… asks a Louisiana newspaper.
My personal feeling: when every US citizen, permanent resident, and legal immigrant receives all the financial aid they need, then yes, we can afford to extend that benefit to lawbreakers. Until every law-abiding citizen receives aid, then no.
From MSNBC:
Energy secretary says oil companies ‘have lost control of the market’
Gasoline prices have soared an average of 60 cents a gallon in less than a month because suppliers are unable to keep up with demand, a situation that could persist up to three more years, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said Sunday.
“The oil has gone up because the suppliers are unable to make the flows equal to the demand,” he said. “… Clearly, it’s going to be a number of years, maybe two to three years, before suppliers are going to be able to keep up with those demands.”
Bodman blamed demand from China and India, reduced refining capacity after Hurricane Katrina, and inadequate planning for shifts to cleaner fuels like ethanol and low-sulfur diesel for causing market “dislocations” that led to rising prices, but Red Cavaney, president of the American Petroleum Institute, the industry trade group, said the war in Iraq played a major role, too.
From Banknet 360:
First quarter earnings at student lender Nelnet Inc. fell 23% from a year ago, partially due to a provision in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005.
The act forced Nelnet to set aside $6.9 for loan-loss reserves on PLUS loans as part of a 1% increase in risk-sharing for student loan holders.
Net income at the Lincoln, Neb.-based lender was $52.1 million, or $0.96 per share, for the first quarter, compared with $68.1 million, or $1.27 per share, in the first quarter of 2005.
From Banknet 360…
First quarter earnings at First Marblehead Corp. jumped 25% from a year ago behind $715 million in private student loan securitizations that generated $93.4 million in service revenue.
Total service revenue was up 25% as well, to $149.2 million.
The Boston-based student lender reported $59.2 million of net income for the quarter, compared with $47.4 million in the corresponding quarter last year. First Marblehead increased its per-share earnings to $0.93 from $0.71, or 32%, in that same timeframe.
Call the Financial Aid Podcast comment line toll free at 877-328-1565 extension 529.
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The UTSA Office of Student Financial Aid has set aside $1.5 million in grants, loans and work-study positions for summer 2006. Additionally, to make taking summer classes a more attractive and beneficial proposition for students, the office worked with academic departments to increase the number of class sections by 16 percent. UTSA students were notified by e-mail last week of the additional summer financial aid opportunities.
Class section increases for summer are in all UTSA colleges, and more classes are being offered and more financial aid is available than in any previous summer. More classes plus more financial aid mean that there are more opportunities for students to graduate sooner and start earning money in the work force.
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Can they handle the tests? Says the AP:
The recent scoring errors on the SAT prompted Education Secretary Margaret Spellings to gather leaders of the testing industry Tuesday to discuss whether they are capable of handling the increased demand for tests, the Associated Press reported. Spellings was particularly concerned because the Bush administration’s No Child Left Behind legislation has led many states and school districts to increase the use of various tests. The AP reported that the testing officials said that they did have sufficient capacity to handle more tests.
From the Boston Globe:
UNH students who took out federal loans graduated owing an average of $22,851 last year, 60 percent more than in 1995. Students who took out private loans graduated owing an average of $16,664, an increase of 60 percent since just 2001. The rapid increase in private loans is largely a result of a scarcity of federal loans, said Suzy Allen, UNH director of financial aid. And unlike federal loans, private loans tend to have higher and variable interest rates. Rising costs have steadily pushed tuition at UNH up 7.8 percent for residents and 6.8 percent for non-residents in each of the last five years, but federal loans and grants for higher education haven’t kept pace. In-state students at UNH paid $16,810 in tuition, fees and room and board this school year while out-of-state students paid $28,530. New Hampshire residents can expect to pay more than $70,000 for a four-year education at UNH. Non-residents will pay much more, putting down more than $120,000 for a four-year degree.
The question is – what’s going to give? The system of piling on debt to match exploding tuition costs can’t be sustainable. Something has to give – what will it be?
Meanwhile, if you’re from UNH, check out student loan consolidation and private student loan consolidation.
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More from BankNet 360:
The Louisiana House or Representatives approved on Monday a plan that will refund to students or their parents a 1% fee on federally backed student loans. House Bill 704, introduced by Rep. Carl Crane [R-Baton Rouge], enables students or their parents to deduct the fee on their taxes. The fee goes into effect July 1 and is meant to cover losses from student loan defaults. States are responsible for defaults, since they are the official guarantors of federal student loans. The $4 million a year the state expects to collect from the fee will go toward additional loans and scholarships.
Good news for Louisiana students. Hopefully others will follow suit.
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Podcast Show Notes
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No Higher Education Priorities in the Senate – Thanks, Bill Frist!
From Inside Higher Ed:
Those college officials and others hoping that passage of the Higher Education Act renewal might be on the horizon shouldn’t hold their breath. In a letter sent to his Republican colleagues late last week, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) listed his legislative priorities for the next two months — weighty issues like the war on terror and the rising price of gasoline, and arguably more marginal matters like flag burning — and nowhere among them was consideration of the key higher education legislation, which passed the House of Representatives late last month.
It’s nice to know that Bill Frist believes so strongly in higher education. Deliberate flag burning, I suppose, because undermining higher education means that the future crop of illiterate citizens won’t know how to do anything else.
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