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A Borrower's Guide to July 1, 2008
The first of July is an important date for federal student
loans: it's when interest rates and other terms change each year. Starting July
1, 2008, in addition to a drop in costs for many federal loans, thousands of
borrowers in public service jobs can take a major step toward student loan
forgiveness. Starting July 1, 2008, borrowers can:
- Consolidate
to lock in lower interest rates for variable-rate Stafford
loans
- Reconsolidate FFEL loans into the
Direct Loan Program to become eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness
- Get
$2,000 more in unsubsidized Stafford
loans to undergraduates each year
- Enjoy
lower interest rates on new subsidized Stafford loans to undergraduates,
and lower origination fees on all Stafford
loans.
Our
new fact sheet tells college students, their parents, and people already
repaying their student loans what they need to know about these and other
important changes.
New Downloadable IBRinfo Brochure
We've produced an introductory brochure about Income-Based
Repayment and Public Service Loan Forgiveness that you can share with your
colleagues, students, employees, or anyone else who might be interested.
- You
can download
the full color, double-sided, legal-size brochure and distribute copies
yourself; or
- You
can email us at info@ibrinfo.org,
and-while supplies last-we will send up to 100 copies to your school or
office free of charge. (If you need more than 100 copies, let us know and
we will try to accommodate.)
Time to Reexamine Institutional Cooperation on
Financial Aid
Colleges could free up more funding for need-based financial
aid if they could legally work together to curb financial aid bidding wars for
high-achieving students. Colleges spent at least $3 billion dollars on "merit
aid" in excess of students' calculated need in 2005-06, even as many students'
financial need was not fully met. These are the main findings of a new white paper from the
Institute for College Access & Success, the Project on Student Debt's
parent organization. The paper includes an opinion from a leading antitrust law
firm that reviews the current legal environment and suggests ways of allowing
more cooperation to benefit needy students.
Read
the white paper
Read an article about this issue
from Inside Higher Ed.
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