Don’t say we didn’t warn you. Way back in December, we advised high school seniors who planned on attending college to not be stupid and go fill out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid [FAFSA] form right away. Every year, billions of dollars in grant and loan money goes unclaimed because students and their parents never get around to filling out this paperwork, and it looks like the upcoming school year will be no different. [More]
college
Billions In College Aid Will Go Unclaimed Again Because Students Won’t Fill Out A Stupid Form
By 5.5.15
Fiat Chrysler Offers Employees Chance For Free College Education At A For-Profit University
By 5.4.15
Providing the opportunity for employees to obtain a college degree is a worthy intention. Just as Starbucks announced in 2014 that it would finance the college dreams of workers around the country, Fiat Chrysler has unveiled a similar program today. There’s only one slight difference: the university that Chrysler has partnered with is a for-profit college. [More]
Petition Calls For Loan Relief For Corinthian College Students
By 4.27.15
Ever since for-profit education chain Corinthian Colleges began its downward spiral last summer, consumer groups, students and legislators have urged the Department of Education to provide current and former students relief from student loans they took out to finance an education based on deceptive recruitment practices. Now that CCI has closed its remaining Everest University, Heald College and WyoTech campuses, consumer advocates say discharging federal student loans held by these students – and protecting students of other for-profit institutions – should be of immediate concern for the Department. [More]
Corinthian Colleges Completes Collapse, Closes Remaining Campuses Effective Immediately
By 4.26.15
Although it was nearly a year in the making, the largest collapse in U.S. higher education finally occurred Sunday, as embattled for-profit education chain Corinthian Colleges Inc. – the operator of Everest University, Heald College and WyoTech – announced it would close the remainder of its campuses effective Monday. [More]
DeVry Closing 14 Campuses, Moving Students Online
By 4.24.15
Amid lawsuits, scandals, shutdowns — not to mention the many former students who say they racked up huge student loan bills without getting an adequate education — enrollment at for-profit colleges in the U.S. continues to shrink. And students at 14 DeVry campuses in 11 cities will soon have to take their education online with the educator moving those schools online in an effort to save money. [More]
Starbucks Expands Tuition Reimbursement Program To Cover Four Years Of Online Schooling
By 4.7.15
After more than 2,000 Starbucks workers headed to college through the company’s tuition reimbursement program with Arizona State University, the mega-coffee company announced it wouldn’t leave those student high-and-dry after just two years. Now, the company plans to expand the offering to cover a full four years of tuition at the college for eligible employees. [More]
For-Profit College Enrollment Is Down Following Scandals & School Failures
By 3.31.15
With increasing scrutiny from lawmakers, regulators, consumer advocates and the general public, the past five years have been hard on a for-profit college industry that had enjoyed years of happily feeding at the federal student aid trough. There have been changes to schools’ often excessive advertising budgets, damning reports of abuse, and soon-to-be-implemented rules requiring for-profit programs to demonstrate their effectiveness. The fractures in a business model that has attracted some of the biggest names in investment have become more evident, especially when comparing previously robust enrollment numbers with the most recent figures. [More]
Report: Taking For-Profit Colleges Nonprofit Can Generate Hefty Profits For Owners
By 3.3.15
Earlier this year Education Credit Management Corporation bought 56 campuses from embattled for-profit chain Corinthian Colleges Inc. and took the schools to the nonprofit sector. While that conversion was initiated because of the ongoing collapse and financial problems facing CCI, other college chains have dropped the for-profit status seemingly to pick up hefty profits. [More]
Federal Student Loan Forgiveness Plans Cost Govt. Nearly $22B More Than Expected
By 2.6.15
Last spring, legislators and researchers began voicing concerns that federal student loan forgiveness plans could become a victim of their own success. This week, we learned just how successful – and costly – such program are; information that once again created a chorus of concerns regarding the sustainability of such programs. [More]
College Students Leaving $3B In Grant Money Unclaimed By Not Filing FAFSA
By 1.20.15
College students and financial supporters of college students: Remember when we told you at the end of the year that you needed to get your Free Application for Federal Student Aid in ASAP? Maybe you pinned it on the cork board in the kitchen or made a mental note that disappeared as soon as you had to remember the finer points of the infield fly rule. It’s because people didn’t get around to filing their FAFSA that there are billions of dollars in unclaimed grant money just sitting around gathering dust like that post-it note on which you wrote “File FAFSA. Buy bread.” [More]
Proposed Scorecard Could Help Protect Students From Dangerous Banking Products
By 1.14.15
For the past several years, federal agencies, lawmakers and consumer advocates have shared their displeasure with the rather cozy relationship between the financial industry and higher education institutions and set out to protect consumers from the often shady deals made between the two groups. Now the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is setting out to protect students by creating a scorecard that would help ensure colleges have all the pertinent details when it comes to partnering with financial institutions that offer checking and prepaid accounts to students. [More]
White House Proposes Free Community College For Dedicated Students
By 1.8.15
The cost of a college education has outpaced inflation for the last few decades, making school less affordable for millions of Americans and driving student loan debt past the $1 trillion mark. And in the last decade, the for-profit education industry has taken in many billions of dollars in federal student aid for schools with high dropout rates. Today, President Obama offered a suggestion: Free community college educations for those willing to stick to it. [More]
To Anyone Paying For College: Start Your Year Off By Filling Out Your FAFSA
By 12.29.14
Among all the resolutions you should make for the new year — saving money, losing weight, quitting black tar heroin — there’s an easy one that gets left off that list by parents of college students or anyone else paying for a higher education: Filling out that Free Application for Federal Student Aid Form as soon as possible. [More]
Report: Nearly Half Of College Students Don’t Know How Much Their Tuition Costs, If They Have Student Debt
By 12.17.14
Over the past year we’ve read a number of reports that shone a light on just how prevalent student loans are: nearly 40 million consumer have taken out at least one loan to pay for their education. Now a new report takes a look at just how much students actually understand about the cost of their education and student debt. And, as we all probably should have expected, the findings aren’t exactly pleasant. [More]
Bill Would Allow 529 College Savings Plan Investors To Change Investments Twice A Year
By 12.11.14
With less disposable income and difficulty meeting the ever rising cost of tuition, parents often have a tough time saving for their child’s future education. A law poised to make its way though Congress aims to give parents using certain college savings plans more flexibility in their investments. [More]
For-Profit College Hired Exotic Dancers As Admissions Reps
By 12.5.14
The operators of a now-defunct for-profit college in Florida allegedly told its admissions directors to do whatever it took to sell the school to potential students. Among the tactics used by the school is one straight out of a wacky, low-budget, late-night college movie you might see on Cinemax. [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]
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]
