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Living into her gifts
National Presbyterian College Scholarship recipient, Minna Kara Pritchard, thrives at Queens University of Charlotte
By Drew Stockstill
Minna Pritchard (center) with mentors, Shelvis Smith-Mathers and Neema Cyrus Franklin.Photo courtesy of Minna Pritchard.
Decatur, Ga.- The Presbyterian Church has been home to Minna Kara Pritchard since the first grade.
Today the college freshman – who is originally from College Park Ga. – is completing her first semester at Queens University of Charlotte (N.C.) with the assistance of the National Presbyterian College Scholarship (NPCS) program. NPCS, which was started in partnership with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s related colleges and universities in the 1950s, is designed to assist Presbyterian students attending Presbyterian-related schools.
“It feels like it’s a good fit for me,” said Pritchard of her new school.
Pritchard’s Presbyterian family is incredibly important to her. Through the years, she has taken advantage of all that the connectional church community has to offer, discovering and exploring her own gifts and finding her voice
Spring 2011 graduates entering re-payment
November is the month when students who graduated in May will start to see statements arriving in the mail from their student loan servicers. With educational debt poised to reach 1 trillion dollars next year, anxiety about student loan debt is at an all time high.
Take a deep breath. There is help available.
- If you don’t know exactly what you’ve borrowed, you should. Visit http://www.nslds.ed.gov.
- Stay in touch with your loan servicer. Keep your contact information up to date and call if you are unable to make payment.
- Can’t make your payments? Talk to your lenders about repayment options.
One of the bright spots in student loan repayment is Income Based Repayment, a Direct Loan repayment option that is sensitive to income and family size. IBR payments are 15 percent of discretionary income. 2012 IBR will drop to 10% of discretionary income.
|
Annual Income |
$10,000 |
$15,000 |
$20,000 |
$25,000 |
$30,000 |
$35,000 |
$40,000 |
|
2011 IBR Monthly Payment |
$0 |
$0 |
$46 |
$108 |
$171 |
$233 |
$296 |
|
2012 IBR Monthly Payment |
$0 |
$0 |
$30 |
$72 |
$114 |
$155 |
$197 |
|
Payment |
|
|
|
|
|
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Borrowers who are unemployed or in financial hardship can request deferment or forbearance from their loan servicer. Keep
in mind that deferment and forbearance is a limited form of relief. Addressing your payment plan by moving to an income based repayment plan may be a more productive way to gain relief.
Visit the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to learn more about student loan repayment.
PC(USA) Student Loan borrowers can contact our loan servicing agency, The Student Loan People by calling toll free (800) 693-8220 or visiting www.thestudentloanpeople.com to request deferment/forbearance. There is paperwork that must be completed. PC(USA) borrowers also receive a .5 percent reduction to their interest rate when they sign up for Electronic Funds Transfer.
Transition-to-College Assistance Grants
The Board of Pensions of the PC(USA) is pleased to offer this pilot program that can help mitigate transitional expenses for eligible families of college freshmen. Learn more.
Disclaimer
The financial aid programs of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) are to help make undergraduate and graduate studies possible.
Student Loan Privacy Policy
How we protect and use information.