Paying for College Blog

At MyRichUncle, The Exodus Continues

The Chairman of MRU's audit committee, Richmond Fish, resigned, according to an 8-K filing on Friday (always a good time to deliver bad news).  The company will now need to find two independent directors to serve on their audit committee in order to comply with NASDAQ listing standards which may be a tall order with the stock price at 3.5 cents/share.  The company has been actively seeking to raise new capital to enable them to make loans again.   

Understanding Your Credit Score

Insightful article in New York Times that describes the importance of understanding your credit score. It also provides links to sites to access your free credit reports. 

College Application Counts For Fall 2009 Class Rolling In....

Here are some of the early results that have come in the past few weeks.  It seems to indicate that elite institutions with generous financial aid packages continue to be a strong draw despite the weak economy.  Download the spreadsheet here:  Download College_Applications_2009

Time Article Details Rise and Fall of Securitization Markets

Time Inc. describes how the current freeze in securitization markets is tightening credit markets and highlights the steps needed to make it a viable financing vehicle in the future:

National Financial Literacy Challenge Results Are In....

I posted on this topic earlier when the contest was first kicked off.  Here were the results from the spring 2008 contest:

Should High School Students Be Required to Pass Financial Literacy Test to Graduate?

The Wall Street Journal's The Wallet Blog ponders the question in a blog post today with several interesting new developments:

Informative Q&A with Mark Kantrowitz

The  Detroit Free Press had an information webchat with Mark Kantrowitz today.  Download the transcript here:  Download Mark_Kantrowitz_WebChat_012909

Here were the topics covered, which provide a sense of the types of questions parents and students have at this time of the year:

Not Filing FAFSA Costs Florida Students $24 Million

In case you were looking for encouragement to complete the FAFSA, this study by the Florida Board of Governors found that Florida students had left up to $24 million in Pell Grants on the proverbial table by not filing the FAFSA. 

Informative Q&A with Mark Kantrowitz

The  Detroit Free Press had an information webchat with Mark Kantrowitz today.  Download the transcript here:  Download Mark_Kantrowitz_WebChat_012909

The  Detroit Free Press had an information webchat with Mark Kantrowitz today.  Download the transcript here:  Download Mark_Kantrowitz_WebChat_012909

Virginia Tech Starts Emergency Loan Fund

Here are the details on the program announced on Wednesday: 

• $500,000 is available
• Focus is on parents of students who have lost jobs or seen a significant cutback in income
• Financial aid office was receiving "more and more calls from students who say they may have to drop out because they can no longer afford to go."
• Interest rate of 5% or less