On-Line Higher Education Financing System

• US 20070130061A1
• Filed: 01/12/2007
• Published: 06/07/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 07/26/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. (JP Morgan Chase & Co)
• Original Assignee: JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. (JP Morgan Chase & Co)
• Inventors: Goldberg, Michele, Strand, Marilyn, Winzer, Etienne, Ireland, Leigh-Anne
• Granted Patent: US 7,729,981 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/38
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/03 Credit; Loans; Processing thereof

Abstract

A method of providing a user with education financing information, includes the acts of: maintaining an electronic site on a computer network to which the user may connect; sending data to the user over the network for presenting at least one electronic screen which contains financial award information concerning a potential student of an educational institution, the financial award information including a monetary award which may be used for the student to attend the educational institution; and sending data to the user over the network when requested for presenting at least one electronic screen which contains cost projection information, the cost projection information being a function of the award and including an amount of money required for the student to attend the educational institution.

Claims

1. A method of providing a user with education financing information, comprising the acts of:

maintaining an electronic site on a computer network to which the user may connect;

sending data to the user over the network for presenting at least one electronic screen which contains financial award information concerning a potential student of an educational institution, the financial award information including a monetary award which may be used by the student to attend the educational institution; and

sending data to the user over the network when requested for presenting at least one electronic screen which contains cost projection information, the cost projection information being a function of the award and including an amount of money required for the student to attend the educational institution.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the award comprises funds taken from at least one of grants, scholarships, loans, and employment of the student.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein:

the grants include at least one of a Federal Pell Grant, a Federal SEOG Grant, and a state grant;

the scholarships include at least one of an institutional scholarship, a non-institutional scholarship, a state scholarship, and a private scholarship;

the loans include at least one of a Federal Perkins loan, A Federal Subsidized Stafford loan, a Federal Unsubsidized Stafford loan, an institutional loan, a PLUS loan, a private loan, and a private signature loan; and

the employment of the student includes at least one of a federal work study, an institutional work study, and a teaching assistantship.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the financial award information is displayed on the at least one electronic screen as respective funds of the award taken from any of the grants, scholarships, loans, and employment of the student.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the funds of the award are displayed for a defined time period.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the defined time period is at least one of a school term and a school year.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the financial award information includes an aggregate of the respective funds of the award displayed for the defined time period.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the financial award information includes a plurality of sets of funds of the award which are displayed according to corresponding time periods, respective funds of each set being taken from any of the grants, scholarships, loans, and employment of the student.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the defined time periods are at least one of school terms and school years.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the financial award information includes respective aggregates of the sets of funds of the award.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the financial award information includes at least one of (i) a cost for the student to attend the educational institution;

(ii) an expected monetary contribution to the educational institution;

(iii) the student'"'"'s financial need;

(iv) the award;

(v) unmet need.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein:

the cost, the expected monetary contribution, the student'"'"'s financial need, the award, and the unmet need are displayed according to corresponding time periods of at least one of a school term and a school year;

the student'"'"'s financial need corresponds to the cost less the expected monetary contribution; and

the unmet need is the amount of money required for the student to attend the educational institution, which corresponds to the student'"'"'s financial need less the award.

13. The method of claim 2, further comprising the act of:

sending data to the user over the computer network for presenting at least one electronic screen which includes an input field operable to receive data from the user representing funds other than those of the award to aggregate with the award and obtain a modified award.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein:

the at least one electronic screen includes a plurality of input fields, each being operable to receive data from the user representing respective funds other than those of the award to aggregate with the award and obtain the modified award, the respective funds corresponding to at least one of grants, scholarships, and loans.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the at least one electronic screen includes an input field operable to receive a command for transmission over the computer network which indicates that the user wishes to at least one of accept, decline, and defer a decision on the modified award.

16. The method of claim 2, wherein the cost projection information includes at least one of:

(i) respective funds of the award taken from any of the grants, scholarships, loans, and employment of the student;

(ii) a cost for the student to attend the educational institution;

(iii) an expected monetary contribution to the educational institution;

(iv) the student'"'"'s financial need;

(v) the award; and

(vi) unmet need.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the at least one of:

(i) respective funds of the award, cost, expected monetary contribution, student'"'"'s financial need, award, and unmet need are displayed according to a corresponding time period.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the time period is at least one of a school term and a school year.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the cost projection information includes sets of information, each set of information corresponding to a respective time period including at least one of:

(i) respective funds of the award taken from any of the grants, scholarships, loans, and employment of the student, for the corresponding time period;

(ii) a cost for the student to attend the educational institution, for the corresponding time period;

(iii) an expected monetary contribution to the educational institution for the corresponding time period;

(iv) the student'"'"'s financial need for the corresponding time period;

(v) the award for the corresponding time period; and

(vi) unmet need for the corresponding time period.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the time periods are at least one of school terms and school years.

21. The method of claim 16, wherein the cost for the student to attend the educational institution includes and is displayed in terms of direct and indirect costs.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the direct costs include at least one of tuition, room, board, books, supplies and transportation;

and the indirect costs include at least one of room, board, books, supplies, and transportation.

23. The method of claim 2, wherein the cost projection information includes loan repayment information for at least one loan of the award, the loan repayment information including at least one of:

(i) an amount of the loan;

(ii) a number of months for repayment of the loan;

(iii) an interest rate of the loan;

(iv) an amount of interest over the life of the loan;

(v) an aggregate of the amount of the loan and the amount of interest of the loan; and

(vi) a monthly payment required to pay off the loan.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the loan repayment information includes sets of information corresponding to respective loans of the award, each set of information including at least one of:

(i) an amount of the loan;

(ii) a number of months for repayment of the loan;

(iii) an interest rate of the loan;

(iv) an amount of interest over the life of the loan;

(v) an aggregate of the amount of the loan and the amount of interest of the loan; and

(vi) a monthly payment required to pay off the loan.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the loan repayment information includes aggregates of at least one of:

(i) amounts of the loans;

(ii) amounts of interest over the lives of the loans;

(iii) aggregates of the amounts of the loans and the amounts of interest of the loans; and

(iv) monthly payments required to pay off the loans.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the loan repayment information is displayed in terms of a defined time period.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the defined time period is at least one of a school year and a number of years that the student would attend the educational institution.

28. The method of claim 1, further comprising the act of:

sending data to the user over the computer network for presenting at least one electronic screen which includes an input field operable to receive a command for transmission over the computer network indicating that the user wishes to at least one of accept, decline, and defer a decision on, the award.

29. The method of claim 2, further comprising the act of sending data to the user over the computer network for presenting at least one electronic screen which includes at least one possible lender for providing the funds for at least one of the loans, wherein the at least one electronic screen further includes an input field operable to receive a command for transmission over the computer network indicating which of the possible lenders the user has selected to provide the funds for a corresponding loan of the award.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the at least one electronic screen further includes a plurality of possible lenders for providing the funds for at least one of the loans.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the at least one electronic screen further includes:

a list of each loan of the award and a corresponding plurality of possible lenders for providing the funds for each of the loans; and

at least one input field for each loan, the input fields being operable to receive respective commands for transmission over the computer network indicating which of the possible lenders the user has selected to provide the funds for the corresponding loans of the award.

32. The method of claim 31, further comprising the act of:

sending data to the user over the computer network for presenting at least one electronic screen which includes an input field operable to receive a command for transmission over the computer network indicating that the user wishes to at least one of confirm and decline the selected lenders.

33. A method of providing a user with education financing information comprising the acts of:

maintaining an electronic site on a computer network to which the user may connect;

sending data to the user over the network for presenting at least one electronic screen which contains financial award information concerning a potential student of an educational institution, the financial award information including a monetary award which may be used by the student to attend the educational institution, the award including funds taken from at least one of grants, scholarships, loans, and employment of the student; and

sending data to the user over the computer network for presenting at least one electronic screen which includes an input field operable to receive data from the user representing funds other than those of the award to aggregate with the award to obtain a modified award.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein:

the at least one electronic screen includes a plurality of input fields, each being operable to receive data from the user representing respective funds other than those of the award to aggregate with the award and obtain the modified award, the respective funds corresponding to at least one of grants, scholarships, and loans.

35. The method of claim 34, further comprising receiving data at the electronic site concerning the potential student to develop a student profile;

maintaining a set of eligibility requirements for selected awards; and

based on the student profile and the selected award, allowing modification of an award when such modification is in accordance with the eligibility requirements.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein the data concerning the potential student includes additional sources of financing for the potential student.

37. The method of claim 34, wherein the at least one electronic screen includes an input field operable to receive a command for transmission over the computer network which indicates that the user wishes to accept the modified award.

38. The method of claim 33, further comprising the act of:

sending data to the user over the network when requested for presenting at least one electronic screen which contains cost projection information, the cost projection information being a function of the award and including an amount of money required for the student to attend the educational institution.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein the cost projection information includes loan repayment information for at least one loan of the modified award, the loan repayment information including at least one of:

(i) an amount of the loan;

(ii) a number of months for repayment of the loan;

(iii) an interest rate of the loan;

(iv) an amount of interest over the life of the loan;

(v) an aggregate of the amount of the loan and the amount of interest of the loan; and

(vi) a monthly payment required to pay off the loan.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein the loan repayment information includes sets of information corresponding to respective loans of the modified award, each set of information including at least one of:

(i) an amount of the loan;

(ii) a number of months for repayment of the loan;

(iii) an interest rate of the loan;

(iv) an amount of interest over the life of the loan;

(v) an aggregate of the amount of the loan and the amount of interest of the loan; and

(vi) a monthly payment required to pay off the loan.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein the loan repayment information includes aggregates of at least one of:

(i) amounts of the loans;

(ii) amounts of interest over the lives of the loans;

(iii) aggregates of the amounts of the loans and the amounts of interest of the loans; and

(iv) monthly payments required to pay off the loans.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein the loan repayment information corresponds to a defined time period.

43. The method of claim 42, wherein the defined time period is at least one of a school year and a number of years that the student would attend the educational institution.

44. The method of claim 33, further comprising the act of:

sending data to the user over the computer network for presenting at least one electronic screen which includes at least one possible lender for providing the funds for at least one of the loans, wherein the at least one electronic screen further includes an input field operable to receive-a-command for transmission over the computer network indicating which of the possible lenders the user has selected to provide the funds for a corresponding loan of the award.

45. The method of claim 44, wherein the at least one electronic screen further includes a plurality of possible lenders for providing the funds for at least one of the loans.

46. The method of claim 45 wherein the at least one electronic screen further includes:

a list of each loan of the award and a corresponding plurality of possible lenders for providing the funds for each of the loans; and

at least one input field for each loan, the input fields being operable to receive respective commands for transmission over the computer network indicating which of the possible lenders the user has selected to provide the funds for the corresponding loans of the award.

47. The method of claim 46, further comprising the act of:

sending data to the user over the computer network for presenting at least one electronic screen which includes an input field operable to receive a command for transmission over the computer network indicating that the user wishes to at least one of confirm and decline the selected lenders.

48. A method of providing users with education financing information, comprising the acts of:

maintaining an electronic site on a computer network to which the users and an administrator of an educational institution may connect;

sending data to each of the users over the network for presenting at least one electronic screen which contains financial award information concerning potential students of an educational institution, the financial award information including a monetary award which may be used for the respective students to attend the educational institution, the award including funds taken from at least one of grants, scholarships, loans and employment of the student;

sending data to the administrator over the computer network for presenting at least one electronic screen which include;

reporting information indicating whether respective users have at least one of accepted, declined, and deferred a decision on, the respective awards; and

sending modified financial award information to at least one of the potential students, the modified financial award information including at least one modified monetary award based on the reporting information.

49. The method of claim 48, wherein the financial award information includes at least one cost for respective students to attend the educational institution.

50. The method of claim 49, wherein the at least one cost includes direct and indirect costs.

51. The method of claim 50, wherein the direct costs include at least one of tuition, room, board, books, supplies, and transportation;

and the indirect costs include at least one of room, board, books, supplies, and transportation.

52. The method of claim 48, further comprising the act of:

sending data to the administrator over the computer network for presenting at least one electronic screen which includes a plurality of input fields operable to receive at least one of (i) types of loans for funding the awards;

(ii) a plurality of lenders for providing each type of loan;

(iii) an amount for each type of loan;

(iv) an interest rate for each type of loan;

(v) a repayment period for each type of loan;

(vi) a priority for each type of loan;

(vii) types of grants;

(viii) an amount for each type of grant;

(ix) an annual rate of increase for each type of grant;

(x) a priority for each type of grant;

(xi) types of scholarships;

(xii) an amount for each type of scholarship;

(xiii) an annual rate of increase for each type of scholarship;

(xiv) a priority for each type of scholarship; and

(xv) type and amount of employment of the student.

53. The method of claim 52, wherein:

(i) the amount for each type of loan includes a minimum amount and a maximum amount;

(ii) the amount for each type of grant includes a minimum amount and a maximum amount;

(iii) the amount for each type of scholarship includes a minimum amount and a maximum amount; and

(iv) the amount of employment of the student includes a minimum and a maximum amount.

54. The method of claim 48, further comprising the acts of:

sending data to the administrator over the computer network for presenting at least one electronic screen which includes at least one input field operable to receive at least one search criteria to compare against a database containing the financial award information;

searching the database and extracting the financial award information which meets the search criteria; and

sending data to the administrator over the computer network for presenting at least one electronic screen which includes the financial award information which meets the search criteria.

55. The method of claim 54, wherein the search criteria is at least one of:

a student'"'"'s first name, a student'"'"'s last name a student'"'"'s identification number, whether an award has been accepted, whether an award has been declined, whether an award is pending, a number of times that a user has accessed the electronic site, a starting date, and an ending date.

56. The method of claim 48, further comprising downloading at least one of the reporting information, reporting results based on ad hoc queries and other reports to another system of the educational institution for conversion to a format useful to the institution for updating the institution'"'"'s other system electronically.

57. An apparatus for providing a user with education financing information, comprising:

a processor;

a storage medium coupled to the processor; and

a network interface coupled to the processor and operable to send and receive data over a computer network,

the processor being operable to execute instructions in accordance with a computer program which is at least partially stored in the storage medium, the computer program being operable to instruct at least one of the processor and the network interface to perform the functions of;

maintaining an electronic site on a computer network to which the user may connect;

sending data to the user over the network for presenting at least one electronic screen which contains financial award information concerning a potential student of an educational institution, the financial award information including a monetary award which may be used for the student to attend the educational institution; and

sending data to the user over the network when requested for presenting at least one electronic screen which contains cost projection information, the cost projection information being a function of the award and including an amount of money required for the student to attend the educational institution.

58. The apparatus of claim 57, wherein the award comprises funds taken from at least one of grants, scholarships, loans, and employment of the student.

59. The apparatus of claim 58, wherein:

the grants include at least one of a Federal Pell Grant, a Federal SEOG Grant, and a state grant;

the scholarships include at least one of an institutional scholarship, a non-institutional scholarship, a state scholarship, and a private scholarship;

the loans include at least one of a Federal Perkins loan, a Federal Subsidized Stafford loan, a Federal Unsubsidized Stafford loan, an institutional loan, a PLUS loan, a private loan, and a private signature loan; and

the employment of the student includes at least one of a federal work study, an institutional work study, and a teaching assistantship.

60. The apparatus of claim 58, wherein the financial award information includes respective funds of the award taken from any of the grants, scholarships, loans, and employment of the student.

61. The apparatus of claim 60, wherein the funds of the award are displayed according to a defined time period.

62. The apparatus of claim 61, wherein the defined time period is at least one of a school term and a school year.

63. The apparatus of claim 61, wherein the financial award information includes an aggregate of the respective funds of the award displayed according to the defined time period.

64. The apparatus of claim 62, wherein the financial award information includes a plurality of sets of funds of the award which are displayed according to corresponding time periods, respective funds of each set being taken from any of the grants, scholarships, loans, and employment of the student.

65. The apparatus of claim 64, wherein the defined time periods are at least one of school terms and school years.

66. The apparatus of claim 64, wherein the financial award information includes respective aggregates of the sets of funds of the award.

67. The apparatus of claim 57, wherein the financial award information includes at least one of (i) a cost for the student to attend the educational institution;

(ii) an expected monetary contribution to the educational institution;

(iii) the student'"'"'s financial need;

(iv) the award;

(v) unmet need.

68. The apparatus of claim 67, wherein:

the cost, the expected monetary contribution, the student'"'"'s financial need, the award, and the unmet need are allocated to corresponding time periods of at least one of a school term and a school year;

the student'"'"'s financial need corresponds to the cost less the expected monetary contribution; and

the unmet need is the amount of money required for the student to attend the educational institution, which corresponds to the student'"'"'s financial need less the award.

69. The apparatus of claim 58, wherein the computer program is further operable to instruct at least one of the processor and the network interface to perform the function of:

sending data to the user over the computer network for presenting at least one electronic screen which includes an input field operable to receive data from the user representing funds other than those of the award to aggregate with the award and obtain a modified award.

70. The apparatus of claim 69, wherein:

the at least one electronic screen includes a plurality of input fields, each being operable to receive data from the user representing respective funds other than those of the award to aggregate with the award and obtain the modified award, the respective funds corresponding to at least one of grants, scholarships, and loans.

71. The apparatus of claim 70, wherein the at least one electronic screen includes an input field operable to receive a command for transmission over the computer network which indicates that the user wishes to at least accept a decision on the modified award.

72. The apparatus of claim 58, wherein the cost projection information includes at least one of:

(i) respective funds of the award taken from any of the grants, scholarships, loans, and future employment of the student;

(ii) a cost for the student to attend the educational institution;

(iii) an expected monetary contribution to the educational institution;

(iv) the student'"'"'s financial need;

(v) the award; and

(vi) unmet need.

73. The apparatus of claim 72, wherein the respective funds of the award, the cost, the expected monetary contribution, the student'"'"'s financial need, the award, and the unmet need are displayed according to a corresponding time period.

74. The apparatus of claim 73, wherein the time period is at least one of a school term and a school year.

75. The apparatus of claim 72, wherein the cost projection information includes sets of information, each set of information corresponding to a respective time period and including at least one of:

(i) respective funds of the award taken from any of the grants, scholarships, loans, and future employment of the student, for the corresponding time period;

(ii) a cost for the student to attend the educational institution, for the corresponding time period;

(iii) an expected monetary contribution to the educational institution for the corresponding time period;

(iv) the student'"'"'s financial need for the corresponding time period;

(v) the award for the corresponding time period; and

(vi) unmet need for the corresponding time period.

76. The apparatus of claim 75, wherein the time periods are at least one of school terms and school years.

77. The apparatus of claim 72, wherein the cost for the student to attend the educational institution includes and is displayed according to direct and indirect costs.

78. The apparatus of claim 77, wherein the direct costs include at least one of tuition, room, board, books, supplies and transportation;

and the indirect costs include at least one of room, board, books, supplies, and transportation.

79. The apparatus of claim 58, wherein the cost projection information includes loan repayment information for at least one loan of the award, the loan repayment information including at least one of:

(i) an amount of the loan;

(ii) a number of months for repayment of the loan;

(iii) an interest rate of the loan;

(iv) an amount of interest over the life of the loan;

(v) an aggregate of the amount of the loan and the amount of interest of the loan; and

(vi) a monthly payment required to pay off the loan.

80. The apparatus of claim 79, wherein the loan repayment information includes sets of information corresponding to respective loans of the award, each set of information including at least one of:

(i) an amount of the loan;

(ii) a number of months for repayment of the loan;

(iii) an interest rate of the loan;

(iv) an amount of interest over the life of the loan;

(v) an aggregate of the amount of the loan and the amount of interest of the loan; and

(vi) a monthly payment required to pay off the loan.

81. The apparatus of claim 80, wherein the loan repayment information includes aggregates of at least one of:

(i) amounts of the loans;

(ii) amounts of interest over the lives of the loans;

(iii) aggregates of the amounts of the loans and the amounts of interest of the loans; and

(iv) monthly payments required to pay off the loans.

82. The apparatus of claim 81, wherein the loan repayment information corresponds to a defined time period.

83. The apparatus of claim 82, wherein the defined time period is at least one of a school year and a number of years that the student would attend the educational institution.

84. The apparatus of claim 57, wherein the computer program is further operable to instruct at least one of the processor and the network interface to perform the function of:

sending data to the user over the computer network for presenting at least one electronic screen which includes an input field operable to receive a command for transmission over the computer network indicating that the user wishes to at least one of accept, decline, and defer a decision on, the award.

85. The apparatus of claim 58, wherein the computer program is further operable to instruct at least one of the processor and the network interface to perform the function of:

sending data to the user over the computer network for presenting at least one electronic screen which includes at least one possible lender for providing the funds for at least one of the loans, wherein the at least one electronic screen further includes an input field operable to receive a command for transmission over the computer network indicating which of the possible lenders the user has selected to provide the funds for a corresponding loan of the award.

86. The apparatus of claim 85, wherein the at least one electronic screen further includes a plurality of possible lenders for providing the funds for at least one of the loans.

87. The apparatus of claim 86, wherein the at least one electronic screen further includes:

a list of each loan of the award and a corresponding plurality of possible lenders for providing the funds for each of the loans; and

at least one input field for each loan, the input fields being operable to receive respective commands for transmission over the computer network indicating which of the possible lenders the user has selected to provide the funds for the corresponding loans of the award.

88. The apparatus of claim 87, wherein the computer program is further operable to instruct at least one of the processor and the network interface to perform the function of:

sending to the user over the computer network for presenting an electronic screen indicating that the user wishes to at least one of confirm and decline the selected lenders.

90. The apparatus of claim 87, wherein:

the at least one electronic screen includes a plurality of input fields, each being operable to receive data from the user representing respective funds other than those of the award to aggregate with the award and obtain the modified award, the respective funds corresponding to at least one of grants, scholarships, and loans.

93. The apparatus of claim 90, wherein the at least one electronic screen includes an input field operable to receive a command for transmission over the computer network which indicates that the user wishes to at least one of accept, decline, and defer a decision on the modified award.

94. The apparatus of claim 93, wherein the computer program is further operable to instruct at least one of the processor and the network interface to perform the function of:

sending data to the user over the network when requested for presenting at least one electronic screen which contains cost projection information, the cost projection information being a function of the modified award and including an amount of money required for the student to attend the educational institution.

95. The apparatus of claim 94, wherein the cost projection information includes loan repayment information for at least one loan of the modified award, the loan repayment information including at least one of:

(i) an amount of the loan;

(ii) a number of months for repayment of the loan;

(iii) an interest rate of the loan;

(iv) an amount of interest over the life of the loan;

(v) an aggregate of the amount of the loan and the amount of interest of the loan; and

(vi) a monthly payment required to pay off the loan.

96. The apparatus of claim 95, wherein the loan repayment information includes sets of information corresponding to respective loans of the modified award, each set of information including at least one of:

(i) an amount of the loan;

(ii) a number of months for repayment of the loan;

(iii) an interest rate of the loan;

(iv) an amount of interest over the life of the loan;

(v) an aggregate of the amount of the loan and the amount of interest of the loan; and

(vi) a monthly payment required to pay off the loan.

97. The apparatus of claim 96, wherein the loan repayment information includes aggregates of at least one of:

(i) amounts of the loans;

(ii) amounts of interest over the lives of the loans;

(iii) aggregates of the amounts of the loans and the amounts of interest of the loans; and

(iv) monthly payments required to pay off the loans.

98. The apparatus of claim 97, wherein the loan repayment information corresponds to a defined time period.

99. The apparatus of claim 98, wherein the defined time period is at least one of a school year and a number of years that the student would attend the educational institution.

89. An apparatus for providing a user with education financing information comprising:

a processor;

a storage medium coupled to the processor; and

a network interface coupled to the processor and operable to send and receive data over a computer network,

the processor being operable to execute instructions in accordance with a computer program which is at least partially stored in the storage medium, the computer program being operable to instruct at least one of the processor and the network interface to perform the functions of;

maintaining an electronic site on a computer network to which the user may connect;

sending data to the user over the network for presenting at least one electronic screen which contains financial award information concerning a potential student of an educational institution, the financial award information including a monetary award which may be used by the student to attend the educational institution, the award including funds taken from at least one of grants, scholarships, loans, and future employment of the student; and

sending data to the user over the computer network for presenting at least one electronic screen which includes an input field operable to receive data from the user representing funds other than those of the award to aggregate with the award to obtain a modified award.

91. The apparatus of claim 89, wherein the electronic site is operative to receive data concerning the potential student to develop a student profile;

maintain a set of eligibility requirements for selected awards; and

based on the student profile and the selected award, allow modification of an award when such modification is in accordance with the eligibility requirements.

92. The system of claim 91, wherein the data concerning the potential student includes additional sources of financing for the potential student.

100. The apparatus of claim 89, wherein the computer program is further operable to instruct at least one of the processor and the network interface to perform the function of:

sending data to the user over the computer network for presenting at least one electronic screen which includes at least one possible lender for providing the funds for at least one electronic screen further includes an input field operable to receive a command for transmission over the computer network indicating which of the possible lenders the user has selected to provide the funds for a corresponding loan of the award.

101. The apparatus of claim 100, wherein the at least one electronic screen further includes a plurality of possible lenders for providing the funds for at least one of the loans.

102. The apparatus of claim 100, wherein the at least one electronic screen further includes:

a list of each loan of the award and a corresponding plurality of possible lenders for providing the funds for each of the loans; and

at least one input field for each loan, the input fields being operable to receive respective commands for transmission over the computer network indicating which of the possible lenders the user has selected to provide the funds for the corresponding loans of the award.

103. The apparatus of claim 102, wherein the computer program is further operable to instruct at least one of the processor and the network interface to perform the function of:

sending data to the user over the computer network for presenting at least one electronic screen which includes an input field operable to receive a command for transmission over the computer network indicating that the user wishes to at least one of confirm and decline the selected lenders.

110. The apparatus of claim 103, wherein the computer program is further operable to instruct at least one of the processor and the network interface to perform the functions of:

sending data to the administrator over the computer network for presenting at least one electronic screen which includes at least one input field operable to receive at least one search criteria to compare against a database containing the financial award information;

searching the database and extracting the financial award information which meets the search criteria; and

sending data to the administrator over the computer network for presenting at least one electronic screen which includes the financial award information which meets the search criteria.

104. An apparatus for providing users with education financing information, comprising:

a processor;

a storage medium coupled to the processor; and

a network interface coupled to the processor and operable to send and receive data over a computer network,

the processor being operable to execute instructions in accordance with a computer program which is at least partially stored in the storage medium, the computer program being operable to instruct at least one of the processor and the network interface to perform the functions of;

maintaining an electronic site on a computer network to which the users and an administrator of an educational institution may connect;

sending data to each of the users over the network for presenting at least one electronic screen which contains financial award information concerning potential students of an educational institution, the financial award information including a monetary award which may be used for the respective students to attend the educational institution, the award including funds taken from at least one of grants, scholarships, loans, and employment of the student;

sending data to the administrator over the computer network for presenting at least one electronic screen which includes reporting information indicating whether respective users have at least one of accepted, declined, and deferred a decision on, the respective awards; and

sending modified financial award information to at least one of the potential students, the modified financial award information including at least one modified monetary award based on the reporting information.

105. The apparatus of claim 104, wherein the financial award information includes at least one cost for respective students to attend the educational institution.

106. The apparatus of claim 105, wherein the at least one cost includes direct and indirect costs.

107. The apparatus of claim 106, wherein the direct costs include at least one of tuition, room, board, books, supplies, and transportation;

and the indirect costs include at least one of room, board, books, supplies, and transportation.

108. The apparatus of claim 104, wherein the computer program is further operable to instruct at least one of the processor and the network interface to perform the function of:

sending data to the administrator over the computer network for presenting at least one electronic screen which includes a plurality of input fields operable to receive at least one of types of (i) types of loans for funding the awards;

(ii) a plurality of lenders for providing each type of loan;

(iii) an amount for each type of loan;

(iv) an interest rate for each type of loan;

(v) a repayment period for each type of loan;

(vi) a priority for each type of loan;

(vii) types of grants;

(viii) an amount for each type of grant;

(ix) an annual rate of increase for each type of grant;

(x) a priority for each type of grant;

(xi) types of scholarships;

(xii) an amount for each type of scholarship;

(xiii) an annual rate of increase for each type of scholarship; and

(xiv) a priority for each type of scholarship; and

(xv) type and amount of employment of the student.

109. The apparatus of claim 108, wherein:

(i) the amount for each type of loan includes a minimum amount and a maximum amount;

(ii) the amount for each type of grant includes a minimum amount and a maximum amount;

(iii) the amount for each type of scholarship includes a minimum amount and a maximum amount; and

(iv) the amount of employment of the student includes a minimum and a maximum amount.

111. The apparatus of claim 109, wherein the search criteria is at least one of a student'"'"'s first name, a student'"'"'s last name, a student'"'"'s identification number, whether an award has been accepted, whether an award has been declined, whether an award is pending, a number of times that a user has accessed the electronic site, a starting date, and an ending date.

112. The apparatus of claim 104, wherein at least one of the reporting information, reporting results based on ad hoc queries and other reports can be downloaded to another system of the educational institution for conversion to a format useful to the institution for updating the institution'"'"'s other system electronically.