Fill Out the FAFSA!

I'm back from California, where I spent seven weeks with my mom, who had major surgery. I was there at the beginning of the year, so I missed reminding you to FILL OUT YOUR FAFSA!

The FAFSA is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Most financial aid, even that which comes from the states and the colleges, start with the FAFSA. Many college deadlines are in February and March, so time’s a wastin’. Financial aid is given on a FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED basis, so the quicker you get your FAFSA done and submitted, the better off you are.
With the economy tanking, more people than ever will be applying for financial aid, so there's even more competition than usual. Some states are cutting back their financial aid and many colleges are raising their tuition. More reasons to get going on the FAFSA.

Even if you are fortunate enough to have a job and make a decent living, you want to fill out the FAFSA. Many colleges are so expensive that even people making good money can qualify for financial aid. Also, if you're going to have to take out a loan, government loans have better interest rates and terms than private loans. The government will pay the interest on some federal loans while the student is in college, and repayment of some federal loans don’t begin until after the student graduates or stops going to college. You can't get a government loan for college without filling out the FAFSA.

So get going! The official FAFSA site is www.fafsa.ed.gov. Note that it is not a .com site. If you go to a .com site you may be asked to pay to have the FAFSA submitted.

If You Need Help
If you need help in completing the FAFSA, check out the government publication “Completing the FAFSA, 2009-2010”. This has an explanation for each question asked in the FAFSA. You can also call toll-free 1-800-433-3243 or TTY users (for the hearing impaired) can call 1-800-730-8913.

COMING SOON: “The Secrets of Financial Aid” – an ebook with all the secrets I’ve discovered in my comprehensive research of the subject. Make sure you’re on my email list, so you can get a copy as soon as it is released. Click here to sign up. You’ll also get a free copy of the ebook “A Parent’s Survival Guide to College” by insider Neil P. O’Donnell, academic advisor and professor at a private college in NY.

Blessings,Bonnie

Getting a Child Ready for College is Like a Hurricane

As you probably know, I live in Houston, Texas, which was hit by Hurricane Ike last month. Mine was not a bad experience. Because September is hot and humid in Houston, some of my friends literally sweat through more than two weeks without power. My power was out for only 19 hours.

To add to my blessings, my sister Sandy, her husband Randy and her two kids Sarah (11) and Jake (7) came and stayed with me starting the Sunday after the hurricane struck, because their power was out and mine wasn't. They stayed five days, which was two days after their power came back on. I wanted them to stay longer! I just love Sarah and Jake -- they are so fun!!! And since my kiddos are 23 and 26 and live out of town, this mama misses having kids in her house.

Speaking of hurricanes -- the time leading up to a child leaving for college can seem as chaotic and stressful as a hurricane. Information about what you need to know and what you need to do can eliminate a lot of that stress and chaos.

There's a ton of information out there, but it's not usually in one place, some of it is difficult to understand, and none of it is from a Christian perspective...until now.

One of the goals of Christian College Parents is saving Christian parents time.

Time is the only commodity you can't make more of, but you can save time. For two years I've been researching --

• how to help your child find the right college
• how to help your child get accepted to college
• how to find and maximize financial aid for your child
• how to prepare your child for college life and
• how to help your child deal with the issues at college

Along with experts in their fields, Christian College Parents is putting together packages that contain everything you need to know about every aspect of college...from a Christian perspective.

The first ebook we are offering is "A Parent's Survival Guide to College." It was written by Neil O'Donnell, an academic specialist and professor at a private college in western New York. This ebook is FREE to our members and membership is also FREE. You can join and request the FREE ebook by simply clicking this link.

We promise never to sell or give away your information and you can quit your membership at any time. However, I can't imagine why you'd want to quit, since you'll also get a FREE newsletter with tips and news about all things college from a Christian viewpoint.

We will continue to offer the information you need in a concise, easy-to-understand format. So you can save the time you'd spend researching and spend it doing something you'd actually enjoy. Or you could spend the time helping your child during the chaotic and stressful pre-college hurricane.

Yes, I did mean to say that you might not enjoy helping your child get ready for college. This can be a difficult time for the child-parent relationship. This may be because your child is trying to become more independent, but it may also be because they are anxious about leaving home for college. (Even if they don't admit it.) As a result, they may not be the nicest people to have around. I have a friend who says that God planned it that way so we wouldn't miss them so much when they leave. I'm not so sure about that, but they can be less than delightful during this period. (It's possible that we might, from time to time, be less than darling during this period also.)

Anyway, the point of all this is that Christian College Parents will continue to provide you with essential information that is all in one place, easy to understand, with a dash of humor and a Christian perspective.

We hope you join and get our FREE ebook "A Parent's Survival Guide to College" today. Get it now by clicking this link.

We also hope that you will become an active member of our Christian College Parents community. We want to hear from you, so we can give you exactly what you need. We'd also like to hear about your experiences -- both positive and negative -- of getting your children ready to fly the coop and stretch their wings at college.

Blessings,

Bonnie

Student loans-good and bad news

Recently I read two very different articles about student loans. The first one was all about the bad news concerning student loans and the second one was all about the good news. I sure was glad to read the second one!

BAD NEWS-

First I read a Newsday article by Carrie Mason-Draffen that appeared in The Houston Chronicle entitled Student loan market pinched. It said that the “subprime mortgage meltdown and the ensuing credit-market crunch have slowed lending and cooled investor interest in securities, including those backed by student loans.”

MORE BAD NEWS-

The article went on to say “In addition, the federal government has cut billions of dollars in subsidies to lenders who make federally guaranteed student loans.” According to the article, this makes lenders less likely to offer the federally guaranteed loans.

You wouldn’t think that there would be any good news after that, would you?

GOOD NEWS-

However, an article written by Stacy Teicher Khadaroo for The Christian Science Monitor, called Amid loan worries, a silver lining for students, states that the credit crunch in the private sector will push some students to apply for the federal loans with interest rates that can be half that of the private loans. The article also said that “Almost half of college students fail to collect all the federal loans – fixed at 6.8 percent – that they are eligible to receive.” In other words, because of the publicity that the credit crunch is receiving, students and their parents are finding out about the federal loans for which they qualify and saving themselves a lot of money in interest. WHOOPEE! That’s what I’ve been talking about!

So what about the problem regarding the federal loans?

MORE GOOD NEWS AND SOME BAD NEWS

The good news, according to the same article, is that, the federal loan system has “’impressive backstops…to make sure there’s loan availability,’” according to Robert Shireman, executive director of the Project on Student Debt in Berkeley, California.

However, it seems that these backstops are not completely ready to be used, if it becomes necessary. The story goes on to say that “Congressional education committees have urged Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings to make sure those ‘backstops’ are ready if needed. Under a lender-of-last-resort provision, 35 guaranty agencies would be obligated to serve as lenders if any problem arose. But that’s never been implemented before, and requires work to be made operational.”

EVEN MORE GOOD NEWS-

“Financial aid officers are eager to help students sort through the confusing news,” says the Christian Science Monitor article (emphasis mine). See that? “Financial aid officers are eager to help.” When approached the right way, most financial aid officers are eager to find a way that all accepted students can go to their colleges. Unfortunately, some parents start thinking that the financial aid officers are their opponents, especially if their students don’t get the financial aid packages that they wanted. I think this is a very harmful attitude, because, after all, financial aid officers are just people doing their jobs, limited by the resources they are given by their colleges.

As Christians, we always want to apply the Golden Rule when we interact with other people. You and I both know this isn’t always easy, especially when a big stressor, like money, is involved. However, I’ve found that using the Golden Rule will also yield better results, all other things being equal.

Not that I always manage to do this, but I do try. Right now I’ve got someone I need to apologize to because I didn’t treat her as I would want to be treated, because she didn’t treat me the way I wanted to be treated. And I was big time stressed at the time. I know that’s not a legitimate excuse, but I’m human.

God’s been working on me about this for a couple of days. First, my Beth Moore Bible Study homework included the verse: “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you know how to answer everyone.” (Colossians 4:6)

Then today at church the pastor talked about forgiving people, even if you think they were wrong and you were right. Boy, that struck home with me. So I decided that I not only had to forgive her, but that I also needed to apologize for being less than Christian in my reaction to her.

BACK TO STUDENT LOANS-

So there you have the good news and the bad news about the state of student loans today. I think the good news somewhat negates the bad news. However, with bad news being what sells papers, it’s often hard to find the good news of a situation. However, I’ll always give you the good news with the bad news, if I possibly can. In addition to the things I’ve learned through experience, and the eighteen months I spent doing research on the issues facing Christian high school and college students and their parents, I continue to monitor the news regarding these issues.

QUESTION FOR YOU-

Is anyone facing situations that have been affected by what’s going on with student loans? Please add a comment. Sharing could help others facing a similar situation, especially if you’ve found a good solution.

NEW EBOOK COMING-

I apologize for not blogging much lately. I’ve been working on an ebook, (tentatively-titled “The 10 Things You Absolutely Have to Know about Financial Aid) , and it’s taken up some of my blogging time. I’ll let you know when it’s ready (soon), and how you can get a copy.

Blessings,

Bonnie

GOOD NEWS in College Financial Aid

As I continue to research college financial aid for you, I've come across wonderful news!

Bowing to pressure from the American people and Congress, many colleges are using more of their endowments to limit or completely eliminate loans from their financial aid packages!

At Stanford, where this year the cost of attendance is $49,500/yr, they recognize that many people will not be able to afford that. Students whose families’ total income is lower than $45,000/yr get a free ride, with the exception of some self-help, which Stanford requires of all their students receiving financial aid. The standard amount of self-help required is $4,000/yr, which the student is expected to provide through working or taking out loans. Stanford has also set aside an additional $5 million for financial aid for families with incomes from $60,000 to $135,000.

This year Emory University, where the cost of attendance is $47,000/yr, eliminated loans for undergraduates whose families earn under $50,000/yr. For families that earn up to $100,000/yr Emory is capping the students total loan amount at $15,000 for four years. Considering that borrowing $80,000 --$100,000 for college is not unheard of, a cap of $15,000 is great. Private loan companies advertise that you can get up to $40,000 a year!

Brown University recently announced that it is eliminating tuition for students whose parents earn less than $60,000. Their cost of attendance for the 2007-2008 school year is $48,660. Not only are they helping families that earn under $60K, Brown will also substitute grants for student loans in the financial aid packages of students whose families earn less than $100,000 a year.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg!

Reports of universities cutting or limiting the loans from their financial aid packages are coming fast and furious! Every week another college announces that they are using more of their endowment to lessen the burden on their students. I don't know about you, but I consider this a great victory for parents and students! Maybe now students can get an education without graduating with the millstones of massive debt hanging around their necks.

Nice to have a bit of good news for a change. I hope all your news is good news when it comes to financial aid!

Blessings,
Bonnie

Excessive College Financial Aid Debt – Part 2

This series of financial aid blogs cites a Houston Chronicle article, that explains how huge college loan debt is handcuffing college students to monster payments for years after they graduate. As a result, this excessive college loan debt severely limits the graduates’ life options.

The newspaper article mentioned a lawyer who couldn’t afford to buy a house, go on vacation or do much of anything because of her $150,000 college loan debt. With a huge debt hanging over their heads, Christian college graduates can’t go into mission work, the ministry, or non-profit work, all of which pays less than corporate jobs.

When my son Chris was selecting a college, this issue came up. One of the colleges that accepted him was a private university in Texas. It was his first choice, but it was very expensive. (I should point out that it was less expensive than Ivy League colleges and even some Christian colleges.)

The Federal Aid Office, the government agency that determines how much parents can afford from their FAFSA (Free Application of Federal Student Aid), sent us our SAR (Student Aid Report) with an EFC (Expected Family Contribution) of $20,000 a year. In other words, they thought we could afford to spend $20,000 on Chris’ freshman year. We couldn’t. And Chris didn’t want to graduate with a debt of $80,000 (which assumed he would graduate in four years). He chose to attend the University of Houston, a state school. This was before I knew the secrets of financial aid.

As it turned out, Chris’ choosing to go to the University of Houston resulted in multiple blessings. My late husband Hugh was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) only months after Chris started college. Chris took small class loads and even a whole semester off to help me care for Hugh. (A real blessing for me and Hugh.) Because of his maturity and unselfishness, Chris will graduate three years after his original graduation date, but without a huge debt weighing him down. (A definite blessing for Chris -- You can imagine what seven years at the expensive college would have cost!) He also met his fiancé at University of Houston, so there’s a third blessing.

The first secret I learned was that you don’t have to accept the first financial aid package that a college offers you – you can appeal the amount and the kind of aid. (Some kinds of “aid” are loans.) You can appeal even if the university has not awarded you any financial aid.

I will go into the process of appealing financial aid packages in my next blog.

If you want receive the next blog and all upcoming blogs, subscribe to the RSS feed or subscribe to be notified by email. If you subscribe by email, you will receive a confirmation email from confirmation@emailenfuego.com

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Blessings,
Bonnie

Welcome to Christian College Parents

Hi! I'm Bonnie McGrane, CEO and one of the founders of Christian College Parents, an organization for Christian parents of high school and college students.

Through this blog I plan to address the concerns and issues of Christian parents who are helping their children go through the arduous process of selecting, getting admitted to and finding funding for the special college that is just right for them.

When I was a high school student back in the late 60's the process was nowhere near as difficult. I applied to one college -- Vanderbilt University -- early decision and got admitted. I hate to admit it, but it was easier to get accepted to the college of your choice back then, because fewer people went to college. Now a college degree has become what a high school degree was then -- absolutely necessary to get a decent job. The cost of Vanderbilt has increased approximately 2000% since my freshman year. When I graduated I had a loan to repay, but the payments were only about $17/month. Now I read about students who graduate $100,000+ in debt. All of these factors makes the process a lot harder and a lot scarier to navigate.

That's where Christian College Parents can help. Our goal is to make life easier for parents who are helping their students with the whole big selection, application, and funding college process. One of the ways I'll be doing that is through information, but I also will be offering Christian support during this hair-yanking-out time.

And I'll be going through the process for the third time. My daughter Kat is transferring next Fall so I'll be reporting on our journey through the maze.

What are your biggest concerns and questions about the process? Let me know and I'll address them in future blogs.

Blessings,
Bonnie