student debt

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How a Simple Letter Cut Student Borrowing by $31M

'Know before you owe' policy works for Indiana University

(Newser) - With US student debt at a staggering $1.2 trillion—including an average $30K each for member of the class of 2012 —Indiana University has set an example a lot of places could learn from. The seven-campus system managed to slash student debt by far more than the national...

Obama Signs Order Capping Student Loan Payments

Payments limited to 10% of monthly income for more people

(Newser) - President Obama today signed an executive order that will cap student loan payments for as many as 5 million borrowers. Obama is extending an existing rule capping student loan payments at 10% of borrowers' monthly income to those who took out their loans prior to 2007, the AP explains. For...

Students Default on Loans Over Obscure Provision

... even if they've been paying on time

(Newser) - Because the nation's student-debt situation wasn't enough of a mess: A new federal report warns that some students are going into default even when they've been paying back their loans on time, reports USA Today . It's because of an obscure provision covering private student loans—if...

Hey Colleges: Stop Asking Broke Grads for Money

Schools have a lot of nerve given recent grad unemployment, Alexander Aciman writes

(Newser) - At the end of senior year, Alexander Aciman made the mistake of donating $25 to his college's alumni fund. Now, he knows that's "a lot like inviting a vampire into one's home," he writes at the New Republic . He's now constantly bombarded by calls...

Obama, Make These 5 Tweaks to SOTU

Ian Bassin lists 5 'bold' moves president could make at State of the Union

(Newser) - President Obama will announce a number of executive actions at tonight's State of the Union Address—but though the writing and planning of the speech likely started months ago, there are probably a number of aides considering last-minute additions even now. Ian Bassin should know: He used to be...

Applying to Grad School? Do This Homework First
Applying to Grad School?
Do This Homework First
OPINION

Applying to Grad School? Do This Homework First

Columnist says spreadsheet on debt should be required reading

(Newser) - It's sound advice that anyone thinking about grad school should be "fully funded," writes Megan McArdle at Bloomberg . That is, your tuition should be covered by a research or teaching stipend. After all, if a Ph.D. program accepts you without such funding, what that really means...

Class of 2012 Owes Almost $30K Each

Tuition rising faster than family incomes

(Newser) - The class of 2012 entered a tough jobs market buckling under an average debt load of $29,400, according to the annual report from the Institute for College Access and Success. That's up from an average $26,600 in 2011, and the rise can be blamed on rising tuition...

Current Grads Will Retire 12 Years Late

Thanks to student debt, study predicts new median retirement age of 73

(Newser) - Your student loans won't just cost you money, they'll cost you years of labor. A new analysis from Nerd Wallet estimates that today's graduates won't be able to retire until they're 73, a full 12 years later than the current average retirement age of 61,...

Obama: Make Law School 2 Years, Not 3

President makes the case during town hall on college costs

(Newser) - As President Obama continued his swing through upstate New York yesterday to talk about college debt , he offered a concrete suggestion to the nation's law schools: Ditch the traditional third year. “This is probably controversial to say, but, what the heck, I’m in my second term, so...

Obama&#39;s College Plan Is Smart, but Maybe Doomed
Obama's College Plan Is Smart, but Maybe Doomed
OPINION

Obama's College Plan Is Smart, but Maybe Doomed

Congress would have to go along with ranking system: Jordan Weissmann

(Newser) - President Obama's plan to ease the student debt problem is "simple, powerful, and long overdue," writes Jordan Weissmann at the Atlantic . It's also probably doomed. As he spelled out yesterday , Obama wants to help students figure out which schools give them the best value, factoring in...

House OKs Lower Student Loan Rates (for Now)

President Obama expected to sign measure into law

(Newser) - Congress has sent its student loan fix to President Obama for his expected signature, and it contains a mix of good news and bad news for college students. The good news is that freshmen this fall will pay an interest rate of 3.9%, down from the 6.8% that...

Art School Is a Tragic Ripoff
 Art School Is a Tragic Ripoff 
OPINION

Art School Is a Tragic Ripoff

Noah Bradley: It's a crime to pay $246K for an art education

(Newser) - Move over, law school : There's a new worthless degree in town, at least according to Noah Bradley. The artist, writing on Medium.com , gets right to the point: "Art school is a waste of your money" (emphasis his). Though Bradley himself attended two prestigious art schools, he's...

Student Loans Are Set Up to Screw Students
Student Loans Are Set Up
to Screw Students
OPINION

Student Loans Are Set Up to Screw Students

We need to fix the system now, argue two op-ed writers

(Newser) - One fundamental reason the nation's student debt problem is so awful is that these loans "aren't loans, at least in the traditional sense," writes David Dayen at Salon . Thanks to misguided laws, they can't be refinanced and the debt can't be shed through bankruptcy....

Christian School to Grads: We'll Help Pay Your Loans

Spring Arbor grads must work at least 30 hours per week to qualify

(Newser) - If you can't afford to repay your student loans, Yale will sue you . But Spring Arbor University, a small private school in central Michigan, has a kinder, gentler approach. If a grad cannot find a job that pays well enough, the Christian university promises to help pay off that...

Ivy League Schools Suing Students Over Loans

Yale, Penn among those seeing rise in defaults

(Newser) - Another sign that the student debt problem is off the rails: Borrowers defaulted on nearly $1 billion in federal loans designated for low-income students in 2011, a jump of 20% from five years earlier, reports Bloomberg . Because these particular loans, called Perkins loans, are administered by the schools themselves, it...

Occupy Activists Buy, 'Liberate' Bad Debt

The Rolling Jubilee project is seeking donations

(Newser) - Occupy Wall Street campaigners have a new target: distressed debt. A project called Rolling Jubillee is soliciting donations to buy up bad debts at bargain prices and cancel them, the Telegraph reports. So far they've only bought $14,000 in debt for $500, but they want to refill their...

More Colleges Join $50K Club
 More Colleges Join $50K Club 

More Colleges Join $50K Club

As tuition rises, 151 schools now above that threshold

(Newser) - Want more evidence that the price of college is exploding? Well this year, 151 schools will cost more than $50,000 a year, including tuition, fees, room and board, CNN reports, based on numbers from the College Board and Chronicle of Higher Education. That's up from 123 last year...

Debt Rises Again for New College Grads

It's up 5%, and that's not counting for-profit schools

(Newser) - It's the latest snapshot of the growing burden of student debt and it's another discouraging one: Two-thirds of the national college class of 2011 finished school with loan debt, and those who borrowed walked off the graduation stage owing on average $26,600—up about 5% from the...

Financial Aid Letters to Students Often Mislead
Financial Aid Letters to Students Often Mislead
propublica

Financial Aid Letters to Students Often Mislead

ProPublica reports on problems with the college letters

(Newser) - One more reason the student-loan problem is such a mess: The letters that college students receive spelling out financial aid often leaves them confused or flat-out misled about whether the money is coming from scholarships, grants, or loans, reports ProPublica . Schools also tend to push easy-to-get "Parent Plus" loans...

College Students Need Way Better Guidance on Loans

Schools aren't doing enough financial counseling: Laura McKenna

(Newser) - One part of the solution to the nation's student debt problem might not be all that hard to implement. At the Atlantic , Laura McKenna writes that college students often get remarkably little guidance about their loans and finances while in school. Sure, they talk to a faculty adviser to...

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