New Links

I’d just like to point out a couple of new links that were added to the blogroll.

First, there is IBRinfo.org, created by the Project on Student Debt, that has a large amount of information on the new income based repayment plans for federal loans.

Essentially, your income will determine how much you pay back.

On the Regulations page, there is the legislation H.R. 2269(the text and pdf links next too 9/27/07), which is what made IBRinfo.org possible.

There’s 40 pages to wade though, so you might want to let our class do the heavy lifting.

We’ll do our best to demystify it.

Presidential Question

Our class decided to take the project to a federal level by sending a college-debt question to the three remaining presidential candidates: Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John McCain.

This question basically asked if college debt was a problem and how it could be fixed.

Unexpectedly, I received this response from Obama:

Dear Friend,

Thank you for contacting me about the critical importance of reforming America’s schools. I appreciate hearing from you on this issue, and I agree that we must do more to ensure that every child has the opportunity to succeed.

Too often our leaders present this issue as an either-or debate, divided between giving our schools more funding and demanding more accountability. We should do both.

Our kids deserve a better chance at every level – from preschool and summer school, to high school and college. Last year, I introduced the Innovation Districts for School Improvement Act, which provides grants to school systems that draft detailed plans for broad reforms at the district level. In addition, I have introduced a bill to promote summer learning opportunities for disadvantaged children, supported increased funding for the Head Start program to help provide preschoolers with critically important learning skills, and co-authored a bipartisan bill to help exceptional high school students enroll in college-level courses elsewhere if their school does not offer them.

We can’t stop there. The demands of the modern global economy have made higher education more necessary than ever, even as the costs of college continue to soar. To address this, my first proposal as a U.S. senator was a bill to make college more affordable by increasing the maximum Pell Grant to $5100. I also cosponsored the Student Debt Relief Act, which encourages colleges to participate in the Direct Loan program, increases need-based aid, and decreases fees and interest rates for student loans

Finally, the teacher is the most important factor in successfully educating our children, and we need to give our teachers everything they need to succeed. That means changing the certification process so that qualified applicants can avoid expensive additional coursework to become teachers; pairing up new recruits with master teachers; and giving proven teachers more control over what goes on in their classrooms. It also means paying teachers what they’re worth.

To learn more about my plans to revitalize education, please click here:

http://www.barackobama.com/issues/education/

To read my recent speech on education, please click here:

http://www.barackobama.com/2007/11/20/remarks_of_senator_barack_obam_34.php

I encourage you to share your own thoughts and policy ideas about education through the My Policy tool on the first web page linked above. Thank you again for contacting me about this important issue.

Sincerely,

Barack Obama

So, the paragraph on higher education is clearly the most relevant.

I’m looking forward to the other responses to see if they reflect Obama’s attitude toward the issue.

Federal Laws Regulating Credit Practices

I found a bunch of laws that regulate credit practices, such as lending, billing and collecting. There are also laws that protect consumers and list credit consumer rights. Most of the pdfs describing the acts were too long for a single post, so I listed them and some websites in the new tab “Credit Regulation” in the navigation bar.

Check it out!

Presidential canidates’ stance on credit card reform

Hey guys! Thought you may be interested in this article about the presidential candidates’ reform plans:

Check, Check, Check it out!

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/credit-card-presidential-reform-policies-1276.php

Wiki web

http://collegestudebt.wetpaint.com/

hey guys this a start for the wiki! Send me your e-mail address so that I can invite and add you.

Do you know the interest rate of your credit card?

According to An Analysis of the Current Status of Student Debt, it isn’t likely.

It found that 86% of college students don’t know the interest rate of their credit card(s).

In all honesty, I’m just as clueless.

Mike McIntyre’s Financial Aid Link

www.house.gov/mcintyre/students.html

Click the above link to see information provided by Congressman Mike McIntyre concerning Financial aid for students.

have a nice day

What financial issues do college students face?

This is the question that the Investigative Journalism class (JRN 4600) at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke is trying to answer. We intend to use every available resource to crunch raw data, explore socioeconomic factors and unearth the humanity behind this prominent issue.

College students face numerous problems in transitioning into adulthood yet bearing the full brunt of personal financial strain. It’s a frightening prospect as economic factors become painfully relevant in a brief period of time.

This final product of this project will clarify the economic convolution that so many students seem to be drowning in.

Our progress will be tracked on this blog from our initial research to details on our informative and interactive final product.