Student Financial Aid News
+ The Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority and some of its board members admitted to violating the state’s Sunshine Law last January.
+ MOHELA and its board held private meetings — illegal under the law — regarding Gov. Matt Blunt’s plan to sell the agency’s assets to fund campus improvement projects at the state’s universities.
+ Under the settlement each board member will pay $1,000. Additionally, MOHELA assured it would comply with the Sunshine Law in the future and provide State Attorney General Jay Nixon’s office with notices of all board meetings at the same time they are given to board members.
+ New state scholarship programs proposed in Indiana and Wisconsin would offer funds to students attending in-state institutions, with strings attached — or, as the man behind the Wisconsin proposal puts it, “tethers.”
+ “If we can’t lure them here, let’s tether them here,” said Mark O’Connell, executive director of the Wisconsin Counties Association, a lobbying organization.
+ A new, purely merit-based proposal from the Republican governor of Indiana, Mitch Daniels, would provide up to $20,000 for residents who pursue a four-year degree at private or public institutions in-state, and $5,000 for those obtaining two-year degrees, in the form of forgivable loans that would not have to be repaid if a student stays in Indiana to work for three years after graduating.
+ From NASFAA: The telephone excise tax refund (TETR) is a one-time payment available on 2006 federal income tax returns designed to refund previously collected federal excise taxes on long-distance or bundled services. It is available to anyone who paid such taxes on landline, wireless, or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service. The payment is claimed on line 71 on the 1040, line 42 on the 1040A, or line 9 on the 1040EZ. Non-tax filers can also claim the payment by filing form 1040EZ-T.
+ NASFAA has received verbal guidance from the Department of Education that the TETR is not to be included as income anywhere on the 2007-08 FAFSA.

Scholarship Update
+ Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Memorial Scholarship Fund
+ Fields: Automotive Industry
+ Value: $4,000
+ Deadline: April 27, 2007
+ Eligibility: Minimum 2.5 GPA, enrolled full-time at an accredited university in USA or Canada, Graduation date must be 12/01/06 or later must remain enrolled as a full-time
+ Details at our free college scholarship search site

Mail Bag
+ This is becoming a permanent fixture!
+ Mary writes in: I have a stafford loan ($9,250/semester) for my grad medical program (PA school) and haven’t taken a plus loan yet. I’ve paid cash for the difference (approx $6K/semester). I still want to pay cash for the additional tuition (I don’t pay it - it magically comes out of an account - don’t ask) but I’d like to take loans on top of that for cost of living, etc. My credit is mediocre - I’m 29 and around a 690….depends who’s scoring. I just worked over the break and paid off about 10K in personal credit cards, with another 15K or so being ‘carried’ with no reportable income (I have a rental property owned without my name on it). I don’t actually need cost of living loans - I basically want to pay off the other 15K of personal cards so I can ‘defer’ them on a student loan. I don’t use or increase them… I had some big medical bills about 5 years ago that unfortunately went on cards. The rates are so high they never decrease and I never did a consolidation cause I was going to get a second mortgage/home equity. I’m thinking taking a student loan is better than that, cause I can defer paying the loan. What’s my best bet? The financial aid officer at my school totally couldn’t grasp this concept and said it was stupid for me to take a private loan before exhausting federal loans (a PLUS), but they won’t disburse a PLUS directly to ME, will they? It’s ONLY for cost of education and goes directly to the school.
+ Check your FAFSA results for how much more you can borrow on the Stafford Loan
+ The Graduate PLUS loan is a good choice but will only be certified up to cost of attendance
+ Private student loans will work, too, but be aware they have higher interest rates
+ Dani writes in: I just started listening to your podcast and I LOVE it! I especially love the fact that you have new music put up on it. It’s an easy way to find new bands and sounds, which I appreciate. Anyway, to my question. I am a sophomore in college, but have had it rough for the past five years. My GPA, which was a 3.8 in high school, slipped to a 2.0 in College due to a baby, family illnesses, and divorce. I even had to withdrawl from school all together cause I lost my Dean’s Scholarship. I want to return so I can finish my bacholar’s and go onto law school, but I can’t seem to figure out where to start again with searching for scholarships and financial aid now that I don’t meet merit standards. My daughter is now 4 and will be turning 5 in March and I’m turning 24 in April. My goal is to return to school this fall, but even my past school loans are past due cause I fell through on the differment and hardship paperwork when I lost them in the move to California from Cincinnati. I’m lost and I need help!
+ Single mom scholarships
+ Rehabilitate your past due loans first - no new aid will come prior to that
+ File your 2007 FAFSA no matter what
+ Talk to your school’s financial aid officer

Podsafe Music
+ Mike Errico, Skimming
+ Music via the Podsafe Music Network
+ Stop by our MySpace page!

Reminders
+ Private student loans available at any time - visit AlternativeStudentLoan.com
+ Stafford federal student loans at StaffordLoan.com
+ Student loan consolidation at StudentLoanConsolidator.com
+ FAFSA form online filing at FAFSAonline.com
+ Financial Aid Podcast Show Notes at FinancialAidPodcast.com.
+ The Financial Aid Podcast is a publication of the Student Loan Network.

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