îlie ^ilortlanò © bserüer________________________ Page as
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