Whether you have a child planning for, currently attending, or graduating from college, College Zone can help you help them.

Click on the appropriate link (at left) to identify your child’s current grade or experience level.

Parent Message Board

The Parent Message Board is updated each week. New messages for the week are identified by the  symbol. Items under the More section, located toward the bottom of the page, provide links to information on topics that were recently listed on this Message Board.

 Parents of middle and high school students - encourage your son or daughter to check out Mapping Your Future's Show Me the Future® online life skills and financial literacy game. This interactive resource is a fun way for students to learn about life skills and money management, and will help them understand that the decisions they make today can have a life-long impact.

Undergraduate students planning to take out a Direct Subsidized Student Loan that will be disbursed on or after July 1, 2012 should be aware that – absent Congressional action - the interest rate for such loans will be set at 6.8% (which is double the 3.4% interest rate that applies to undergraduate Direct Subsidized Student Loans disbursed before July 1, 2012). Further details are provided in a recent posting from the U.S. Department of Education (ED) at Student Aid on the Web, along with a link to information regarding other new requirements for the federal student aid programs resulting from recent legislative changes.

A recent press release from the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announces that 2012 Presidential Scholars have been selected. The outstanding high school seniors receiving this honor include one male and one female from each state, the District of Columbia (DC) and Puerto Rico, and from U.S. families living abroad. In addition, 15 high school seniors were chosen at-large, and 20 were named Presidential Scholars in the Arts. A ceremony honoring this year's Presidential Scholars will take place on June 16, 2012.

As was explained in an e-mail message that was sent to students who may potentially be eligible for the Monetary Award Program (MAP), there are currently two fiscal year 2013 (FY13) budget proposals being considered for the State of Illinois. These two proposals would likely result in significantly different levels of 2012-13 MAP funding. Further details are provided on the Save MAP Funding page at collegeillinois.org.

Student loan borrowers may visit the StudentLoans.gov website to determine their eligibility status for the Special Direct Consolidation Loan program.  Those who are potentially eligible will be able to access the online application, and those who are not eligible will be notified via an “Alerts” message box.  As a reminder, the Special Direct Consolidation Loan initiative is a short-term consolidation opportunity that is being offered through the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program. The application deadline is June 30, 2012.

More

2012-13 State Scholar Announcements

College Illinois!® Prepaid Tuition Program

State Legislative Update

Outreach Calendar/Events

U.S. Department of Education's Federal Aid First

Federal Student Aid's FAFSA4caster

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