Embattled for-profit college chain Corinthian Colleges, the operator of schools like Everest, Heald and WyoTech, found a buyer for at least half of its campuses in the form of student-loans servicing company Educational Credit Management Corporation (ECMC). [More]
Education
69% Of 2013 College Graduates Left With A Degree And An Average Student Loan Debt Of $28,400
By 11.17.14
By now we are well aware that college tuition continues to rise and consumers continue to take out hefty student loans to meet those growing costs. So it should come with relatively little surprise that the average debt graduates leave college with remains high; this year with an average of $28,400. [More]
Wells Fargo to Sell $8.5B In Government-Backed Student Loans to Navient
By 11.13.14
Earlier this year, Wells Fargo announced plans to get out of the payday loan-like business of direct deposit advances. Now it looks like the banking giant is getting ready to shed another aspect of its business: government-guaranteed student loans. [More]
Treasury Dept. Urges Student Loan Servicers To Do A Better Job, Try Incentives
By 11.7.14
Hot of the heels of a report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau detailing how loan servicers trick consumers into paying more, top officials with the Department of Treasury implored the industry to fix their often nefarious ways. [More]
For-Profit College Group Sues, Doesn’t Want To Be Responsible For Graduates’ Success
By 11.6.14
Last week, the U.S. Dept. of Education finally passed a somewhat compromised rule aimed at reining in for-profit colleges by penalizing them if too many of their graduates failed to succeed. But even that flawed rule is too much for a group representing for-profit colleges, which labeled it “arbitrary and irrational” in a lawsuit seeking to block it. [More]
Rule Aims To Hold For-Profit Schools Accountable For Grads’ Success, But May Fall Short
By 10.30.14
The Dept. of Education has been trying for years to craft a “gainful employment” rule that would penalize schools — mostly for-profit career training programs — by taking away access to federal funds if they fail to provide the adequate tools for their students to find work. Two years after failing to enact a heavily compromised version of these rules, the Ed. Dept. folks have unveiled the latest version with stricter guidelines, but which some consumer groups say don’t do enough to protect students at these schools. [More]
Student Loan Servicers Tricked Borrowers Into Paying More, Made Illegal Collection Calls
By 10.29.14
As if student loan borrowers needed more bad news, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a report this week detailing how some student loan servicers have tricked consumers into paying higher fees and misrepresented balances due. [More]
Wisconsin Sues Corinthian Colleges Over Everest’s Job-Placement, Graduation Rate Claims
By 10.27.14
Corinthian Colleges, the for-profit educator behind controversial school chains like Everest and WyoTech, is facing yet another lawsuit. This time, it’s from the state of Wisconsin, which alleges that Everest misrepresented important information, like graduation rates and job-placement stats, in order to lure students in. [More]
New Plan Expands Availability Of Some Federal Student Loans For Consumers With Tarnished Credit Histories
By 10.23.14
Families hoping to assist their child in paying for college may soon have greater access to federal student loans under a plan recently finalized by the Department of Education and Obama administration. [More]
CFPB: Private Student Loan Companies Provide Few Options For Borrower, Driving Them To Default
By 10.16.14
By now we all know that for many consumers taking out private student loans is the only option when it comes to financing their higher education. We also know that many of those same borrowers will ultimately end up defaulting on their debt. A new report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau suggests that it’s not borrowers’ lack of willingness to repay that lands them further in debt, but a lack of resources provided by lenders that drives consumers to default. [More]
Percentage Of Rich Kids Needing Student Loans Has Doubled Since 1992
By 10.8.14
At one time, prospective college students from affluent families could count on having their tuition paid for by their parents or college savings accounts. But times have changed and now even students from the highest income brackets are borrowing to finance their high education dreams. [More]
From Ketchup-Tasting To Funeral Home Flirting, How Consumerist Readers Paid For College Without Loans
By 9.25.14
One day long ago someone made a joke to the effect that if you wanted to pay your way through college you’d have to work as a stripper. While I’m sure stripping is a very lucrative career, there are thousands of other ways to pay for your higher education – and some don’t even require taking out burdensome student loans. [More]
650,000 Student Loan Borrowers Who Began Repayment In 2011 Have Defaulted On Federal Loans
By 9.24.14
Maybe more consumer are realizing the long-lasting negative effects that can come from not repaying their student loans. Or maybe not. we don’t really know why, but we do know that the number of borrowers defaulting on some federal student loans is decreasing. [More]
ITT Educational Services Under Increased Scrutiny From SEC, Department Of Education
By 9.19.14
Could ITT Educational Services be the next large for-profit company facing collapse? Things might not be that dire for the parent company of ITT Technical Institute, but the institution recently revealed it’s under increased government examination that could result in the loss of federal funds. [More]
Group Makes Debt Disappear, Pays $3.9M Toward For-Profit Students’ Outstanding Private Loans
By 9.17.14
If you’re one of the millions of consumers saddled with hard to repay student loan debt, you’ve probably dreamed of the day when your repayment obligation is finished. While it will take most of us years to reach that fine day, others are finding their student loan debt have been paid in full by a group of strangers. [More]
Senate Once Again Blocks Bill To Allow Borrowers To Refinance Federal And Private Student Loans
By 9.17.14
A bill that would have allowed millions of private and federal student loan borrowers to refinance their debts to the lower rate currently being issued on new federal and private student loans was once again blocked in the Senate. [More]
Bank Allows Federal Student Loan Borrowers To Refinance At Lower Rates, Convert To Private Loans
By 9.16.14
While we continue to wait for the Senate to take up a bill that would make it possible for borrowers to refinance private and federal student, one bank is taking matters into its own hands. Citizens Financial Group announced today that it would begin accepting applications from both parents and students to refinance loans at possibly lower rates. [More]
Report: Student Loan Debt Isn’t Just An Issue For Young Americans
By 9.11.14
When we talk about student loan debt it’s easy to picture a spry, young 20-something who is struggling to get out from under mountains of high-interest loans. But, as a new report points out, that’s not always the case, sometimes those who graduated even decades ago continue to struggle in paying back their student loans. [More]
