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Reason No. 5: You lost your scholarship
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Reason No. 5: You lost your scholarship

Some schools offer hefty financial aid packages to lure freshmen in, but don't renew the awards in subsequent years. Students can also lose merit award money by not maintaining a required GPA, moving from full- to part-time attendance or dropping a required club or major.

"If their financial aid package changes after their freshman year, they should meet with a financial aid officer right away to see if there is any negotiating room, particularly if the student can demonstrate a change in family finances," says Mary Johnson, financial literacy and consumer advocacy manager for Higher One, a financial aid disbursement service headquartered in New Haven, Conn.

Students can also apply for outside grants by checking out what's offered in their community and through scholarship search engines such as Fastweb.com and MeritAid.com.


 

 

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Student Loan Averages
Product Rate +/- Last week
Stafford Loan Rate-in school 3.40%
4.50%
Stafford Loan Rate-after school 6.80%
7.14%
Plus Loan Rate 7.90%
8.50%
$30K home equity loan FICO 6.17%
6.19%
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Don Taylorcollege
Don't learn the hard way: A co-signed student loan spells trouble when the student reneges.
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