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April 29.2009
New Student Loan System Proposed
President would save
money by bypassing banks
(AP) -- President Barack
O bam a has renew ed his call
for the governm ent to stop
backing private loans to col
lege stu d en ts and replace
them with direct financial aid
to young people.
O b a m a sa id th e su re st
test for success in the ch al
lenging econom y is a co l
lege degree or other train
ing, y et ac cess to h ig h er
e d u c a t i o n c o n t i n u e s to
sh rink as costs rise. To re
v e rse th a t, th e p re s id e n t
repeated his cam paign pro
posal that w ould elim inate
the F ederal F am ily E duca
tio n L o a n p ro g ra m th a t
costs taxpayers $15 m illion
a day.
"In a paradox o f A m eri
can life, at th e very m o
m ent it's never been m ore
im p o rtan t to have a quality
h ig h er ed u cation, the cost
o f th at kin d o f ed u catio n
has nev er been higher. ...
Y et, w e h a v e a s tu d e n t
loan sy stem w here w e're
giv in g lenders b illio n s o f
d o llars in w asteful su b si
dies that could be used to
m ake college m ore affo rd
a b le fo r all A m e ric a n s,"
O bam a said F riday at the
W hite H ouse.
T he a d m in istra tio n has
pushed for federal financial
aid to go d ire c tly to s tu
dents, not to banks that lend
m oney to students. O bam a President Barack Obama speaks about higher education in the Diplomatic Room at the
said he w ants to elim inate White House.
O bam a has claim ed that
O bam a w ants to end the from banks, nonprofits or
the "m iddle men" lenders
the
change w ould save at
state
agencies
that
in
turn
th a t he sa y s a d d i n e f f i d ec ad es-o ld , d ual system
c ie n c y to th e s y s te m — th e f e d e r a l g o v e r n m e n t r e c e iv e s u b s id ie s fro m least $48 billion o v er the
n ex t 10 y ea rs — m o n ey
"that's a prem ium we can uses to ad v a n ce lo an s to W ashington.
T he president's proposal that could be funneled to
not a ffo rd , no t w hen we students to pay for college.
could be re in v e stin g that U nder that system , students w o u ld sw itch th e fed eral student aid. B ut R ep u b li
sam e m o n e y in o u r s tu at som e c o lle g e s bo rro w s tu d e n t lo an s y ste m e n cans are con cern ed about
dents, in our econom y and directly from the g o v ern tirely to direct lending from the costs o f that and even
som e D em ocratic law m ak
ment, while others get loans the governm ent.
in our country."
First step is
filling out an
application
o f advantage over other stu
dents. No - my point is that
in the vast m ajority o f cir
cum stances, you have to ask
for something before you can
get it. Unfortunately, I fear
that too many college edu
cations w ither on the vine
b e c a u se w o u ld -b e s tu
dents d o n ’t know how to
ask for what they need.
Even in these econom ic
times, the cost o f higher
education need not be a
barrier to enrollment. This
is especially true at com m u
nity colleges, which are the
best higher education bar
gain to be found. The fact is
th at th ere is an ab u n d a n t
amount of financial aid avail
able, despite the econom ic
downturn. One doesn’t have
to be a 4.0 student; often,
one just needs to show ini
tiative and promise. All that
needs to be done in order to
enjoy its benefits of financial
aid is to ask for it.
The first step is to fill out a
Free Application for Federal
Student Aid (FAFSA) form.
As the nam e suggests, it’s
free - and you can fill it out
online at fafsa.ed.gov or at
A lgie
G atewood
Back in the
e a rly 1990s,
w h e n I w as
s tu d y in g to
earn my doc
toral degree, I
found m yself
facing a problem that con
fronts virtually every college
student at one tim e or an
other: I needed more money.
I w as alread y w orking in
higher education administra
tion at the time, so I wrote a
letter to the foundation of the
school where I worked and
asked them if there was any
m o re s c h o la rs h ip m oney
available that I m ight use.
M uch to my surprise and
satisfaction, the foundation
g a v e m e e x a c tly w h a t I
asked for.
M y point is not that I was
a special case, or that my “in
sider” position as an adm in
istrator gave me some sort
by
your local community college
cam pus’ financial aid office.
The FAFSA is quite literally
the gateway to financial aid;
the information that students
provide is used to evaluate
their eligibility for aid from a
w hole array o f sources -
federal and state g o v e rn
m ents, educational institu
tions, and independent schol
arship funds.
Once a student submits a
completed FAFSA, it could be
a matter o f only a few days
before he or she receives con
firmation from the federal gov
ernment. And then, depend
ing on need and eligibility, a
whole range o f aid becomes
available, including:
• O regon O p p ortu n ity research in this area can re first step tow ard receiving
Grants: Another grant that ally pay off - in many cases, financial aid - but hardly the
students d on’t need to repay.
The maximum OOG amount
available for the 2009-2010
academ ic year has yet to be
determ ined; it was $2,600 in
2008-2009 for full-time stu
dents.
• F ed eral W ork Study:
Work study dollars allow stu
dents to work a part-time, on-
cam pus jo b for pay, while
helping to cover educational
costs at the same time. The
m axim um am ount available
each year varies by educa
tional institution.
• F ed eral P erk in s and
Stafford Loans: Low-inter
est federal loans that stu
dents must repay after leav
The Pell Grant is one of the ing school. The m axim um
best kinds of financial aid, be am ount available each year
cause it doesn’t need to be varies by educational institu
repaid. As much as $5,350 tion. In my personal opinion,
per year can be available to however, I recom m end bor
row ing as little m oney as
full-time students.
• S u p p lem en tal E d u ca possible, and only when nec
tional Opportunity Grants: essary.
Like a Pell Grant, a SEOG • Institutional or external
d oesn’t need to be repaid. aid: These are scholarships
The maximum amount avail a n d g ra n ts is s u e d by a
able each year varies by edu stu d en t’s college or by an
outside organization. A little
cational institution.
• F ed eral P ell G rants:
Training for Tomorrow’s Leaders
Ethnic
Minorities
get involved
in civics
Forty two individuals, rep
r e s e n tin g 37 d iffe re n t
ethnicities, recently gathered
for a public advocacy sem i
nar at Portland City Hall.
Engage ’09 is a partner
ship between the Immigrant
and R efu g ee C o m m u n ity
O rg an izatio n (IR C O ) and
the City o f Portland which
w ill tak e the p artic ip a n ts
through six training sessions
over a period o f 3 months.
T he p ro jec t en co u rag es
ethnic m inorities to get in
volved in civic processes.
The kick-off event included
a keynote address by City
C o m m is s io n e r A m an d a
F ritz , p re s e n ta tio n s , and
hands on exercises.
Ranging in age from 17 to
78, the p a rtic ip a n ts w ere
mostly people who had agreed
to put aside their fears of civic
engagement, stemming from
ers oppose the sw itch.
T he p resid en t ack n o w l
edged that proposal's c rit
ics.
"In the end, th is is not
about grow ing the size of
governm ent or relying on
th e free m ark e t, b ecau se
it's not a free m arket when
w e h a v e a s tu d e n t lo a n
system that's rigged to re
w ard private lenders w ith
out any risk," O bam a said.
" I t's a b o u t w h e th e r w e
want to give tens of billions
o f tax dollars to special in
terests or w hether we w ant
to m ake college m ore af
fordable for eight and a half
m illion m ore students."
Obama also noted the plan
would be tough to pass.
"The banks and the lend
ers who have reaped a w ind
fall from th ese su b sid ies
have m obilized an army of
lobbyists to try to keep things
the way they are. They are
gearing up for battle. So am
I," Obama said.
a student can find scholar
ships that are specifically tar
geted toward his or her back
ground or educational goals.
The list doesn’t end there -
aid from additional sources
is available. A financial aid
advisor is the best source of
more information.
Most students who apply
for aid, through a com bina
tion of some or all of these
various resources, are able
to sig n ifican tly offset the
cost o f their education to the
point that it becomes a m an
ageable opportunity, and go
ing to school becomes a re
alistic proposition. For those
s tu d e n ts w h o se c irc u m
stances require them to work
to su p p o rt th em selv es or
th eir fam ilies w hile they
study, finding the right com
bination of financial aid re
sources can suddenly turn
higher education into som e
thing that is achievable right
now, rather than at some far-
off, undeterm ined point in
time.
As I m en tio n ed ab o v e,
submitting a FAFSA is the
only one. 1 highly recommend
visiting the financial aid of
fice at your local college
campus and talking to a fi
nancial aid advisor. He or she
can assist you with com plet
ing the FAFSA, and help you
to find and apply for sources
o f aid for which you are eli
gible. In addition, many in
stitu tio n s - like P ortland
Community College, for ex
ample - hold periodic w ork
shops and orientations on fil
ing the FAFSA and applying
for financial aid.
The bottom line is that there
is much more financial aid
available than many people
realize, and it’s easier to ob
tain than one might think.
There is enough, perhaps, to
make higher education a pos
sibility even in dire economic
times such as these.
But that same old rule still
applies - if you want som e
thing, sometimes you simply
have to ask for it.
A lg ie C. G atew ood,
Ed.D., is president o f Port
land Community C ollege’s
Cascade Campus.
Join Us!!!
Full Harvest Fellowship Ministries
As We Present
Spiritual Enrichment Class
Saturdays
7:00 PM
Beginning Saturday, May 2nd
PHOTO ( O l RTESY K a TIE ANDERSON PHOTOGRAPHY
Françoise Gakuba, who came to Portland from Rwanda, snaps a photo for her personal
memories during a public advocacy seminar at Portland City Hall.
their experiences in countries
of origin where they were, at
best, shut out of the civic pro
cess and, at worst, had suf
fered significantly at the hands
o f elected officials. People
from places such as Somalia,
Eritrea, India, Viet Nam, and
Russia gathered to learn the
American art of public advo
cacy.
For example, Mang Suan
Pau was a m em ber o f the
Burmese Zomi ethnic group
and a longtim e prom oter of
human rights who spent sev
eral years o f torture and im
p ris o n m e n t u n d e r the
M yanm ar m ilitary junta be
fore escaping to M alaysia.
He worked in nonprofit so
cial serv ic es in M alaysia
while waiting for State De
partm ent approval for re
settlem ent in the U.S.
The driving force behind
Engage '09 is that with in
creased levels o f civic e n
gagem ent, local policy can
be shaped to improve o u t
com es for the immigrant and
refugee communities.
At the same time, the pro
gram enriches the city by
bringing in the social capital of
those com m unities and en
g ag in g th e ir m em b ers in
volunteerism, community de
velopment and social justice.
75 NE Wygant (Between Rodney & Cleveland)
For More Info Contact
Gregory or Martha Thomas
At 971-533-2800
For Directions Visit our secure website
Fullharvestfcllowship.vpwcb.com
I must work the works of him that sent me. while it is day:
the night cometh. when no man can work. John 9:4