FAP807: Finding a summer job in a tight economy

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Student Financial Aid News
+ Chronicle: Citibank (ticker: C), one of the nation’s largest providers of student loans, has told a series of colleges in recent days that it won’t be doing business with them any longer.
+ The bank’s student-lending division, the Student Loan Corporation (ticker: STU), said in a statement that it was “suspending lending at certain schools where we anticipate processing minimal loan volume. We have also temporarily suspended lending at schools which tend to have loans with lower balances and shorter periods over which we earn interest.”
+ There have been a LOT of emails on private financial aid discussion lists about this - some schools are dropping Citibank as a lender for not supporting other fellow schools

Scholarship Update
+ Albright College Warren L. Davis Scholarships
+ The Warren L. Davis Scholarships are full-tuition scholarships, worth $26,620 for the 2006-2007 academic year and approximately $110,000 over four years. The College invites about 75 of its top applicants to apply for these scholarships and awards two Davis Scholarships each year. The Davis scholarship is renewable as long as the student maintains a 3.3 grade point average.
+ Details at our free college scholarship search site
+ Our May $1,000 scholarship drawing is just a couple of days away - sponsored by GradLoans.com Graduate Student Loans

Mail Bag
+ Jeff writes in: Thanks for the effort you put into the Financial Aid Podcast. I learn so much from your show each day.
+ Due to divorce, my daughter spends more time at her mom’s house than she does at mine. I understand that in this situation her mom’s income will be the information reflected on the FAFSA. Unfortunately her mom doesn’t have the best credit and I’m wondering what, if anything, can be done about this. What insight can you provide into this situation? Your help is appreciated.
+ The FAFSA regs do state that the primary parent will be the one where the child lives more than 50% of the time - so unless you can alter that arrangement, she will continue to be the primary parent. That said, only the PLUS loan and private student loans are credit based, and private student loans don’t require the FAFSA

Jobcast
+ Lots of articles about how summer employment for high school and college kids is harder than ever to find
+ In some cases, kids may be competing for the same jobs as parents
+ Figure out what your schedule is, what kind of pay you’re looking for, and most importantly, what the long term benefits of the job will be
+ What kind of networking opportunity will it present?
+ Have business cards - even if you don’t have a job
+ Prep a nice professional web site for yourself
+ Don’t expect to be making the big money (though it’s nice if you are)
+ Bring your unique skills to companies that need them
+ Social networking and new media are hot right now and a LOT of companies don’t know even where to start - but anyone under the age of 18 can set up a Facebook Fan Page or MySpace profile in about 10 minutes - use this knowledge gap to your advantage
+ Lack of experience can be made up for with knowledge
+ If you can afford it, unpaid internships are great, too
+ Be mindful of your income protection allowance for financial aid - $3,080 on the FAFSA
+ Work study does NOT count against your income

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