FAP428: Sallie Mae Strikes Back, financial aid at Johns Hopkins, Minority scholarships, Natalie Gelman

Student Financial Aid News
+ The growth of private student loans has outpaced federal programs during the past decade. That, coupled with many private lendersâ direct marketing campaigns, has some financial aid offices concerned.
+ A report conducted by the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Higher Education Policy found that officials are worried that direct marketing campaigns cause undergraduates unfamiliar with their options to miss out on lower-rate federal loans.
+ Additionally, the report found that 19% of students who borrowed from private lenders borrowed less than the maximum amount at lower rates allowed by the federal Stafford loan program.
+ From NASFAA: "Student-loan giant Sallie Mae, under growing pressure from the new Democratic leadership in Congress, is trying to rally support from an important customer base: college financial aid officers," reports The Wall Street Journal. "Sallie Mae emailed a letter to school officials this week, warning about Sen. Edward Kennedyâs anticipated Student Loan Sunshine Act aimed at holding school officials accountable for their business relationships with lenders such as Sallie Mae, and the Education Departmentâs investigations into some schoolsâ practice of 'preferred lender lists.'"
+ The letter from Sallie Mae Executive Vice President Kevin Moehn says that âSallie Mae believes these unwarranted attacks have armed certain detractors with a political opportunity to denigrate the [Federal Family Education Loan] program and has led to an environment of innuendo and misinformation that has unfortunately attracted the attention of regulators and may sidetrack the new Congress.â It attached a list of 16 bulleted âfactsâ defending the FFEL Program, where students borrow through banks and lenders such as Sallie Mae. That program competes with the governmentâs own William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan program, which bypasses lenders such as Sallie Mae. Kennedy and other Democrats have promoted the direct loan program as more cost-effective.
+ Kennedy said in a statement that âitâs hardly surprising that Sallie Mae would take a proposal intended to protect students and spin it as an attack on college financial aid professionals.â
+ I say keep them both - competition is good!
+ I volunteered this morning for Massachusetts College Goal Sunday. We'll see if my application is accepted!

Scholarship Update
+ PriceWaterhouseCoopers eXceed Minority Scholarships Program
+ Since 1990, we have awarded scholarships to some of the best and brightest African American, Hispanic/Latino and Native American students in the U.S. Our program includes:
+ A $3,000 monetary award
+ Participation in our annual Diversity in Business Leadership Conference
+ A PricewaterhouseCoopers internship
+ Eligibility:
+ To qualify, you must be a Freshman or Sophomore with strong academic standing (3.2 or higher) and an academic and career interest in Accounting, Management Information Systems and/or Computer Science.
+ The application process runs from September 2006 through December 31, 2006. The scholarship winners will be announced in April 2007.
+ Resume including current GPA (High School or College)
+ Personal Information Sheet
+ Personal Essay: The PricewaterhouseCoopers core values are Leadership, Excellence and Teamwork. Your essay should describe how you have demonstrated one or all of these values in your academic and/or professional career and why you believe these values are important. In addition, briefly outline your career goals in the area of accounting, business or IT.
+ A letter of recommendation from a college/high school professor, official or advisor
+ Based on your initial application finalists will be interviewed in person by a PricewaterhouseCoopers partner, manager, or recruiter. As part of the interview process you will need to provide an official college/university and/or high school transcript.
+ Details at our free scholarship web site

Mail Bag
+ Dominique calls in about continuing education certification program for JHU
+ Dr. Ellen Frishberg - let me know more!
+ If you're going to school more than half time, you can apply for the Stafford federal student loan for graduate students
+ You'll need to file your FAFSA first
+ Graduate students can also get the graduate PLUS loan at GradLoans.com
+ ACT Education Loans would fit the bill save that they're private student loans
+ You're right that you can't consolidate federal student loans and private student loans together in an advantageous way

Podsafe Music
+ Natalie Gelman, Always Was
+ Music via the Podsafe Music Network
+ Stop by our MySpace page!

Reminders
+ Private student loans available at any time - visit AlternativeStudentLoan.com
+ Stafford federal student loans at StaffordLoan.com
+ Student loan consolidation at StudentLoanConsolidator.com
+ FAFSA form online filing at FAFSAonline.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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