WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama's plan to boost Pell Grants for low-income college students cleared the House education committee Tuesday, the first step down a long and potentially rocky path through Congress. The bill would link Pell Grants to inflation for the first time since the program's creation in 1972, raising the maximum grant from $5,500 to $6,900 over the next ...

Oct. 25--Sure, you'll haggle at a garage sale and bargain at the flea market, but who dickers with colleges over the price of tuition? A few people, but many more should be, college advisors say, because schools are not turning away their advances. "The way that the schools do it, they don't want to call it discounting," said Jerry Slavonia, creator ...

Sep. 23--The U.S. House last week passed a student loan bill that was long overdue. The country has lost its edge as a world leader in the rate of college graduation, a status it must recover rapidly if it is to stay competitive globally. The rising cost of America's colleges and universities poses a growing obstacle for students. The majority of ...

Pima Community College (Tucson, Arizona) plans to pay Hispanic men to stay in school because their graduation rates are so low. Under a new program, called Gain, 500 men will be paid $1,500 each for successfully completing classes and utilizing some support services. Three private foundations are funding the program. Public tax money won't be used. The idea is to turn ...

Tens of thousands of veterans who headed to college this fall under a new GI Bill that promises to cover most, if not all, of their expenses are scrambling to pay bills because of delays in benefit checks, say students, colleges, and veterans groups. "The GI Bill is a mess," said Rutgers University-Camden freshman Robeen Billings, 24, a former naval electronics ...

Jul. 30--An estimated 100,000 Ohioans could see relief from costly student loans through legislation introduced yesterday by U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown. Brown's bill would allow college graduates and others who are no longer enrolled to swap their private loans for federal loans with lower interest rates. "Too many Ohioans are still paying for college decades after they graduate -- through private ...

HOUSTON -- One-third of students are changing their college plans because of the economy, according to the 2009 Back to College survey. The nationwide survey, conducted by Money Management International, a nonprofit full-service credit counseling organization, measured the toll of the economy on students' plans for attending and paying for college. Tuition, room, and board for the average undergraduate student in ...

Filling Out Your FastWeb Profile Completely Can Qualify You for Millions of Dollars More in Scholarships. The cost of higher education is skyrocketing and even one semester of college comes with a hefty price tag. With the average tuition price spiking again this Fall, thousands of soon-to-be or continuing students are on the hunt for financial aid. FastWeb's done the dirty ...

The clock is ticking for Alisha Hull. She's been looking furiously for a job since she graduated from Ball State University in May with a degree in microbiology. But with the economy sagging and no real prospects in sight, the honors graduate soon will have to make that first payment on her $55,000 in student loans -- or ask her lenders ...

INDIANAPOLIS, July 28 /PRNewswire/ -- USA Funds , the nation's leading education loan guarantor, announces the award of nearly $3.4 million in scholarships to help 2,282 low to moderate income students nationwide pursue higher education. USA Funds awarded $1 million to 667 first-time recipients of USA Funds Access to Education Scholarships for the 2009-2010 academic year. In addition, USA Funds awarded ...

Oct. 16--Area college students with disabilities who are pursuing college degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics soon will be able to apply for scholarships to help them attend college. Auburn Montgomery and Alabama State University announced Thursday that they will receive a portion of a $3 million grant from the National Science Foundation to help Alabama students with disabilities earn ...

Some of the nation's biggest for-profit colleges and vocational schools are boosting enrollment in tough times by making more loans directly to cash-strapped students, knowing full well many of them probably won't be able to repay what they borrowed. The schools still make money because the practice boosts their enrollment and brings in tuition dollars subsidized by the government. But some ...

Aug. 24--Families have always agonized over how to save money for their children to attend college, but these days planning can be even more difficult. Colleges and universities have been raising fees sharply and often, making it particularly difficult for families to plan. The phenomenon also has widened the gap between low-income families who can secure enough student aid to pay ...

Senator Edward M. Kennedy, 77, a long-term champion for education and health care, died on Tuesday, August 26, 2009, after a year-long battle with brain cancer. He was diagnosed with a malignant glioma after suffering from a seizure in May 2008. His death ended a 46-year career in the US Senate and service as chair of the US Senate Committee on ...

CHICAGO - Young Americans showed their collective power when they helped vote President Obama into office. Inspired by his message of "change," they knocked on doors, spread flyers, voted for him by a 2-1 margin, and partied like rock-the-vote stars when he won. Since the election, though, that fervor has died down - noticeably. And while young people remain the president's ...

Oct. 25--APTOS -- Community college students are working too much and know too little about financial aid to earn a degree or transfer to a four-year school as quickly as they might hope, according to a report released this week. A survey of more than 2,600 community college students online and at campuses, including Cabrillo College, found that about half of ...

Tennessee education lenders and Republican lawmakers are fighting a bill that could end federally subsidies for private student loans, saying the legislation would eliminate competition and choice for borrowers. "President Obama's blueprint for a federal takeover of the college-loan industry will create a new entitlement that will cost taxpayers billions and will never go away," according a statement by Knoxville-based Edamerica, ...

Getting the first loan seems a little bit like magic. For students who can't afford the school of their choice, student loans are a viable alternative. Apply for a loan and the money seems to appear as if out of thin air. But after the second one, it begins to sink in. At some point, the money has to be paid ...

BOULDER, Colo. -- Ryan Nowakowski -- a University of Colorado graduate with an aerospace engineering degree -- juggled jobs, sometimes working 40 hours while taking a full load of classes. That way, his paychecks helped cushion his debt load, paying for rent and his monthly $400 grocery bills. ("I'm 6'6 and eat like it's nobody's business," Nowakowski admits). But he used ...

Oct. 27--Oregon students continue to apply for financial aid in record numbers even though the state's main assistance program stopped awarding new grants more than two months ago. Unemployed workers who lost their jobs after the grant cutoff date have been hit particularly hard. Thousands of people who applied for state financial aid to attend community colleges have been turned down ...