FAP752: Free stuff Friday, New England student loan troubles Listen now: Student Financial Aid News + Boston Globe: Amid a deepening credit squeeze and cutbacks in federal loan subsidies, New Hampshire’s nonprofit student-loan agency said this week that it will no longer offer private loans. The Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority, which lent money to 42,000 college students last year, has so far failed to secure any financing for its loans, as skittish investors shy away from taking on debt. + NASFAA and Minnesota Public Radio: “A report released by the National Consumer Law Center highlights the problem faced by students and recent graduates: steep tuition increases force students to take on more and more debt from private lenders. Then, a tight job market makes it hard for them to pay the loans back,” Minnesota Public Radio reports. “The private student loan market has exploded in the past five years and students are just now waking up to the long-term consequences, according to the center’s staff attorney, Deanne Loonin. ‘They’re just not in the economic shape they hoped they would in. They’re just not able to pay their loans. They have huge amounts of debt. It affects their credit. It affects their ability to build assets for the future,’ she says. Private lenders are not required to release information about default rates. But student surveys indicate a growing negative trend, Loonin says. In addition to higher tuition and persistently low federal loan limits, sophisticated marketing has greatly increased private lenders’ share of the market, she says.” Scholarship Update + FLO TV is looking for the ultimate Super Fan. Submit an original photograph or video showing why you’re a team’s Super Fan and you could win a 52″ HD LCD Toshiba Regza plus $1,000 in cash. Or, if you’re a spectator who can spot a Super Fan from a mile away, vote or review on a photo or video entry and you can win a $100 scholarship or cash. No purchase necessary. Open to anyone who is a resident of the 50 United States or the District of Columbia, has access to the Internet, and is 18 or older at the time of entry. + Details at our free college scholarship search site Free Stuff Friday + Get high quality video out of YouTube + Get flight data via text message from Google + Other things you can text Google about: Local, Weather, Glossary, Sports, Movies, Stocks, Zip Codes, Directions, Maps, Flights, Area Codes, Products, Q&A, Airlines, Translation, Web Snippets, Calculator, Currency Conversion, Airports, METAR, Help + Score free travel by intentionally booking your flight on overbooked flights + Ze Frank video on how to study + Learn how to garden simple herbs. No, not THAT kind of herb, I mean the culinary kind. A simple window box of a few basic plants - chives, basil, dill, oregano, and mint can give you tons of flavor even to college cafeteria food (try sprinkling fresh chopped dill on a salad with italian dressing) and once you get it started, as long as you maintain it, it’s more or less free Did you enjoy today’s show? If so, please consider subscribing for free to get it delivered to you . Subscribing for free means you don’t have to remember to download it every day. + + + Direct MP3 file download: Click here to download the MP3 Reminders + Financial Aid Podcast Show Notes at FinancialAidPodcast.com. + Free scholarship search secrets eBook at StudentScholarshipSearch.com/ebook + FAFSA form tutorials and free help at FAFSAonline.com + Grad student? Get graduate financial aid information at the GradLoans.com blog! + Stafford federal student loans at StaffordLoan.com + Student loan consolidation at StudentLoanConsolidator.com + Private student loans available at any time - visit AlternativeStudentLoan.com + The Financial Aid Podcast is a publication of the Student Loan Network. I want to hear from you! Email me at financialaidpodcast {at} gmail {dot} com, visit http://www.FinancialAidPodcast.com, or call 206-350-1208. Technorati Tags: financial aid financialaidpodcast ShareThis Less