FAP385: Donations for tax reductions, earnings reports, ROTC scholarship, Shauna Burns

Student Financial Aid News
+ Massachusetts higher education officials are proposing a plan that would expand aid programs that currently serve low-income students to also cover many middle class students, The Boston Globe reported. The plan would also give students who do not need remedial instruction free tuition at community colleges. The proposals â for which it is unclear if the state has money â come at a time that other states are trying to balance aid for the poorest students with the concerns of the middle class.
+ Shares of the Apollo Group, the parent company of the University of Phoenix, saw their largest losses in eight years, following a release of a report about drops in earnings and enrollment growth, Bloomberg reported. And the companyâs announcement about its earnings also revealed that the external review it has undertaken to review its policies and procedures for granting historic stock options had uncovered âvarious deficienciesâ thus far, which could require the company to restate its financial projections. Apollo is one of several for-profit higher education companies that are under scrutiny for possible irregularities in the granting of stock options.
+ "While the cost of going to Rhode Island's three state colleges has tripled in the past two decades, the state's contribution to its scholarship fund has barely budged, even dropping in recent years," reports The Providence Journal. "The state gave $6.7 million toward scholarships last year, the same amount it gave in 1983. And according to budget estimates for fiscal 2007, the state has dedicated even less - just $5.7 million - to scholarships for low-income students - one of the lowest state contributions since the scholarship program began around 1980. A long decline began in 1994, coinciding with a national recession and the state's banking crisis. ...Citing budget shortfalls, the governor and lawmakers dropped state support to $6.7 million in fiscal year 2006 and $5.7 million for the current fiscal year."
+ Sallie Mae Q3 Earnings Fall 39% Behind Poor Investing
+ Despite 14% growth in the total managed student loan portfolio, student lender SLM Corp.âs earnings dropped 39% in the third quarter of 2006 thanks to poor investments.
+ The quarter included pretax losses of $131 million on derivative and hedging activity.
+ Reston, Va.-based SLM Corp., commonly known as Sallie Mae, reported a net income of $263 million, or $0.60 per share, compared with $431 million, or $0.95, a year ago.
+ The firm's total managed student loan portfolio for the third quarter was $137 billion.

Scholarship Update
+ Army ROTC Scholarships
+ Detailed page at our student scholarship search site

News You Can Use
+ Amvets Donation
+ Clean out end of year
+ Get a tax break
+ Only if you itemize deductions
+ Do you know whether you should or not?
+ Might want to consult someone about it

Podsafe Music
+ Shauna Burns, I'm Dirty
+ Music via the Podsafe Music Network
+ Stop by our MySpace page!

Reminders
+ Private student loans available at any time - visit AlternativeStudentLoan.com
+ Federal student loans at StaffordLoan.com
+ Student loan consolidation at StudentLoanConsolidator.com
+ Financial Aid Podcast Show Notes at FinancialAidPodcast.com.
+ The Financial Aid Podcast is a publication of the Student Loan Network.

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