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News You Can Use
From the News You Can Use Archives 01/29/07

January News Digest
By Ian Crawford, Web Communications Editor

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Washington Update
The House of Representatives passed the College Student Relief Act of 2007 (H.R. 5) by a vote of 356 to 71 with 124 Republicans crossing the floor to support the bill. The bill now goes to the Senate.

President Bush has stated he opposes the bill but there is no indication at this time whether he will veto it or not. The bill would require a two-thirds majority in both houses to override the veto, a margin that may only be possible in the House of Representatives.

The legislation would cut interest rates on need-based federal loans for undergraduate students from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent in five steps:

  • 6.80 percent to 6.12 percent on July 1, 2007
  • 5.44 percent in 2008
  • 4.76 percent in 2009
  • 4.08 percent in 2010
  • 3.40 percent in 2011

However, the lowest rate would only be in effect for six months before the legislation sunsets on January 1, 2012. The Democrats hope to extend this period with subsequent legislation.

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Law Graduate Student Loan Debt Could Tip the Scales of Justice
The burden of student loan debt is stopping law-school graduates from taking up jobs in the government or public-interest sectors, according to a new report by Equal Justice Works. As a result, many low-income people are losing out on adequate access to justice.

The report, Financing the Future: Responses to the Rising Debt of Law Students states that the average law-school graduate has between $50,000 and $80,000 in student loan debt. The starting salary for lawyers in government and nonprofit jobs is a little over $40,000. The median starting salary for an associate in a big firm in a large city is $135,000, the report notes.

According to the report, “High debt and low salaries affect recruitment and retention in the government and nonprofit work force and threaten to strike a debilitating blow to the future of full-time public service."

Financing the Future: Responses to the Rising Debt of Law Students - Equal Justice Works

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Bid for a Year of College on eBay
Oklahoma Wesleyan University (OWU) is putting a full year of tuition, room and board up for auction on eBay between February 4 and 10, with the bidding starting at one penny.

According to The Examiner-Enterprise of Bartlesville, Executive Vice President of OWU Bob Myers said, “Since we are always looking for new and innovative things at Oklahoma Wesleyan University , we decided to tackle this. If somebody has ever wanted to either go to college or to send a friend or relative to college but couldn't afford it, they have an opportunity now to do that. To send somebody to college, depending on how the bid goes, it could be at a significantly reduced price.”

Oklahoma Wesleyan University Web Page on the eBay Auction

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Celebrating Ten Years of EDFUND Service!
This January is an important milestone for EDFUND— it's our ten year anniversary!

We couldn't let the date pass without reflecting on the past decade in financial aid and some of our organization's accomplishments in setting a new standard of exceptional service to schools and students.

In a News You Can Use article this month, we took a look at some highlights of the past ten years.

Complete Article: Celebrating Ten Years of EDFUND Service!

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Story posted January 29, 2007.

E-mail comments to: news@EDFUND.org

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