MAFAA :: Minnesota Association of Financial Aid Administrators

"Community colleges in five states have partnered with Single Stop USA, a nonprofit that helps low-income students and their families apply for public aid, as well as legal and financial counseling and free tax preparation," according to U.S. News and World Report. "Every year, $65 billion in benefits go unclaimed, the group estimates."

Posted on 21 February 2012 | 5:00 pm

This Electronic Announcement provides information on calculating the Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant award for the 2011-12 and 2012-13 award years. The Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant is awarded to a student whose parent or guardian died as a result of performing military service in Iraq or Afghanistan and the student is not receiving a Federal Pell Grant only because of that program's need requirement.

Posted on 21 February 2012 | 5:00 pm

"For the state’s public colleges, the first state aid increase in years could mean a smaller or possibly even zero tuition increase for the 2012-13 academic year, though college presidents were cautious about promising too much before they know more details," the Press of Atlantic City reports. "The budget also includes funding for financial aid and scholarship programs."

Posted on 21 February 2012 | 5:00 pm

These forms serve as the means by which borrowers in the Federal Direct Loan and Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Programs may requires deferment of repayment on their loans if they meet certain statutory and regulatory criteria. The Department of Education uses the information collected on these forms to determine whether a borrower meets the eligibility requirements for the specific deferment type that the borrower has requested.

Posted on 21 February 2012 | 5:00 pm

"Since most folks need financial aid for college costs each year, it can also pay to think about financial planning now: Doing so can increase financial aid when you complete and file the FAFSA, or federal financial aid application, in future years," CBS MoneyWatch reports. "Concepts here are simple enough: use financial strategies that can reduce your base year income and reduce includable assets."

Posted on 21 February 2012 | 5:00 pm

These forms serve as the means by which a borrower may request forbearance of repayment on his or her Federal Direct Loan or Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program loans based on participation in an eligible internship/residency program, national guard duty, receiving benefits under the Department of Defense's Student Loan Repayment Program, or having a federal education loan debt burden that equals or exceeds 20 percent of the borrower's monthly gross income.

Posted on 21 February 2012 | 5:00 pm

"This past fall, Occupy Wall Street protesters around the country called for far-reaching changes in our society, including forgiveness of student-loan debt," Center for College Affordability and Productivity Research Director Andrew Gillen and American Enterprise Institute scholar Richard Vedder write in the Chronicle of Higher Education. "While we believe loan forgiveness is a bad idea for a variety of reasons, we also think the protesters are right in calling attention to the nation's Byzantine and inefficient system of student lending."

Posted on 21 February 2012 | 5:00 pm

The Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) Plan and Income-Based Repayment (IBR) Plan Alternative Documentation of Income form serves as the means by which a borrower who is repaying Direct Loan Program loans under the ICR or IBR plans provides the Department of Education with alternative documentation of the borrower's income if the borrower's adjusted gross income (AGI) is not available from the IRS, or if the Department believes that the borrower's most recently reported AGI does not accurately reflect the borrower's current income.

Posted on 21 February 2012 | 5:00 pm

"In a 2003 decision that the majority said it expected would last for 25 years, the Supreme Court allowed public colleges and universities to take account of race in admission decisions," the New York Times reports. "On Tuesday, the court signaled that it might end such affirmative action much sooner than that."

Posted on 21 February 2012 | 5:00 pm

"William J. Bennett was probably too simplistic when he famously proclaimed 25 years ago that increased student aid makes it easier for colleges to raise their tuition, says a new policy paper from the Center for College Affordability and Productivity, but he wasn't necessarily wrong," the Chronicle of Higher Education reports. "The assertion by the former secretary of education, which has come to be known as the Bennett hypothesis, has been widely debated over the years, with some academics arguing that it was unfounded and others that it was dead-on."

Posted on 21 February 2012 | 5:00 pm