USA Funds Update

USA Funds Grant Supports Enhanced and Expanded Scholarship Management Services
A USA Funds^® grant will help streamline and enhance the delivery of private scholarship dollars by Scholarship America, one of the nation’s largest nonprofit, private-sector scholarship and educational-support organizations. Read more.

Upcoming Webcasts Focus on Financial-Aid Fundamentals, Financial-Aid Workshops
Starting June 12 USA Funds University will offer a series of webcasts, designed for new financial-aid professionals as well as experienced aid administrators, to provide a basic understanding of the fundamentals of financial aid. In addition, USA Funds reminds financial-aid administrators that, beginning May 29, they can participate in webcasts covering three topics from the USA Funds Spring-2007 Financial-Aid Workshops. For more information about these webcasts, visit the USA Funds University online learning site.

USA Funds Supports Event That Helps Students Prepare for Postsecondary Education
More than 3,000 students attended the National Association for College Admission Counseling’s Honolulu National College Fair, with students from neighboring Hawaiian islands receiving financial assistance from USA Funds to travel to the fair. Learn more.

Washington Report

House Passes Student Loan Sunshine Act
The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bipartisan bill designed to prevent conflicts of interest between postsecondary institutions and education-loan providers. The Student Loan Sunshine Act passed the House on a vote of 414 to 3. Read more.

Education Secretary ‘Sets Record Straight’ on Student-Aid Oversight
U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings appeared May 10 before a U.S. House committee to, as she put it, “set the record straight” on her department’s oversight of federal student-aid programs. Spellings, however, ran into a buzz saw of criticism from the chairman of the panel. Read more.

Debt-Management Perspectives

Orange Coast College Boosting Student Financial Literacy With Help of USA Funds Life Skills
At Orange Coast College, students are learning how to create and live by a budget with the help of the USA Funds Life Skills^® financial-literacy curriculum. Learn more.

USA Funds Tools Play Key Role in Default-Prevention Tactics Shared at California Conference
During a recent conference in California that focused on the success of community-college students, Financial Aid Director Melissa Moser discussed how Orange Coast College works to prevent student-loan defaults. She shared her experiences in using USA Funds Life Skills and USA Funds Debt Manager^®. Learn more.