Sep. 22--For private lenders, student loans are a sweetheart deal, a federal subsidy of sorts. They assume no risk, and a tidy profit is guaranteed. The federal government not only gives them a cut for making and administering student loans, but taxpayers back the loans if a borrower defaults. There's got to be a better way to help students and their ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio, July 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Thousands of students who hope to earn associate degrees offered by 37 career colleges across Ohio may not be able to afford to begin or continue with their education. That's because the new $50.5 billion 2-year state budget signed into law Friday by Governor Ted Strickland eliminates all state financial assistance. For the past 2 ...

TROY, N.Y. - President Barack Obama says that by 2020 America will again have the world's highest proportion of college graduates. The president said Monday that a recent increase in Pell Grants will help the nation reach that goal. He made the remarks as he spoke at a community college in Troy, N.Y., which has been hit hard by the economic ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

The College Board offered a classic mix of good news and bad news in its latest look at trends in tuition and student aid released Tuesday. Both rose, meaning colleges are charging more, but students also are receiving more assistance to offset higher prices. The increasing grant aid, from the federal government and the colleges and universities themselves, has kept the ...

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 ...

Oct. 26--EL PASO -- Fifteen percent of students at for-profit colleges in El Paso failed to pay back their federal loans on time -- a trend that began before the economy faltered. Students who borrowed and neglected to pay back thousands of dollars they used to attend for-profit colleges now find themselves tangled in a financial mess that threatens their credit ...

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 ...

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 ...

Robyn Peterson tried to consolidate her private and government-backed student loans after she graduated from college in 2008. The Hall-Dale High School graduate, who successfully consolidated her federal loans six months ago, says the new repayment plan is an improvement. But not all is well in the world of student loans. A consolidation -- while combining multiple loans into one payment ...

With the second half of the 2009- 2010 academic year just weeks away, hundreds of thousands of families across the country are heads-down figuring out how to cover this semester's tuition. For most, the anxiety of paying-for-college is at an all-time high given last summer's dearth of private student loan options. With the recession and credit crunch reducing the availability of ...

Attention families planning to send a student to college next fall: the financial aid application, which typically ranks up there with visiting the dentist and paying taxes as Americans' idea of a good time, is getting easier to complete. Sallie Mae, the nation's leading saving, planning and paying for education company, reminds students and families to file the FAFSA beginning Jan. ...

The FAFSA is a must for any student who wants to receive federal and school financial aid, but it can be a bit tedious to complete. Thankfully, the FAFSA for the 2010-2011 school year and beyond has been revamped and simplified. To make it even easier for you, here are four things you need to fill out the FAFSA: 1. Your ...

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 ...

Student loans can be the difference between attending college or not. For many students, loans are the only way to patch together scholarships and aid packages with the possibility of earning their degree. However, the loans you choose may have fine print you may not know about, which can cost you thousands, and in some cases, may even save you money. ...