A number of important changes are looming for federal student aid, which may save you some serious cash. Here’s a quick look at the most significant developments: Interest rates on subsidized Stafford loans are dropping — This year, they will go from a 6% to 5.6% (fixed). Under the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of ‘07, the rate will continue to drop until 2011-2012, when it will reach an all-time low of 3.4%. Unfortunately, the lower rate only applies to loans taken out — or consolidated — in that academic year. Remember, with a subsidized loan, the federal government pays your interest while you are in school. Income-based loan repayment — I won’t bother rehashing the details, since I’ve covered them extensively in earlier posts. ...

TFIF, all you scholarship seekers! What a lightening fast week this has been. What are you doing to stay busy this summer? Work? Internship? Summer school? Whatever is filling up your schedule, I hope you will make some time to apply for scholarships as well. In fact, why not set a goal for yourself: 100 days of summer, 100 scholarship applications. You won’t get all of them. You won’t even get half of them. But even if you win jut 5 percent of the scholarships you apply for, that could translate into tens of thousands of dollars to apply toward your tuition bill next fall. As you know, every week, I make it easier for you to apply for free money for college by posting about three scholarships with upcoming deadlines. I only search out those scholarships that have wide, natio...

It looks like the last two weeks have unintentionally turned in to the “Student Loan Hour” here at the Financial Aid Finder. Earlier this week, I covered the New York Times piece on student loan debt. Five experts sounded off on the question, “How much student loan debt is too much?” (Did you answer that question for our student debt poll on Tuesday? Please do that now if you haven’t already!) You might also want to check out the Times’ follow-up to their student debt piece, appropriately titled Student Debt, Fool’s Gold? There are hundreds of reader comments that painfully, at times, illustrate the naivety with which so many students take out tens of thousands of dollars in student loans. If nothing else, it’s an eye opening read. *** I ha...

Did you read my post yesterday How Much Student Debt Is Too Much? If you haven’t yet, give it a read. Then I’d love to get your opinion on that question. <br /> <a href=”http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1709860/” mce_href=”http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1709860/”>How much student loan debt do/would you feel comfortable taking out?</a><span style=”font-size:9px;” mce_style=”font-size:9px;”>(<a href=”http://answers.polldaddy.com” mce_href=”http://answers.polldaddy.com”>opinion</a>)</span><br /> Feel free to explain yourself in the comments section! I’d love to hear from you. ...

How much debt is too much debt? It’s a question that anyone taking out a student loan needs to grapple with. According to a series in the New York Times today, the average debt load for a graduate of the class of 2007 was $20,000; students attending private colleges took out an average of $25,000. But how much the average student carries in debt isn’t necessarily the answer to how much you should borrow. Financial planners typically recommend borrowing no more than 10-15% of your expected annual salary post-graduation. Of course, there are numerous variables that go into how much you will actually earn after graduation — and, given the current economic climate, whether or not you will be able to find a job right away in your field. In general, however, your anticipated ...

Are you drowning in your student loan debt? Come July 1st, you may be able to get a little relief. That’s when a new income-based student loan repayment option will go into effect for those of you with federal student loans. Under the plan, monthly payments will be capped at 15% of the amount by which your income exceed the federal poverty line — regardless of how much you own. Currently, the poverty level is $16,245 for an individual. To figure out how much you would pay, take a look at Line 37 on your 1040 Form — that’s your adjusted gross income (AGI). Let’s say your AGI is $30,000. That means your income exceeds the poverty level by $13,755. Under the new repayment program, you would owe 15% of $13,755 — or $171.94/month. The even better news is th...

Last week, I shared my eight essential financial tips for recent college grads. If you want to learn more about that topic, then you will love this recent article from the Your Money section at the New York Times. Columnist Ron Lieber interviewed Madison Nipp, the highest grade point earning graduate of Texas Tech University’s #1-ranked financial planning program. Ms. Nipp had lots of great advice for you soon to be graduates, but here are my two favorites: BEWARE OF DADDY’S WALLET … “All of the people who were spending ridiculous amounts of money were on their daddy’s wallets,” she said. Ms. Nipp has no problem with the finer things in life. She just worries about the habits that form when you come to expect them. … For those who were on the dole in college, this...

Hey all you soon-to-be college grads: Congratulations! Whether you have a great job lined up already or not, there’s no doubt that the real world is eagerly awaiting you! Even if you majored in finance, however, there is at least one big challenge waiting for you, too: handling your personal finances. The truth is that being a wise steward of your resources is rarely taught in college, let alone high school. And sadly, most of our parents don’t have the best skills in this arena, either. Rather than learning through costly trial and error, you can put these 8 tips in action to ensure that your transition to the “real world” goes as smoothly as possible. 1. Keep living like a starving college student. For the past four+ years, you’ve probably had to get by on...

This story about creative financing for college ran over the weekend in my local paper. The article does a great job of outlining some of the financial challenges families are facing in the midst of this country’s economic crisis. It was good to see that staying in school is still a priority for the two families featured in the piece, but rather heart-wrenching to read the real life stats. For example, did you know that, across the board, the value of savings in 529 Plans has dropped 21% over the past year? And the market drop isn’t just hitting parents who were saving for their kids’ future. It is also hitting universities and their endowment plans, which are a major source of funding for university-based aid like scholarships and tuition reductions. The article cites ...

Yesterday, we talked about whether or not paying for college should be the parents’ responsibility. At the end of the post, I asked what you thought about cosigning a student loan. Is cosigning a great way for parents to help out their kids with the rising cost of college? Or is co-signing a slippery slope that does nothing but hinder both parties? Lots of financial experts out there have an opinion on this matter, and most of them say: Don’t do it! For example, here’s: MSN Money on why you should never cosign a loan Finance author Francine Huff on thinking long and hard before cosigning on a personal loan Talk show host Dave Ramsey on how cosigning can hurt your family Financial expert Suze Orman on why love means never having to say you’ll cosign Why do the expe...