FAP430: Free Stuff Thursday, Citibank and the College Board together, evolution, Charles Darwin University, Matthew Ebel

Student Financial Aid News
+ Stamford, Conn.-based The Student Loan Corp., a unit of Citibank NA, announced Tuesday that it is has partnered with the College Board, administrator of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT).
+ Through the deal, the College Board will offer Student Loan Corp.âs private and federal student loans and utilize its servicing and secondary market operations.
+ The College Board is based in New York.
+ Lobbying and lobbyists may appear to be on the defensive in Washington, as invective and legislation to limit efforts to influence the federal government both have been tossed around with abandon of late. But higher education shows no signs of weaning itself of the practice, which is clearly on the rise.
+ Colleges and universities and others with a direct interest in higher education â including associations, accrediting groups and lenders â reported spending nearly $94.6 million on lobbying Congress and top executive branch officials in 2005, an Inside Higher Ed analysis shows. That is about $15 million, or 18 percent, more than the $80 million they reported spending in 2004.
+ Banks and other entities in the student-loan industry reported spending about $5.7 million, led by Sallie Maeâs nearly $2.1 million.
+ When the College Board held its annual news conference on tuition rates and student aid in October, student aid experts identified several trends as troubling. One of them was the increased student reliance on private loans to finance their education. Data released by the board showed that private student loans now total more than $17 billion and have grown at an annual average rate of 27 percent since 2000.
+ Adding to the problem: Many students donât understand the difference between private and federal loans and are stunned to find themselves with much more demanding repayment schedules than they expected.
+ So a few eyebrows were raised this week when Citibank announced that it was expanding its private loan operations through a âstrategic allianceâ with the College Board, which will be paid (a sum or percentage that both Citibank and the College Board declined to disclose) for the private loans it sells for Citibank. And while the College Board was criticizing the growth in private lending at its October conference, it didnât exactly point out that it has been in this business for some time.
+ Prospective engineers could get a break on their student loans under an incentive set to kick in next school year from Missouri's college loan agency.
+ The Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority said Tuesday that a new program will reduce student balances on common Stafford loans by up to $3,500 for college freshmen enrolling in pre-engineering programs for the 2007-2008 school year.
+ The loan forgiveness program was suggested by a task force appointed by Gov. Matt Blunt to study ways of enticing more people into the math and sciences field, said Will Shaffner, MOHELA's director of business development.
+ A suburban school board that put stickers in high school science books saying evolution is "a theory, not a fact" abandoned its legal battle to keep them Tuesday after four years. The Cobb County board agreed in federal court never to use a similar sticker or to undermine the teaching of evolution in science classes. In return, the parents who sued over the stickers agreed to drop all legal action.

Scholarship Update
+ THE-ICE Scholarships for Tourism and Hospitality Studies
+ The International Centre of Excellence in Tourism and Hospitality (THE-ICE) is an Australian Government initiative designed to encourage excellence in tourism and hospitality education. THE-ICE has announced their 2007 scholarships to international students who wish to study tourism and hospitality at member institutions around Australia. The scholarships comprise a grant of AUD$10,000 per year, available for Bachelor and Diploma level study programs commencing Semester 2, 2007.
+ At Charles Darwin University
+ Details at our free scholarship web site

Free Stuff Thursday
+ PeerFlix
+ Free Blockbuster rentals for Netflix customers
+ Silly holiday downloads
+ Silent Night by Sarah McLachlan in iTunes
+ That was the Worst Christmas Ever, Sufjan Stevens
+ The King's Singers - King's Singers - Christmas - Stille Nacht

Podsafe Music
+ Matthew Ebel, Walk a Thousand Miles
+ 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.

Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Email me at financialaidpodcast {at} gmail {dot} com, visit http://www.FinancialAidPodcast.com, or call 877-328-1565 x529 or 206-350-1208. AIM: FinAidPodcast Add me to your iTunes by visiting http://www.FinancialAidPodcast.com/itunes/

Direct MP3 file download: MP3 file

Technorati Tags: financial aidfinancialaidpodcast