FAP762: Free iced coffee at Dunkin Donuts, federal student loans

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Student Financial Aid News
+ Chronicle: Several financial companies that have formed partnerships with colleges in the “school as lender” program are cutting or terminating the scholarship payments they make to colleges, dealing another severe blow to a program already facing the possibility of elimination by Congress.
+ A number of lenders, including Sallie Mae, Nelnet, Citibank, and Student Loan Xpress, have notified their partner colleges in recent weeks about the reductions or terminations. Others, such as Edsouth, are considering similar moves, according to college and banking officials.
+ Inside Higher Ed: The new head of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators urged Education Secretary Margaret Spellings in a letter Wednesday to consider using federal funds to ensure that lenders continue to have enough money to make student loans and provide benefits to borrowers this fall. In the letter, Philip R. Day Jr., who became NASFAA’s president and CEO this winter, endorses calls by lawmakers and others for the department to push to ensure the viability of alternatives to the guaranteed loan program, including expanding access to the competing direct loan program and the government’s “lender of last resort” initiative involving guarantee agencies. But because “these options are largely untested,” Day also asked Spellings to consider bolstering the lender-based guaranteed loan program by “allowing non-bank student loan providers to use the loans that they have been unable to sell as collateral to borrow funds from the federal government so they can make loans this fall and to pursue other financial strategies in order to provide a backstop for this element of the marketplace.” Some lenders and federal lawmakers have urged such actions as well, as a growing number of loan providers announce plans to stop originating student loans.
+ We petitioned on March 9 for this exact thing
+ Chronicle/WSJ: The Wall Street Journal is reporting that HSBC Bank USA, the M&T Bank Corporation, and the TCF Financial Corporation have all decided to stop offering federally guaranteed student loans following last year’s decision by Congress to cut lender subsidies by more than $20-billion over five years.
+ All three are among the program’s 50 largest lenders, together providing more than $560-million of the $119-billion in federally backed loans issued in the 2006 federal fiscal year, the Journal reported.
+ Stafford federal student loans at StaffordLoan.com
+ Parent PLUS loans at ParentPLUSLoan.com
+ Private student loans at AlternativeStudentLoan.com

Scholarship Update
+ The UVM/GIV Engineering Institute offers you the adventure of a lifetime! Discover cool careers in engineering and learn how technology will impact the future of our planet. The University of Vermont College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences and The Governor’s Institutes of Vermont announce their 2008 UVM/GIV Engineering Institute June 28 - July 5, 2008. Challenge yourself to think outside the box with a hands-on project, laboratory experiences, faculty presentations and enlightening tours. You’ll learn how technology impacts the human experience. Experience the thrill of creating sand arches at the beach and become part of an innovative team to work on one of the following diversified projects that will stretch your brain! * Renewable Energy Systems * Robotics Technology * Aeronautical Engineering * Engineering Sustainability
+ The cost to participate in GC is nothing. Students who are interested in science, math or engineering should check out the camp and the program (www.globalchallengeaward.org). Students who have not started this year’s competition are still eligible for the summer program scholarship if they express and interest and commitment to trying the program next year. For those who incur travel costs and those costs would be prohibitive we do have some travel funds available to students with demonstrated need. Our goal is to encourage any student to explore STEM topics in a global, collaborative online curriculum. These scholarships are open to anyone regardless of sex, race, financial status, etc. The nomination criteria is an interest in the subject. Please feel free to nominate students or pass this information directly to them.
+ Open to high school students ages 14- 17
+ 40 full tuition scholarships
+ $60,000
+ Details at our free college scholarship search site

Free Stuff Friday
+ Update: Dunkin Donuts PR emailed me to let me know that actually, no, there isn’t a 3/21 giveaway. That was apparently last year, and they’re not doing a re-run. However, you can get free Dunkin coffee instead here: Dunkin At Home
+ PocketMod minibooks of your stuff
+ Google Gadgets for Spreadsheets
+ Free recycling of old gadgets at the Post Office
+ Similar to PhoneRaiser - except they get the money instead of you. Use PhoneRaiser if you have gadgety friends at your school to raise some tuition funds
+ Google Grants for Non-Profits
+ SmartSleep for the Mac laptop
+ Your legal rights as a photographer
+ Two free music albums
+ It’s About Time from Kevin Reeves
+ Collective by Duwende
+ Breakaway for Mac iTunes

Free Song of the Week
+ From Duwende’s Collective, here’s Come Back

Promo
+ NCAA 2008 Men’s Basketball March Madness Charity Pool

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Reminders
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+ 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
+ Grad student? Get graduate financial aid information at the GradLoans.com 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.

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