Financial Aid / Scholarship
Information
Check out these links to
financial aid and scholarship sites:
Fast Web: http://www.fastweb.com
Xap: http://www.xap.com
Srnexpress: http://www.srnexpress.com
Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA): http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/ (cannot submit hard copy or on-line FAFSA
form until after
NY
Student Aid.Org: http://www.studentaid.org/
- http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/fafsa.jsp
- (these web sites provide
information on the financial aid process and directs you to some of the more
important and helpful financial aid guidance on the web)
Academic Competitiveness Grant: http://www.studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/NewPrograms.jsp
The Academic Competitiveness Grant provides
up to $750 for the first year of undergraduate study and up to $1,300 for the
second year of undergraduate study. The program became available for the first
time for the 2006-07 school year for first year students who graduated from
high school after January 1, 2006 and for second year students who graduated
from high school after January 1, 2005. The Academic Competitiveness Grant
award is in addition to the student's Pell Grant award.
To be eligible for an ACG each academic year,
a student must:
·
Be a
U.S. citizen;
·
Be
Federal Pell Grant eligible;
·
Be
enrolled full-time in a degree program;
·
Be
enrolled in the first or second academic year of his or her program of study at
a two-year or four-year degree-granting institution;
·
Have
completed a rigorous
secondary school program of study (after January 1, 2006, if a
first-year student, and after January 1, 2005, if a second year student);
·
If a first-year
student, not have been previously enrolled in an undergraduate program; and
·
If a
second-year student, have at least a cumulative 3.0 grade point average on a
4.0 scale for the first academic year.
If you are completing the Free Application for
Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) online (www.fafsa.ed.gov), FAFSA on the Web will
predetermine if you are eligible to answer the ACG questions. If you have
submitted a paper FAFSA and have received your Student Aid Report (SAR)
indicating that you may be eligible to answer the ACG questions, please call
the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-4FED-AID. You may also contact the financial aid office
at your school for assistance regarding ACG.
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The Higher Education Reconciliation Act of 2005
(HERA):
http://www.tgslc.org/pdf/HERAHandoutSchool.pdf
http://www.aessuccess.org/manage/rates/hera.shtml
http://www.tgslc.org/hea/hera.cfm#HR4241
n February 8, 2006 President Bush signed into law the Higher
Education Reconciliation Act of 2005 (HERA) effectively cutting federal
spending by $12 billion, most coming from the student loan programs. In order
to achieve the $12 billion savings, many changes were made to provisions in the
Title IV programs.
This page contains resources regarding HERA and the
resulting changes to the Higher Education Act.
2005 Reconciliation Bills
* Signed into law.
H.R. 4241
Title: Deficit
Reduction Act of 2005
Sponsor: Rep
Nussle, Jim [IA-1] (introduced
Cosponsors:
(None)
Related Bills: H.RES.542,
H.RES.560, S.1932
Latest Major Action:
Status: On
passage Passed by recorded vote: 217 - 215 (Roll no. 601).
House Reports:
109-276
Note: H.R. 4241, as passed House,
was inserted in lieu of the text in S. 1932 and the amended S. 1932 was passed
by the House. For further action, see S. 1932.
Summary: Higher
Education highlights of this bill include:
- Increases maximum Pell
to as much as $6,000 per academic year and creates the Pell Grant Plus
program for state scholars,
- Permanently ends 9.5
percent floor subsidies and redirects the savings to increase teacher loan
forgiveness,
- Reduces reinsurance
rates for lenders who are Exceptional Performers from 100 percent to 98
percent, and reduces the reinsurance for all other lenders from 98 percent
to 96 percent,
- Maintains guarantor
reinsurance rates at 95 percent,
- Reduces guarantor
collection retention rates from 18.5 percent to 10 percent on default
consolidations,
- Reduces guarantor
retention rates on regular collections from 23% to 20%,
- Simplifies the student
aid application process,
- Consolidates the
definition of an institution of higher education to encompass both
non-profit and propriety schools,
- Reduces the total loan
fees in both Direct and FFEL programs to 1% by 2010,
- Increases loan fees
charged by lenders from 0.5% to 1%,
- Increases annual loan
limits while preserving aggregate loan limits,
- Expands the definition
of an institution of higher education to include for profit proprietary
schools,
- Provides students with
an option of fixed or variable rate consolidation loans,
- Implements a
borrower-paid 1% fee for all consolidation loans,
- Repeals the single
holder rule,
- Requires that lenders
report to all three major credit bureaus,
- Implements a two year,
interest only student loan repayment plan,
- Preserves both the FFELP
and DL programs,
- Increases the amount of
consumer information schools and the accreditation agencies must make
readily available to students and parents.
S. 1932
Title: Deficit
Reduction Act of 2005.
Sponsor: Sen.
Gregg, Judd [NH] (introduced
Cosponsors:
(None)
Related Bills:
H.RES.640, H.R.4241
Latest Major Action:
Status:
Conference report Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: 212 - 206 (Roll no. 670) in
the House; conference report Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: 51 - 50 in the
Senate.
Latest Conference Report:
109-362
Summary: Higher
education related highlights of this bill include:
- Expands
"auto-zero" to families with adjusted gross incomes (AGI) of not
more than $20,000,
- Increases income
protection allowance for both dependent students and certain categories of
independent students,
- Increases first and
second year loan limits from $2,625 and $3,500 to $3,500 and $4,500
respectively,
- Increases graduate and
professional student unsubsidized loan limits from $10,000 to $12,000,
- Increases loan limits
for students seeking professional credentials from $5,000 to $7,000,
- Authorizes PLUS loans
for graduate and professional students,
- Increases PLUS loan
interest rate from 7.9% to 8.5% fixed,
- Reduces lender
reinsurance from 98% to 97% for new loans beginning
- Phases out the 3%
borrower origination fee in the FFELP by 2010 and reduces the 4% borrower
origination fee in the Direct Loan Program to 1% by 2010,
- Allows for a 3-year
military deferment for borrower's whose first loans are disbursed on or
after
- Reduces guarantor
collection retention fees on defaulted consolidation loans to 10%,
- Prohibits guarantors
from retaining any collection retention fees from defaulted consolidation
loans that exceed 45 percent of the agency's total collections on
defaulted loans,
- Reduces the number of
months of on time payment remittance needed to rehabilitate defaulted
loans from 12 months to 9,
- Reduces reinsurance for
exceptional performers from 100% to 99%,
- Permanently eliminates
the 9.5% floor loans,
- Restricts participation
in the school-as-lender program to those already in the program,
- Requires
school-as-lender participants to maintain chort
default rate of not more than 10%,
- Requires that earnings,
less administrative costs, from the sale of loans from the
school-as-lender program be directed to need-based aid,
- Creates the Academic
Competitiveness grant program and the National Science and Mathematics
Access to Retain Talent (SMART) grant programs,
- Requires guarantors to
increases the amount of consumer information made available to students
and families concerning institutions of higher education and available
programs, and
- Requires guarantors to
participate in the development of training for students concerning
budgeting and financial management.
HERA
Guidance: School Issues 
HERA
Guidance: Lender Issues
HERA
Guidance: Borrower and Student Issues
National Association of Student Financial Aid
Administrators: http://www.nasfaa.org/Categories/Category_CampusNews.asp
FinAid.Org: http://www.finaid.org/
- http://www.finaid.org/educators/netresources.phtml (Information regarding: Loans, scholarships,
savings, military aid, other types of aid, financial aid applications,
answering your questions, calculators, beyond financial aid for parents,
students, and educators)
All About College: http://www.allaboutcollege.com/netguide/financial-aid.htm
(find college scholarships; find college grants free, scholarship experts
(free), financial aid resources, student loans, recommended books for
scholarships and financial aid, college directories for undergraduate and
graduate schools, study abroad, and test prep)
HESC: http://www.hesc.com/bulletin.nsf/ (applying for aid, managing your loan or
grant, college lenders, information about TAP, and college and career planning)
Student Loan.com: http://www.studentloan.com/ (planning
and paying for college, applying for a loan and repaying student loans,
understanding your award letter)
Wells Fargo.com: https://www.wellsfargo.com/student/loans/undergrad/index.jhtml
(undergraduate loans, student loans, federal loans, private loans, parent
loans, consolidation loans…etc.)
Salliemae and Nelliemae: http://www.salliemae.com/ - http://www.nelliemae.org/ (sites are all about various loans – how to
plan and prepare for college, finding loans…etc.)
World's largest scholarship database: http://www.SchoolSoup.com
. Compare the size of our database ($32 Billion in awards) to other popular
scholarship search websites.
Find Money For College: http://scholarship.com/
- Completely free to use, database consists of over 3,000 sources
worth up to $3 billion, avoid scholarship scams!
Knowledge for College: www.CollegeAnswer.com/newsletter
- A comprehensive resource that takes the guesswork out of planning and paying for
college. …”it walks students through the entire “going-to-college” process-from
early planning and estimating costs to understanding student loans…”
For
Parents: www.ParentAnswerService.com
New York State Financial Aid
Administrators Association, Inc. (NYSFAAA): Information on financial planning for college and financial aid: http://www.nysfaaa.org
The College Aid Awareness Network: Information from
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