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Show AggieLife Page 8 Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2010 Alternate financial aids ASSERMANN2olo CONCERT SERIES "World-Class Pianists in a World-Class Setting" Stephen Hough, pianist Thursday, February 11, 2010 7:30 p.m. Presented in the award-winning Manon Caine Russell Kathryn Caine Wanlass Performance Hall on the Utah State University Campus Reserved Seating Tickets: Adults $20, Students $8 UtahStateU n i ve rs ity Tickets: (435) 797-8022 or http://csaboxoffice.usu.edu Additional information, including concert programs, at www.usu.edu/wassermann SEE IT. HEAR IT. FEEL IT. BELIEVE IT. MONDAY. FEB.. 15TH vs. Southern Utah 7 PM THINK PINK NIGHT Dee Glen Smith Spectrum Admission is FREE with USU Student ID! INIWW,UTAli5TA TEAMED:1N By KATE FORGACH McClatchy Tribune - College tuition and fees have gone through the roof as government funding has dried up. This comes at a particularly bad time as college-saving accounts have toppled. At the same time, supplemental work for students has dried up as older American's, laid-off from career-track jobs, willingly accept minimum-wage jobs just to bring in some cash. College endowments also continue to shrink, making it more difficult for colleges to offer grants and scholarships. Finally, private student loans are harder to obtain, with a drop in about 30 percent of loans as banks raised lending standards. In response, our federal government has broadened loan programs for students by offering more loans, more money, and better rates while increasing tax breaks for parents. An expanded tuition credit for households with up to $160,000 in adjusted gross income could trim as much as $2,500 from your tax bill. Still, the economic downturn means many families need to rethink how and how much they'll need to borrow. Here are six public and private types of college financial aid. 1. Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) Your first step is to fill out the FAFSA form colleges usually require before awarding aid, from merit scholarships to need-based grants and loans. The Department of Education begins accepting the application Jan. 1 of each year. Applicants who have filled out aFAFSA in previous years are able to fill out a renewal FAFSA, but information on taxes and savings, for example, must be updated annually. The form includes numerous questions regarding the student's finances, as well as those of his or her family, if the student is a dependent. The answers are entered into a formula that determines the Expected Family Contribution (EFC). student status, or withdrawing from college. Interest doesn't begin accruing until the borrower begins to repay the loan. The Perkins Program should balloon to $6 billion a year, from $1 billion, under President Obama's proposed 2010 budget. 3. Stafford Loans Stafford Loans are the most common needsbased student loans and almost always have better terms than private bank loans. These loans may be subsidized, in which the government pays the interest while the student is in school, or unsubsidized. Twelve percent of students from families with adjusted gross incomes more than $100,000 received subsidized Staffords in 2008/09 and the interest rate will decline from 5.6 percent to 3.4 percent by the 2011-12 academic year. Unsubsidized Stafford loans, which any student can receive, are getting more generous, too. You can add $2,000 to the former limits of $3,500 for freshman year, $4,500 for sophomore year, and $5,500 thereafter. Loan terms will remain at 6.8 percent; your college can provide a list of lenders. 4. PLUS Loan Program PLUS loans allow you to borrow for the full cost of a dependent child's college education, minus any financial aid. For the 2009/10 school year, the interest rate is 7.9 percent for loans that come directly from the government, and 8.5 percent for those in which a financial institution is the intermediary. The fees run from 3 percent to 4 percent of the loan. 5. Scholarships Students needn't always have a 4.0 GPA to qualify for scholarships, although it certainly does help. The Department of Education provides a searchable database for college scholarships based on degree area and location. 2. Federal Perkins Loan Program 6. Private Loans Low-interest Perkins loans of up to $4,000 a year goes to students with the greatest financial need. Perkins Loans carry a fixed interest rate of 5 percent for the duration of the 10-year repayment period. Borrowers begin repayment in the tenth month after graduation, falling below half-time Leave private loans until last. Before the credit crunch, you could cosign a private student loan with a credit score as low as 620. Now, banks require credit scores of 680 to 700, or even 730. Books: Group uses local workforce to build schools continuedfrom page 5 iPod Kiss Off Rules -Enter at computers to compete -Must enter as a couple -10 couples drawn to compete -Couple who kisses the iPod the longest wins -Kiss off starts 11 am Feb 12 -Contestants notified by 9 am "We're going to get the university involved and the community," he said. "We're going to work with libraries, and we're going to fill this cargo crate and send the books over so these kids can learn how to speak English." Senft expresses how the mind-set of the project is not to Americanize the children, but to create employment and educational opportunities. "We don't want to go into these areas as the great, big Americans," she said. "We want the community to feel like they have ownership over these schools. We employ the local community members to build their schools and teach in their schools, because these are their schools." The visit to Nepal opened Allred's and Senft's eyes to the need across the country. Allred mentioned how they worked to create bonds with the people of Nepal. "We worked hard with these people," he said. "We lived with these families." Senft agreed, saying there is a feeling of responsibility for the people from spending time with them. "It's pretty heavy," she said, "the feeling of being on the ground interacting with the people. It puts a lot of responsibility on you. There's a lot to do." While students will be able to donate books, Allred said that won't always be enough. "These schools cannot be built with donated books," he said. "We still need cash." Though money may not flow freely for some college students, Allred shows how the project is less expensive than people might initially think. He said, "$20 buys a bench for four students, so they don't have to sit on the floor. They (USU students) might not think that's a lot, but we can build a school for under $20,000." Senft said donating small amounts can make a big difference. "It's really not costly," she said. "Think of the things we buy for hundreds of thousands of dollars that are frivolous. That money could help thousands of children get an education. It definitely has a ripple effect." Though Effect International and the USU Effect Club have begun to meet their goals, Allred said there is still work to do. "There's a huge bucket of water," he said, "and we're just adding little drops. When you look at the whole forest it can be quite daunting, but we're trying to focus on the trees." If students want to get involved with Effect International or the USU Effect Club, contact Allred at effectinternational@ gmail.com or Stevens at tysonnstevens@gmail.com . — k.vandyke@aggiemail.usu.edu |