This morning, I chatted with a young woman who needed to have her FAFSA completed ASAP. She was told by financial aid that she could qualify for Stafford loan but needs this once piece of the puzzle completed in order for her to obtain any sort of financial aid. She called me because she needed advice on how to get the FAFSA completed ASAP. I explained to her that I felt the most efficient way is to complete the FAFSA online at www.fafsaonline.com. I know it’s scary stuff filling out such a lengthy document completely online. But I promise everyone, the Internet is our friend! Do the FAFSA online! Reason why is because the Government needs the FAFSA filled out just right. When you file online, the system will catch a lot of mistakes and send you back to fix them.Your on your own if you fill it out online. If you do certain things incorrectly, you’ll receive a bunch of paperwork that basically means denied!
Also, keep in mind that you have to update this paperwork every year you are in school. When you do it online, all of your forms will be saved from year to year so it can be completed pretty easily.
Trust me folks do it online! Soon enough the paper form will be extinct.
The Student Loan Network: Stafford Federal Student Loans, Parent PLUS Loans, Student Loan Consolidation, Private Student Loans, Education Loans/College Loans
11/08/2007
Sallie Mae Demands SUNY Colleges Turn Over Students' Personal Data
Loan Giant Attempts to Use State Open Record Laws to Help it Market Private Loans
Lenders that market private loans directly to students are increasingly using state open government laws to demand public colleges turn over personal data on their students.
Late last month, student loan giant Sallie Mae filed a New York Freedom of Information Law request asking community colleges in the State University of New York (SUNY) system to provide the company with the names, telephone numbers, and home mailing and e-mail addresses of "all admitted and enrolled students for academic year 2007-2008." The request, which came from the company's Direct Marketing division, also asked the schools to identify the age, graduating class, and major of each student listed.
Such requests from direct-to-consumer private student loan companies are raising alarms among college financial aid administrators, who worry that the companies are trying to lure their students to take on unnecessarily high levels of debt. They have also caught the attention of the Education Department. In a letter to college officials in September, Diane Auer Jones, the Department's Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education, warned them to be extremely careful about the types of information they release.
The Federal Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) prohibits colleges from disclosing "personally identifiable information from a student's education records" without that student's written consent, with some limited exceptions. Schools, for instance, do not have to get a student's permission before releasing "directory information," which includes "the student's name, address, telephone listing, e-mail address, major field of study, and other information that generally would not be considered harmful or an invasion of privacy," Jones noted in her letter. Individual students, however, have the right to bar their colleges from releasing that type of information about them.
Some lenders have used open record requests to try to get colleges to provide them with lists of students who are in financial distress. One loan provider, for example, filed a particularly aggressive request with George Fox University in Oregon. In an e-mail message posted on an Internet discussion group for financial aid administrators, Robert A. Clarke, the university's Financial Aid Director, reported that the lender had specifically asked for lists of students and recent graduates with federal loans and those who were delinquent in repaying them. According to Jones' letter, colleges are prohibited from giving out information on "a student's financial aid status" without that student's authorization. In addition, "institutions are not required by FERPA," she wrote, "to actively seek such consent."
Sallie Mae appears to have carefully crafted its New York Freedom of Information Law request to ensure that the information it was seeking -- all of which could be classified as "directory information" -- was FERPA proof.
Nevertheless, SUNY officials are expected to reject Sallie Mae's request, arguing that the New York statute allows state agencies to deny access to lists of names and addresses that have been sought for commercial purposes, as no public purpose is served by such a disclosure. Should the university take this action, Sallie Mae will have 30 days to file an appeal, and if that fails, seek a judicial review of the case.
It is unclear how far Sallie Mae will push the issue. But one thing's for certain -- the loan giant is not one to duck a fight. We at Higher Ed Watch plan to track this battle closely because it could have major implications for students. We believe that if Sallie Mae succeeds in using state open record laws in New York or other states to gain customers, the floodgates will open and students will be sitting ducks, not just for loan providers but all sorts of other commercial enterprises, including credit card companies.
State open record laws were created to provide citizens with access to public records in order to hold government officials accountable for their actions. It is unconscionable that Sallie Mae and other private loan providers are trying to use open government laws to lure students into risky and expensive private loans.
Editor's Note, Oct. 12: A previous version of this post noted that "Sallie Mae and other private loan providers are trying to use open government laws to lure students into risky and expensive private loans before exhausting cheaper and safer federal loans." In fact, one in five private student loan borrowers does assume a private loan before they exhaust safer, cheaper federal loan options. However, we have been reminded that in wake of its original buyout agreement with JC Flowers and Company, Sallie Mae announced it would urge borrowers to exhaust federal loans first. We applaud this policy. How vigorous and successful the strategy has been for Sallie Mae is uncertain. Perhaps they'll tell us. Regardless, not all private loan providers have adopted similar 'encouragement' policies. New America has altered its original post to remove reference to federal loan exhaustion. But it continues to be a topic on which our future work will focus.
http://www.newamerica.net/blogs/education_policy/2007/10/news_scoop_sallie_mae_demands_suny_schools_turn_over_personal_data_their_students
Lenders that market private loans directly to students are increasingly using state open government laws to demand public colleges turn over personal data on their students.
Late last month, student loan giant Sallie Mae filed a New York Freedom of Information Law request asking community colleges in the State University of New York (SUNY) system to provide the company with the names, telephone numbers, and home mailing and e-mail addresses of "all admitted and enrolled students for academic year 2007-2008." The request, which came from the company's Direct Marketing division, also asked the schools to identify the age, graduating class, and major of each student listed.
Such requests from direct-to-consumer private student loan companies are raising alarms among college financial aid administrators, who worry that the companies are trying to lure their students to take on unnecessarily high levels of debt. They have also caught the attention of the Education Department. In a letter to college officials in September, Diane Auer Jones, the Department's Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education, warned them to be extremely careful about the types of information they release.
The Federal Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) prohibits colleges from disclosing "personally identifiable information from a student's education records" without that student's written consent, with some limited exceptions. Schools, for instance, do not have to get a student's permission before releasing "directory information," which includes "the student's name, address, telephone listing, e-mail address, major field of study, and other information that generally would not be considered harmful or an invasion of privacy," Jones noted in her letter. Individual students, however, have the right to bar their colleges from releasing that type of information about them.
Some lenders have used open record requests to try to get colleges to provide them with lists of students who are in financial distress. One loan provider, for example, filed a particularly aggressive request with George Fox University in Oregon. In an e-mail message posted on an Internet discussion group for financial aid administrators, Robert A. Clarke, the university's Financial Aid Director, reported that the lender had specifically asked for lists of students and recent graduates with federal loans and those who were delinquent in repaying them. According to Jones' letter, colleges are prohibited from giving out information on "a student's financial aid status" without that student's authorization. In addition, "institutions are not required by FERPA," she wrote, "to actively seek such consent."
Sallie Mae appears to have carefully crafted its New York Freedom of Information Law request to ensure that the information it was seeking -- all of which could be classified as "directory information" -- was FERPA proof.
Nevertheless, SUNY officials are expected to reject Sallie Mae's request, arguing that the New York statute allows state agencies to deny access to lists of names and addresses that have been sought for commercial purposes, as no public purpose is served by such a disclosure. Should the university take this action, Sallie Mae will have 30 days to file an appeal, and if that fails, seek a judicial review of the case.
It is unclear how far Sallie Mae will push the issue. But one thing's for certain -- the loan giant is not one to duck a fight. We at Higher Ed Watch plan to track this battle closely because it could have major implications for students. We believe that if Sallie Mae succeeds in using state open record laws in New York or other states to gain customers, the floodgates will open and students will be sitting ducks, not just for loan providers but all sorts of other commercial enterprises, including credit card companies.
State open record laws were created to provide citizens with access to public records in order to hold government officials accountable for their actions. It is unconscionable that Sallie Mae and other private loan providers are trying to use open government laws to lure students into risky and expensive private loans.
Editor's Note, Oct. 12: A previous version of this post noted that "Sallie Mae and other private loan providers are trying to use open government laws to lure students into risky and expensive private loans before exhausting cheaper and safer federal loans." In fact, one in five private student loan borrowers does assume a private loan before they exhaust safer, cheaper federal loan options. However, we have been reminded that in wake of its original buyout agreement with JC Flowers and Company, Sallie Mae announced it would urge borrowers to exhaust federal loans first. We applaud this policy. How vigorous and successful the strategy has been for Sallie Mae is uncertain. Perhaps they'll tell us. Regardless, not all private loan providers have adopted similar 'encouragement' policies. New America has altered its original post to remove reference to federal loan exhaustion. But it continues to be a topic on which our future work will focus.
http://www.newamerica.net/blogs/education_policy/2007/10/news_scoop_sallie_mae_demands_suny_schools_turn_over_personal_data_their_students
11/07/2007
All Kinds of Loan Calculators
Nova Loan Calculator
Simple interest loan calculator
http://www.nova.edu/~willheat/loan.xml
Abgcomp Loan Calculator
Online calculator for simple loans
http://www.abgcomp.co.uk/gadgets/loan_calculator.xml
Mortgage Calculator
basic interactive loan repayment calculator in Flash
http://frikle.net/calc_mini.xml
Loan Interest Rate Calculator by BizCalcs.com
Wondering what the interest rate is on your loan? Give me the loan amount, monthly payment and length of the loan and I'll calculate the interest rate being charged.
http://www.bizcalcs.com/GG/Simple-Loan-Rate.xml
Loan Payment Calculator by BizCalcs.com
Need to know if you can afford it? Find out the monthly payment on any loan.
http://www.bizcalcs.com/GG/Simple-Loan-Payment.xml
Existing Auto Loan Analysis Calculator by BizCalcs.com
Are you paying on a loan and wondering how long you've been paying, how much interest or the total paid so far? This calculator will answer those questions, plus show you the remaining time to payoff, remaining interest and the total remaining to be paid.
http://www.bizcalcs.com/GG/Auto-Existing-Loan-Analysis.xml
find a mortgage loan
find a mortgage loan with this google gadget
http://official-info.com/mortgage.xml
Mortgage Payment Comparison Calculator by BizCalcs.com
Compare the monthly payments for up to 4 mortgage loans. This calculator will then show you the monthly principal and interest payment, the total amount of interest you will pay and the total amount of money you will spend over the life of each loan.
http://www.bizcalcs.com/gg/compare-mortgage-payments.xml
Student Loan Consolidation Payment Calculator
Student loan consolidation monthly payment calculator - shows your savings on federal student loan consolidation.
http://www.studentloanconsolidator.com/calcwidget/calcgadget.xml
Simple interest loan calculator
http://www.nova.edu/~willheat/loan.xml
Abgcomp Loan Calculator
Online calculator for simple loans
http://www.abgcomp.co.uk/gadgets/loan_calculator.xml
Mortgage Calculator
basic interactive loan repayment calculator in Flash
http://frikle.net/calc_mini.xml
Loan Interest Rate Calculator by BizCalcs.com
Wondering what the interest rate is on your loan? Give me the loan amount, monthly payment and length of the loan and I'll calculate the interest rate being charged.
http://www.bizcalcs.com/GG/Simple-Loan-Rate.xml
Loan Payment Calculator by BizCalcs.com
Need to know if you can afford it? Find out the monthly payment on any loan.
http://www.bizcalcs.com/GG/Simple-Loan-Payment.xml
Existing Auto Loan Analysis Calculator by BizCalcs.com
Are you paying on a loan and wondering how long you've been paying, how much interest or the total paid so far? This calculator will answer those questions, plus show you the remaining time to payoff, remaining interest and the total remaining to be paid.
http://www.bizcalcs.com/GG/Auto-Existing-Loan-Analysis.xml
find a mortgage loan
find a mortgage loan with this google gadget
http://official-info.com/mortgage.xml
Mortgage Payment Comparison Calculator by BizCalcs.com
Compare the monthly payments for up to 4 mortgage loans. This calculator will then show you the monthly principal and interest payment, the total amount of interest you will pay and the total amount of money you will spend over the life of each loan.
http://www.bizcalcs.com/gg/compare-mortgage-payments.xml
Student Loan Consolidation Payment Calculator
Student loan consolidation monthly payment calculator - shows your savings on federal student loan consolidation.
http://www.studentloanconsolidator.com/calcwidget/calcgadget.xml
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