Student Aid Requests Soar - Families Feel Pinch in Tight Economy

CollegeZapps Opens Window of Options for Parents and College Applicants

LITTLETON, Colo., Aug. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Facing a sputtering economy,
escalating tuition costs and a rise in college admission applications; would
be college students are applying for financial aid in surging numbers.
Nationally, 8.9 million students filed federal student aid forms during the
first half of 2008, a 16.3 percent increase over the same period last year.
For decades, the federal student loan program has helped tens of millions
of students pay for college. About 47 percent of families borrow money to help
get kids through college, according to a study released August 20th by lender
Sallie Mae and Gallup. The study affirmed that federal loans are easily the
most popular source of borrowing.
"The student loan industry has experienced a volatile year and the impact
of this volatility is starting to trickle down to parents and students.
Tighter lending standards and falling housing prices have made it harder for
parents to tap home-equity loans and lines of credit to pay their kids'
education bills," said David Kenney, CEO of CollegeZapps. "It is critical for
parents and students to have options. If you don't apply -- you can't be
accepted. If you are not accepted to multiple colleges -- you don't have
choices."
"Each college has a different cost of attendance based on factors such as
tuition, fees, room, board, projected expenses and regional costs of living.
Parents and students want to weigh their best options of grants, scholarships,
loans, and work study," continued Kenney.
In an interview titled "The Credit Crisis and Student Loans" on the PBS
Nightly Business Report, Brian Lee Sang, Financial Aid Director at American
University said, "It's creating issues where families are coming to us asking
us for institutional help, saying, 'Hey can I get more money any way to try to
help get us through the spring semester?' But I think more colleges are going
to see even more of this and feel the impact of this next year."
Families are looking for more options.
CollegeZapps (http://www.collegezapps.com) has opened a window of options
for parents and college applicants by simplifying and streamlining the college
application process. With CollegeZapps completing actual college applications
is now fast, accurate and professional. Students can spend more time choosing
what colleges best fit them, applying to more colleges in less time, and
reducing the redundancy that comes with filling out multiple application
forms.
CollegeZapps recommends applying to as many as 10 colleges and dividing
them up into three groups:
-- Group one: Apply to colleges where you feel you'll most likely to be
accepted. These are usually called "safeties" or "back ups."
-- Group two: Apply to colleges that are overall good matches, with a
high probability that you will be accepted. These are colleges that fit
academically and socially.
-- Group three: Apply to "reach" colleges. These are colleges that
present an admissions challenge.
For more information, visit http://www.collegezapps.com or contact Scot
Talcott at (866) 492-7607 or (303)785.8600.
Media Contact
Dale Jones
Strategic Advantage Public Relations
(303) 298-9630
djones@strategicadvantage.ws

SOURCE CollegeZapps

Dale Jones of Strategic Advantage Public Relations, +1-303-298-9630,
djones@strategicadvantage.ws, for CollegeZapps