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Tagged: Financial aid

Taming college debt: Purdue’s savvy tuition plan(s)

July 5th, 2016

According to the White House, nearly 70% of bachelor degree graduates take on college loan debt.  This $1.2 trillion debt is ruining many recent graduates’ credit and preventing them from beginning the life they have been working towards.  While many colleges are raising their tuition rates each and every year, Purdue University has taken an alternative approach.

Along with a tuition freeze that Purdue has adopted since 2012, they are now introducing a new concept to further help students pay back their debts.  This program, called “Back a Boiler,” is an income-share agreement provided by the Purdue Research Foundation.  Instead of borrowing from lenders with interest rates, students will agree to pay back a percentage of their income for nine years or less after graduation.  This percentage will be based on the student’s income from their post-college job.  The Chicago Tribune gives you a deeper understanding of what this program is about in the article posted below.

Article published May 11, 2016

This fall, Purdue University undergrads will welcome two things: their parents waving goodbye and their tuition bills frozen for the fourth straight year — with a fifth tuition freeze coming for undergrads in 2017-18. Purdue under efficiency-wise President Mitch Daniels is showing colleges across the nation how to control costs, restrain tuition increases and still provide a quality education. (And a Big Ten-derhearted shoutout here to the University of Illinois, which has frozen tuition two years in a row for new in-state undergraduates.)

Read more at Chicago Tribune >>

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To Save or Not to Save, That is the Question

October 26th, 2015

Will saving for college affect a family’s ability to receive financial aid for their child’s college education?

According to Ron Lieber, a writer for the New York Times, the greater benefit comes with saving.  Consciously diverting money away from college savings plans out of fear it will limit your ability to collect financial aid is not a sound investment strategy.   In this article, Lieber breaks down the process for applying and receiving financial assistance and explains how the government looks at household income/savings in relation to aid distribution.

Article Published October 23, 2015

Written by:  Ron Lieber

You should save money for college expenses if you possibly can. And if you’re worried about how that savings might hurt your child’s financial aid eligibility, then you’re thinking about it wrong.

That ought to go without saying, but there is a persistent and mostly mistaken belief that goes something like this: If we save, the colleges will just take it. And if we don’t, we will qualify for more help.

Read more at NY Times >>

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Is Need-blind Admission Honorable?

October 20th, 2015

The need-blind admission policy has long been considered the gold standard for selective universities, as this approach means that a college or university will look solely at a student’s talents without regard for their ability to pay for college tuition.  But is this sufficient to diversify student populations socioeconomically?

Adam Falk, president of Williams College in Massachusetts, offers a different viewpoint on what need-blind means to the Williams community: he feels it’s the wrong ideal to target, as it may leave many outstanding students unidentified.

At Shrop Ed, we continue to believe that a need-blind approach is both equitable and desirable.  We also believe, as President Falk suggests, that colleges should reach intentionally across the socioeconomic spectrum to identify talent, and fund appropriate students according to their need.

Click on the article link below to find out why President Falk believes that need-blind admission is a “narrow and misleading construct.”  Then let us know what you think.

Article Published October 12, 2015 

Written by:  Nick Anderson

Prominent colleges are debating how to recruit and enroll more students from low-income families. That led recently to the emergence of a coalition of more than 80 big-name schools that wants to create a new application process with a stated goal of finding disadvantaged students with academic talent.

Read more at The Washington Post >>

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FAFSA workshop online

December 5th, 2013

Help is on the way for financial aid application filers, thanks to NACAC and the U.S. Dept. of Education:

FAFSA Webinar Set for December 11

Date: Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Time: 2:00 p.m. Eastern/11:00 a.m. Pacific
Target Audience: School counselors, college admission professionals, college acccess/success networks, community based organizations, students, families, and anyone else seeking to learn more about the process of applying for federal student aid.
Cost: FREE
Register now

About This Webinar:
Starting January 1, 2014, millions of college-bound students will apply for financial aid. This webinar provides information regarding the Federal Student Aid programs and the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). In addition, it navigates through many of the US Department of Education’s redesigned websites, social media tools and resources. During this free webinar, the presenter will offer his expertise on this topic and share tips on what students need to know before filing the FAFSA.

Presenter:
Richard Blasen, Federal Student Aid Awareness and Outreach Representative, U.S. Department of Education

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