applicant, thus effectively doubling the number of students that may take advantage of experiencing an SAE education.

'SAE Institute is in awe and greatly inspired by the recent announcement of the unprecedented pledge by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum to establish a $10 Billion Foundation to support 'human development and knowledge creation & dissemination' and we will be applying forthwith to align the existing SAE Scholarship program to meet the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation policies, criteria & objectives.' said Romy Hawatt, Senior Executive, SAE International.

We believe that an internationally recognized & accredited education can provide a giant step toward poverty alleviation and self determination, especially in developing and war torn countries. On this basis SAE has joined forces & resources with a number of private, industry and Government agencies and donors to provide a broad based and uniquely Australian education opportunity to those that meet application acceptance criteria.

'Australia has a legacy and proud history of actively developing & participating in programs & campaigns that align, bridge and support our friends & neighbors. The Middle East is no different in this regard and we are committed at both a Government and business level to maintaining & increasing the very best of relations with our Arab friends. The generous and innovative scholarship program offered by SAE is one important example of how positive contributions can and are being made.', said H.E. Jeremy Bruer - Australian Ambassador to the UAE.

Plans are already underway to expand the scholarship program to further territories in late 2007 /08 and it has been suggested that these could include Libya, Morocco, Kenya, Turkey and Iran.

'SAE Institute will continue to set the pace & lead the way, actively enhancing and delivering an education that corresponds with the latest technical advancements & global industry needs. We have always maintained an 'equal opportunity in education' and 'unity in diversity' policy which is designed to facilitate & provide for a variety of nationalities to come together on our campuses. We will continue to work to spread the benefit of our lead positioning by educating as wide an international student base as is possible within territories warranting support. The SAE scholarship program is evidence of our commitment to helping to create a sense of community and a generally better world through the provision of practical education & training,' Dr. Tom Misner, SAE Institute, President & Founder.

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posted by ^%&^ @ 9:27 PM   0 comments
LIN TV Announces 2007 Minority Scholarship Recipient
television, digital media and online news organization that owns and/or operates 29 television stations and websites, today announced Stacie L. Thompson as the recipient of its 2007 Minority Scholarship and Training Program.

Ms. Thompson, a junior in the fall at the University of Missouri, will receive a two-year scholarship, worth up to twenty thousand ($20,000) dollars per year, for tuition, fees, books, and room and board. In addition, LIN TV will provide Ms. Thompson with hands-on broadcast training through a paid summer internship program at WISH-TV in Indianapolis, IN, where she will gain valuable experience in all areas of television station operations.

LIN TV’s 2006 Minority Scholarship Recipient, Jana Gordon, a senior in the fall at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, is currently interning in Community Affairs at WDTN-TV in Dayton, OH. Both recipients may be offered full-time permanent positions at a television station owned and/or operated by LIN TV upon graduation and successful completion of the program.

"By endorsing and supporting students interested in journalism, LIN TV is helping to guarantee the future quality of the broadcast industry,” said Vincent L. Sadusky, president and chief executive officer. “Our recipients are from diverse cultures and are well-rounded, hard-working, and dedicated students. Their goals are ambitious and we want to see them succeed.”

“LIN TV has offered me an opportunity of a lifetime,” said Stacie L. Thompson. “This scholarship ensures that I can complete my college education and gain unparalleled ‘real world’ experience in broadcasting.”

For nearly a decade, LIN TV has been awarding scholarships to ambitious students who are pursuing a wide spectrum of goals in or relating to broadcast television and digital media, ranging from producing and engineering to broadcast journalism, community affairs and sales. They were selected to receive the Minority Scholarship because of their academic achievement, their passion for broadcasting and their desire to contribute to the overall advancement of the industry.

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posted by ^%&^ @ 9:27 PM   0 comments
Saturday, June 23
Student loan interest rate looks set to double
Interest rates on student loans look set to double, it emerged this week. The interest charged on a student loan now stands at just 2.4%, but rising inflation means students and graduates could soon face interest rates of twice that on their outstanding loans.

That's because the Student Loans Company interest rate, which is set every autumn, is based on the March retail price index, which this year jumped to 4.8%.

The Welsh party Plaid Cymru this week described the student loan system as "a complete scandal". Plaid member Bethan Jenkins said: "If interest rates double, many will be charged £50 a month in interest alone. We cannot allow this to continue."

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posted by ^%&^ @ 10:25 PM   0 comments
Why You Should Take Advantage Of Student Loan Debt Consolidation
You went to college, and you have your degree. And now that you have a job, you are making your own money, which means you have your own bills to pay. College probably wasn't free, and it certainly wasn't cheap. You probably had to take out several student loans in order to pay for your tuition, books, even your living expenses. So now that you have graduated, you are faced with the prospect of paying back several loans at a time. This can be quite overwhelming. It can be difficult to keep track of several different monthly loan payments with different interest rates. That is why student loan debt consolidation is a good thing to consider.

When you consolidate your student loans, you are combining them into one loan. This has many benefits for you, including only 1 monthly payment rather than several to keep track of, and one low interest rate for the entire amount. Also, you can take longer to pay back the loan, which will help keep your monthly payments lower. In the long run, you will save money by choosing student loan debt consolidation, because you won't be paying several varying interest rates on several loans.

Another huge advantage of student loan debt consolidation is that it is beneficial to your credit rating. If you have several loan payments to keep track of and pay per month, the chances of you missing a payment are much higher than if you have just one loan payment to pay monthly. And missing student loan payments is nothing to mess around with. If you get behind on your loan payments, you run the risk of having property and possessions revoked, and your credit rating will be damaged for a very long time. Therefore, if you are someone who might not be able to keep track of several student loans at a time, you should consider student loan debt consolidation!

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posted by ^%&^ @ 9:59 PM   0 comments
Memorial scholarship established by Palance’s widow
Students financially in need who want to attend the Hazleton campus of Penn State University – especially those from Hazle Township – may have an easier time getting an education, in the name and memory of the Hazleton area’s most famous person.
Friday, Elaine Palance – the widow of actor Jack Palance – was at Highacres to announce she was establishing the Jack Palance Memorial Trustee Scholarship.
Elaine said Jack would have been pleased to leave a legacy that combined two of his great loves – his hometown and young people.
“When I was approached about doing this, I knew at that very moment it was the right thing to do,” she said. “Jack loved this area and the people, and he’d want to make the future of children better. I can’t think of a better way than helping young people attain their educational goals.”
Kevin Salaway, the campus’ director of development, explained how a trustee scholarship works.
“The donor contributes a prescribed amount,” Salaway said. “An endowment such as this remains in perpetuity, so the principal remains, and the interest is used for the awards.”
Salaway said the number of scholarships and their amounts are dependent upon by the university’s Financial Aid office.
“A trustee scholarship means the trustees match the amount (of the scholarship),” Salaway said. “Trustee scholarships start at $50,000.”
Implemented in 2002 by the university’s board of trustees, the scholarship program has assisted more than 4,000 students in the 2006-07 school year.
Although Mrs. Palance did not reveal how much she has endowed on behalf of her late husband, who passed away last November, she said she would like to build the scholarship to be even larger.
“I would like to have a golf tournament or some other event,” she said as she signed papers for the scholarship. “I want to get very involved and participate so that it can help as many students as possible. I don’t want to have just X dollars for this, I want to have 10 X.”
Salaway said the scholarship is a culmination of money raised from family and friends around the world. It is a testament to the way Palance felt about his hometown.
“Jack had a long-standing relationship and commitment to the Hazleton community,” Salaway said. “We are flattered the Palance family has elected to make this contribution to the Penn State Hazleton Campus. It’s a way of giving back to the community. It was their (the Palance family) interest to leave a lasting legacy, so they elected to do this.”
Attorney Pasco Schiavo, vice president of the Hazleton Educational Council, the campus advisory board, and chairman of the campus Development Committee, presented Mrs. Palance with a token of appreciation.
“Many of us here in the community view Penn State Hazleton as a true asset to the region, and it’s gratifying to know that someone like Jack Palance agreed,” Schiavo said. “It’s a great legacy.”
It was Schiavo and local TV personality Sam Lesante who began a dialogue with Jack and his family related to supporting the Hazleton campus as a means for creating a legacy in his hometown.
“Jack expressed interest in supporting the campus, and it’s wonderful to see his wishes come to fruition,” Lesante said.
“We appreciate the Palance family establishing the Jack Palance Memorial Scholarship at Penn State Hazleton,” said Penn State Hazleton Chancellor Dr. John Madden. “This gift will have a lasting effect on students, giving those who may not have the resources to attend college an opportunity to do so.”
Following Palance’s death, one of Palance’s daughters, Holly – the other daughter is Brook – requested that a memorial scholarship fund be established at the campus.
Elaine said Jack would have been pleased to help young people.
“You had to see the way he was around children,” Elaine said. “In order to understand, you would have to have been over our house for a sleepover – when all of the kids would be outside, skating on the pond at the farm, with the car headlights shining on them – and Jack holding one that was too cold. You had to see that. Jack would be so proud to do this.”
And if any of the scholarship recipients wanted to study theater or acting, Elaine said she had some study tips.
“I could help anyone study drama and acting,” she said. “I could tell them what books to read. Jack had his own library.”
Mrs. Palance also took then opportunity to speak with the media and thank veterans who saluted the famed actor upon his death.
“I would like to thank the veterans for bringing all of the majesty to Jack’s memorial Mass,” Elaine said. “Many people don’t know he won the Purple Heart and Bronze Star in World War II. Jack is being honored by the Green Berets in Oklahoma City in August.”
Born Volodymir Ivanovich Palahniuk in Lattimer Mines and the son of a Ukranian coal miner, Jack Palance is well known for his roles in 1950s movie classics such as “Shane” and “Sudden Fear.”
On television, he won the Emmy Award for the 1957 show “Requiem for a Heavyweight.”
In the 1980s, Palance also co-hosted with his daughter Holly the television series “Ripley’s Believe It Or Not.” And he won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1992 for his performance as cowboy Curly Washburn in the comedy “City Slickers.”

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posted by ^%&^ @ 9:45 PM   0 comments
Scholarship fund reaches new heights
The University of Memphis athletic department is expected to set a record for donations to its Tiger Scholarship Fund, surpassing last year's record of $5 million.

The TSF, the fund-raising arm for the athletic department, reached its longtime goal of $5 million last year, but could approach $6 million when figures are announced next month. A re-seating at FedExForum for the Tiger basketball program -- coming off consecutive Elite Eight appearances and expected to be ranked in the preseason top five -- has contributed to increased donations.

''We budgeted $5.2 million (in donations) for 2007, but we are going to surpass that,'' said Bill Landsen, UofM associate athletic director/development. ''We'll be setting a new record, although I'm not sure what it will be.''

After last year's record donation total, athletic director R.C. Johnson, who set the $5 million bar when he was hired 11 years ago, said $6 million would be the next benchmark.

''I don't have a tally, but we're having phenomenal success with our (TSF) renewals and with new members,'' Johnson said. ''We wanted 500 new members, and we have surpassed that.

''As for our donations, the goal was $5.2 million. I feel confident we'll make that, which will be another all-time record. The goal has always been to offset scholarship costs.''

Johnson said each percentage point increase in tuition translates to about $52,000 in scholarship costs. Tuition has increased in recent years by about five percent annually.

Golfer transfers

Kyle Peterman, a freshman on the UofM men's golf team who finished in a tie for first in his college debut, is transferring to Western Illinois near his hometown of Sherman, Ill.

Peterman said he was leaving the Tiger program because he was unhappy with the limited playing time he received in the spring. Peterman had a 74.3 scoring average for six rounds in the fall, including a tie for first in the Mason Rudolph Intercollegiate, where he fired a second-round 66. He did not qualify for any spring tournaments, according to Grant Robbins, the UofM men's coach.

''He had every opportunity to qualify (for spring tournaments),'' Robbins said. ''He just didn't qualify. He'll do well (at Western Illinois). He's a good golfer.''

Busy offseason

Lady Tiger basketball player Aroha Jennings, a native of New Zealand, may find herself returning to the UofM this fall to rest. Jennings, the lone returning senior for coach Blair Savage-Lansden, has been busy traveling with the New Zealand national team after earning a roster spot in May.

Jennings, who led the Lady Tigers with an 11.9 scoring average last season, traveled to Japan in late May for a five-day tour that included three tournament games. Last week, the team flew to Beijing, China to begin an eight-day stay and participate in a four-team tournament in preparation for the Olympic qualifying tournament.

New Zealand, ranked 17th in the world, will participate in the William Jones Cup tournament in Taiwan early next month.

Odds and ends

Former Tiger kicker Stephen Gostkowski, beginning his second NFL season with the New England Patriots, will be involved in a minor league baseball promotion with the short-season Class A Lowell (Mass.) Spinners Sunday. Gostkowski will kick autographed footballs into the stands between innings of the Spinners' game against the Vermont Lake Monsters. There was no mention of Gostkowski, a former Tiger righthander, throwing out the first pitch. ... Former Lady Tiger basketball assistant Jay Bowen, a Memphis native and former Ole Miss assistant, has been hired as head basketball coach at East Texas Baptist University in Marshall, Texas. East Texas Baptist, a Division 3 women's program, went 22-5 last year. Another former Lady Tiger women's basketball staff member, Bartlett native Toby Bush, has been named head coach at Neosho County Community College in Chanute, Kan. ... Former Lady Tiger golfer Stacey Tate participated in last week's U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links tournament at Kearney Hill Golf Links in Lexington, Ky., but missed the cut by one stroke after rounds of 75 and 79.

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posted by ^%&^ @ 9:40 PM   0 comments
USC offers a scholarship to 8th-grader
Still mulling over high schools, eighth-grader locks in his college

This is exactly the kind of encouragement parents holding second mortgages to pay for trainers and summer camps do NOT need:

For the second year running, Southern California basketball coach Tim Floyd offered a scholarship to an eighth-grader.

‘‘Hmmm,’’ Louisville coach Rick Pitino mulled over the news. ‘‘I’m not good enough to evaluate that far ahead. Someday, I might wish I was.’’

The kid’s name is Ryan Boatright, he’s 14 and 5-foot-10, and still not sure which Aurora, Calif., high school, East or West, he wants to attend. But he won’t have that problem with college. Ryan left Floyd’s basketball summer camp at USC last weekend with a promise to return in 2011. It may or may not be part of a trend.

Floyd is barred by NCAA rules from discussing specific recruits, but he said Thursday, ‘‘I don’t want this portrayed as if we’re hovering over some eighth-grader by himself. Families are involved and they view the opportunity for a $188,000 scholarship as something important to them.’’

And indeed, Mike Boatright, Ryan’s father, said about the offer, ‘‘It shocked me.’’

Not long after, however, he told the same interviewer, ‘‘I’m tremendously concerned. It could get ugly as far as kids getting jealous. I also don’t want it to get to his head. I want him to stay humble.’’

About the only thing the recruiting process and real life have left in common is this: When something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. So before this goes any further, it’s worth noting that none of what happened — Floyd’s offer of a scholarship, Ryan’s pledge to USC — is binding.

Floyd promised he would make good on his offer — ‘‘I will not back out of any commitment that we make.’’ he said — even though NCAA rules bar coaches from making ‘‘official contact’’ with a recruit before his junior year of high school.

A spokesman for the organization said Thursday that contact between coaches and players at the summer camps was not considered ‘‘official.’’ If that sounds too convenient, at least it still reflects the reality on the ground. NCAA officials know that the kids are no more likely to keep their promises than the coaches and schools are. One of the pioneers of the ultra-early commitments was a McDonald’s All-American named Taylor King who pledged to UCLA and is now set to go to Duke.

‘‘We have a responsibility to get the best players we can find and know what the competition is doing,’’ Floyd said. ‘‘And when they target an eighth-grader ...

‘‘In a perfect world,’’ he continued, ‘‘we’d all wait until spring signing date when these kids are high school seniors. But that’s just not the world that we live in in college basketball. Am I supposed to wait until Duke or Kentucky offer, and then it’s OK?’’

Similarly, just because Floyd made the same offer last year to then-14-year-old Dwayne Polee Jr., doesn’t mean the 6-6 high school freshman from Westchester, Calif., still isn’t on other schools’ list. Or that Boatright, who was reportedly being chased by DePaul, Indiana and a handful of other schools, will be at USC until he actually signs a national letter of intent.

‘‘Four years is a long time,’’ Pitino said, ‘‘and way too often, it just doesn’t work out for either side.

‘‘Unless he’s Greg Oden, where you know he’s going to be that good down the road, I’m not sure what’s in it for the school. For the kid, on the other hand, it could be great — unless the school backs out.’’

And no coach wants his feet held to the fire. Pitino recalled a ninth-grader who committed to Louisville, but wasn’t a good fit by the time his freshman year of college rolled around. He recalled a similar case where Florida coach Billy Donovan, his one-time pupil, had to convince another kid that he’d found three players at the same position in the interim.

‘‘The only thing it’s guaranteed to do,’’ Pitino said about the signing, ‘‘is generate a lot of publicity.’’

Try telling that to all those parents already in debt up to their eyeballs. With dollar signs in their eyes and college scholarships supposedly being handed out at summer camps like consolation prizes, it’s only going to get more expensive still. This is called free enterprise.

Developing athletic talent is not only cheaper, but a whole lot less chaotic when it’s run by the government, or by powerful clubs, such as the soccer teams in Europe. There, talents are identified even earlier than 14, catalogued, sent to academies, signed, trained and delivered to pros a few years later at fixed costs.

When high school prospects were skipping college and pouring straight into the NBA with all the attendant problems, somebody proposed that solution to then-deputy commissioner Russ Granik. He chuckled, thought it over, then pointed out that was never going to be an option.

‘‘It sounds great,’’ he said, ‘‘but there’s no chance people in this country would ever go for that.’’

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posted by ^%&^ @ 9:09 PM   0 comments
Assocham to provide free MBA education to 300 girls
New Delhi: Leading industry lobby the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) on Friday said it would provide free Master of Business Administration (MBA) education to 300 underprivileged girls.

Assocham said it would provide 300 Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe girls having a family income of less than Rs.5,000 a month, free education along with boarding, lodging, clothing and books at MBA level and help them to provide jobs.

"ASSOCHAM and Rai Foundation (a private higher education institution) would be implementing the decision with immediate effect. The eligible candidates could approach ASSOCHAM on singh@assocham.com," an official statement said.

The statement further said that Assocham should train entrepreneurs from socially and economically backward SC and ST communities at district industry centres in association with the local industries and corporates.

The industry body has also proposed to help establish coaching programme in universities to lower dropout rates amongst backward class students. (IANS)

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posted by ^%&^ @ 9:08 PM   0 comments
Friday, June 22
Financial aid 101
RECENT NEWS from the student loan industry has all the makings of a gritty detective flick. Some shady financial aid officials cut dubious deals with lenders at the expense of naive student victims.

The seen-it-all detective is Senator Edward Kennedy. He's the chairman of the Senate's committee on health, education, labor, and pensions, which has released a report on student loan abuses. It's a troubling account of what Kennedy calls "inappropriate marketing practices, conflicts of interest, and back-room deals."

The stories are similar. Students take out loans without asking a lot of questions because this is the only way they can go to college. Those who get what are called Direct Loans deal with the federal government. But students who go through Federal Family Education Loan programs are borrowing from private lenders.

This is where problems have festered. Some banks and colleges have had ill-advised, even unethical relationships. In some cases, colleges steer student borrowers by designating certain banks as "preferred lenders." The banks then reward college officials with services, consulting fees, or positions on boards.

Meanwhile, students can be railroaded because they don't know about all their borrowing choices. It's a national problem. Kennedy's report challenges practices at various lending institutions, including Citizens Bank, Chase, Citibank, Nelnet, and Northstar. Some colleges have fired their own financial aid officials, including Emerson College, which fired its dean of enrollment.

But cleaning up student borrowing will take a lot more than throwing out bad apples.

In a meeting at the Globe last week, US Education Secretary Margaret Spellings called for greater transparency in lending and a greater public role in financial aid, pointing out that many students go directly to banks for private loans to pay for college. She promoted President Bush's proposal to raise Pell grants over five years to $5,400 -- a move that's overdue, since grants don't add to the debt many students accrue by graduation.

Spellings also says colleges have to police themselves, making sure they have ethical and well-enforced financial aid policies.

On Wednesday, Kennedy's committee wisely approved a bill that would cut $18 billion in subsidies to student loan companies. Of this, $1 billion would be used to reduce the federal deficit. And $17 billion would be used for financial aid. Pell grants would go up to $5,400. The bill would cap monthly loan payments at 15 percent of borrowers' discretionary income. And the US Department of Education would have to name colleges that raise prices faster than their peers.

When it considers this bill, the full Senate should follow the committee's lead, cutting a fairer deal with college students

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posted by ^%&^ @ 8:58 PM   0 comments
Standardize Financial Aid Award Letters
The letters that colleges send students to notify them about their financial aid awards are cryptic and confusing. Families often find them to be difficult to understand and interpret. Key problems include the use of obscure terminology, incomplete cost information and limited disclosure of important loan terms. An award letter might highlight the total amount of aid while providing insufficient information to allow the family to figure out the bottom line cost. A lack of universal standards for financial aid award letters also prevents families from comparing aid offers from different schools on an apples to apples basis.

Currently, there is no standard format for financial aid award letters, nor requirements for the content of award letters. Colleges are not required under federal laws or rules to send an award letter. There is, however, a haphazard set of regulatory and statutory notice requirements that colleges fulfill with the award letter, such as the notice of the amounts and types of Title IV aid, availability of financial aid and certain institutional information.

Every family wants to know how much their college education will cost and how they can pay for it. This means the letter should include the full actual cost of attendance, the total aid (broken down by type and timing), and the remaining cost. Unfortunately, many award letters seem to omit one or more of these elements, as has been demonstrated by Kim Clark of U.S. News & World Report at FinancialAidLetter.com.

Some of the more common problems with financial aid award letters include:

* Inconsistent reporting of cost figures. Some letters don’t mention costs at all and some include only selected costs. For example, some letters mention just tuition and fees instead of the full cost of attendance as defined in section 472 of the Higher Education Act of 1965. Even when an award letter includes the full cost of attendance, it may not break down the costs into the major components — tuition & fees, room & board, books & supplies, transportation and personal expenses — making it difficult to determine whether one or more cost components has been omitted. Some cost components, such as textbook prices and living expense budgets, may be underestimated or be based on old estimates. This makes the financial aid offer appear more generous.
* Masking the identity of award components. Sometimes award letters use cryptic acronyms, abbreviations and names for components of the financial aid package, making it difficult for families to determine what’s a grant, what’s a loan and what’s work-study.
* Incomplete disclosure of loan terms. Award letters rarely disclose the key terms of the loans, such as interest rates, fees and loan length, or even whether it is a student or parent obligation and whether the interest is subsidized or unsubsidized by the federal government. Financial aid award letters also sometimes fail to distinguish between need-based loans and non-need-based loans. There are good public policy reasons for including non-need-based loans and tuition payment plans on the award letter, such as raising awareness of often-overlooked options for financing college (e.g., the PLUS loan and the unsubsidized Stafford loan). But incorporating these loans into the financial aid package without clearly distinguishing them can mask gapping, where the college fails to meet the student’s full demonstrated financial need, and be misleading. For example, when a private student loan is branded as a college loan, a practice that has been criticized by Congress, it suggests that it is a low-cost loan, when in reality it is one of the more expensive forms of education financing.
* Masking the real price of college. Financial aid award letters often emphasize the net cost, which is defined as the difference between the cost of attendance and the need-based components of the award letter. The net cost roughly approximates the expected family contribution (EFC). In some cases award letters include non-need-based loans when calculating the net cost, making the college seem less expensive than it really is. A key problem with net cost is it treats loans like gift aid, as though they don’t need to be repaid. While low-cost loans provide cash flow assistance, and so are a form of aid, subtracting them from the cost of attendance hides how little support some students get. A better approach is to highlight the out-of-pocket cost, which is the difference between the cost of attendance and just gift aid. This more closely reflects the true cost of college.

Colleges need to take the lead in standardizing a set of disclosures for financial aid award letters in order to improve transparency and accountability. This will make it easier for prospective students to compare awards from different colleges and for current students to understand just what help they are receiving.

A standard could include the following requirements:

Cost of Attendance

* Use standard definitions of college cost components.
* Require all award letters to include total college costs, not just a subset of the costs.
* Require all award letters to include a breakdown of each major component of the cost of attendance, such as tuition & fees, room & board, books & supplies, transportation and personal expenses.
* Use realistic cost of attendance figures, based on actual costs, to prevent underestimates that provide a misleading picture of college costs.

Financial Aid

* Segregate need-based aid from non-need-based aid.
* Aggregate and label awards according to award types, such as grant, need-based loan, non-need-based loan, and work-study.
* Disclose the key terms of each loan, including the interest rate, fees, loan term in years, whether it is a student or parent obligation, and whether the interest is subsidized or unsubsidized. For example, a subsidized Stafford loan could be listed as “Subsidized Stafford (6.8% interest, 2.5% fees, 10 year term)".

Standardized Format

* Establish a standard reporting format for this information, akin to the Schumer box required on all credit card solicitations. Using a standard format would make it easier to compare award letters from different schools.
* The award letter could include additional information, but this disclosure box would establish minimum standards for the information to be included on the award letter.
* Summarize the family cost as the out-of-pocket cost in addition to the net cost.

The following design illustrates one possible approach to a standardized disclosure box. It presents just the summary information in a standardized format, establishing a minimal standard for the information that should be included in every financial aid award letter. It highlights the information that is most important to families and uses a standard format to make the award letter easier to interpret. Detailed listings of individual award letter components, such as Pell Grant and subsidized Stafford loan, would appear elsewhere in the letter, along with detailed disclosures of the interest rates and fees and other conditions of the award.

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posted by ^%&^ @ 8:53 PM   0 comments
FREE COLLEGE
Tony Payton, D-Philadelphia, to offer full tuition to Pennsylvania residents who enroll in a state college or university sounds good to us.

Called the Reliable Educational Assistance for College Hopefuls program, or REACH, Payton's idea is modeled after similar tuition scholarship programs in other states, including Florida and Georgia. REACH would pay for high school students with a 3.0 grade-point (or "B") average, have an 85 percent attendance record, and are state residents three years before graduating.

The most intriguing requirement is REACH recepients must remain in Pennsylvania four years after graduation. This will reduce "brain drain," where recent grads leave the area, and act as an economic stimulus.

It differs from another state funded scholarship plan, H.B. 108 introduced this year, which has academic requirements.

The Payton plan hasn't been formalized into a bill yet; before it does, he should raise the bar on those attendance requirements to something closer to 90 percent.

Still, the idea of a state funded tuition plan should remain on the legislative radar screen and seriously debated. *

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posted by ^%&^ @ 8:52 PM   0 comments
Legislators work to send more American students abroad
Legislation currently under consideration in Congress aims to send at least 1 million undergraduate students abroad each year.

The Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act cites studies that show U.S. students score below their counterparts in other advanced countries. The act aims to address American students' lack of information about international affairs and the need to produce more foreign language speakers.

The U.S. House unanimously approved the bill June 5. The legislation fulfills the goal of late Sen. Paul Simon, D-Illinois, to send at least 1 million students abroad annually.

The Senate is expected to take up the legislation soon.

John Sunnygard, director of the UT Center for Global Education Opportunities, said given the role the United States plays in the world, it's important that there be a broad cross-section of people with international exposure.

"Those of us who see students when they come back from studying abroad know that these students have grown," Sunnygard said. "They've got a much greater sense of self-confidence, a much greater understanding of the world, of the United States in the world, of themselves as a cultural entity, and they tend to be very effective when they get out into the professional world."

The bill provides $80 million for a national study abroad program to be administered by the proposed Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation. Through public-private partnerships, the foundation would administer grants to students, institutions of higher education and nongovernmental institutions that provide and promote study abroad opportunities.

Sunnygard said the U.S. currently sends about 200,000 Americans abroad annually and about 2 million receive undergraduate degrees each year.

"[The bill] would mean sending about half of the graduating population abroad," Sunnygard said. "The impact that would have on this country and on the world will be phenomenal."

According to the bill, only 1 percent of students attending institutions of higher learning in the United States participate in study abroad programs, and less than 10 percent of graduates with bachelor's degrees have studied abroad.

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posted by ^%&^ @ 8:50 PM   0 comments
3 more lenders agree on student loan code
The state has reached agreements with three more lenders in an ongoing probe of the student lending industry, according to state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office.

The three lenders -- National City Bank, Regions Financial Corp., and Wachovia Education Finance Inc. -- agreed to abide by a new code of conduct put forth by the attorney general's office. With the addition of the latest lenders, the state has now reached agreements with the six top student loan providers in the country, according to Cuomo's office.

The code of conduct, which this year was codified into law by the state Legislature at the request of Cuomo, is designed to prevent inappropriate financial arrangements between lenders and schools.

Among the provisions of the code of conduct is a ban on financial ties between the schools and lenders, a ban on payments for "preferred lender status," and a ban on gifts and trips to college employees.

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posted by ^%&^ @ 8:30 PM   0 comments
Senate Student Loan Cuts Will Increase Costs and Reduce Choices for Borrowers
Student loan borrowers will wind up paying more and have less competition and choice if a bill approved by a U.S. Senate education committee becomes law.

"Yesterday's committee action will mean higher student loan costs for America's working families," according to Dr. Henry Howard, President of U.S. Education Finance Group (USEFG). "These across-the-board-cuts and new taxes on student loans will mean borrowers will have to pay more than they do today."

Howard's warning came one day after U.S. Senators Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Michael Enzi (R-WY) led the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee a step closer to destroying competition in the Federal Family Education Loan Program.

"The bottom line is that these cuts will hurt more people than they would help," Howard said. "While a clear need exists for reforms in the student loan program, Congress should not impose across-the-board cuts that will destroy choice and competition."

He explained that the potential legislation will strengthen the domination of the loan program by three lenders -- Sallie Mae (SLM), Nelnet (NNI) and Citibank (STU). "When the news of this deal was released this week, these companies' stock prices spiked up because Wall Street knows that these across- the-board cuts will squeeze the smaller lenders out of business."

Howard added that smaller lenders like USEFG have promoted price competition and long advocated that colleges expand lender choices for their students to meet rising tuition prices. He emphasized that the Senate bill does not go far enough in preventing colleges from steering borrowers to the larger lenders, and its does not curb skyrocketing tuition. He stressed that Congress should pursue fairer and more equitable alternatives that would enhance competition rather than destroy it.

U.S. Education Finance Group, headquarters in Miami, FL, is an industry leader in the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program and has helped hundreds of thousands of students and their families finance the cost of higher education. With one of the most diverse workforces and management teams in the student loan industry, USEFG's commitment to diversity and equal opportunity has helped make it a leader in providing education financing for a wide range of borrowers.

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posted by ^%&^ @ 8:15 PM   0 comments
Have Scottish students got free education
There is no doubt that these announcements will be viewed positively by Scottish students both applying to university and graduating this year. But does this measure equate to free education?

The SNP is feeling the pressure from the unpopularity of New Labour's higher education policy which has left many thousands of graduates with vast debts. Applications to Scottish universities have fallen by 1% over each of the last two years.

The SNP claim to be "delivering a return to free education" but have yet to fulfil their election pledges to replace the system of student loans with means tested grants and cancel debt repayments.

Even so, students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will be asking why the New Labour government can't also scrap fees.

Graduate endowments were introduced in 2001 when the Scottish executive scrapped tuition fees.

Students entering higher education paid just under £2,300 when they graduated. The endowment was used to pay for bursaries for poorer students.

Students from outside Scotland studying in Scottish universities have to pay top-up fees.

The majority of students graduating in Scotland have not been able to pay off their endowment and have been piling it on to debts they have from the student loan company.

The SNP's policies alone cannot alleviate student poverty or guarantee free good quality education.

Scottish students will still have to meet the rising costs of accommodation and other services on campus as they are opened up to the private sector.

The SNP will not be able to protect Scottish students from New Labour's drive towards marketisation and a two-tier higher education system.

How will the SNP fund higher education? And how much control will they have over what is spent?

The SNP will not be immune to Brown's spending squeeze on public services and will come under pressure to implement cuts.

The SNP want to make Scotland the "best place in Europe to do business" promising to cut corporation tax to 20%! This will mean less money in the public purse.

While the SNP's pledge shows that the money is available to fund education without charging endowments or fees, the SNP like all the main parties is fundamentally tied to the interests of big business and therefore cannot guarantee free education.

That is why students in Scotland and throughout the UK must link up with workers to build a mass movement to fight for free education and against privatisation and cuts.

Socialists campaign for a living grant for all students so they can afford to study and meet all the costs of university.

We demand the scrapping of all fees and student debt and fight for free publicly funded quality education at all levels.

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posted by ^%&^ @ 8:12 PM   0 comments
Thursday, June 21
Design School in Chicago Introduces Career Training to Students
The International Academy of Design & Technology in Chicago (IADT - Chicago) will hold an Open House every Saturday. The events are designed to familiarize potential students with the academy's many career training programs. www.iadtchicago.edu/events.asp.

Students who wish to learn about training programs and academic degrees that can help one prepare for an exciting career in commercial design, image consulting, and many other areas can benefit from attending the IADT - Chicago Open House. Taking place every Saturday, the events are designed to help students better understand the different career fields. Students will have the opportunity to meet with academy departments and learn which academic program is right for their career choice.

The Open House takes place every Saturday at 11 a.m. Registration is not required, so walk-ins are encouraged. For more information, please call IADT - Chicago at 1-888-318-6111.

About International Academy of Design & Technology - Chicago

IADT - Chicago offers degree programs designed to prepare students for entry-level positions in the growing fields of design and technology. Students can choose from Associate of Applied Science, Bachelor of Fine Arts, Bachelor of Applied Science and Bachelor of Arts Degree Programs. IADT is located in the heart of downtown Chicago, making cultural and business resources conveniently available. Visit

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posted by ^%&^ @ 8:55 PM   0 comments
House passes huge increase in college financial aid
Funding for college financial aid will rise by about 30 percent from the current budget under the $109 million spending plan for the Oregon Student Assistance Commission passed by the Oregon House as its first action this morning.

The vote was 58-1, with Rep. Donna Nelson, R-McMinnville, the only opponent.

Rep. Larry Galizio, D-Tigard, lauded the budget for expanding access to higher education in Oregon by increasing both the number of students who will get a state grant and the size of the average award.

The budget also will pay for day care for low-income parents who are attending college and the Aspire program, which provides mentoring for low-income high school students to help them apply for college and financial aid.

Most of the money is to pay for Gov. Ted Kulongoski's new approach to college financial aid. If a student works full-time in the summer and part-time during the school year to help pay for their college expenses, the state will pick up the rest of their college expenses that cannot be covered by federal financial aid and their parents' income and assets.

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posted by ^%&^ @ 8:55 PM   0 comments
Six Money-Saving Moves to Afford the College of Your Choice
Back in the 1980s, Philip Johnson was transitioning from a 15-year career as a college administrator into financial planning when he discovered something interesting. Seminars on saving for college, geared for people with young children, drew only a handful of participants. But the ones on paying for college, which focused on those with children on the cusp of graduating from high school, were standing room only.

"It's one of those great 'manana' issues that people often don't address until they have to," says the Clifton Park, N.Y. college-planning specialist.

For parents facing next year's college tuition, tomorrow is already here, and will soon be upon those with kids in high school. These last-minute moves can ease tuition stress and potentially save thousands of dollars.

1. Consider the real costs

Grant aid from federal and state governments, institutional funds, and private sources lowers the net price for a majority of college students, while benefits from federal education tax credits and deductions can reduce the costs students and their families incur. In 2006-2007, reports the College Board, the typical student at a four-year public college received about $3,100 in grant aid and tax benefits combined. At four-year private colleges, students received $9,000 in grants and tax benefits, on average.

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posted by ^%&^ @ 8:47 PM   0 comments
No exception for private schools
Thirty-five years ago, a simple 37 words changed the course of athletics with the adoption of Title IX. But it could be the four words at the end of the law which have led to hundreds of debates trying to determine their meaning.

"Receiving federal financial assistance" is how Title IX closes its statement that no person shall be excluded from participation in any educational program, including athletics, which coincidently, was never mentioned in the original text of the law, yet is where the law is frequently applied.

The question then lies, if an academic institution is to adhere to Title IX because it receives federal aid, then what about private institutions who receive no tax revenues from the state? Do private schools such as Valparaiso University and Andrean High School have to regulate their athletic programs if they are not receiving the same state monies that Indiana University and Valparaiso High School might see?

"It's not just about athletics' financial aid," NCAA director of education services Karen Morrison. "If private schools receive any financial funds, which almost all of them do, such as a guaranteed student loan, then they need to adhere to Title IX.

"It only takes one dollar of any kind to make them qualify."

The NCAA does not enforce Title IX on its programs; rather, the Department of Education handles the cases. Throughout the history of Title IX, there have been institutions such as Grove City College in Pennsylvania (1984) that have challenged whether it is wholly necessary to abide by the law.

Grove City continually refused state and federal financial assistance, but allowed its students to receive Basic Educational Opportunity Grants, which then qualified the school to participate in Title IX.

When Grove City failed to comply with the law, the Department of Education sought to suspend the student financial aid program, eventually determining that there was no "substantive difference" between institutional assistance and money received by the institutions students.

"(Title IX) just the right thing to do as an athletics program," Valparaiso director of athletics Mark LaBarbera said. "We don't need the federal government to tell us that all of our athletes should have the same opportunities.

"If you play soccer, it doesn't matter what squad you're on, and if you play basketball, it doesn't matter which one of our teams you're on, you're getting the same treatment."

With many of today's high school athletic directors growing up during the formation of Title IX, it has become a law that is as commonplace as the Constitution for every school.

"It's hard to picture the law not existing," Andrean athletic director Bill Mueller said. "I don't know how it couldn't.

"The one sound bite that fits is that when you get to a no child left behind, there was a stage, no matter your situation. Women have the ability to run, skip, jump and fly just like everyone else and in my mind, it has worked very well for all of us."

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posted by ^%&^ @ 8:47 PM   0 comments
Code of Conduct with Missouri Colleges Regarding Student Loan Industry
Nixon praised the agreements as helping assure that students who borrow money to attend the institutions will have adequate information and protection when choosing a lender. In April, Nixon reached a similar agreement with Washington University in St. Louis.

"These colleges and universities are doing a valuable service for current and future students and those students' families," Nixon said. "The loan process can be intimidating, especially in preparing for the first year. Students and their families may feel unempowered as consumers, particularly if they are steered to certain lenders without receiving enough information to make the choices that are most appropriate. These agreements help address our concerns about students and parents being able to make the borrowing decisions that are best for their situations."

The Missouri institutions that have entered into code of conduct agreements with Nixon are Avila University, in Kansas City; Drury University, in Springfield; Hannibal-LaGrange College, in Hannibal; Mineral Area College, in Park Hills; Missouri Valley College, in Marshall; Northwest Missouri State University, in Maryville; Park University, in Parkville; Southwest Baptist University, in Bolivar; State Fair Community College, in Sedalia; and Three Rivers Community College, in Poplar Bluff; and the University of Central Missouri, in Warrensburg. Each of the schools provided Nixon with documents and responses to his investigation into student lending practices.

Over the last several months, Nixon and other Attorneys General across the country have been looking into student loan lenders and their relationships with higher education institutions. Nixon has expressed concern about, among other things, students being steered by universities to "preferred lenders" without the students and their families receiving information about how those lists were compiled; revenue-sharing arrangements that reward institutions of higher education that put lenders on such lists; and gifts being given by lenders to institutions of higher education or their employees.

The codes of conduct include:

* A prohibition on certain remuneration to the schools, specifically through revenue-sharing agreements, and a prohibition on remuneration to school employees.
* Required disclosures related to preferred lending lists. The school would be required to adequately inform students and their parents of the school's decisions regarding its preferred lender list.
* A prohibition on steering students to certain lenders' master promissory notes (MPNs). Students are often provided MPNs in paper or electronic form. The Code of Conduct will ensure that the lender box on the MPN is not pre-selected, so the student has the opportunity to enter his or her own choice.
* A limitation on school employees' participation on lender advisory boards in exchange for compensation or reimbursement of any expense.



The colleges and universities also agreed to cooperate with any further investigation by the Attorney General's Office into matters regarding lending practices. Nixon said he anticipates entering into similar agreements with additional Missouri institutions of higher education in the future.

On Tuesday (June 19), Nixon and 31 other Attorneys General sent a letter to leaders of the U.S. Senate urging them to quickly pass the Student Loan Sunshine Act to safeguard students and families nationwide from deceptive practices in the college loan industry.

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posted by ^%&^ @ 8:46 PM   0 comments
Student Loan Company Under Investigation Has Ties To Local Universities
Two local universities have connections to a private financial aid company that's currently under investigation for paying kickbacks to student loan officers in other states.

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is investigating Student Loan Xpress, a company that offers financial aid to college students. The company paid consulting fees to a student loan officer at Johns Hopkins University and also paid consulting fees to officials at two other colleges.

Cuomo is looking into whether that money was paid in exchange for being listed as a "preferred lender" at the school. This list is often used by students as they review financial aid options.

High Point University and Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center both have had relationships with Student Loan Xpress. And while officials at both schools say none of their employees received any money from the company in exchange for being called a "preferred lender," they have opposite reactions to the ongoing investigation.

At High Point University, financial aid employees work with six different lenders, including Student Loan Xpress, Campus Door, Nellie Mae, Education Finance Partners, Chase and Nelnet. Director of communications Kay Meekins declined our request for an on-camera interview, but sent WFMY News 2 a written statement.

"We do not consider any of the lenders on the list 'preferred' lenders. We will continue to work with all these lenders until which time there is reason not to work with them anymore. Currently, no such determination has been made. If the recent rulings by the Attorney General mandate that information is communicated differently to students, High Point University will be happy to comply," Meekins wrote.

Meekins says "no staff member at HPU has received compensation of any form from Student Loan Xpress or its affiliates."

Meanwhile, Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center has distanced itself from Student Loan Xpress. Spokesman Mark Wright also declined our requests for an on-camera interview, but provided an e-mail response to our questions.

"For all loan organizations that we list for our students, we send a questionnaire to the companies to learn about how they do business and what their service policies are. The company [Student Loan Xpress] had been on our list year before last. But last school year they failed to answer the questions to our satisfaction and we did not list them. This school year, however, they did answer the questionnaire satisfactorily and they were back on the list for a while. But when this issue came up we removed them, and as I understand it, that's the current status," Wright wrote to News 2.

Wright says no staff members or former staff members received any money or paid travel from Student Loan Xpress. In fact, he says few students utilized the company.

"Wake Forest University School of Medicine removed them because of concerns about their business practices raised in the investigation," Wright says.

Liz Solazzo, director of financial aid at Alamance Community College, says all students should read the fine print of any private loan carefully and ask lots of questions.

"Once you accept a loan, you've taken out a loan and schools make that easy to have happen," Solazzo says. "So my warning would be make sure you know what you're receiving and like you said, buyer beware."

The student loan investigation also prompted a U.S. Senate investigation. That led to revelations that a University of Texas financial aid officer who was fired last month expected meals and parties from lenders who did business with students at the school.

The Senate report released last Thursday quotes an internal Bank of America e-mail about Lawrence Burt as saying, "Larry loves tequila and wine. Since becoming director at UT Austin, he has not had to buy any tequila or wine. Lenders provide this to him on a regular basis."

Burt, the former director of financial aid services at the university, also demanded favors from Citibank, and when the bank refused he dropped Citibank from the school's preferred list, the report found. Citibank then invited Burt to serve on an advisory board, treated him to golf outings and expensive meals, eventually getting back on the preferred list, the report stated.

The university fired Burt last month after determining his ownership of stock in a loan company violated university rules. A woman who answered the phone at Burt's home said he was not immediately available Thursday.

The report, released by Sen. Edward Kennedy, (D) Massachusetts, bolstered the findings of New York's attorney general that there are widespread conflicts of interest in the $85 billion-a-year student loan industry.

Kennedy found many instances in which banks gave student aid officials trips, tickets to sporting events and other gifts. Ellen Frishberg, the former financial aid director at Johns Hopkins University, received payments from several lenders, according to investigations by Kennedy and Cuomo.

Kennedy's report cites a newly disclosed e-mail in which Frishberg wrote an official with Student Loan Xpress asking for personal tuition assistance for a doctoral program she wished to pursue.

"I am searching for half tuition support. Know any good scholarship programs? Or, why don't you put me on retainer to EdLending?" she wrote. EdLending is the parent company of Student Loan Xpress.

Shortly afterward, the Student Loan Xpress official sent Frishberg an e-mail saying she would get a consulting job that would help with tuition. No documents were provided to investigators showing any consulting work was ever done in exchange, according to the Senate report.

Frishberg resigned last month after the university found she failed to comply with its ethics rules.

In Los Angeles, the University of Southern California's financial aid director retired, two months after she was placed on paid leave because of her alleged dealings with a lender recommended to students.

Catherine Thomas, who held the USC job since 1990, had become the subject of Cuomo's investigation into whether financial aid officers obtained discounted stock and other inducements to steer students to certain lenders.

The university said in a statement that Thomas' actions "in connection with the student loan company Student Loan Xpress were inconsistent with USC's conflict-of-interest policy."

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posted by ^%&^ @ 8:45 PM   0 comments
3 Banks To Adopt Student Loan Code Of Conduct
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday that three more lenders have agreed to adopt a code of conduct for student lending.

In a press release, Cuomo said Wachovia Corp. (WB), National City Corp. (NCC) and Regions Financial Corp. (RF) have all agreed to the code, which prohibits financial arrangements between schools and student lenders, bans gifts to college staff members and institutes disclosure standards and restrictions on how preferred lenders are chosen.

"With this agreement, the six largest providers of student loans in the country have signed on to my office's code of conduct," Cuomo said in a statement. "With each agreement, more students and families are protected from corruption, more lenders and schools are compelled to reform their practices, and more integrity is restored to the student loan industry."

The code of conduct grew out of a probe of the student-loan industry by Cuomo's office and has been adopted as law in New York state. Earlier this week, attorneys general in 32 states, including Cuomo, wrote a letter to Congress urging passage of similar legislation at the national level.

Cuomo has alleged that a number of providers of student loans have improperly paid schools to steer loans their way and put them on preferred-lender lists through revenue-sharing agreements.

Some lenders also engaged in other improper activity, such as funding trips for college financial-aid officers and providing personnel to staff call centers and college-aid offices, Cuomo said.

Earlier this week, Cuomo said he is also looking at lenders who use underwriting practices that take the school a student attends into account in making lending decisions, a practice he has equated to so-called redlining in the home mortgage industry. Some lenders are scoring students and parents based on the school they attend, rather than their individual creditworthiness, he said.

Units of CIT Group, Citigroup Inc. (C), SLM Corp.(SLM), Bank of America Corp. (BAC), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) and Education Finance Partners Inc. have agreed to adopt the code.

Sallie Mae, Citigroup's Citibank Student Loan Corp., EFP and CIT's Student Loan Xpress Inc. unit also have agreed to donate more than $9 million to a fund to educate college-bound students about the student-loan process. Columbia University and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore also have agreed to contribute to the fund.

So far, 26 universities, including New York University, Syracuse University and the University of Pennsylvania, and the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators have agreed to adopt the code of conduct. Ten schools also have agreed to reimburse students more than $3 million in money paid under revenue-sharing agreements with lenders.

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posted by ^%&^ @ 8:44 PM   0 comments
Student loan overhaul advances
Democrats in Congress are pushing to overhaul the nation's student loan system with legislation that would cut federal subsidies to lending companies by as much as $19 billion, channel most of those savings to student aid and ease repayment rules for borrowers.

The Senate education committee overwhelmingly approved its version of the legislation Wednesday, one week after the House education panel took similar action. Senior Democrats predicted that the bills would come to a vote by the end of next month and would be reconciled without significant difficulty.

Momentum for the legislation has grown this year as the $85 billion-a-year industry has come under intense scrutiny. Federal and state investigations have found conflicts of interest among lenders, universities and government regulators. In addition, the Democratic takeover of Congress this year has allowed the party to drive its agenda on student loans for the first time in more than a decade.

"This legislation will help reverse the crisis in college affordability," said Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., chairman of the education committee. "It will restore balance to our broken student loan system by reducing unnecessary lender subsidies."

The House and Senate measures differ in several respects, but both propose a sweeping overhaul of federal student loan programs. The Senate version would cut subsidies to lenders by $18.3 billion; the House version would cut subsidies by about $19 billion. The bills would direct up to $1 billion to deficit reduction and put the rest of the money into student aid.

The proposals would have borrowers pay no more than 15 percent of their discretionary income for federally backed student loans. They would allow such loans to be forgiven after about 25 years. The Senate measure would gradually boost the maximum Pell grant, the nation's main aid program for low-income students, from $4,300 to $5,400 a year. The House plan calls for a smaller grant increase but would cut in half the interest rates on federally backed student loans, to 3.4 percent.

"This is the biggest single investment in college financial aid since the GI Bill," said Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., the House education chairman.

Student loan companies attacked the legislation and said subsidy cuts would reduce benefits to borrowers. Lenders also said the reductions would force some companies out of the market.

"The budget cuts would make student loans uneconomical for lenders," Kevin Bruns, executive director of America's Student Loan Providers, an industry group, said in a statement. "One would have to suspend the law of economics to believe these cuts won't be passed on to students and parents in some fashion."

But Miller said in an interview that lenders have told lawmakers privately that they could accept the subsidy cuts, which are about the same as reductions President Bush proposed in his budget this year.

Many Democrats have long decried subsidies to the lending industry as a waste of taxpayer dollars and have promoted direct lending by the government to students. Republicans have generally sided with the lending industry, contending that the companies bring needed competition to the market.

But several key Republicans Wednesday supported the Democratic legislation. The Senate committee approved the measure on a 17 to 3 vote, with six of 10 Republicans in favor, including the ranking member, Sen. Mike Enzi of Wyoming.

The partisan split was more pronounced in the House education panel, which approved its bill 30 to 16. Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon, R-Calif., the committee's ranking Republican, said he could not support such large subsidy cuts on top of those enacted in a previous Congress.

"The concern is that as we drive lenders out of the business, the ones that are going to be hurt the most are the students that need the help the most," McKeon said last week. He also criticized Democrats for cutting interest rates for graduates instead of directing savings to financial aid for students in college.

White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said the administration was "encouraged by the desire of Congress to follow the president's commitment to focus more federal dollars to students most in need."

Both bills would launch a significant initiative that could lead to a revamping of the loan program. They would create pilot "loan auctions" in which companies would bid to participate in the federal loan program by stating the lowest subsidies they would accept from the government.

Student loan companies oppose the auction proposal and said it would create instability in the industry. But supporters said loan auctions would allow the market to determine subsidy rates instead of having Congress set them arbitrarily. The money saved would then be passed on to students.

"Lenders should compete against each other to participate in the federal student loan program," Kennedy said.

The Senate measure would bar lenders from offering gifts and perks to financial aid officers and prohibit other practices uncovered in investigations led by congressional Democrats and New York Democratic Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. The House overwhelmingly approved a similar bill last month.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., expects to bring the student loan bill to the floor in July, said spokesman Jim Manley. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., also plans to bring the legislation to a vote by the end of July, Miller said.

The legislation is protected by a procedural maneuver known as budget reconciliation. That means it does not face the threat of a Senate filibuster, which would require 60 votes to overcome.

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posted by ^%&^ @ 8:39 PM   0 comments

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