Archive for August, 2007
Reported by Jim Dick - Wisconsin Radio Network
Roughly six thousand college students are paying close attention to what's going on with the state budget.
The longer the budget is at an impasse the longer those students will have to wait to find out if they get financial aid in the form of a state grant. Classes start next week and tuition bills are due.
The UW System's David Giroux says these students have tough choices to make. Take out more loans to cover tuition, start classes and h
August 30, 2007
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Reported in The Jasper Newsboy
Beginning this fall, new undergraduate students will see a cap on the number of courses they may drop. The 80th Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 1231, which will affect any student enrolled as a first-time freshman at Lamar University and all other Texas universities and colleges.
The coordinating board defines a "dropped course" as a course an undergraduate student at an institution of higher education has enrolled in for credit but did not complete.
August 29, 2007
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Reported by Beata Mostafavi - THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
The man who called Ian Vedder, just as he was starting at the University of Michigan-Flint, was full of promises.
Money was at his fingertips, the caller cooed, in the form of a federal grant that could be used for a car, school, practically anything.
All Vedder had to do was divulge one itsy piece of information: his bank account number.
"I was pretty skeptical of the situation," said Vedder, now 21 and starting his sen
August 28, 2007
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Reported by April Simpson - The Boston Globe
In an ice-breaker exercise at Endicott College's freshman orientation, 18-year-old Mike Schieding had to tell other students two truths and one lie.
I said I was a teen father, I was the manager of my job, and, at one point, I lived in another state," said Schieding, a broad-shouldered teenager who wears silver hoops in his ears. "All the guys thought I was lying when I said I was a teen father."
But the lie was that Schieding has never lived
August 28, 2007
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Reported by Heather LaRoi - La Crosse Tribune
With about a week to go before classes start at UW System schools, nearly 3,800 college students around the state are still waiting to hear what kind of financial aid they will -- or will not -- receive for the upcoming school year.
The ongoing wrangling over the state budget has meant an unprecedented number of students have been put on a wait list for financial aid through the need-based Wisconsin Higher Education Grant (WHEG) program.
A
August 27, 2007
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Reported by Ledyard King - Indianapolis Star
Eighteen Indiana colleges and universities are among more than 900 nationwide where a single lender handled the majority of federally backed student loans last year.
Federal officials and student groups worry that some of the 921 schools may be steering borrowers to lenders the schools prefer to use, regardless of whether it's the best deal.
In some cases, students who didn't shop for the best loans may have cost themselves thousands of dol
August 23, 2007
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Reported by Andrea Jones - Atlanta Journal Constitution
Read the entire article here.
August 22, 2007
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Reported by Bill Lindelof - Sacramento Bee
The budget standoff at the Capitol might hold up financial aid at some California colleges, but not at Sacramento State and the campuses of Los Rios Community College District.
Students who depend on Cal Grant financial aid will be getting checks soon, said Roy Beckhorn, financial aid supervisor at American River College.
"If they are enrolled in Los Rios they should not worry about it," Beckhorn said Monday.
Officials said they will dip i
August 21, 2007
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Listen to an in depth interview conducted by Christopher Penn
August 16, 2007
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Reported by Kathleen Pender in the Nashua Telegraph
Because August is the month when students and their families are scrambling to get college loans before school starts, I decided to answer this question from Pat H., which raises issues every borrower should know.
"I plan to be the co-signer on a student loan for my nephew starting college in South Carolina," Pat writes. "He has Stafford loans and Pell grants, but needs money for rent, food, gas, health insurance, etc. I have been checki
August 14, 2007
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Reported in a News Release
For a second year, the new academic year at Fort Hays State University will begin with a series of events called Tiger Impact, open to all students but required for new students.
"Our goals for these events are to create opportunities for students to make new friends, educate students about social issues with regards to alcohol, provide them with information regarding campus resources and set academic expectations for success in college," said Shana Meyer, as
August 11, 2007
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Reported by Simona Gallegos - The Denver Post
Metropolitan State College of Denver will allow students who are Colorado residents and U.S. citizens but whose parents are illegal immigrants to be admitted provisionally as in-state students, the college's president said Thursday in a letter to Metro State administrators.
The announcement comes as the Colorado Department of Higher Education awaits an opinion from the attorney general on eligibility for in- state tuition for such students.
August 11, 2007
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Reported by Lisa M. Krieger - San Jose Mercury News
Surf's up in Santa Cruz. But first there's that calculus exam to ace.
For a record number of University of California students, summer has lost its sanctity. They're working on term papers, not tans, during what UC and state officials now consider merely the fourth quarter of a year-round academic calendar.
Summer enrollment at UC campuses has shot up 80 percent since 2000, reflecting an ambitious effort to accommodate a surge in the n
August 11, 2007
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Reported by Peggy Walsh-Sarnecki - Detroit Free Press
Three Michigan schools defended their financial aid practices Friday, responding to a Free Press report on student lending practices and a request from the U.S. Department of Education for aid records.
Michigan State University College of Law, Alma College and Lawrence Technological University are among 921 schools across the country -- and 19 in Michigan -- getting a closer look from the federal department because 80% or more of thei
August 11, 2007
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Reported in newszap.com
Hodges University, now also located in Immokalee in the Harvest for Humanity, Inc. facility, would like to start a class for recent 2007 Immokalee High School graduates. International College is starting a two-year degree program in Immokalee, starting in September. The program will allow interested, qualified students to earn a two-year degree in Interdisciplinary Studies at minimal cost. Students must submit satisfactory scores from an SAT, ACT or the college’s
August 9, 2007
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Reported by Bob Cullivan - The Gresham Outlook
Legislation recently signed by Gov. Ted Kulongoski has approximately doubled the number of college students in Oregon who will be able to receive Oregon Opportunity Grants, according to Anna Richter Taylor, the governor’s spokeswoman.
Under the financial aid model now, two-year and four-year college students applying for Opportunity Grants must also be eligible for federal Pell Grants – which target low-income students – and be a depen
August 9, 2007
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In this latest sidebar to the Student Loan Scandal, some colleges are now charging more based on the major a student has selected. For example:
AZ State Univ. - $250 more per semester for Journalism
Univ. WI, Madison School of Business - $500 more per semester
IA State College of Engineering - $500 more per year
Stay tuned for more updates as they become available.
August 3, 2007
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Reported by Karen Brooks - Dallas Morning News
House Speaker Tom Craddick said Thursday that he will work with state leaders to restore $154 million in community college funding that was axed by the governor's veto pen.
In a friendly letter to political nemesis Jim Dunnam, D-Waco, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, Mr. Craddick declined to get into the war of words that has escalated since Gov. Rick Perry nixed the funds in June. Mr. Perry said colleges misrepresented the number of e
August 3, 2007
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Reported by Howard Fischer - Arizona Daily Star
More than 870 students at the University of Arizona are being denied in-state tuition because they have not proven they are in this country legally.
The figures were provided by UA officials to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee to comply with Proposition 300. That measure, approved by voters in November, says only those students who are U.S. citizens or legally in this country are entitled to pay the lower tuition charged to Arizona re
August 3, 2007
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Reported by Malia Spencer in the Santa Maria Times
The lack of a state budget hit home with many Californians as July came to a close and more than a billion dollars in payments were withheld by the State Controller's Office, including nearly $3 million meant for Hancock College.
While the Senate wrangles over tax breaks that were included in the $145 billion budget passed by the Assembly, $1.1 billion in payments to community colleges, special-education programs, and nursing homes for t
August 1, 2007
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