Student Loan Help

Yes, your federal loan details can be accessed online through the Department of Education’s National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) database.

The NSLDS database holds all your federal loan details. If you’ve just applied for aid, don’t expect to find any information on NSLDS yet. NSLDS gets its information from schools guaranty agencies and U.S. Department of Education programs after your funds have been disbursed.

The loan details you can expect to find include Pell Grant amounts, Stafford loan, Perkins loan, and Plus loan disbursements. You can log on to www.nslds.com. You will need your four digit FAFSA pin number to access your details.

Forget a big league contract.  Sign your John Hancock to the bottom of a learning contract.

Did you know that many schools negotiate learning contracts with their students?  The next thing you may be thinking is great, what the heck is a learning contract?

A learning contract is a formal, negotiated agreement between the student and the school , stating that if the student successfully completes certain tasks the school will award an agreed-upon number of credits.  Ok, now you are wondering what I mean by “tasks?”

Tasks are very much the same as what you would be expected to do in a traditional classroom setting.  You may have certain required reading, essays to write, labs or seminars to attend, or even a timed exam.

Learning contracts can be written for a few units, or an entire degree program.  Often times a school or university will appoint a faculty member to guide the course of study.

For those with a hectic, unpredictable schedule this may work for you.  I know years ago when I was working a rotating schedule this would have been ideal, though nowadays you also have online classes.

We want it all, and we want it yesterday.

My Dad often talks about the “ME generation with contempt. Cell phones, emails, texts, and twitter status updates make him cringe. He looks back at his younger days with nostalgic eyes (just as we all do) and enjoys a simpler time. Heck, I’m 33 and have seen things change drastically over the past 16 years let alone the past 46 when my Dad was a teen. But as we bathe ourselves in this magnificent age of technology, it may just be an old fashion practice that saves our electronic butts one of these days.

If you’re having difficulty making your monthly student loan payment and are looking to either negotiate a more manageable payment schedule with your lender or see if you qualify for an income sensitive repayment plan it would be prudent to conduct all of your business in writing. Those records could prove to be invaluable down the road in the event the lender contests you. The automated services and second-rate customer service representatives are frustrating, and more importantly, undocumented. Having that written correspondence could serve to be the key to your case should it land on the desk of the Better Business Bureau.

You’ll also want to make copies of your payment stubs and the checks you send the lender with your account number listed along with instructions on how you want the payment applied (principal and interest). Yes, these measures are time consuming and even require some snail mailing but it is time well spent to protect yourself.

Don’t get me wrong I love the carousal of progress we are spinning on, but there is a time and place for each mode of communication.

One, Two, Three O’clock, Four O’clock rock,

Five, Six, Seven O’clock, Eight O’clock rock

Nine, Ten, Eleven O’clock, Twelve O’clock rock

We’re gonna rock around the community college tonight!

The expression ‘burning the midnight oil’ is one the staffers at Bunker Hill Community College have taken quite literally.

According to the Boston Business Journal administrators at the college, straining to fit the influx of students entering Bunker Hill, are implementing a late-shift this fall where the start of class will be at 11:30pm with an end time of around 2am. I hope they allow students to bring their Starbucks and Pepsi’s into the classroom. That is a long night indeed.

You may want to inquire with your school to see if “midnight courses” are on the agenda for the future. Midnight classes are perfect for those working a second shift, or those like my brother who go to bed at 3:30am normally.

Between flexibile class times and online education options school is more accessible than ever before. Where will you be when the clock strikes twelve?

You might think that if you have recently filed Ch. 13 bankruptcy that this will automatically disqualify you for a Parent Plus loan. Some parents even count on this, so their child can get more in the unsubsidized Stafford loan.

Well this is not always the case. I have found recently that Direct loans approves people who have a bankruptcy status because they do not consider it to be an adverse action on your credit report. I had a lengthy exchange with a very frustrated mom who searched for answers as to why she got approved for this loan when the terms of her bankruptcy clearly stated they couldn’t take on any more debt. To read the exchange click here.

Also keep in mind that I have found most FFEL lenders will not approve someone for a Plus Loan with a recent bankruptcy showing, so clearly they US Dept of Education and the private lenders do not use the same criteria for Plus loan approval.

It depends when the child is going to be born if the student will earn a dependent or independent status.

The relevant language from the Application and Verification Guide states, “Students who have legal dependents are independent. Legal dependents comprise children (including those who will be born before the end of the award year) of the student who receive more than half their support from the student.

So if the baby will be born before the end of the award year than you may be granted an independent status to get more funds for school, provided you are supporting yourself.

If you still live at home and Mom and Dad are supporting you than the unborn child will most likely be listed under “family size” and that would keep your status dependent as you would still be dependent.

In the wake of the changes in the economy and the increase in students going to college, the face of college campuses has changed along with the times.  Student’s have more options and flexibility for classes such as hybrid classes and getting their degree online. There have been changes that range from different majors offered to increased tuition, to a change in administration at many colleges across the U.S. Outlined below are the 5 top changes that are being seen at colleges and universities throughout the states:

1. Demographics: There are more students over the age of 25 than ever before; recent surveys suggest 40% of the student population is over the age of 25. Also the female to male ratio is said to be 60-40.
2. Community College & Proud of It: gone are the days when you do whatever it takes to get into that prestigious school. People don’t want to burden themselves with debt anymore, especially in an uncertain economy. There is also less judgment on where a person has a degree from when searching for a job. It’s the degree that matters, not really where the degree is from. (no including if you went to an IVY league school..that tends to make a difference).
3. Internet in the Classroom: Many professors have moved away from note writing on the blackboard and turned to planned out PowerPoint presentations, online videos and displays, and even using an online plagiarism tool to scan student’s work for plagiarism (watch out kids!).
4. Online Classroom Influx: The number of students getting their degree in the comfort of their own home has increased dramatically over the past 5 years…so to has the legitimacy of these degrees. This change has allowed  many people to continue to work full time and still earn a degree.
5. Purchase a college: These days parents and adult students are looking at college as a personal purchase…something they buy. If they aren’t fully satisfied with any aspect of it (grades, professor, administrative issues), the consumer speaks up and fights to change it. If a school is disorganized and run poorly, a student will transfer out instead of pushing through it. Hey…your paying for it, so you might as well be satisfied. This also has forced colleges to do everything possible to make the consumer/student content.

What about you? Share your experiences by leaving a comment…or add  ones I didn’t write about. If you are a returning student I would love to hear your comparison of college now as opposed to 5 or 10 years ago.

Points code: CHANGE4ME

This actually happened to me during my principles of math class last summer. My computer froze up 15 minutes into a 90 minute timed exam.

There was a test each Monday (5 total) and you could take the exam anytime during the week leading up to that Monday if you wished. The first three tests went well. I had no computer issues and scored an 86% or better on each, but my luck ran out with number four.

I eventually had to shutdown and reboot the computer which lost me over 15 minutes of valuable test time. When I logged back into the test the clock was still running and I was still on question number 8. Not knowing how this was going to work I just plugged away and did my best the rest of the way. I ended up scoring a 72%. After which I emailed the professor to explain to him what had happened.

He verified on his end that there was about a 17 minute lapse time between my question 7 and 8 answers. He then gave me one of three options.

1. Keep the 72%
2. Take a backup exam which had 20 questions opposed to his normal 50 question exam.
3. Take the 5th test and if I scored an 89% or better, which was my average, than the 72% would become an 89%. If I score less than an 89% the 72% would stay.

I was kinda hoping he would let me start on question 8 with 75 minutes to go, but no such luck.

Anyway, the point I’m trying to make is that you have an online professor who is there to help you, and chances are you will not be the first person to encounter such an problem. As great as technology is, it is not without a virus or two to frustrate us from time to time. You may also want to check your course syllabus as many professors will list the proticol right there.

By the way, I went with option 3 and score a 95% on test number 5. That’s right, I rolled the dice and it paid off. Next stop Vegas.

Mary on Twitter asked:

Working on post about pros and cons of getting student loans. Your thoughts? Any links? Thanks!

Here’s a brief list.

Student loan pros
- Student loans allow you to afford colleges that you couldn’t pay cash out of pocket to attend
- Student loans, especially Stafford and PLUS federal loans, have fixed interest rates that, while not always the lowest, are predictable and easy to budget for
- The Stafford loan requires no creditworthiness, only eligibility based on the FAFSA, making it ideal for tough economic times
- PLUS loans and private student loans require creditworthiness but no demonstration of need, making them suitable for families that are too well off to qualify for need based aid but not well off enough to simply cut a check to the college
- Student loans, especially federal student loans, have a variety of flexible repayment options, including payments that scale with your income, along with deferment, forbearance, and consolidation

Student loan cons
- Student loans are largely non-dischargeable, even in bankruptcy, which means you’re stuck with them forever
- Student loans, especially federal student loans, can be collected via wage garnishment and a variety of other mechanisms that other loans can’t be, such as seizure of income tax refunds
- Student loans may not be the lowest cost of borrowing if you’re able to obtain good terms on other consumer loans like home equity loans
- Student loans can be far too easy to overborrow, especially for students who don’t have strong personal finance skills, graduating with massive amounts of debt in a few short years
- Student loans are convenient, which means that students may not pursue lower cost options for college such as aggressive scholarship searching or lower cost colleges

Ultimately, whether or not you borrow a student loan is a function of time. If you plan far ahead, if your parents plan far ahead, the chances are good you can attend college for very little money borrowed or no money borrowed. Students who have used our free college scholarship search eBook, Scholarship Search Secrets, have brought in tens of thousands of dollars each in scholarships, greatly reducing the cost of college. On the other hand, students who need funding as soon as possible find some success with our private student loans, at the cost of incurring debt that they’ll need to repay over the years ahead.

Monday Rant!

Has anyone noticed that the classes you need to complete your major, once you hit your senior year, are nearly impossible to get into sometimes? With budget cuts (less classes) and increased student volume it can be maddening to get a seat.

To secure a bachelors degree you need to earn 120 credit hours with a certain number of those credits allocated to your major, but I know students who are going to fly right past 120 credits and still not have their degree. It’s really a product of poor class management.

What many do is leave classes under their major until their senior year. Then they end up scrambling to get a seat into those classes so they can graduate on time. Sometimes they are even relegated to a random night class, which is more expensive at most schools, just to get it done.

My advice to all of you is to not wait until your junior and senior years to take the classes which fall under your major. Pick them off as you go. It will make your life less stressful and may actually cost you less time and money in the long run.