Archive for February 2012

Stopped by the lovely NW campus today. Student art was displayed in several grassy areas near the main entrance. Here is one that I thought was really interesting. It is called the “Clay-Merz Skyline”.

One way to decrease your need for student loans is to obtain a scholarship. A quick search of the Internet found several unique scholarships listed. Stuttgart,  Arkansas  Chamber of Commerce sponsors a duck calling contest with $2000 going to the winner. Tall clubs International has $1000 scholarships to tall ( men 6’2 women 5’10 ) first year students. You might also consider the $7500  Scholar Athlete Milk Mustache of the Year award, The Patrick Kerr Skateboard Scholarship ($5000). If you are a graduate student who wants to study potatoes then you might like to look into the Potato Industry Scholarship ($2000). There are many more scholarships available too.  Ask around, do your research and put in lots of applications. Good luck !

Some information for this blog post came from http://www.collegeandfinance.com

Unfortunately some students or graduates become disabled after taking out student loans, and then have to worry not only about the new health problem, but paying back those loans.

The good news is that in certain cases, if you have federal student loans and you become disabled, your debts may be discharged.   To qualify for this discharge, a physician must certify  that you are unable to engage in any substantial gainful activity and that your condition:

 1) can be expected to result in death

2) has lasted for a continuous period of not less than  60 months or

3)  can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 60 months.

If you are interested in reading more about the disability discharge, or making an application, click here:   application for debt discharge

 **Please note that  this information may not be accurate for disabled veterans**

In an effort to help consumers (prospective college students) compare prices of colleges, the Department of Education has created a website that will give you tons of information about college costs. You can search for highest and lowest cost colleges, and also search by the type of college (profit or non profit).  Take a look  

Show your support for the StudentLoanList ! Donations are always welcome to help with the operating expenses. It’s simple to donate – just click on the DONATE button. Any and all donations are greatly appreciated. While our operating expenses are minimal, they do add up over time. Thank you!

According to information found on the website philanthropy.com   , America’s top 50 donors gave a total of $10.4-billion in 2011, which was noticably more than the 3.3 billion donated in 2010.   29 people donated  50 million or more including the bequest of   Margaret A. Cargill of  6 billion, and the bequest of   William S. Dietrich II  of  500 million.

I always say that you never know what may happen in your future, and I just love the story of how during  2004 Mr. Robert L . Tidwell told a childrens  hospital  he wanted to donate a computer. He was offered a tour of the facility by members of  the hospital foundation, and then last year when he died it was discoverd that he had left $30 million to the  foundation.

Show your support for the StudentLoanList ! Donations are always welcome to help with the operating expenses. It’s simple to donate – just click on the DONATE button. Any and all donations are greatly appreciated. While our operating expenses are minimal, they do add up over time. Thank you!

You probably know someone that has a student loan. Maybe it is you.  I have recently met some wonderful young people who are carrying the burden of student loan debt. Every student has a different story that tells about how he/she ended up borrowing for college costs. Here are the profiles of some of the  people that I have had a chance to talk to.  While the stories are true, the names have been changed to keep their identities protected.

Mitzi is a brilliant student who excelled  in math and science at her small town high school. Her parents are self employed and did not attend college. Mitzi chose to attend a large university in a city within her state, but far enough away that she couldn’t commute. Her student loan helped with her tuition and made it possible to  pay for housing in the dormitory on campus.

Tom had a good paying job as a welder at a busy factory. He was a hard worker but wanted to do something different. He began attending classes at night and on weekends, and took some on line classes.  After several years of working and studying he was able to complete the requirements for a degree in business. He is now employed as a manager at another location, but is struggling to make ends meet as he begins making his student loan payments, rent and a car payment.

Karen was in a marriage that was not healthy for her or her three young  children. She decided to pursue career training as part of her exit plan. Her controlling husband got very upset that she was attending school and Karen and the children ended up moving out of the family home and into a shelter. Karen rides the bus to and from  cosmotology school every day and her children now ride a school bus to and from school. Student loans made it possible for Karen to remain in school and pay her tuition.

While these three people are all very different and have  different reasons for atttending college and taking out student loans, what they do have in common is massive debt. As children, they did not intend to grow up and be in debt. They just wanted to grow up and have a career. They were not able to get the money they needed from their parents, but they were able to borrow from Uncle Sam.  But he is not a patient guy, and not very forgiving if debts are not repaid as agreed.

I hope that the StudentLoanList website will bring some relief to people like Tom,Mitzi and Karen. They deserve it.

Show your support for the StudentLoanList ! Donations are always welcome to help with the operating expenses. It’s simple to donate – just click on the DONATE button. Any and all donations are greatly appreciated. While our operating expenses are minimal, they do add up over time. Thank you!

Have you ever wondered what the price difference is between public and private colleges ? You are probably aware that public colleges are the less expensive option, but here are the exact figures from an article  on the collegeboard.com website.  Average costs for tution and fees at  public 4 year college:  $8244 per year  and    private 4 year college:   $28,500 per year.  For four years of college that  comes out to $32,976  vs.   $114,000.  To read the complete article from collegeboard.com  click here

Show your support for the StudentLoanList ! Donations are always welcome to help with the operating expenses. It’s simple to donate – just click on the DONATE button. Any and all donations are greatly appreciated. While our operating expenses are minimal, they do add up over time. Thank you!