myUsearch blog

Today we have a guest post from Mary Fallon from Studentaid.com

The most confusing part of college planning is understanding your net price and out-of-pocket costs before applying.  Your specific cost of college is a mystery because your eligibility for student aid, which reduces costs, usually isn’t provided until after a college accepts you and issues an aid award letter. By then, it’s too late to comfortably comparison shop to find which college will offer you the best deal.  Not having a choice among affordable colleges may lead to borrowing huge amounts that will take many years to pay back after college graduation.

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Everyone knows how expensive a college education can be and that most people graduate from college with at least some debt.  The important thing is to not let the “sticker price” prevent you from pursuing your college diploma.  There are ways to lower your debt that may make a college degree more affordable.

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Today we have a guest post from Brennon Garrett, from Campus Book Rentals. Campus Book Rentals, a college text book rental company, is conducting an online petition for this bill. 

The United States Congress is currently considering whether to pass the The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009 (SAFRA).  The legislation passed in the Senate last September by a vote of 253 to 171, but it’s unclear whether it will pass successfully in the House.  The legislation includes many different initiatives, but the primary purpose of the bill is to make college more affordable to more Americans.  One of central components of the bill would remove private banks as middle-men in the student lending process.  As it stands today, many student loans are made by private banks with subsidies from the US Government - while those same loans are also being guaranteed by the US Government, thus removing the loan default risk to the private banks, and passing on the extra cost to students.  In April President Obama said “We have a student loan system where we’re giving lenders billions of dollars in wasteful subsidies that could be used to make college more affordable for all Americans.”  SAFRA would put an end to government payments to commercial lenders, and and the government would become a direct student lender.  This would save $40B over 10 years that would be directly re-routed into the Pell Grant system, increasing Pell grant scholarships from $5,550 in 2010 to $6,900 by 2019.  The increase in Pell grants would become linked to the cost of living, rising along with the Consumer Price Index, plus 1%.

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The cost of a college degree is getting more expensive every year.  According to College Board, the average four-year public college charges a tuition rate of $7,020 and the average tuition cost of a four-year private college is $26,273.  That’s a lot of money.  And while there are resources out there to help families cover their college expenses, who has the time to research these opportunities?  It’s tough.   The purpose of this blog is to simplify your life.  If you follow these quick tips on financial aid, your college financing process will be a lot easier.  Let’s get started…

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Today we have a guest post from Kelsey Murray. Kelsey Murray is a junior at the University of Oklahoma studying advertising. She also writes about news, trends and advice for college students at EDUInReview.com, an educational resource helping students at all stages of the education process find student loans, scholarships, testing advice and more.

Being a student is hard work. You attend classes, spend countless hours studying and prepping for exams, stay involved in extracurricular activities, and you might have a job as well. But the hardest part of college can be actually paying for it.

While financial student aid is a saving grace for so many students, it can be difficult to know which type of aid for college suits your academic and economic needs.

Here’s a quick overview of some of the most common types of financial student aid and what factors play into determining who qualifies for each type.

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Paying for college can be even more of a struggle than getting in, but new legislation might make it a little easier for families by increasing federal financial aid. Last month Congress passed the Financial Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act. The legislation expands financial aid, shifts direct federal lending and removes subsidies to private lenders. Supporters have claimed that the bill would save taxpayers $87 billion over the next 10 years. The legislation promises to make college more affordable, but what does that mean for you and your family?

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