Tennessee Legislature Passes Education Bill

The Tennessee House and Senate passed a bill this week aimed at allowing more Tennessee students to maintain their Hope Scholarships. Current qualifications require students to attain a cumulative 2.75 GPA (Grade Point Average) at the end of 24 attempted credit hours. Then students must have a 3.0 GPA at the end of 48, 72, 96 and 120 atempted semester hours.

The new legislation, which has been sent to the Governor for his signature, allows for a 2.75 GPA after 60 class hours. Then students must get a 3.0 each semester to keep the Hope Scholarship. Note, this will be each semester, not cumuative GPA as before. There is also a one time provision to regain the scholarship if lost.

Also included in the legislation was $10 million to the Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation (TSAC) for grants to assist up to 5000 students with financial need.

$1.5 million is earmarked for the Helping Heroes program, which will provide grants to Tennessee soldiers returning from the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq. These grants will make up any necessary funding not covered by the Federal GI Bill.

Recently updated pages at College Scholarships, Grants and Loans include:

Tennessee Scholarships
Latest College News

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Pennsylvania Students Scramble for School Money

Pennsylvania college students will be scrambling to fund their educations this year. The Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) announced earlier that they would not be participating in the Federal FFEL program during the upcoming year. This means that they will no longer be making Stafford, Parent PLUS, Graduate PLUS, and Consolidation loans. While PHEAA says this is temporary, there is no date set for a return to the program.

There are still many lenders taking part in the KeystoneBEST loan program and PHEAA will pay the 1% federal default fee for lenders taking part in the program. This includes the Stafford Loan, the Parents Loan and the Graduates Loan.

PHEAA also announced recently that student grants for the 2008-09 school year may be reduced by up to $750 and fewer students may receive the grants. While there is talk about the legislature coming up with some money to make up the difference, don't hold your breath. Many there don't seem happy with PHEAA.


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May 1, 2008 - House and Senate Pass Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act of 2008

The House of Representatives and the Senate this week passed the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act of 2008 and cleared it to the White House where President Bush is expected to sign it into law. Some of the highlights of the legislation are:

There will be an increase of $2,000 to the maximum annual unsubsidized Stafford loan amounts that may be provided to undergraduate students under the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program. Dependent undergraduates will be allowed to borrow up to $31,000 in total and independent undergraduates up to $57,500 through their college years.

Parents who borrow through the Federal PLUS Loan program will be able to defer loan principal repayment for up to six months after their student has graduated or stops carrying at least one-half the normal full-time academic workload.

More news for PLUS borrowers. Those who are no more than 180 days delinquent on their home mortgages, and no more than 89 days delinquent on the repayment of any other debt, who normally would be ineligible for the loans due to their adverse credit history will be able to meet a specified extenuating circumstances requirement making them eligible for the loans. This section will cover loans made between July 2008 and June 2009.

The Department of Education may designate certain guaranty agencies to be lenders-of-last-resort and appropriate the necessary funding to them.

The bill passed the Senate by unanimous consent on April 30 and the House by a vote of 388-21 on May 1.

Recently updated pages at college-loans.us include College Loan News

Technorati Tags: College Loans Financial AidPaying for College Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act of 2008 Stafford Loans