When Student-Loan Refunds Come With a Fee

About 6,300 students at the City Colleges of Chicago have enrolled in a program that puts their student-loan refunds on debit cards, the Chi Town Daily News reported on Tuesday.

The catch is that students must pay a $2 fee each time they use the cards, which are issued by JPMorgan Chase. Talking with a bank teller costs cardholders $10, and checking their account balances costs $1.25, according to the Daily News.

Until recently, students received their refunds via paper checks, but problems with stolen and fraudulent checks prompted the the City Colleges to turn to JPMorgan Chase, the newspaper reported. Students may choose to receive the debit cards or have the money deposited directly into their accounts. —Eric Hoover

via news on Chronicle.

Student Loan Chronology in Aberdeen

-1978: Aberdonians Jim Bishop, Manley Feinstein, Harvey Jewett IV, Norg Sanderson and Vi Stoia found Education Assistance Corp. and Student Loan Finance Corp. as separate entities in Aberdeen.

-1994: The U.S. Department of Education alleges that EAC misused federal funds.

-1997: The government and EAC reach a settlement on the allegations, details of which were not disclosed except that the government withdrew its order to shut down EAC.

-1998: SLFC switches from a non-profit agency to a for-profit company.

-1999: SLFC becomes employee-owned.

-1999: SLFC donates $86 million to create the Great Plains Education Foundation, the biggest foundation in the state¹s history.

-2008: Affiliated Computer Services of Dallas enters into a seven-year, $67 million contract with SLFC to become the primary education loan service provider for the Aberdeen company¹s portfolio.

-Feb. 4, 2009: EAC merges with Great Lakes Higher Education Corp. of Wisconsin

-Feb. 4, 2009: Great Lakes Higher Education Corp. donates $30 million-plus to create the South Dakota Education Access Foundation.

6,300 Students Pay High Fees to Access Student Loan Refunds

A controversial student loan program, in which students from the City Colleges of Chicago receive their federal student loan refunds on a pre-loaded debit card rather than through a traditional check, has already enrolled some 6,300 students despite students being charged high fees for using the card’s basic banking services, reports the Chi Town Daily News (“Controversial Chase Student Loan Program Enrolls 6,300,” Feb. 3, 2009).

The university system began offering the debit card system as an alternative to paper checks after the school system noticed a trend of students’ paper checks being stolen or fraudulently used. Students complained that they were forced to sign up for the debit cards and that the fees associated with the cards were slowly chipping away at their student loan refunds, which students generally rely on to pay for non-education related expenses like rent, groceries, and gas.

Students using the debit cards, offered by J.P. Morgan Chase, must pay for services — $1.25 to check their account balances, $2.00 to use the card for every transaction, and $10.00 to speak with a bank teller — that are typically offered free of charge to other Chase customers.

“With the high fees, having to do the withdrawals and having it cost so much, getting the card is not even worth it,” says Christopher Collier, a student senator at Wright College, one of the university system’s seven campuses.

To avoid paying any Chase banking fees, 1,700 students have opted to have their student loan refunds direct-deposited into their own bank accounts rather than choosing to sign up for the debit cards, but Collier says he still thinks that college administrators should make more of an effort to educate their students about all of their student loan refund options.

Student Loan Refund that come with fee

I’d rather direct from government loans. But this one takes the cake:

About 6,300 students at the City Colleges of Chicago have enrolled in a program that puts their student-loan refunds on debit cards, the Chi Town Daily News reported on Tuesday.

The catch is that students must pay a $2 fee each time they use the cards, which are issued by JPMorgan Chase. Talking with a bank teller costs cardholders $10, and checking their account balances costs $1.25, according to the Daily News.

In my university town, credit card vendors sign up students outside bars and ice cream shops.

Forgiving Student Loan Debt Would Stimulate Economy

The rich get richer, and when they get poorer...well, they get bailed out. That's how it seems lately. As Congress prepares to spend a trillion bucks (in addition to the $700 billion bailout from last fall), it makes one wonder when the working middle class will get some love. The pending American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (H.R.1) will no doubt help our economy in some form, but it's not nearly enough and it's not aimed at all demographics. If we can save the suits, why can't we save the common man, right?

Robert Applebaum, an attorney from New York, thinks so and has an idea on how to help many in his shoes -- and trust me, there are many -- while stimulating the economy at the same time. The 35 year old started up an online campaign this month to bail out those "hard-working, educated middle class" suffocating in college loan debt on Facebook. He formed the group "Cancel Student Loan Debt to Stimulate the Economy" because he believes forgiving student loan debt for those making under $150,000 annually would help boost the economy from "the bottom up."

Read the full article on Huffington Post.

Shocker: Inflated Student Loan Market About To Go The Same Way The Inflated Housing Loan Market Did

I’m shocked that “easy money” loans given out indiscriminately to pretty much anyone who wanted them would now be in jeopardy from inflated tuition prices and borrowers who can’t pay the money back.

Well imagine that.  Government-subsidized consumption inflates prices, which in turn prompts more subsidies, which in turn inflates prices even more until the entire industry collapses in a mess of unpaid loans and taxpayer bailouts.

Sounds…just like the housing market.

View the Original Blog Post at http://sayanythingblog.com/index.php

Student Consolidated Loans 5 Essential Tips To Consider In Order to Get The Best Lender

By: Dean Shainin

If you have student loans, consolidation can save you money. You can also get a lower rate with the consolidated student loan. Loan consolidation combines different loans with various interest rates to make one loan with one lower interest rate and one payment. A low interest rate means that you will be in a position to pay your student loan quicker thus becoming debt free sooner.

In most cases when students get their first loans to cover their college fees, they do not have an option to choose the best rate for themselves, thus end up having loans with high rates. Although you can easily get a free no-obligation loan consolidation quote, consolidation may have some disadvantages, and it is important that you cautiously consider the pros and cons.

First and foremost, the financial situation and credit of a borrower influences the student consolidation rate one can get. A good credit rating means that you are in a position to get a lower interest rate.

So, what are the essential aspects you should consider in order to be able to get the best rate for your consolidated student loan?

5 Essential tips to help you select the best lender are outlined as follows:

1. The main purpose of consolidating your student loan is to make your payments easier. It is therefore important for you to ensure that the lender has simple loan payments. It is imperative that you assess the lenders? terms. Will the monthly payments be suited to your financial situation? The whole point of consolidating to get more easier terms, so this is a very important factor to consider while you are choosing the lender.

2. It is more advantageous for you to do your student loan consolidation with a lender who has a fixed interest rate. It is important that you research on the lowest rates and consider if it will increase or not in the future. In order to accurately establish if the rates will leave of better off, there are options on the internet where you can calculate the interest rates and compare it with your present student loans. This is well worth it, and it is recommended that you do these comparisons. By doing this analysis, you will be able to select the lenders that can offer you better interest rates.

3. What is the monthly plan of the consolidated loan? Are there any lenders who offer any discounts on the monthly plans? You will need to research on this information before you make your final decision on the lender who offers you the best deal.

4. Will the monthly payment of your consolidated loan be suitable for your financial circumstances and your other financial commitments? Consolidating tour loans enable to extend your payment period up to 30 years and also pay a lower rate. You will also need to establish if the lender will be able to extend your payment period.

5. It is important for you to find out if the lender offers any in-school student loan consolidation programs since these will assist you lock your low rate while in school, which works out favorable for you in the long term. Although you will lose the 6-month grace period that is usually offered to borrowers with this option, you may request for a forbearance of up to 1 year. It is important that you take time to research and gather information on this from other borrowers online, so that you will be able to select the best lender who offers you the best rate.

After you have checked on the critical factors outlined above and have done your research, you are then in a position to decide which lender provides the lower interest rate.

There are now a lot of options on lenders who can offer better rates on consolidated loans. You can save yourself a lot of money by keeping up to date with which lenders offer lower interest rates, and by gathering all the important information you need in order to search for a consolidated loan better rates than your current student loans.

Dean Shainin is a consultant specializing in student loan consolidation. Get valuable resources, tools, information and more articles on student loan consolidation, visit this site: http://www.studentloanconsolidationtips.com

Get free valuable online tips for debt consolidation from his: Consolidate Student Loans website.

Student Debt Consolidation Loan – Tension Free Student Life

Michael Moore asked:
Student life is once, so we must enjoy it. But the tension of paying off the different student loans can be frustrating at times. Besides procrastination is also a natural part of student’s college life. This does not harm your results but not paying loans at time will definitely affect your financial future. The best option for a student to keep his financial worries away and enjoy maximum of college life is student debt consolidation loan. Such a loan consolidates all your loans into a single one which is easy to manage.

Read the rest of this article about Student Consolidation Loan here.

Student Loan Consolidation Info - Raise Your Credit Score With A Consolidation Loan

Ian Wilkie asked:

A student loan consolidation can help you save money and reduce the amount of long term debt load you carry while raising your credit score at the same time. Improving your credit score over time can help you considerably as you start out in the real world and will have the need to purchase a new car, or get an apartment or maybe buy a house, and also be able to have a charge card. Lives are built on having good credit to borrow the money you need when you have started your career and have the means to make monthly payments to finance your dreams. If you are in debt with multiple student loans, take the time to investigate the benefits of getting a student consolidation loan to help you start making just one payment each month and give your credit the boost it needs by sticking to your loan consolidation payment schedule.

Read some other tips to boost your credit score on Student Loan Easy.

Controversial City Colleges debit card program enrolls 6,300

A controversial program at the City Colleges of Chicago to put student loan refund money on pre-loaded debit cards now has enrolled about 6,300 students from all seven campuses.

The program started last fall at Kennedy-King College in Englewood. At the time, students complained they felt they had been forced to sign up for the debit cards to get their loan money. The cards, provided by JPMorgan Chase, carry high fees for withdrawing money, checking balances and talking with a bank teller.

While those fees remain, students from several campuses say they have the option of getting their money direct-deposited into their own bank accounts so they don’t have to deal with the debit cards.

Check the rest of the report by Peter Sachs on Chi Town Daily News.

Fitch Affirms 20 Classes from Kentucky Higher Education Student Loan Corp 2004 Master Indenture Revs

NEW YORK - (Business Wire) Fitch Ratings has affirmed 20 classes of senior student loan asset backed notes issued by Kentucky Higher Education Student Loan Corporation (KHESLC) under the 2004 Master Trust. Additionally, this action also resolves the Rating Watch Negative designation previously assigned to the subordinate notes on Oct. 31, 2008. The actions follow a review of trust collateral performance taken in conjunction with Fitch's ongoing review of student loan transactions with auction rate exposure.

 

Overall, collateral performance for the trust has been consistent with expectations from a net default and delinquency perspective. Of the outstanding notes 69% are taxable auction-rate securities and 31% are tax-exempt auction-rate securities, all of which are currently earning interest at the maximum rate.

 

Check the rest of the news on Earth Times.

Help with Student Loan

Once you graduate college... Student loan payments can quickly kick in...and take a big chunk out of your paycheck.

But what if you're struggling... just to get by?

Check the answers on KXMC.

Student Loan Consolidation Services: Why You Should Use Them

The odds are against most college students when it comes to student loan debt. That is because the grand majority of them will have incurred quite a bit of debt due to borrowing money to pay for education related expenses. Even though some of the student loans that individuals use to borrow money are part of government or bank programs that offer great interest rates, other student loans are probably quite different.

Or maybe you just have a series of student loans and each loan is assigned its own payment with its own payment schedule and after a while you start to find your head spinning from all of the dates and amounts that you will have to try and remember and attend to when it is time to pay your bills. If you find yourself in either of these situations, or any situation that is similar to one of these, then you would definitely benefit from student loan consolidation services.

There are a lot of reasons why you would need student loan consolidation services but mostly the use of student loan consolidation services comes about from a need to reduce your payments and make your life easier.

On the one hand you can look at student loan consolidation services to give you a uniform interest rate and save yourself some money on repaying your loans. In some cases you may had to take out student loans that offered very high interest rates and now that you have graduated and began your first job in the real world you can use student loan consolidation services to help get your college debt under control and get your new life started off on the right foot.

A student loan carrying a 20% interest rate can be a huge cloud over your head when you are just starting out so give yourself a chance and get some student loan consolidation services.

So Many Loans

The majority of college graduates have had to borrow several student loans in order to successfully complete their studies. Just thinking of trying to keep track of so many loans and organize payment of each one can be a sobering thought.

Institutions that offer student loan consolidation services will let you take all of your current student loans and consolidate them to just one monthly payment with one flat interest rate. If that interest rate is lower than what you currently pay, you will save money each month on payments, too.

About the Author:

How would you like to find some extra money to help wipe out credit card debt starting today? Visit the Debt Reduction Academy website, where you can claim your free 5 day mini course “Operation Money-Find: How To Find Money To Start Paying Off Your Debt This Month”. Go get your copy now at http://www.debtreductionacademy.com/minicourse.php

Can You Afford College?

Nicole Colson explains on Socialist Worker why, for a growing number of people in the U.S., the grim answer to that question is: "Not anymore."

ACS continues loan-processing work for Education

Affiliated Computer Services Inc. will continue to support the Education Department’s student loan program under a one-year contract extension valued at $190 million.

With the performance-based award, ACS begins the sixth year of the Common Services for Borrowers contract, which consists of a five-year base period followed by three potential performance-based award years and then two option years.

Under the contract, ACS manages the business operations for more than $140 billion in student loans to more than 10 million borrowers.

Read more on Washington Technology