Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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DECEMBER 23-29, 2015 UCW 15 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Student loan default is a national issue, and FTCC is committed to educating students to help reduce the number of people who default on their student loans. Throughout the nation, schools that offer federal student aid are assigned cohort default rates. A cohort default rate is a calculation of the percentage of student loan borrowers who default on their loans within the year they begin repayment or the subsequent two years. Student loan default has consequences for both the defaulting student and the school. Students who default on their loans can face serious repercussions, including wage garnishment, further damage to their credit reports, tax refund seizure and calls from collection agencies. In addition, students with defaulted student loans forfeit their eligibility to benefit from federal student aid; the loan default needs to be remedied before a student is again eligible for federal financial aid. Schools themselves are liable to sanctions if enough of their former students default on loans. A school with a cohort default rate of 30 percent or higher for three years in a row is not able to offer federal student aid for three years. This sanction would hurt current students, as they would no longer benefit from the federal grant or loan programs. Although FTCC has never had a cohort default rate of 30 percent, FTCC makes extra efforts to provide students counseling and educational information about existing options for avoiding delinquency and default. These efforts are part of FTCC's dedication to going beyond what is required to help achieve student success. FTCC offers enrolled students numerous presentations each semester to explain the process of repayment and the consequences of default. These presentations serve as an educational addition to the online entrance counseling that every student must take before receiving federal student loan funds. In the supplemental presentations, students are taught how to identify their student loan servicer and are reminded about repayment options. FTCC takes every opportunity to make students aware of loan repayment. Facebook announcements, posters, brochures and closed-circuit television screens remind students of the responsibility to repay their loans and offer assistance in finding the best repayment options for their situations. FTCC's outreach to student loan borrowers does not end when students leave the campus. FTCC calls, emails and sends letters to former student loan borrowers to offer assistance. FTCC is happy to connect students with their loan servicers for counseling. In an effort to prevent as many students from defaulting on their loans as possible, FTCC has partnered with USA Funds for additional student outreach. USA Funds' representatives call and email former students and offer repayment counseling. Students are connected with their student loan servicers so they can determine the best repayment options for their unique situations. FTCC wants to help students make the most of their educational journeys. With smart oversight and planning, FTCC students can enjoy the benefits of receiving a high-quality education, at an affordable cost, and avoid the consequences of student loan default. Call FTCC today at 678-8400 to learn about programs of study, scholarships, financial aid, and convenient options for tuition payment. FTCC Strives to Help Students Avoid Loan Default by KATHERINE RETTIG KATHERINE RETTIG, FTCC Financial Aid Technician, Contributing Writer. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomingweekly.com. 910.484.6200 For many, student loans are a part of getting an education. It is important to understand that loans are just that and must be paid back. The president of the United States today sends troops to fight in distant lands for long periods, enters into binding agreements with foreign powers and takes other extraordinary actions, all without prior approval from Congress. Presidential candidates promise to reverse their predecessors' agreements on the first day they take office. And they confidently promise to take other dramatic and costly actions unilaterally on that same first day. We have come to expect, even demand, such power plays from our presidents. So it is fair to ask what explains the enormous growth of presidential power from its lowly state in the late 19th century to the imperial presidency of today. Earlier this month, North Carolina's 93-year-old presidential historian, William Leuchtenburg, gave us a response to this question in the form of his latest book, "The American President: From Teddy Roosevelt to Bill Clinton." That book follows the expansion of presidential power during the 20th century, showing how it grew in periods of reform to respond to domestic challenges and during the two World Wars, Korea, Vietnam and the war on terror. Reviewing the new book in "The American Scholar," Michael Sherry writes that Leuchtenburg "is perhaps today's greatest presidential historian, and not of the presidency as some insular realm, but as it intersected with national life, which makes this book also a history of the nation in the 20th century." Not surprisingly, Leuchtenburg's answer to the question about the growth of presidential power is not a simple one-liner. In fact it is a big 800-pager. That might be bad news for readers of other books, but this author's great story-telling gifts and a long lifetime of thoughtful study make each instructive page a pleasure. Filmmaker Ken Burns, himself a great storyteller, explains Leuchtenburg's gift better than I can. "This is a riveting narrative, written by someone with a deep knowledge of the presidents and our complicated country. It seems an almost effortless work, but, of course, it's not. William Leuchtenburg has spent the better part of a century studying the mechanics of this republic and the men (so far) charged with leading it. The result here is a fast-paced, dramatic literary achievement that will be around and used for centuries." Critics of Barack Obama's use of executive agreements to bypass Congress on the Iran-nuclear arms and the recent Paris climate deals can blame Teddy Roosevelt. When the Senate refused to ratify a pact in 1905 with Santo Domingo, he simply made an executive agreement with the same terms. Later he explained. "The Constitution did not explicitly give me power to bring about the necessary agreement with Santo Domingo. But the Constitution did not forbid my doing what I did." Woodrow Wilson also expanded the role of the presidency, but surprisingly, according to Leuchtenburg, "he conducted a minimalist operation in the White House." Wilson's chief of staff was his only staff, "save for employees such as clerks." "With no speechwriters and very little technical support, the president had to handcraft documents. On an old portable typewriter, he banged out diplomatic notes to be sent over the signature of the secretary of state." Both Wilson, during the First World War, and Franklin Roosevelt, during the Second, took extraordinary actions as commander-in- chief that resulted in increased power for the office. However, both of them got congressional authority before committing troops in those wars. But, Leuchtenburg writes, "after Truman's unilateral action in Korea, the power vested in Congress alone to declare war became almost a relic." Important as understanding the origins of increased presidential power was to me, the book's exploration of each president's background, character and family kept me turning the pages and, at the end, made me believe that I knew each of them as a close friend. Making Friends with Our Presidents by D. G. MARTIN D.G. MARTIN, Host of UNCs Book Watch, Contributing Writer. COMMENTS? Editor@ upandcomingweekly.com. 910.484.6200