Thank you for your support of our campaign to keep student loans local and preserve student choice!

As you may know, Congress announced on Monday, April 27, 2009 agreement on the President’s budget for 2010. We are pleased to see Congress included the following “Sense of Congress on College Affordability and Student Loan Reform” in the President’s budget proposal:

“It is the Sense of Congress that –

(1) nothing in the resolution should be construed to reduce any assistance that makes college more affordable and accessible for students, including but not limited to student aid programs and services provided by nonprofit State agencies and private lenders;

(2) private and non-profit lenders, originators, and loan servicers help students plan for, apply to, and pay for post-secondary education and training;

(3) any reform of the federal student loan programs to ensure that students have reliable and efficient access to federal loans should include some future role for the currently involved private and non-profit entities, including state non-profits with 100% FFEL lending in the State, and capitalize on the current infrastructure provided by private and non-profit entities, in order both to provide employment to many Americans during this time of economic distress and to maintain valuable services that make post-secondary education more accessible and attainable for many Americans; and

(4) therefore, pursuant to any changes to the student loan programs, loan processing, administration, and servicing should continue to be performed, as needed, by for-profit and non-profit entities.” – FY10 Concurrent Budget Resolution, sec. 605.

While specific details are not yet available, we are encouraged that our message was heard and many of the valuable benefits and services contained in the FFEL Program will continue. Our thanks to the thousands of individuals who have voiced their support for CSLF and other FFEL institutions nationwide.

Please continue making your voice heard in Washington. Communicate frequently with the Congress and the President. Thank them for their support and remind them of their promises to Connecticut’s schools, families, and students. Our task now is to work together to push for the broadest interpretation possible of the Sense of Congress.

SENATE:

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm?State=CT

Web Form:  http://dodd.senate.gov/index.php?q=node/3130

Web Form:  http://lieberman.senate.gov/contact/

HOUSE:

http://courtney.house.gov/email/

Office Hours in Killingly:

Representatives from Congressman Courtney’s office also hold office hours at Quinebaug Valley Community College every 1st and 3rd Thursday from 12:00 PM – 5:00 PM.

http://delauro.house.gov/contact_form_email.cfm

http://forms.house.gov/larson/contact.html

https://forms.house.gov/chrismurphy/webforms/issue_subscribe.htm

http://himes.house.gov/?sectionid=54&sectiontree=54

White House & President Barrak Obama

http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/

The Connecticut Student Loan Foundation is a non-profit corporation that administers, guarantees, and finances loans within the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP). CSLF promotes access to higher education by helping students and their families plan for and pursue a postsecondary education. CSLF has more than 40 years of experience providing assistance to students, parents, and industry partners.

• For information about CSLF as a guaranty agency, visit the Guarantor Services section of our Web site

• For information about CSLF as a student loan lender, visit the Education Loan section of our Web site

• For information about CSLF college planning services, visit the College Planning section of our Web site

• CSLF Mission Statement

• CSLF Student Loan Business Practices

• CSLF 40 Year History

From the Frying Pan and Into the Fire?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Carolyn Karno, Manager of Early Awareness & College Planning at the Connecticut Student Loan Foundation, speaks on the problems with eliminating the Federal Family Education Loan program, as suggested under the Obama administration’s changes.

Carolyn discusses how the high-volume end-users, the schools, had the highest exposure to the deficits and limitations of the Direct Loan program, and how after some experimentation with DL, most schools switched back to FFELP. “That should tell you something, ” says Karno. She also addresses what President Obama suggests as the primary driver for the elimination of FFELP – cost savings to be put toward the expansion of the Pell Grant program. “It will come, most likely at the cost to the consumer.” Karno goes on to assert that this is “…not necessarily a win-win situation for students,” and that public school systems that have traditionally relied on the free services in college planning, financial aid training and early awareness will be at serious loss.

As Karno points out, individual students do not save any money by using the government’s Direct Loan program. In addition, when proponents of the Obama administration’s plan trumpet potential future savings, they forget to account for the fact that shifting all student loan business to Direct will also increase the national debt and government spending. Every dollar originated for student loans will either have to be borrowed by the Feds or will have to come from The Treasury. Thus, spending on loans for higher education will shift from the private market to consumers, increasing individual tax burden and possibly contributing to later inflation. For more information on preserving student choice, please go to http://www.keepstudentloanslocal.org.

Health Care’s Test Drive: Student Aid

By INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Tuesday, April 28, 2009 4:20 PM PT

College Loans:

President Obama says pushing private lenders out of the student-aid program would eliminate middlemen and save money. It’s a seductive argument. Expect to hear it on health care as well.

The president has a deal for you, the taxpayer: Take the current public-private student loan program and turn over the whole thing to the government. The result? Instant savings.

Gone would be the subsidies that, we’re told, now go straight into the pockets of private-sector lenders rather than to deserving students. The administration says it could save at least $48 billion over the next 10 years in this way.

As the president explained things last week, “We’re giving lenders billions of dollars in wasteful subsidies that could be used to make college affordable for all Americans.” It sounds so obvious that we have to wonder why anyone would have set up such a stupid system in the first place.

The answer is that the system is not nearly as stupid or wasteful as Obama makes it sound. And the lenders are not parasites. If the public can’t get this, then it is setting itself up for more radical change, starting with health care.

College is expensive and student loans are a burden for many reasons. But the most important, the inefficiencies of the colleges themselves, are not on the Obama radar screen.

That’s no surprise: Academia is a core constituency of the Democratic Party, so there will be no serious reform of that sector by a Democratic administration. Compared to the professoriate, bankers are easy targets. Taking away their subsidies will score political points for the Democrats. But the promised savings are much more doubtful.

The subsidies now cost taxpayers more than $5 billion a year, and the administration claims it can save most of that simply by cutting out the private lenders. In the process, though, it would take on a significant load of new debt.

Nonfederal lenders, including banks, nonprofits and state governments, account for about 80% of federally-sponsored student loans. The rest are direct loans from the feds. Obama’s plan would shift that 80%, roughly $60 billion a year, into direct lending.

The millions of new borrowers taken under the federal wing would create new ongoing costs as well as a new liability. The mere overhead of loan servicing would be significant; the administration knows it would have to contract with the private lenders to handle the customer service, collections and paperwork.

Student loans also have a relatively high default rate — running around 5% in recent years, though figures stop before the current recession. The subsidies to private lenders went to cover their loan losses. The federal government will face the same costs and will have to cover them with tax money.

But at least the lenders won’t get their old profits. That should save something, right? The answer depends on whether you believe (as did Adam Smith and countless economists since) that there’s a benefit in the division of labor.

Contrary to what Obama says, middlemen earn their keep. The government gives private lenders some profit because the lenders, through specialization, have become more efficient at their task than the government could ever be.

Then there is the benefit of choice. It’s worth something to the public that banks are competing for its business. Sooner or later, monopolies wear out their welcome.

Just about everything we’ve said here could apply to the role of the private insurers who stand in the way of a health care system funded solely by the government.

Obama would move the country toward such a single-payer model by setting up a tax-subsidized health plan to compete — on unequal terms — with the private players and eventually force them out of the health insurance business.

It would be the student loan takeover writ large, and the arguments would be similar: Private insurers’ profits are wasteful. Consumer choice is not worth the cost. Besides, the government plan will give you everything you want.

We hope to see a full debate over student loans, because the specious arguments for government monopoly need to be answered in ways that the public can understand. Otherwise, the country will soon have much more government and far less choice.

Found at:

http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=325810237924211

FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in an effort to advance understanding of political, economic, and higher education-related issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml.

Here are just three sites to get you started:

1. Free Money Finance

This free site aggregates post relating to everything “money” – here are just some of the categories:

http://www.freemoneyfinance.com/budgeting/index.html

2. Make Love Not Debt

Make Love Not Debt is a site that describes itself as a “relationship finance blog” and I have to say, I really love this idea.  Not only does this site cover a plethora of debt and money-related topics, but it does so in the context of being in a relationship, whether that’s your P.O.S.S.L.Q. (person of the same sex sharing the same living quarters), your spouse, or your whole family.  Great idea. Someone should teach “relationship finance” in high school along with home economics; I think the divorce rate would plummet.

Budgeting: Or How We Learned Not to Kill Each Other

3. My Dollar Plan

Whether you’re a college student new to budgeting or trying to get all your “dollar ducks” in a row, Financial Literacy month is a great time to commit to understanding and de-mystifying your personal finances.  The combination of “math and money” often intimidates both the college-bound and their parents, but with so many tools online to assist you, you can breathe a sigh of relief. You’re not alone in trying to figure it out and there’s a very supportive online community to help you get a leg up on your financial understanding and to keep you on top of things.

For students and their families, one of the most overwhelming parts of figuring out financial aid is figuring out the actual cost of attendance.  To get a realistic grip on how much you’ll spend that first year, factor in all the incidentals, not just tuition, room and board.

Students must consider the direct costs associated with a college education, such as tuition, fees, room, and board as well as the indirect costs of an education. These indirect costs can include books and supplies, living expenses (if living off-campus), telephone, transportation, clothing, entertainment, medical, and other necessary personal expenses. To calculate your direct and indirect college costs, use our online calculator and budget worksheet.

Now, don’t forget to go to http://financialliteracymonth.com and check out the rest of the tips. There’s even a place where you can print out a pledge to approach your finances consciously and responsibly –

Proposed legislation threatens to set back the accomplishments of non-profit student loan lender/guarantors like the Connecticut Student Loan Foundation.

For over 40 years, CSLF has promoted access to higher education, helped families find financing for college, and assisted high school guidance professionals to shepherd first-generation and under-served populations into programs to help them discover and fulfill their dreams.

Current media coverage has tended to lump together large lenders and banks with smaller, non-profit companies like CSLF. All companies providing student loans have the potential to serve well and provide good products, but small-scale operations like the Connecticut Student Loan Foundation have always realized the real dividends are service, satisfaction and connection.

So here we are — and this is who we are: mothers, wives, husbands, musicians, mechanics, writers, cyclists, fathers, activists, bakers, readers and crafters.

We live in your town, we’re standing in the same long line at the DMV, our kids sit next to each other in school and we all want the same thing: people who really care about our shared future. That’s the person who answers the phone when you call CSLF.

Help save the Federal Family Education Loan program: click here for more information and learn how you can lend your voice to the fight for student choice and a solution that can work for us all.

http://www.cslf.com

“I am CSLF and I’m here to help you.”

Also see  http://www.keepstudentloanslocal.org

The Connecticut Student Loan Foundation has been providing podcasts on Financial Aid for over a year, posting them to our MySpace site, connecting with students, families, educators and financial aid professionals. We hope that you’ll take advantage of this free service to help you understand the process of applying for and repaying student loans. Please let us know if you’d like us to cover any particular topic and we’ll try to do it!

Senator Dodd to host “Ready for College” planning session at MCC

From the Journal Inquirer

MANCHESTER — Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., will host a “Ready for College” information session for high school students and their parents on Sunday, Feb. 22, at Manchester Community College.

Dodd, a senior member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and the chairman of its Subcommittee on Children and Families, will be joined by a panel of higher education and financial aid experts.

They’ll field questions from students and parents about how to navigate the financial aid system and other aspects of the college application process.

Other expected to attend are: Mark McQuillan, Connecticut’s education commissioner; Jennifer Fuhrmann, director of student financial assistance, University of Hartford; Richard Bishop, director, Financial Aid Office, Central Connecticut State University; Michael P. Meotti, state commissioner of higher education.

The event will take place at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 22, in the Culinary Arts Center on the second floor of MCC’s Lowe Building.

Those who are interested in attending are asked to call Dodd’s office at 258-6940 or e-mail readyforcollege@dodd.senate.gov.

http://www.journalinquirer.com/articles/2009/02/20/towns/manchester/doc499edf292830e350088059.txt

Q:  “What if I can’t make it to the session?”

A:  “The Early Awareness and College Planning Division of the Connecticut Student Loan Foundation has a Resource Center and staff ready to help you. They can help you in your college search and selection, assist in completion of the FAFSA or College Profile, and advise you on ways to plan for and finance your higher education.”

Give them a call at 866-752-6443

or email them at plan4if (at)mail(dot)cslf(dot)org – they’ll be happy to make an appointment for you to come in or to advise you over the phone!”

In the mean time, please make use of the rich resource of our website, with many links to helpful sources on your path to a post-secondary education!

http://www.cslf.com/investinyourfuture/planningforcollege/index.htm

Mirrored here, for easy access, are additional websites you won’t want to be without. Don’t forget to bookmark the page so you can come back, since you won’t want to explore them all in one sitting.

Web sites for Your College Search

www.aihec.org: The American Indian Higher Education Consortium Web site.

www.ajcunet.edu: For students looking for Jesuit colleges and universities, this Web site includes a search service for Jesuit schools with links to each college’s site.

www.catholiccollegesonline.org: A Web site sponsored by the National Catholic Colleges Admission Association.

www.chci.org: The Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute has information in the Education Center Section. From there, click on Education Resources for more helpful ideas.

www.christiancollegementor.org: a student services Web site representing the Christian colleges and universities of Nation Association of Christian Colleges Admissions Personnel (NACCAP) and the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU).

www.collegeboard.com: In addition to its college search database, this site is loaded with information on every facet of college planning. You can register for your SAT online, make use of their online college applications, and do a free scholarship search.

www.collegenet.com: This site includes college and scholarship searches and also provides some links to college Web sites.

www.collegeview.com: You can search for college scholarships, find the colleges with the best fit, and do a career search by logging onto this site.

www.ctdhe.org: The Connecticut Department of Higher Education Web site is a complete source of online information about Connecticut’s outstanding system of higher education.

www.ctcl.com: A Web site that has information about 40 Colleges That Change Lives. Learn why author Loren Pope thinks these colleges are important to consider and the Web site has links to each school.

www.ed.gov/index.jhtml: The United States Department of Education Web site with links for students and parents to useful Web sites dealing with college planning and financing a college education.

www.edonline.com: This site has good links including one for Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

www.fastweb.com: This Web site provides you with access to free college and scholarship searches.

www.finaid.org: This Web site provides information on scholarships and financing a college education including a scholarship search.

www.hillel.org: A Web site sponsored by Hillel that includes a Guide to Jewish Life on Campus.

www.mappingyourfuture.org: This Web site has information on career planning, college planning, and paying for college.

www.nacac.com: This is the Web site for the National Association for College Admission Counseling, the professional organization for the admissions officers and counselors. Look for the links to College Fairs for information on college fairs along with other interesting and valuable links. Interested in Visual and Performing Arts College? The link is on that page.

www.petersons.com: This Web site will not only help you find the right school, but also provides a scholarship search engine, financial aid and scholarship information, and free SAT questions.

www.princetonreview.com: In addition to using their college search engine, try using their “Counselor-O-Matic” to answer any of your questions on the college selection process.

www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/eduhome.htm: If you’re looking for a comprehensive Web site that contains a college search database, a college ranking guide, and a “best buy” index, check out this site.


FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in an effort to advance understanding of political, economic, and higher education-related issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml.

Mark Montgomery is a busy guy.  He spends his time researching info germane to college selection, admissions, financial aid and as he likes to call it, mapping college journeys.  Any parent, prospective student or guidance counselor knows that it is a journey, one best traversed with a knowledgeable guide.  Mark is just such a guide:  associate dean at the University of Denver, admissions counselor for Fort Lewis College, external evaluator for teaching and learning programs at other universities, including the Yale University and University of Kansas.  And that just scratches the surface.  I know you’ll want to find out much more about what makes him tick as well as what makes him an internationally respected authority on leadership and education; when Mark asked us to contribute to his twice-monthly Carnival of College Admissions blog we couldn’t refuse!

This edition celebrates Mark’s trip to China with a nod to the Chinese New Year, but his trip is not just for fireworks and dragons: Mark spoke yesterday to Chinese families exploring a US education for their college bound children!

The Carnival of College Admissions concentrates on more domestic college transition issues, though. You won’t want to miss the contributions from experts offering wisdom on how to pick the best college for your budget and your career aspirations, on how to navigate the admissions process (don’t miss University of New Haven’s Gil Rogers’ post called, aptly READ THIS! – a timely reminder to actually read what an admissions office sends you!), plus much, much more.

Thanks again for having me and CSLF as a guest, Mark. We look forward to more.

Mariana Evica

CSLF Early Awareness & College Planning

Brad J. Ward of http://squaredpeg.com refers in January to a broad study done by the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth about Social Media within college admissions offices (http://www.umassd.edu/cmr/studiesresearch/mediaandadmissions.cfm) and not surprisingly, social media usage trends universally up, in some cases remarkably so, even over last year.

The Center for Marketing Research at UMass compares adoption of social media by admissions offices in 2007 and 2008 across “… all of the accredited four-year institutions in the United States.”  All.  Of note is that though the evidence points to broader application of such tools as blogs, facebook, twitter and YouTube, that schools have yet to fully utilize the potential of social media.

While the strategies and commitment of institutions in higher ed using social media may seem as of yet tentative or lacking depth, the study points out that higher ed seems to be more hip to social media than most Fortune 500 companies. As pointed out astutely in the comments on Mr. Ward’s blog, this isn’t much of an epiphany: the deeper pockets and bigger budgets of the high flying corporate marketing department still feels free to only dabble in social media and still doubts the return on investment that community engagement brings. Colleges and universities (many of whom have seen their endowments shrink this year as the stock market took a down-turn) are taking their cues from smaller, local and non-profit companies, leveraging the connection and loyalty that social media can bring.

A new Fortune 500 Business Blogging Wiki shows a mere 13% percent of major corporations investing in social media, while UMass Dartmouth’s longitudinal study indicates a whopping 41% of admissions offices at colleges and universities diving into social media.

Not too surprisingly, the private schools still have deeper pockets and outpace public colleges and universities in their use of social media, with 72% of private schools utilizing new technology to reach out to potential students, versus the 28% of public institutions. Since public institutions rely heavily on in-state students’ near automatic application to their admissions’ offices, these statistics would reveal the smaller budgets and less pressing need to recruit students. As the economy continues to shift and families choose even less expensive community colleges over state schools, I predict we’ll see another shift in one to two years.  State colleges and universities will see the ROI inherent in local and national engagement of prospective students.

According to the study, a full 85% of schools are using at least one form of social media.  Will the social media programs in higher education flow to where the technology will be in one to two years?  If they’re savvy, they’ll listen to their built-in experts: their students. They’ll already be using whatever the “new” new media will be.

For more information on Web 2.0 for Higher Education, please see our comprehensive primer on social media: http://cslf.wordpress.com/2008/09/09/what-is-web-20-for-higher-education/

To interact on Twitter, please follow http://twitter.com/Mariana_66

To interact on Facebook, become a fan at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rocky-Hill-CT/Connecticut-Student-Loan-Foundation-CSLFSusie-Mae/7001899781

Don’t forget to friend us on MySpace! Many blogs and podcasts are available – no mP3 hardware needed except the one you’re already using – your computer! Go to http://www.myspace.com/first_rate.

For a rich array of information on student loans, college access and planning and much more, go to http://www.cslf.com.

Governor Rell requests lawmakers review proposed budget before raising tuition

Associated Press

February 10, 2009

STORRS, Conn. – University of Connecticut officials have put off a debate on whether to increase tuition and room and board fees at the request of Gov. M. Jodi Rell, who says it’s a bad time to raise prices.

The school’s Board of Trustees was to discuss the proposed increases Tuesday afternoon, but delayed the discussion to March 10. Plans call for boosting tuition and fees in the next academic year by 7 percent for in-state students and 8 percent for out-of-state students.

Rell says it’s premature to discuss raising the tuition because lawmakers have just started reviewing her proposed budget. It remains unclear how much money the state would get from the federal stimulus package.

The governor says it’s the worst time to raise college costs because of the troubled economy.

AP-ES-02-10-09 1244 EST

How to get Financial Aid in Connecticut:

• Get free help completing the FAFSA! Make your appointment today:     http://www.cslf.com/investinyourfuture/fafsablitz.htm
• Learn how to pay for college: http://www.cslf.com/investinyourfuture/payingforcollege/index.htm
• Find out about different kinds of financial aid:  http://www.cslf.com/investinyourfuture/payingforcollege/typesoffinaid.htm

Scholarships:

http://www.cslf.com/investinyourfuture/pdf/tipScholarshipSearch.pdf

Ask questions about financial aid and getting into college:

Find us on Facebook! Just search for our page under Connecticut Student Loan Foundation, and be sure to friend Mariana Evica, who is also taking financial and college planning questions on Twitter at http://twitter.com/mariana_66!

Find us on MySpace! Come read the blogs and listen to the podcasts on your most frequently asked financial aid questions!  Become a friend of The Loan Geek and CSLF at http://www.myspace.com/first_rate.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in an effort to advance understanding of political, economic, and higher education-related issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml.