The New York Times reports today on the increased demand for college financial aid:
Federal student aid is a key component in enabling many students to pay for college:
Just a reminder: the maximum Pell Grant award was increased for the 2010 school year, thanks to the education reconciliation bill President Obama signed into law in March, which invests $36 billion over 10 years to increase the maximum annual Pell Grant scholarship to $5,550 in 2010 and to $5,975 by 2017.
The law also makes federal loans more affordable for borrowers to repay by investing $1.5 billion to strengthen an Income-Based Repayment program that currently allows borrowers to cap their monthly federal student loan payments at 15 percent of their discretionary income. These new provisions would lower this monthly cap to just 10 percent for new borrowers after 2014.
"The envelope arrives with good news. The college is pleased to announce that the student has been offered acceptance and, if he or she is fortunate, some scholarship money.
"But in this busted economy, more parents are saying they need more money and are filing appeals. Then the waiting starts again, for a phone call.
"The job of delivering that news — after weighing hopes and dreams against limited budgets — falls to people like Sandra J. Oliveira, the executive director of the financial aid office at Providence College."
Federal student aid is a key component in enabling many students to pay for college:
"'With the change in circumstance, they may get another $1,000, $2,000 in grant,' she said, using shorthand for a direct scholarship, as opposed to loans. Moreover, the precipitous drop in income will most likely qualify the family for a federal Pell grant, perhaps as much as $5,550."
Just a reminder: the maximum Pell Grant award was increased for the 2010 school year, thanks to the education reconciliation bill President Obama signed into law in March, which invests $36 billion over 10 years to increase the maximum annual Pell Grant scholarship to $5,550 in 2010 and to $5,975 by 2017.
The law also makes federal loans more affordable for borrowers to repay by investing $1.5 billion to strengthen an Income-Based Repayment program that currently allows borrowers to cap their monthly federal student loan payments at 15 percent of their discretionary income. These new provisions would lower this monthly cap to just 10 percent for new borrowers after 2014.
