March 31, 2008

For families struggling to finance their children's educational expenses, supplemental borrowing can be an important resource. Supplemental borrowing is particularly useful to those families that do not qualify for need-based financial aid or those families that qualify but whose financing needs are greater than their aid package.

One of the most reliable sources of supplemental borrowing is the Federal Direct PLUS Loan. The PLUS, which stands for Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students, is a federally-backed loan for parents paying for their dependent child’s undergraduate education.

PLUS Advantages
The advantages offered by the Federal Direct PLUS Loan include:

• Federal backing, ensuring stability
• Non-need based, only based on credit rating
• Does not require collateral
• Favorable loan terms, including a fixed interest rate
• Variety of repayment plans
• No penalty for early repayment
• Reduced interest rate by 0.25% for electronic repayment
• May be consolidated with other federal loans
• Interest may be tax deductible under the Hope Education Tax Credit (check with your financial advisor)
• Quick disbursement of funds, usually within the first two weeks of the semester

Eligibility Requirements
Families seeking assistance from a PLUS loan must meet at least one of the following requirements:

• Have unusual costs above the standard student expense budgets
• Do not qualify for any other federal financial aid
• Demonstrate financial need beyond financial aid already awarded
• Seek to borrow all or significant part of Expected Family Contribution

Maximum Loan Amount
Families may borrow up to the total cost of undergraduate education minus any other financial aid. The cost of education is determined in accordance with tuition, fees, room and board, supplies, lab expenses and travel.

Interest Rate
The PLUS Loan has a fixed interest rate of 8.5% for all loans taken out after July 1, 20006.

How To Apply
Apply for a PLUS loan online at parentplusloan.com.

>>> Student Loans

$40,000 College Scholarships

To qualify for the McKelvey Foundation's Entrepreneurial Scholarship applicants must:

• Have owned their own business for a year or more
• Employ at least one person
• Have graduated from HS in the previous year
• Attend any four-year college or university in the U.S.

The foundation is giving away 100 awards and recipients can receive up to $10,000 per year for all 4 years for a total of $40,000.

Application deadline: January

Learn more at: http://www.mckelveyfoundation.org (click on Entrepreneurial Scholarship link)

You can also call 877-McKelvey (625-3583) or email info@mckelveyfoundation.org

Physical Therapists May Soon Be Eligible For Loan Forgiveness

Physical therapists might be enjoying some student debt relief in the near future if Congress gets its way. On February 7, the House approved The College Opportunity and Affordability Act, H.R. 4137, which would allow physical therapists to apply for student loan forgiveness.

The wide-reaching Bill, introduced by Reps. George Miller (D-CA) and Rubén Hinojosa (D-TX), aims to overhaul the 1960s Higher Education Act and ensure better access to college education for all qualified Americans, especially those from low- and middle-income families. Among its many priorities, H.R. 4137 would provide service-based loan forgiveness as a means to encouraging students to enter “critically needed” fields.

Physical therapy is now counted among those fields, thanks to an amendment introduced by Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA). This comes as welcome news to many would-be-PTs, who are looking at a high debt-to-income ratio when making their career choices. To qualify, PTs would need to work with children, the disabled or veterans. Now that physical therapy has reached Congress’ bar for a loan forgiveness-worthy field, occupational therapists are quickly organizing to lobby for the same treatment.

The College Opportunity and Affordability Act is the second major piece of higher education legislation introduced to Congress in the last year. In September 2007, President Bush signed into law the first piece: the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007, which will provide an additional $20 billion in college student federal aid over the next five years.

The new law, which received rare bipartisan support, took a strong stand against reports of unethical student loan practices. Investigations had revealed that lenders were offering incentives to university officials in order to increase the number of borrowers from their campus.

Slapping lenders on the wrist, the new law cuts their federal subsidies, redirecting the funds toward federal grants for low-income students. Later this year, the Pell Grant will be increased up to $4,800/year; by 2012, the Pell will provide up to $5,400 annually. The College Cost Reduction and Access Act will also cut in half the interest rates on federally subsidized loans over the next five years.

>>> Qualifying For Need-Based Student Loans

Scholarships, Fellowships and Assistantships For Graduate Students

Congratulations! You'€™ve (finally) finished your undergraduate degree and are ready to move on to grad school. If you thought tuition, fees, room and board were costly for your four-year school, then you are in for real sticker shock with graduate education.

The good news is that unlike undergraduate students, grad students may be eligible for a host of school-based and outside funding opportunities specifically designed to support advanced education. These opportunities include work-based tuition-support programs, such as teaching assistantships and research assistantships; research fellowships; and graduate student scholarships. For more on navigating each of these funding opportunities, read on:

Graduate Assistantships
Many universities offer graduate assistantships through their various departments. GAs, or graduate assistants, are not only entitled to a tuition and fee waiver, but also often receive health insurance and a monthly stipend that helps to cover living expenses.

Many academic programs, with the likely exception of law, medical and business schools - hire graduate students to teach undergraduate classes. TAs, or teaching assistants, may be either the primary instructor for small enrollment classes or the facilitator for break-out sections from a larger lecture class. Additionally, academic programs, particularly those in the natural and social sciences, may hire graduate students to assist faculty members with their on-going research projects.

Both teaching and research assistantships (RAs) are highly competitive. To avoid missing out, start researching opportunities in the middle of your junior year -€“ or one to two years before you plan to start your graduate program.

Fellowships
Another funding option for graduate students is the fellowship. Some universities, particularly large, research institutions, may offer graduate fellowships. More common, however, are graduate fellowships that come from the federal government or from an outside organization that has a strong interest in research. Fellowships are most prevalent in the fields of natural science, computer science and engineering.

For more information about science-based fellowships, check out this extensive list of government funded opportunities. Or look at GrantsNet, the US Department of Health and Human Service’s comprehensive site for grant opportunities and graduate fellowships to students pursing a career in the sciences.

More information about non-government fellowships can be found at the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program or The National Academies.

Scholarships
Your university's financial aid office, as well as your specific department, will have a wealth of information on graduate student scholarships. Regardless of your field of study, most schools have a cache of merit-based aid for graduate students, funded from long-standing endowments.

There is also a host of national scholarships earmarked for graduate students. To learn more about these opportunities, try running a search through one of the on-line scholarship engines, such as:
- Fast Web
- College Board
- Scholarship Monkey
- Scholarship Experts

>>>Scholarship Searches

Every year, the federal government spends more than $86 billion to help young people go to college. As the single largest provider of student aid in the world, the US federal government offers grants, fellowships, loans and work study programs.

Your key to this massive treasure chest is the FAFSA, otherwise known as the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The application, which can be filled out on paper or on-line, calculates your family's ability to pay for your college degree. Calculations are based on income, assets and other factors, such as the number of additional dependents in college.

The FAFSA is used not only by the federal government to determine your aid eligibility, but also by your college or university to allocate its own scholarships, plus state and private assistance.

In short, the FAFSA is the most important document you will fill out in your quest for college – second only, perhaps, to the college application form. To maximize your award, follow these four easy tips for filing your FAFSA:

# 1. Be Prepared
Before you even start filling in your FAFSA, make sure you have gathered all the required materials, including:

• Social security cards

• Income tax returns from the previous tax year

• Your spouse’s documents – if you are married; your parents’ documents – if you are a dependent

• Current bank, mortgage and investment statements

#2. Beat the (Filing) Buzzer
The FAFSA’s deadline is June 30th, but many schools offer "priority processing deadlines". In other words, getting in your FAFSA early will qualify you for first-come, first-serve aid through your college. Therefore, aim to return your completed FAFSA as soon as possible after January 1st.

#3. Be Pedantic About the Particulars
Double and triple check the accuracy of the information on the FAFSA, because even minor mistakes can cause costly delays. Be on the look out for these common errors:

• Use only your legal name

• Confirm all social security numbers

• Count yourself as one of the members of your household attending college during the award year

• If your parents are divorced and remarried, include your step-parents' income and assets

#4. Go Virtual
Applying on-line is faster – not to mention preferred, by a growing number of colleges and universities. To apply on-line, go to the FAFSA site. In lieu of signing your application, the on-line FAFSA requires a secure, individual PIN number, which you can apply for here.