Let 204 district save you some cash on college!!

[southsidesignmaker]

DW,

Thanks for sharing great info and we went with the debit card only. I should have asked for help on this topic years ago.

[southsidesignmaker]

Visiting colleges recently I was encouraged that Illinois state schools do take many of the college "block type" courses that are available at our district high schools.

The speaker at this college noted that any student looking for college credit must take the tests at the end of the course that designates the "mastery over subject matter". It is not enough to just get a good grade in these courses. This gentleman went on to say that recently an incoming student had taken enough college courses (taken during high school) to start at this university as a second semester sophomore.

My thoughts are that this is much dependent on University and type of degree being pursued. If this is an option, get in contact with admissions adviser at the earliest possible time.

[entitled]

Mar 1, 2009 14:43:49 GMT -6 southsidesignmaker said:

Visiting colleges recently I was encouraged that Illinois state schools do take many of the college "block type" courses that are available at our district high schools.

The speaker at this college noted that any student looking for college credit must take the tests at the end of the course that designates the "mastery over subject matter". It is not enough to just get a good grade in these courses. This gentleman went on to say that recently an incoming student had taken enough college courses (taken during high school) to start at this university as a second semester sophomore.

My thoughts are that this is much dependent on University and type of degree being pursued. If this is an option, get in contact with admissions adviser at the earliest possible time.

AP classes earn college credit, but schools have different thresholds for acceptable scores. The Frontier Campus offers"block courses", but they are not necessarily AP classes.

[southsidesignmaker]

Thanks entitled,

It was the AP courses that where spoken at the university, my bad.

[southsidesignmaker]

Obama Plan Aims to Streamline College Loan Shopping

Posted by Two Cents Editors
March 2, 2009 10:29 am
http://moneyfeatures.blogs.money.cnn.com....-loan-shopping/

Right now about 80% of the federal Stafford (student) and PLUS (parent) loans for college are doled out through third-party lenders via the FFELP program, with the Federal Direct Loan Program handling just 20% or so of loan volume.

The FFELP program is now on the endangered species list.

President Obama’s new budget proposes for 100% of college loan shopping to come in-house. Under the administration proposal third-party FFELP lenders would be cut out of the mix and all Stafford and PLUS loans would be originated through Uncle Sam’s Federal Direct Loan Program.

The Obama bean-counters estimate that moving the entire program in-house would save about $4 billion a year, and $47.5 billion in the first 10 years. The bulk of the savings comes from the elimination of federal subsidies to FFELP lenders.

Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of the finaid.org website says this move would be “a death blow to the student lending industry.” If so, it’s just the final punch.

Let’s remember that this is the same student loan industry that was rocked in 2007 when New York attorney general Andrew Cuomo revealed kick-back schemes where lenders offered financial aid offices incentives for steering potential clients in their direction. That scandal no doubt played a roll in Congress pushing through a big college lending reform bill later that year that severely cut back federal subsidies paid to the third-party lenders through FFELP.

Certainly not having to shop around various FFELP lenders for a Stafford or PLUS will be a boost to students and parents, but it will remain to be seen if the actual cost to borrowers will be lower (taxpayers are another matter.) Many FFELP lenders offered small rate-reductions and discounts to qualified borrowers, under the Federal Direct Loan Program those discounts may not be available.

Stay tuned as this budget item is sure to get plenty of air-time in Capitol Hill debates. That said, there’s still no official plan for fixing the really big headache in the college loan process: the insanely difficult FAFSA form that is required to obtain financial aid.

– Carla Fried

[doctorwho]

Mar 2, 2009 22:43:02 GMT -6 southsidesignmaker said:

Obama Plan Aims to Streamline College Loan Shopping

Posted by Two Cents Editors
March 2, 2009 10:29 am
http://moneyfeatures.blogs.money.cnn.com....-loan-shopping/

Right now about 80% of the federal Stafford (student) and PLUS (parent) loans for college are doled out through third-party lenders via the FFELP program, with the Federal Direct Loan Program handling just 20% or so of loan volume.

The FFELP program is now on the endangered species list.

President Obama’s new budget proposes for 100% of college loan shopping to come in-house. Under the administration proposal third-party FFELP lenders would be cut out of the mix and all Stafford and PLUS loans would be originated through Uncle Sam’s Federal Direct Loan Program.

The Obama bean-counters estimate that moving the entire program in-house would save about $4 billion a year, and $47.5 billion in the first 10 years. The bulk of the savings comes from the elimination of federal subsidies to FFELP lenders.

Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of the finaid.org website says this move would be “a death blow to the student lending industry.” If so, it’s just the final punch.

Let’s remember that this is the same student loan industry that was rocked in 2007 when New York attorney general Andrew Cuomo revealed kick-back schemes where lenders offered financial aid offices incentives for steering potential clients in their direction. That scandal no doubt played a roll in Congress pushing through a big college lending reform bill later that year that severely cut back federal subsidies paid to the third-party lenders through FFELP.

Certainly not having to shop around various FFELP lenders for a Stafford or PLUS will be a boost to students and parents, but it will remain to be seen if the actual cost to borrowers will be lower (taxpayers are another matter.) Many FFELP lenders offered small rate-reductions and discounts to qualified borrowers, under the Federal Direct Loan Program those discounts may not be available.

Stay tuned as this budget item is sure to get plenty of air-time in Capitol Hill debates. That said, there’s still no official plan for fixing the really big headache in the college loan process: the insanely difficult FAFSA form that is required to obtain financial aid.

– Carla Fried

If he's looking for another group that needs help- recent college grads are coming out of school in debt up to their eyeballs into one of the worst job markets in recent history. We're loaning billions to banks to upgrade their private jet collection, let's look at the future of America also. Ensure they are getting sub prime rates and extend their payback time to lower payments....not asking for loan forgiveness as they got the servics they paid for - but crippling them immediately isn't helping a thing either.