ANCHOR LEAD
Source: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and The Project on Student Debt, National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, 1993 and 2004 undergraduates.
NO DOUBT ABOUT IT. COLLEGE TUITION IS SKYROCKETING AND SO IS STUDENT DEBT... WITH LOANS THE ONLY WAY TO FOOT THE BILL FOR MILLIONS. BUT HERE'S A HEADS UP! THERE ARE BIG CHANGES COMING THIS SUMMER WITH THE MOST POPULAR STUDENT LOAN... AND WHAT YOU DO NOW WILL GREATLY IMPACT WHAT YOU PAY LATER.
___________EXPLAINS.

TRACK ONE Length: 07
COLLEGE ROOMMATES CELESTE STEENBURGH AND JESSICA DREIER HAVE DIFFERENT MAJORS...BUT A COMMON CONCERN: MOUNTING STUDENT LOANS.

SOT
KEY @: 08 Celeste Steenburgh, College Senior
"I'm already looking for that job that's going to pay me enough money to be able to pay my bills and pay for my loans."

SOT
KEY @: 14
Jessica Dreier, College Junior"I'm very worried about paying it off."

TRACK TWO Length: 14
SOURCE: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and The Project on Student Debt; National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, 1993 and 2004 undergraduates.
IT'S NO SURPRISE. ACCORDING TO THE PROJECT ON STUDENT DEBT, THE AVERAGE DEBT FOR COLLEGE GRADS HAS SKYROCKETED TO A WHOPPING NINETEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS...WITH MANY OWING MORE THAN FORTY GRAND! AND THE NUMBERS OF SCHOLARS BORROWING IS UP TOO.

SOT
KEY @: 30 Robert Shireman, The Project on Student Debt
"It used to be that fewer than half of students took out loans by the time they graduated from college and now it's two-thirds."

TRACK THREE Length: 09
Source: U.S. Department of Education and The Project on Student Debt
MORE THAN TEN MILLION RELY ON THE STAFFORD LOAN, BACKED BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. ITS LOW VARIABLE RATES MAKE IT THE MOST POPULAR WAY TO BORROW CASH FOR CLASS.

SOT
KEY @: 47 Cheryl Resh, Financial Aid Expert
(Director of Financial Aid, University of California at Berkeley)
"Two years ago the interest rates were at 2.7 percent for the Stafford loans, this year they're at 4.7."

TRACK FOUR Length: 07
BUT THE RULES ARE CHANGING. STARTING IN JULY, THE STAFFORD JUMPS TO 6.8 PERCENT. AND HERE'S THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE:

SOT
Length: 01(Cheryl Resh, Financial Aid Expert(Director of Financial Aid, University of California at Berkeley))
"It's going to a fixed rate."

TRACK FIVE Length: 11
BUT THE CHANGE ONLY APPLIES TO NEW LOANS. IF YOU ALREADY OWE MONEY...VARIABLE RATES WILL CONTINUE...BUT, NOTE: THEY'RE EXPECTED TO GO UP TOO. SO, FINANCIAL AID EXPERTS SAY CONSIDER CONSOLIDATING NOW.

SOT
KEY @: 1:13 Robert Shireman, The Project on Student Debt
"One way that students can protect themselves is to lock in those interest rates."

SOT
KEY @: 1:19 Cheryl Resh, Financial Aid Expert(Director of Financial Aid, University of California at Berkeley)
"They have the ability to do an in-school consolidation as long as they do it before July first."

TRACK SIX Length: 06
AFTER THAT, YOU CAN'T! SO CELESTE NOW PLANS TO LOCK IN THE MONEY SHE OWES AT 4.7 PERCENT.

SOT
Length: 02(Celeste Steenburgh, College Senior)
"I plan on doing that as soon as possible."

ANCHOR TAG
AS WE MENTIONED --- AFTER JUNE 30, YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO CONSOLIDATE WHILE YOU'RE IN SCHOOL, BUT YOU STILL CAN AFTER YOU GRADUATE.

OPINION IS MIXED ABOUT WHETHER THE CHANGES ARE GOOD FOR STUDENTS. SOME BANKING EXPERTS SAY THAT THE NEW FIXED RATE WILL PROTECT STUDENTS IF INTEREST RATES CLIMB. BUT OTHERS FEEL THAT THE HIGHER PAYMENTS NOW WILL HURT STUDENTS IN THE LONG RUN. REGARDLESS OF THE DEBATE, ALL THE EXPERTS WE TALKED TO STRESSED THAT FEDERAL LOANS ARE STILL THE WAY TO GO WHEN STUDENTS NEED MONEY.

SOURCE LIST

Robert Shireman
Project on Student Debt
2150 Shattuck Ave. Suite 800
Berkeley, CA 94704
(510) 647-4305
Email: rshireman@ticas.org
Robert Shireman is one the nation's leading experts on student loans and financial aid policy. Mr. Shireman has worked on education research and policy at the White House National Economic Council, in the U.S. Senate, and at foundations and think tanks. He is the author of numerous publications and articles, and his op-eds have appeared in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chronicle of Higher Education and Chronicle of Philanthropy.

In addition to his role at TICAS, Mr. Shireman is a visiting scholar at the University of California at Berkeley 's Center for Studies in Higher Education, and serves as a congressional appointee to the Federal Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance. Shireman holds a B.A. in economics from U.C. Berkeley, and masters degrees from Harvard (education) and the University of San Francisco (public administration).

Cheryl Resh,
Director of Financial Aid, University of California at Berkeley
224 Sproul
Berkeley, CA 94720-1960
(510) 642-0645
Also, member of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

Email: chaigh@calmail.berkeley.edu
Dr. Resh has served in her current position since 2001. She has worked in higher education administration for the past thirty two years, with twenty of them in financial aid at UC Berkeley. She earned her Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration at UC Berkeley in 1991 while working as a full-time administrator. She holds a B.S. in Mathematics and a M.S. in Education from Northern Illinois University.

Dr. Resh is a member of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, the California Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, the Coalition of State University Aid Administrators, and is on the Executive Council of the National Direct Student Loan Coalition.

As a member of the Executive Council of the National Direct Student Loan Coalition, she travels to Washington DC several times a year to meet with officials at the Department of Education, congressional leaders and education associations to promote the success of the Federal Direct Student Loan Program in serving the interests of students, families, taxpayers and institutions.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

John D. Vacanti
Bank Of America
(415) 407-9868
Email: John.D.Vacanti@bankofamerica.com
Vacanti, Vice President, Student Banking Group, Bank of America Sales Team Lead Northwest Territory, Associate Member of CASFAA and CCCSFAAA (California Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators and California Community College Student Financial Aid Administrators Association)
*For information on current rates and loan amounts for the Stafford Loan Program through Nellie Mae, one of the providers of the Stafford, go to:
http://www.nelliemae.com/schools/template/standard/stafford.html

If you'd like to provide a link to the U.S. Department of Education website, you can find it at: http://www.ed.gov/index.jhtml