News and Announcements
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July 2008 Regulatory Changes for Financial Aid On May 8, 2008, the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act was signed into law (HR 5715). The bill makes significant changes to federal student aid programs, including several that could help Santa Clara University student and parent loan borrowers this fall. The law makes these federal student aid changes effective July 1, 2008: • Increases William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan – Unsubsidized limit for dependent students by introducing additional unsubsidized amounts of $2,000• Increases William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan – Unsubsidized annual limits by $2,000 for independent undergraduate students and for dependent undergraduate students whose parents are denied a Federal PLUS Loan • Allows parents to choose to defer payments on a Federal PLUS Loan until six months after the date the student ceases to be enrolled at least half time; accrued interest could either be paid by the parent borrower monthly or quarterly or be capitalized quarterly. • Increases aggregate loan amounts for undergraduate dependent students from $23,000 to $31,000 • Increases aggregate loan amounts for undergraduate independent students from $46,000 to $57,500 For more information about the new law, please visit the following Web site. June 2008 ECMC's FAB program launches new financial literacy Web site Educational Credit Management Corporation (ECMC) announced their launch of their new financial literacy Web site. Financial Awareness Basics (FAB), ECMC’s financial literacy program, developed the Web site to help students of all ages and their families prepare for postsecondary education. Through online tools, resources and financial calculators, the interactive FAB site helps users discover ways to pay for college costs, learn how to make informed financial decisions and maintain a healthy balance between academics and campus life. Visit the new FAB Web site at www.ecmc.org/fab. May 2008 New Federal TEACH Grant Santa Clara University will participate in the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant program beginning with the 2008-2009 academic year. Final regulations regarding this grant program have not been published by the U.S. Department of Education, and are expected mid-June. The TEACH Grant Program will revert to a loan if the recipient does not fulfill the federally required teaching obligations as fully explained in the U.S. Department of Education information. Read this information carefully before making a decision to accept a TEACH Grant. Additional Loan Financing Options Looking for additional loan financing options to help fund your education? Check out GreenNote. A new, innovative alternative to private/alternative educational loans is provided through GreenNote, a company that helps students connect with their own social networks for help financing their college education. April 2008 Private Scholarship Tips If I had to tell you in a very short amount of time the most effective things you could be doing to boost your scholarship search efforts, they would be as follows:
March 2008 Federal Stafford Loans for Summer Term 2008 – Deadline to Request Loan Funds is May 15, 2008 Attention Graduate Students!: Are you interested in receiving a Federal Stafford Loan for the summer 2008 term? Do you have remaining eligibility in the 2007-08 academic year to borrow additional Federal Stafford Loans? In order to receive a Federal Stafford Loan for the summer 2008 term, you must submit a written request to the SCU Financial Aid Office by May 15, 2008. If you have questions about financial aid for summer term, please contact the SCU Financial Aid Office at (408) 554-4505 or financialaid@scu.edu. February 2008 Access to Student Loan Capital for SCU Students Santa Clara University students – undergraduates, graduates and law – will have adequate access to student loan funds for the 2008-09 academic year. You may have seen several recent stories in the press about how the U.S. capital market has been experiencing stress as a result of the sub-prime mortgage crisis and how this impacted the ability of some lenders to finance their student lending activity. Santa Clara University wants to reassure you that adequate student loan capital will be available to every SCU student who qualifies. As a participant in the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan program, the University’s access to student loan capital will not be affected for undergraduate students, graduate students or law students. Please visit Loan section of our Web site for complete details regarding the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan program. Also, we expect more than an adequate supply of lenders to remain in the Federal Graduate PLUS Loan program to meet the needs of graduate and law students. Students who are seeking private market loans might find a tightening of eligibility criteria and available lenders. If you experience such a problem please contact the SCU Financial Aid Office for assistance. Please remember that you should never seek private loan funding without having first determined your full eligibility for federal need-based student loans. FAFSA Tips Before beginning the FAFSA, you should apply for a Federal Student Aid personal identification number (PIN) at www.pin.ed.gov. The PIN will allow you to sign your FAFSA electronically and later to access your processed FAFSA online. After you receive the PIN assigned to you, we recommend you change it to something easy to remember. Do not share your PIN with anyone! If you are providing parent information on the FAFSA, one of your parents also must sign your application. To sign electronically, your parent must apply for his or her own PIN. Gather the Information Required to Apply
Use the FAFSA on the Web Worksheet Santa Clara University has copies of the worksheet, or you can print one from www.fafsa.ed.gov. This worksheet is optional, but it will help you collect the information you need to fill out your FAFSA online. Complete and Submit your Application Enter all necessary information at www.fafsa.ed.gov. If you need help, there are help links on each page of the online application. After you submit your application, make sure you receive a confirmation number. This number tells you your application has been successfully submitted. Keep this confirmation number for your records. Follow up on your FAFSA Your application will be processed and you will receive an email with a link to your Student Aid Report (SAR). If you did not provide an email address, you will receive your SAR by mail. You should review your SAR for any necessary corrections or updates. If you do not hear from the U.S. Department of Education within three weeks, go to www.fafsa.ed.gov and select: “Check status of a submitted FAFSA or Print Signature Page. January 2008 Direct to Consumer Loans As a result of recent legislative action, several student loan lenders have decided to increase efforts to get students/parents to use private loans to finance a college education. Some of these lenders are well established in the student lending industry, while others are unknown. There are several things you must keep in mind:
Many students need to utilize loans to cover the cost of their education. It is important to make sure that you utilize federal and state loans first, since they offer interest rates and repayment terms which are more favorable. However should you need to borrow from other resources it is important to make sure you are receiving the lowest rates and fees which are available to you. December 2007 EdFund Updates Higher Education Tax Benefits Flyer The holidays are almost over. It is time to think about filing taxes again! But EdFund is making it easier with an update of the flyer, Federal Tax Benefits at a Glance: A Guide for Students and Parents. This is a one-page sheet summarizing information on taking advantage of tax credits, deductions and savings incentives/tax-free withdrawals for Tax Year 2007. |
November 2007
"Real-Time" PIN Available for 2008-09 FAFSA
November 19, 2007
Beginning January 1, 2008, students and parents will be able to apply for and receive a "real-time" PIN when completing a FAFSA on the Web or when applying for a PIN on the U.S. Department of Education PIN Web site. After determining that 97 percent of PIN applicants provide correct information (i.e. social security number), the U.S. Department of Education decided to make this "real-time" PIN available not only for first-time PIN applicants, but also for those whom have lost or forgotten a previous PIN.
October 2007
Families Affected by the Southern California Fires
October 26, 2007
The Santa Clara University community is united in our thoughts and prayers for those families whose homes, lives and communities have been affected by the wildfires in Southern California.
Our Enrollment Management staff is particularly aware that Early Action applicants might be experiencing additional anxiety in light of the November 1 deadline. If your family or school is in an area directly affected by the fires, submit your admission and financial aid application materials as soon as you are able and the admission and financial aid staff will be as flexible in allowing deadline extensions. If you need additional assistance, please contact the Admission Office at (408) 554-4700.
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