The House of Representatives approved a sweeping overhaul of the federal government’s student lending practices last Thursday. The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009, now being debated by the Senate, will cease subsidies to private banks providing federal student loans. Instead, the federal government will directly make loans to student, saving some $40 billion over 10 years. The Act will then redirect those savings to increase funding for the Pell Grant, expanding the number of eligible students and upping the maximum award to $5,550 per year. Additional changes in the bill include: Expanding the Perkins Loan Program for low-income students Allocating $10 billion to Obama’s community college initiative, which aims to produce 5 million more 2-year ...

Can you believe it’s already Friday again? The summer is quickly dwindling to an end, and fall is definitely upon us. I’ve got three great fall scholarships for you this week, including a wonderful new opportunity for Hispanic students. I hope you find something here! You can learn more about college scholarships by visiting our scholarship section, which has helpful articles on everything from the scholarship application process to scholarship essays. 1. Sun Trust Scholarship: $1,000 One of the nation’s largest financial holding companies, Sun Trust is giving away a $1,000 scholarship every two weeks from October 30, 2009 through May 14, 2010.  Registration opened on the 14th and the first drawing will be held on October 30th. It is free to enter, and winners are not bas...

The Obama Administration is proposing a series of changes to 529 Plans, reports the LA Times, in order to encourage more middle class Americans to save money for college. 529 Plans allow you to contribute after-tax dollars, which then grow tax-free until withdrawal, as long as they are used for qualified education purposes. (To learn more about 529 Plans, see Financial Aid Finder’s extensive section on College Savings and Prepaid Plans.) According to the Treasury Department, only 5% of middle-income Americans take advantage of these plans, despite their lucrative tax benefits. Among high-income filers, however, one in three have a 529 account. The College Savings Plan Network reports that there are some 11 million 529 accounts to date, with more than $100 billion in assets. The Oba...

In honor of all those who lost their lives in the September 11th terrorist attacks, today’s scholarship announcement is focusing on the Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund. The fund provides millions in scholarships each year to dependents and spouses of 9/11 victims. In the 2009-2010 year, the Fund will award $8.4 million in needs-based scholarships to 520 eligible members of the 9/11-community, up from $7.4 million in 2008-2009. Since the first scholarship was awarded in January 2002, the Families of Freedom Fund have distributed more than $46.6 million. The average scholarship award this year is $16,000, with the highest award topping $40,000. Every applicant receives at least $1,000. It is estimated that about 5,400 more students will be eligible for these funds through 2030, ...

The U.S. Education Department recently released numbers showing that the total amount of money borrowed by students in the 2008-2009 grew by 25%, to $75.1 billion, over the previous year. The number has been rising for many years, but this bump is the largest on record. The deputy undersecretary of the Education Department, Robert Shireman, has said that this increase was “definitely above expectations” but was likely caused by the nation’s dire economic crisis. According to the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, two out of three college students borrow money to pay for college — and their debt load is growing significantly. In 2008-2009, the average debt load was $23,186; in 1997 the average amount was $13,172. With a growing debt load and the highest unem...

TGIF scholarship seekers! Well, after a slow month of August, school if finally back in session — and so are a lot of scholarship committees. This week I have three exciting opportunities for you, all with late September – mid October deadlines. That should be plenty of time for you to write a scholarship essay and really dot your I’s and cross your T’s when it comes to your college scholarship application. Now while I don’t normally include state-specific scholarships, this week I have two. The first is up to $8,500 for high school students in rice-growing states (Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Texas), and the second is $10,000 for a “heroic” New Jersey resident. I also have an awesome scholarship from Siemens and t...

TGIF scholarship seekers! The scholarship world remains a bit quiet here in the last week of August. As I have been saying all month, the end of the summer is a hiatus for many scholarship committees, as they too gear up for the start of the new school year. This quieter period also provides you a good opportunity to get organized for fall and winter scholarship application. Go work on your scholarship essay or check out our handy guide to the scholarship application process. In addition, I have found two very exciting scholarships opportunities with late September / early October deadlines, that you will definitely want to check out. There is the Horatio Alger Scholarship for low-income students from 26/50 U.S. states and the $1,000 Shout it Out! scholarship from the Scholarship Exper...

Welcome to the part IV of my series on how to reduce the cost of college.  So far I’ve given you three suggestions: 1. Graduate from college in three years rather than four 2. Go to a local community college for up to two years before transferring to a four-year university 3. Volunteer for AmeriCorps and earn nearly $5,000 toward college This week’s tip is to reduce your college expenses by taking advantage of all available education tax credits and deductions. According to a recent survey, most taxpayers don’t even know about these tax breaks — and if they do, they aren’t using them in the most efficient manner possible. If you or your child is currently in college, education tax credits can help you to offset the costs. The best way to save money is wit...

TGIF, scholarship seekers! It’s nearly the end of August, which means that many of you are heading back to school, busy figuring out how best to arrange your dorm room — and your class schedule. August also brings a brief lull in my list of scholarships with immediate deadlines. While there are still a few opportunities out there, many scholarship committees take a break in August to gear up for the coming year. So, I thought I would take this week to focus on ways to find a scholarship, specifically through free scholarship search engines. If you have ever Googled “free scholarship search”, you know that there are a plethora of sites out there claiming to have the inside scoop on the scholarship world. But can you believe their claims? Or is there a catch? If ...

Welcome to the part III of our series on ways to reduce the cost of college. If you are currently suffering from college sticker shock, this series if perfect for you! Check out past posts on how to reduce the cost of college, including graduating in three years rather than four, and attending community college for up to two years before transferring to a four-year university. This week’s idea for cutting college costs is to volunteer… specifically be an AmeriCorps volunteer. If you aren’t familiar with AmeriCorps, it is President Clinton’s public service initiative, similar to Peace Corps but for populations in need right here at home. A network of service programs across the country aims to meets critical needs in education, public safety, and health. If you wan...