The CFPB’s student loan ombudsman draws parallels with mortgage crisis and says student debt is hurting the housing market …
Educational Financing
With Student Debt, Even Paying It Off Isn’t the End
About two-thirds of the 20 million people who attend college every year borrow money to do so. We’ve heard a lot about how growing educational debt loads — the average student borrower now graduates owing $26,600 — can be a detriment to someone just starting out in life, and to the health of the broader American economy. Student debt …
The New Money Math: Start Saving at Birth
The evidence is mounting: The time to start learning about money and saving for college is at birth.
Student Loan Rates Reset Lower — But Probably Not for Long
The student debt crisis is now being likened to such contentious issues as the draft and health care. We just got a near-term fix. But borrowing rates will rise substantially in a few years.
Congress Nears Deal on Student Loan Rates. Spoiler Alert: They’re Going Up
The Senate hammered out an agreement last week to keep rates on some new student loans from doubling. It’s welcome progress, but the compromise guarantees that rates will go up in the future.
Oregon’s ‘Pay It Forward’ Program: Imagine College with No Tuition, No Loans, No Debt
In Oregon, a proposed pilot program would allow students to attend state college tuition-free. The catch? Instead of taking out loans and piling up debt, students agree to pay the state back a small portion of their income over the course of a couple decades.
Dorm, Shmorm: Meet the Guy Who Lived in a Van for Two Years During Grad School
Many grad school students are poor, and pride themselves on living frugally while working on their degrees. One post-graduate student—and now, the author of a new book—took cheap living to the extreme, living in a van while …
Buying Lottery Tickets Just Keeps Getting Easier
It’s not like buying lottery tickets is particularly difficult. But because states continually want to increase revenues via rising lottery sales, they’re constantly looking for “innovations” that make lottery tickets easier to buy and available at every turn—like at the gas pump, the ATM, or just the computer screen.
The $7,000 Computer Science Degree — and the Future of Higher Education
Tired of student-loan debt? One prominent technology school is offering a three-year master’s degree in computer science that can be earned entirely online — and that will cost less than $7,000.
Car? House? Sorry: Graduates of 2013 Are Each $35,200 in Debt
Student debt is creating the most debt-ridden twentysomethings in modern history, and we’re all going to pay a price. Here’s the best advice from new grads.
Elizabeth Warren: Students Should Get the Same Rate as the Bankers
Consumer protection maven Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., introduced her first piece of legislation this week, a proposal that would allow students to take out government educational loans at the same rate that big banks pay to borrow from the federal government.
Under her Bank on Student Loans Fairness Act, for one year, new student …
Yes, Really: Private Colleges Offering More Financial Aid Than Ever
Call it the couponing of higher education. After years of skyrocketing tuition costs, many private colleges in the United States are ramping up their financial aid packages in an attempt to attract new students and boost sagging …