“What Are Your Summer Plans?” Results

Thanks to all of you who voted in our recent poll, What are your summer plans? Were back to bring you the results! Not surprisingly, it looks like the majority of voters , plan to work this summer, while taking classes came in second at 24%. Its awesome to see so many students making the most of their summers, but Im glad 21% of students are also taking some time to relax.

Its interesting to see that travel beats out getting an internship , especially considering the growing importance of internships. In this economy, getting ahead through internships is a great alternative for those who cant find jobs, though instead of money, youd be getting college credit. This seems counterintuitive, but getting real world experience can helps students land jobs faster and may even open a lot of doors in the process.

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5 simple steps to cut the cost of auto loans

Here are five simple steps that could help you get a better deal on your auto loans.

1. Find out what your credit report says

The interest rates that are offered on auto loans are closely linked to borrowers’ credit reports and credit scores. The worse your report, and the lower your score, the more you’re likely to have to pay.

Before you think of applying for auto loans, get hold of a copy of your report. According to the Federal Trade Commission, you’re entitled to one free annual credit report, and the only authorized source for that is the website, AnnualCreditReport.com. Other websites may offer free reports, but they’re likely to be promotional incentives to sign up for a continuing (and paid-for) credit monitoring service. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with these in principle, if that’s what you require.

2.

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How Much Money Can I Get From Pell Grants

Q: How much money or financial aid can a college student get from federal Pell grants, and when would the student receive that Pell grant money from the government?

A: The Federal Pell Grant: Federal Pell Grant award amounts can change yearly. The maximum Pell Grant award for the 2010–11 award year was $5,550. How much Pell Grant aid a student can receive will depend on the students EFC, students cost of attendance, full-time or part-time status, when the student applies, amount of funding the school has, and if the student will be attending school for a full academic year. Students may be eligible to receive up to two Federal Pell Grants in an academic / award year, however they may not receive Federal Pell Grants from more than one college at a time.

How Federal Pell Grant Awards Are Dispersed: There are a number of different methods for receiving Federal Pell Grant funds, the payment method(s) will typically depend on the policies of your school or college. S

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What are your summer plans?

Do you have a job lined up for the summer? Are you planning a great vacation? Taking a summer class? Whatever youre up to, we want to know about it! Take our poll to let us know what youre plans are this summer

ScholarshipPoints members, login to ScholarshipPoints now to redeem the code SUMMERPLANS for 15 scholarship points. Code expires on Wednesday, June 1st, 2011.

Subprime auto loans an opportunity for borrowers and lenders?

Last week, this blog (Poor credit auto loans are within reach) reported on research that suggested that lenders are approving more auto loans for people with poor credit. On Thursday, Experian, one of the nation’s big-three credit bureaus, published a new survey that confirmed the trend.

Auto loans for prime and subprime borrowers

People with stellar credit scores could generally obtain auto loans (although some were turned down) even in the darkest days of the Great Recession. However, lesser mortals, who had either good or poor credit reports, frequently found it impossible to finance a car purchase.

The extent to which this has changed was reinforced last Thursday when Experian released new data that showed that the share of auto loans for new vehicles going to subprime borrowers was up by 11.1 percent between the first quarters of 2010 and 2011.

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Income Based Repayment: Can It Work For You?

IBR is a repayment plan offered for most federal loans. The standard 10 year repayment plan calculates monthly payments based on the amount of your loans, but IBR is different because it is determined based on your ie. If you have a high debt to ie ratio, then IBR can help to lower your monthly payment amounts.

IBR is available for all federal loans except for Parent PLUS, and Parent PLUS consolidation loans. Eligibility is determined by ie, and family size. Below is a chart for determining monthly payments.

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