Believe it or not, free money for college isn’t only awarded to Einsteins and star athletes ‘ or those of you poor people who qualify for financial aid. There are plenty of opportunities for the ‘average’ college-bound student to take advantage of scholarship money. The biggest mistake to make, is to sit and wait, and not do anything about it in the hopes that someone will knock on your door and say, “Need some money?”

I just graduated in May, and now I am starting to pay back student loans. Let me tell you, it sucks. Having received my degree in Journalism from UCLA, I thought I would be in a good position to pay back my loans. Yeeeaaahhh…not so much. So now, after 4 years of tuition, room and board, I owe just over $115,000.

People say it all the time, but I will say it again…if I had it to do all over again…I would try to avoid the $1000 a month loan payment.

Here’s some common sense advice:

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High School B-Ball Phenom Lance Stephenson’s Choice Down to Three Schools

Lance Stephenson, the only junior on USA TODAY’s All-USA Boys Basketball Team, has narrowed his college choices to three schools, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette via Zag’s Blog.

A 6-foot 5-inch star from Brooklyn, N.Y., Lincoln will decide between USC, UCLA and Kansas.

Check out the entire 2007-08 USA TODAY’s All-USA boys team. [USA Today]

Student Loans Start to Bypass 2-Year Colleges

Some of the nation’s biggest banks have closed their doors to students at community colleges, for-profit universities and other less competitive institutions, even as they continue to extend federally backed loans to students at the nation’s top universities.

Citibank has been among the most aggressive in paring the list of colleges it serves. JPMorgan Chase, PNC and SunTrust say they have not dropped whole categories, but are cutting colleges as well. Some less-selective four-year colleges, like Eastern Oregon University and William Jessup University in Rocklin, Calif., say they have been summarily dropped by some lenders.

The practice suggests that if the credit crisis and the ensuing turmoil in the student loan business persist, some of the nation’s neediest students will be hurt the most. The difficulty borrowing may deter them from attending school or prompt them to take a semester off. When they get student loans, they will wind up with less attractive terms and may run a greater risk of default if they have to switch lenders in the middle of their college years. [New York Times]

College Baseball World Series 20 Team Preview

With two-time defending champion Oregon State sitting on the bench, the College World Series is wide open. No. 1 Miami and the other seven seeded teams own 11 of the past 20 titles, but the road to Omaha is always full of upsets and drama. As the tournament gets under way across the nation, UWIRE has the inside pitch from the reporters who have been covering the teams all season – who’s hot, who’s not, players to watch and more. [UWire's Inside Pitch]