H _ Slogan of the week:
■ I I Now featuring news!
SERVING THE BREVARD COLLEGE
Volume 74, Issue 22 COMMUNITY SINCE 1935 March 27, 2009
Time to pay up
New Sallie Mae loan plan means pay now for students
by Anna Lothson
The Daily Iowan
U-Wire Content
For some student loans, the buy now, pay
later era is changing.
Sallie Mae—the nation’s largest student-
loan provider—introduced on Monday the
new Smart Option Student Loan, which
seeks to reduce student debt by changing
loan-payment terms.
Starting with the 2009-10 academic year,
new loan applicants will now have to make
interest-only payments while still in col
lege instead of deferring them until after
graduation.
“Paying a little now saves a lot in the long
mn,” said Patricia Christel, a spokeswoman
for Sallie Mae.
Overall, the goal of the change is to help
students develop repayment habits, im-
In this issue...
FEATURES:
BC senior clowns in Guatemala 4
New weight room project underway... 2
ARTS AND LIFE:
Mason Jar Drinkers and Pescado's.... 7
BANFF sells out two shows 6
OPINION:
The housing lottery- WTF? 3
Flip the switch 3
SPORTS:
Tennis perched atop SAC 6
Tough week for Brevard batters 6
ODDS AND ENDS:
American Hero 8
Sign of the Times 8
Cartoons! 2, 8
prove credit scores, and make payments
more manageable by getting students to pay
off the loans in five to 15 years as opposed
to 15 to 30 years.
But that cost today could have a toll
on some students’ pocketbooks while in
school.
Mark Warner, the director of University
of Iowa Student Financial Aid, said when
it comes to private loans, “consumer be
ware.”
While he noted the benefits of the shorter
payback of loans, he said for some students
— such as those who are not obtaining
any financial support from parents — the
change could be a setback.
“If the student is unable to make inter
est payments while in school, then that
will provide hardship for that student,”
he said.
Warner said the new option appears to be
better for students who have a cosigner who
helps make those payments. And avoiding
the traditional accumulation of debt could
also be a benefit, he said.
Under Salhe Mae, students who have a
cosigner are more likely to be approved for
a loan and to receive lower interest rates.
Christel said.
Though speaking from different spec-
tmms of student financial aid, Warner and
Christel agreed that private loans should
only be sought after exhausting all available
federal assistance.
“I would never promote private loans”
without reviewing other possibilities, War
ner said, pointing out that students should
always be budget conscious and apply for
loans minimally.
Nationally, Sallie Mae manages $180
bilhon in education loans and serves 10
milhon parent and student customers, ac
cording to a press release.
Under the new plan, a student with the
average loan of $7,700 would be able to
repay that twice as quickly — saving the
student roughly $8,700, according to the
release.
“We have tried to design this loan to be
sensitive to the needs of students who not
only rely on this financing to get to college
but also want a more manageable level
of debt as they transition from school to
work,” Jack Hewes, the senior executive
vice-president of Sallie Mae, said in the
release.
What does your tuition money pay for?
Maintenance
9%
Instruction
21%
Financial Aid
25%
Institutional Support
13%
Academic Support
2%
•^Student Services
17%
Auxiliary
Enterprises
13%
After a 4 percent tuition increase was approved by the Board of Trustees two
weels ago, many students begged the question, “What does all that money go
to?” This week. President Van Horn supplied The Clarion the above information
regarding how your tuition money is spent.