Tag Archives: Office of Federal Student Aid

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Pick Your Poison


 By ThinkProgress War Room

Devastating Cuts Take Hold

Devastating, painful, and, above all, avoidable spending cuts went into effect Friday evening after sequestration became official. Instead of agreeing to a balanced replacement that includes targeted spending cuts and new revenues from closing tax loopholes used by the wealthiest Americans and special interests, Republicans are instead forcing these damaging cuts on the country.

Here’s a look at 32 of the dumbest and most devastating cuts.

Health care

  • $20 million cut from the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Programs
  • $10 million cut from the World Trade Center Health Program Fund
  • $168 million cut from Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
  • $75 million cut from the Aging and Disability Services Programs

Housing

  • $199 million cut from public housing
  • $96 million cut from Homeless Assistance Grants
  • $17 million cut from Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS
  • $19 million cut from Housing for the Elderly
  • $175 million cut from Low Income Home Energy Assistance

Disaster and Emergency

  • $928 million cut from FEMA’s disaster relief money
  • $6 million cut from Emergency Food and Shelter
  • $70 million cut from the Agricultural Disaster Relief Fund at USDA
  • $61 million cut from the Hazardous Substance Superfund at EPA
  • $125 million cut from the Wildland Fire Management
  • $53 million cut from Salaries and Expenses at the Food Safety and Inspection Service

Obamacare

  • $13 million cut from the Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan Program (Co-ops)
  • $57 million cut from the Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control
  • $51 million cut from the Prevention and Public Health Fund
  • $27 million cut from the State Grants and Demonstrations
  • $44 million cut from the Affordable Insurance Exchange Grants program

Education

  • $633 million cut from the Department of Education’s Special Education programs
  • $184 million cut from Rehabilitation Services and Disability Research
  • $71 million cut from administration at the Office of Federal Student Aid
  • $116 million cut from Higher Education
  • $86 million cut from Student Financial Assistance

Immigration

  • $512 million cut from Customs and Border Protection
  • $17 million cut from Automation Modernization, Customs and Border Protection
  • $20 million cut from Border Security Fencing, Infrastructure, and Technology

Security

  • $79 million cut from Embassy Security, Construction, and Maintenance
  • $604 million cut from National Nuclear Security Administration
  • $232 million cut from the Federal Aviation Administration
  • $394 million cut from Defense Environmental Cleanup

BOTTOM LINE: The worst impacts of the cuts won’t happen overnight, but they will happen. Rather than compromise, Republicans instead appear ready to stand by and watch as our economy and millions of Americans are hurt by these irresponsible and devastating cuts. Their reckless behavior got us into this mess in 2011 and now it’s time for them to come back to the table and help get us out of it before the worst impacts of these indiscriminate cuts happen.

Evening Brief: Important Stories That You Might’ve Missed

The GOP’s top donor admits that his company probably bribed foreign officials.

Jeb Bush flip-flops on a path to earned citizenship.

Theatrical slut shaming: Daily Caller goes after Ashley Judd for nude scenes.

Mitt Romney is not done proving why he’s not president. And Ann Romney isn’t over it yet.

Can a leading climate denier win in a swing state?

GOP congressman opposed Violence Against Women Act because it protected too many people.

The Associated Press laments the plight of the very wealthy.

Business-friendly Swiss vote for major restrictions on executive compensation.

Corporate profits have risen almost twenty times faster than worker wages since 2008.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

USA.gov.: learn more – frauds&scams, permanent res, voting info for uniformed&overseas,student aid, tornados


Learn more about frauds and scams so that you don’t become a victim.

Learn more about the options and steps to becoming a permanent resident.

Visit the voting assistance guide for uniformed and overseas citizens.

 How can I prepare for a tornado?

Learn more about federal student aid and how to apply.

What is Fix a Leak Week?

According to a new settlement, some Servicemembers and Veterans may receive housing relief.Relief could affect those who were:

  • Wrongly foreclosed upon
  • Wrongfully denied the opportunity to reduce their mortgage payments through lower interest rates
  • Forced to sell their homes for less than they were worth due to a change in station

As part of an effort to reduce barriers and costs for refinancing, FHA will cut its fees for refinancing loans already insured by FHA. An estimated 2-3 million borrowers could be eligible for this savings.

Get further details about these new provisions for military homeowners.
~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Fraudulent Colleges ruin lives …Repost -good information


Shannon Croteau was 11 classes away from a degree from Kaplan University Online (a for-profit college owned by The Washington Post Company) when she learned she was out of financial aid, $30,000 in debt, and here’s the kicker – the degree she was working toward would be worthless in her state of New Hampshire.

She was billed for loans she never signed up for, enrolled in classes she didn’t choose and, when she complained, was given the runaround by a succession of fake “loan officers” who wouldn’t tell her the truth, let alone their last names. “They lied and cheated,” Shannon told us at “It has ruined me.”

She’s just one of millions of students to have her financial life devastated by the fraudulent and predatory practices of for-profit colleges. Countless other Kaplan students have come forward, saying they’ve been charged for classes even after they’ve withdrawn, stalked by aggressive admissions officers or had their degrees held hostage if they don’t ante up “surprise” fees.

Shannon has started a petition on the Change website , demanding that the Washington Post Company stop preying on low-income students.

Add your name.

It’s important to understand that for-profit colleges stay in business by taking billions from the federal government: During the 2008-09 academic year alone, for-profit colleges siphoned off $4.3 billion of federal student aid.

And if the students can’t pay those loans back, who cares? Students who attend for-profit colleges account for only 12% of America‘s college students, but they represent nearly half of student loan defaults. Those students will be hounded by creditors for the rest of their lives. Our tax dollars cover their debts. And the for-profit colleges never have to give back a dime.

They don’t care whether the students they recruit can afford college, or even whether those students will be able to use their degrees if and when they graduate. For these businesses, each new recruit represents a profit. Nothing more, nothing less.

But Shannon Croteau and a group of former Kaplan students are fighting back – and Change.org members can help. By raising the profile of these appalling institutions, we can pressure the Washington Post Company to get out of the business of preying on people’s dreams of better educations and better careers.

Please take action today to tell Washington Post Company Chairman Donald Graham to either stop the fraudulent practices or shut down Kaplan University:

Thanks for taking action,

Judith and the Change.org team