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Class of 2012 faces harsh reality of college expenses

18.05.12

They passed multiple advanced placement courses, they took and retook college-entrance exams, they filled their résumés with extracurricular activities and they won the prized acceptance letters. Now many in the high school class of 2012 face the hardest test of all: how to finance the $24,000 to $60,000-plus annual cost of a college education.

Across the state, in tough conversations leading up to Tuesday's deadline to commit to a school, successful students have run up against hard reality. They simply can't afford the college of their dreams, or maybe any four-year college at all.

Valerie Gareth Tidball, of Oakland, dreamed of attending New York University ever since the theater bug bit her in eighth grade. She auditioned for NYU's exclusive Tisch School of the Arts -- and got one of 400 coveted acceptances. But more stunning was the financial aid letter: The cost of attendance would be $66,000, and NYU offered only $17,000 in scholarships and work-study.

Source: Oakland Tribune

Lenders should tell brokers what they need at DIP stage

18.05.12

There are a few points I would like to raise. Firstly, what are brokers paying the £99 booking fee for? Secondly, most brokers should be able to fill in most of the stuff required on Nationwide’s form at the decision in principle stage, so I imagine cases where there is incorrect or missing information are rare.

And thirdly, if lenders were to give brokers more than a few hours’ notice when they withdraw products, it would help to solve a lot of the problems.

Any good broker who cannot fill in the form correctly because of insufficient warnings about a rate withdrawal would surely send a memo to the lender confirming any gaps as soon as humanly possible.

It seems it would make sense for lenders to give brokers at least a few days to get this memo to them, rather than just posting the application back.

The process works both ways. Would it not be better for lenders to tell brokers more accurately what they need at the DIP stage, rather than ask for certain documents with the full application on acceptance of the DIP? This way, brokers could submit the full application before an underwriter has actually looked at it and then send any additional information that is needed.

Source: Mortgage Strategy