Fixed rate Stafford loan rate drop
June 30, 2008
As of July 1, 2008, the interest rate on all NEW subsidized Stafford loans will drop to 6.0%, a reduction of 0.8%. Bear this in mind next year when it’s time to consolidate your student loans!
FAP828: 10 key factors influencing your financial aid
June 30, 2008
FAP828: 10 key factors influencing your financial aid
Listen now:
Student Financial Aid News
+ Chronicle: Here’s a frightening thought for every college administrator planning for a big disaster: What if the sort of extreme weather that has left the University of Iowa inundated in floodwaters is not a freak event? What if it is a sign of things to come?
+ In June the U.S Climate Change Science Program, which is sponsored by 13 government agencies, released a report saying that extreme weather like heat waves, heavy downpours, and superpowered hurricanes would be more common in the future. The timing of the report — coming just as officials in Iowa were surveying the damage from the swollen Iowa River — could not have been better. The news media jumped all over it, saying that the world could expect “Iowa-like floods,” as Bloomberg put it.
+ Prepare for disaster - put important documents in a zip-top plastic bag
+ Chronicle: Tuition has become a populist cause in Washington. And underneath that big tent is a collection of issues that appeal to various political persuasions. Conservatives delight in going after the tax-exempt status of the ivory tower, while even liberal-leaning professors get steamed about the money universities spend on sports and presidents’ salaries. And almost everyone can find a reason to be upset about Harvard University’s $35-billion endowment.
Scholarship Update
+ Coach Design a Tote Scholarship
+ Coach is searching for one truly inspired and unique design to adorn their classic chic tote. Start from scratch, one of your favorite sketches, or incorporate some of Coach’s iconic design elements. Just download the provided silhouette, create and submit a graphic, and enter to win a $2,500 shopping spree and party in your hometown Coach store — plus have your design created into a special limited edition item and sold in select locations! This is your opportunity to put your artful stamp on the perfect Coach tote!
+ Grand Prize: One winner, selected by Coach experts from all entries, will have his or her Coach tote manufactured as a special limited edition item to be sold in select Coach stores and/or online at Coach.com. Plus, a celebratory event for the winner will be held at a local, full-price Coach store along with a $2,500 shopping spree, and a $500 scholarship or cash! If the winner is not within a 50-mile radius of a full-price, retail store location they will receive a $2,500 online shopping spree and a $500 scholarship or cash plus Coach “swag bags” for the winner and 4 friends to have their own Coach style party!
+ Most Viral: One winner, selected by Coach experts from the top 100 most viral entries, will win a $1,500 Coach online shopping spree and a $250 scholarship or cash. Learn about Most Viral.
+ High Score: One winner, selected by Coach experts from the top 100 highest scoring entries, will win a $1,500 Coach online shopping spree and a $250 scholarship or cash.
+ Deadline August 4
+ Details at our free college scholarship search site
Financial Aid 101
+ 10 pieces of data that largely influence how much financial aid you’ll receive
+ Based on the EFC
+ These are all part of the FAFSA form
+ Get FAFSA help at FAFSAonline.com
+ When you look at this, you can get an idea of what things you have influence over and what things you don’t
+ Age of older parent
+ How many people live in your household
+ Parents’ marital status
+ Parents’ non-retirement assets
+ Parents’ total income
+ Parents’ U.S. income tax paid
+ Parents’ untaxed income
+ Parents’ value of home equity
+ Student’s assets
+ Student’s total income
Did you enjoy today’s show? If so, please consider subscribing for free to get it delivered to you. Subscribing for free means you don’t have to remember to download it every day.
+ 
+ 
+ 
Direct MP3 file download: Click here to download the MP3
Reminders
+ 
+ Financial Aid Podcast Show Notes at FinancialAidPodcast.com.
+ Free scholarship search secrets eBook at StudentScholarshipSearch.com/ebook
+ Open an FDIC-insured savings account today!
+ Private student loans available at any time - visit AlternativeStudentLoan.com
+ Student credit card information at StudentPlatinum.com
+ FAFSA form tutorials and free help at FAFSAonline.com
+ Financial Aid discussion forums
+ Get FAFSA news at the FAFSA blog
+ Stafford federal student loans at StaffordLoan.com
+ The Financial Aid Podcast is a publication of the Student Loan Network.
I want to hear from you! Email me at financialaidpodcast {at} gmail {dot} com, visit http://www.FinancialAidPodcast.com, or call 206-350-1208.
Weekend Book Review: Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing
June 29, 2008
A short while ago, Mignon Fogarty (aka Grammar Girl) sent me a copy of her new book, Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing, for review. Here’s my thoughts on her work.
First, every college student and every college-bound student should get a copy. If you’re an admissions director, if you’re an English professor, if you’re a parent - get a copy of this book and give it to your kid(s). It’s terrific, well-written, with clear explanations of why certain forms of usage are appropriate and not appropriate. Call it the 21st century style guide for the busy student.
A couple of things I wish were better (maybe for the next edition?):
First, I wish the index was in the front of the book. While it defies convention, it would make the book instantly more usable. When someone goes to write a blog post, they can pop open the book and decide whether affect or effect is correct.
Second, the book doesn’t really do a good job of explaining WHY grammar is important, why it’s useful, and why good grammar will make you more effective in whatever you do. Here’s my take on it - perhaps it’ll make it into the second edition, too.
Grammar, and its subset syntax, are the rules of language. If you’ve ever studied a computer language like C++ or PHP, you already know that syntax and grammar require exceptional precision - one misplaced semi-colon, and you’re out of business. It’s a tribute to the human mind that even with terrible grammar and syntax, our languages don’t immediately break down.
That said, grammar and syntax matter even with humans because communicating clearly is no longer optional. Our world is evolving from the Industrial Age to the Information Age, and the bedrock of the Information Age is the ability to communicate clearly. If you have terrible grammar, your writing is at best difficult to read. If you have terrible grammar, you can often end up sticking your foot in your mouth over and over again, forcing you to lose productivity and energy. Grammar matters. Usage matters.
Two examples of how grammar matters: if you apply for a job with the Student Loan Network, and your cover letter & resume are littered with spelling and grammar errors, your resume goes straight in the trash. Bad grammar will have cost you a job at an outstanding company, because as an Information Age company, we value outstanding communication skills above most other skills.
Second example. Back in 1997, I was working at Sony Electronics in Park Ridge, New Jersey. One Thursday afternoon around 2 PM, the Vice President of Digital Imaging came out of his office, red-faced. He called the entire office to attention, shouting, “Tokyo has just sent us the advertising copy for the Mavica’s Stamina Battery!” Typically when the VP made such office-wide announcements, it meant everyone would have to scramble to implement the new marketing campaign.
Instead, he climbed on a nearby desk and read out loud the copy for Sony’s new lithium ion batteries.
“When you are at the climax of your shooting, you need STAMINA!”
The entire office burst into tears of laughter. We pretty much ended up canning work for the rest of the afternoon. The Vice President promptly had his administrative assistant email Sony Tokyo and told them to fire whoever wrote that ad slogan.
Usage of language matters - rolling out that campaign with that slogan could have cost Sony millions of dollars in lost revenue, not to mention the ire of conservative parents and media critics. That’s why you need Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing.
Buy a copy of Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing at Amazon today.
Disclosure: paid affiliate link earns the Financial Aid Podcast 5% of what you spend.
FAP827: Student credit cards, coffee scholarship, Free stuff Friday
June 27, 2008
Image via Wikipedia
FAP827: Student credit cards, coffee scholarship, Free stuff Friday
Listen now:
Student Financial Aid News
+ Chronicle: Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo of New York hopes to have completed by this fall an investigation into the relationships between credit-card companies and college officials, according to Benjamin Lawsky, deputy counselor to Mr. Cuomo, who previously investigated questionable ties between student loan companies and financial-aid officials.
+ Mr. Lawsky testified at a hearing today of the House consumer-credit subcommittee in which members considered various ways to reduce students’ credit-card debt and misuse. Panelists, including Mr. Lawsky, sketched a scenario in which students are taken advantage of by predatory companies, who offer free gifts and withhold important information about payments and rates to students who apply for credit cards.
+ Check out our student credit card guide at StudentPlatinum.com
+ Inside Higher Ed: It’s that rare story involving a pig, a taser and a happy ending. For weeks now, Colby College officials and Maine authorities have been trying to capture a runaway pot-bellied pig that escaped from its owner, a student, at a picnic. The pig was roaming the campus and managed to elude capture with nets. Local press coverage has been extensive. This week, the pig was enjoying a snack of some French fries offered by an area resident who called the police. The Morning Sentinel reported that the person who shared the fries also called the police, who used a taser to stun the pig, leading to the pig’s capture and ending a month of freedom for the animal. While the pig will not be continuing on at Colby, it will stay in education, and has been adopted by a preschool.
Scholarship Update
+ Maxwell House Minority Scholarship
+ ELIGIBILITY: Applicants must be minority high school students or graduates from New York, Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, Baltimore, or Newark. Applicants must be willing to attend one of the black colleges participating in their local black college fairs.
+ AMOUNT: $3,000
+ Details at our free college scholarship search site
Free Stuff Friday
+ CL Desktop - visual Craiglist shopping tool - I’m checking out the free stuff in Boston category by photo - VERY useful!
+ WebKut - application to make a PDF of any web page - also very useful!
+ Fotobooth and iSpy - two other free apps
+ Free Prima J tank top at Wet Seal
+ Free pack of Stride gum
+ Updated info on the free credit reporting from Transunion
+ Google Finance adds NYSE quotes in real-time
+ Evernote has a Mac desktop application now
+ Boxee is a Tivo style interface with social stuff
+ Stupid fun: make a radiation shield from your cell phone out of a Red Bull can
Free Song of the Week
+ Geoff Smith, Bohemian Financial Rhapsody
Did you enjoy today’s show? If so, please consider subscribing for free to get it delivered to you. Subscribing for free means you don’t have to remember to download it every day.
+
+
+
Direct MP3 file download: Click here to download the MP3
Reminders
+
+ Financial Aid Podcast Show Notes at FinancialAidPodcast.com.
+ Free scholarship search secrets eBook at StudentScholarshipSearch.com/ebook
+ Open an FDIC-insured savings account today!
+ Private student loans available at any time - visit AlternativeStudentLoan.com
+ Student credit card information at StudentPlatinum.com
+ FAFSA form tutorials and free help at FAFSAonline.com
+ Financial Aid discussion forums
+ Get FAFSA news at the FAFSA blog
+ Stafford federal student loans at StaffordLoan.com
+ The Financial Aid Podcast is a publication of the Student Loan Network.
I want to hear from you! Email me at financialaidpodcast {at} gmail {dot} com, visit http://www.FinancialAidPodcast.com, or call 206-350-1208.
PAYDAY LOANS
June 27, 2008
Payday loans are fast, quick and secure. With payday loans all you need is proof of identification and proof of employment. With payday loans you don’t need for further information checks like a background check to see if you have some kind of bad credit scam going on or have had bad credit in a previous loan. Payday loans are fast, efficient and reliable loans that one can get without any problems. Payday loans offer you the chance to cover your debts or any form of emergency that needs to be paid of as soon as possible. Payday was designed to help those who are working and have deposited their checks or are waiting for their checks to clear from the bank. All one has to do is leave a postdated check with the date of the day he or she will be returning to payoff the loan or with the date of when the check can be cashed by the lender including the amount and the extra fee charges which include the interested earned by the loan.
Loan Calculator
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