Davidson offers all students free NCAA tourney tickets

[Newt99]

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/news;_ylt=AtlDnc1vTw5PatxnNbUhiRvevbYF?slug=ap-ncaa-davidson-freetrip&prov=ap&type=lgns

What a cool idea. Yeah I know it is a really small private school, but I still wonder how much all of this is going to cost them. Davidson's Board of Trustees must have a bit of spare cash laying around. Can you imagine the frenzy this would set off at UNI? Can you imagine how bad our ticket office would screw it up?

Ok, so that might have been a cheap shot, but I don't even want to think about how disorganized that would be...

[jman2004]

Re: Davidson offers all students free NCAA tourney tickets

Saw this on PTI yesterday. Tony said that Davidson has 450 million dollars in endowment money. It sounds like they can afford it.

Cool idea either way . . .

[Newsbreaker]

Re: Davidson offers all students free NCAA tourney tickets

On a related note, Davidson made a pledge last academic year to ensure that they wouldn't package student loans as a part of their financial aid awards. As a financial aid administrator...I'm not sure how that works...but having a $450 million endowment is a start.

As a financial aid administrator, is the current stuff with Iowa Student Loan a minor, major, or a total nightmare in your world?

[Panther AC]

Re: Davidson offers all students free NCAA tourney tickets

Tuition to Davidson is $41,000 per year! They do your laundry for free for that price. They should be able to buy you a bus ticket to Detroit for that kind of money also. UNI students have it much better by comparison!

[clenz]

Re: Davidson offers all students free NCAA tourney tickets

Not too bad at my institution as we're pretty low cost, but it's going to be a major impact at the 4-year privates and the Regents.

What it will do is shift a lot of student debt to out of state FOR PROFIT lenders or to the Federal government and into the hands of parents with PLUS (Parent Loan for Undergraduate Student) loans. Debt won't go down...it will be shifted.

I'm a financial aid geek...so I have some strong opinions on that topic right now. THe scariest loans out there are the ones that advertise...like Astrive. They're direct-to-consumer loans and don't have to be certified by the college the student is attending...which means they can borrow more than the cost of attendance...scary.

So with ISL doing what they did, what does that do for me getting loans the next couple years for school?

[Newsbreaker]

Re: Davidson offers all students free NCAA tourney tickets

A good part of the concern is the fact that *some* (though I understand the banks you listed have committed to next year) of the for-profit private lenders have said they won't be lending money next year either.

The short story is that it's going to cost some people more, long-term, to go to school next year. Maybe that will mean they will place greater personal value on the opportunity ().

[clenz]

Re: Davidson offers all students free NCAA tourney tickets

What did ISL do? The current bond market is not allowing them to get their hands on money at a good enough rate to lend to students without passing the cost onto students. So they're not going to be able to make private loans after April 30th this year. If the bond rates get back to a reasonable level...they'll be back to help Iowa students again I would assume.

If you're going to UNI, your Federal Stafford Loans are "Direct Loans" meaning that they come directly from the Department of Education. Freshman are eligible for $3500, sophomores $4500 and juniors and seniors $5500 each year. If you need additional loans, UNI packages PLUS loan. A loan your parent can take out in their name. If they won't take that loan...there are a myriad of private loan options. Myh suggestion would be to contact your financial aid office and ask them what options are out there for you. They do a great job of researching different options.

Wells Fargo, CitiAssist, US Bank are just a few that offer similar products to the ISL "Parntership" Loan. The difference is that ISL is a not-for-profit Iowa based company and the others are FOR profit lenders from out of state. Be careful with variable rate loans with no caps. Always ask about repayment terms. Ask about if they will sell the loan to another collector. Ask about "borrower benefits" like interest rate reductions for on time payments or automatic withdrawl. Find the best option for you.

Some schools are using www.simpletuition.com. It's a site that compares private loans.

I'll forward this to my parents. Thanks for the info on this, great help.

A good part of the concern is the fact that *some* (though I understand the banks you listed have committed to next year) of the for-profit private lenders have said they won't be lending money next year either.

The short story is that it's going to cost some people more, long-term, to go to school next year. Maybe that will mean they will place greater personal value on the opportunity ().

This is what the paper said that ISL was going to do this year. They couldn't find enough banks or something to back them so they weren't going to loan money out.

[Newsbreaker]

Re: Davidson offers all students free NCAA tourney tickets

I have a good friend at a private graduate college in Iowa, and their financial aid office sent out a memo a while back explaining the situation and setting nerves at ease, as some were understandably nervous about continuing to finance their education. I would urge parents and students to contact their financial aid office and ask the relevant questions.