A few weeks ago, we listed for you a wide variety of creative and mundane ways to pay for college. What we didn’t get into were ways to get money from your bank account to the school’s hands. While you might put every other expense on a credit card and pay it off every month, there are reasons why it can be a terrible idea to put your tuition on a credit card. [More]
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John Oliver On For-Profit Colleges: You Might As Well Go To Hogwarts
By 9.8.14
What would it look like if you condensed all our hundreds of stories about student loans and for-profit colleges into a profanity-filled, hilarious rant that takes a brief detour to discuss Lyndon Johnson’s scrotum? John Oliver answered that question on Sunday night. [More]
The Only Thing College-Like In These College Themed Hotels Is A Painting Of A Red Solo Cup
By 8.29.14
Have you ever wanted to go back to college – you know, to relive the glory days when you received your first taste of freedom? We’ve all through about it at least once, right? Well, a new hotel brand aims to take consumers back, but their approach seems to be lacking – a lot in our humble opinions. [More]
Comcast Hoping Free Campus Cable Will Stop Cord-Cutters Before They Start
By 8.21.14
With their ever-changing schedules, yearly changes of living situation, it’s easy for a college student to realize there’s little value in a pricey pay-TV package they may rarely ever get to use. Throw in HD wireless devices and ready access to Netflix, Amazon, Hulu — hell, even Crackle — over public WiFi and you’ve got a petri dish for growing an entire generation of consumers who have no need for 13 Discovery Channels and 27 variations on Nickelodeon. That’s why, in the hopes of getting the hook into students before they learn they can live without MTV’s new Tuvan throat singing channel, Comcast has partnered with a handful of colleges to include a cable package in the cost of room and board for students. [More]
Starbucks To Test Out Coffee Trucks On College Campuses This Fall
By 8.19.14
Because heaven forbid you need to walk more than 50 feet to find a cup of coffee, Starbucks wants to try to bring its brews just a little bit closer. The coffee colossus has announced it will be dabbling in the food truck business this fall when it rolls out mobile versions of its stores on a trio of college campuses. [More]
Don’t Let Your Kid Buy Laptop Or Tablet At College Store, Unless You’re OK With Paying 35% More
By 8.14.14
When I was in college, a new computer cost about as much as a used car and it often involved a family trip to the mall with parents who tried to haggle over the price tag. But now that you can get a decent laptop or tablet for a few hundred dollars, parents may be tempted to tell their college-enrolled kids to just pick one up through the school’s store. That could be a costly mistake. [More]
Corinthian Colleges Employee: “We Work For The Biggest Scam Company In The World”
By 7.24.14
Corinthian Colleges — the operator of for-profit school chains Everest University, WyoTech, and Heald Colleges — is selling off or shutting down campuses as it faces lawsuits and investigations from multiple state and federal agencies. The allegations involve bogus job-placement stats, grade manipulation, and misleading marketing. We recently spoke to several current and former CCI teachers and admissions staffers who confirmed these bad practices and explained that it was all done in pursuit of billions of dollars in federal aid from taxpayers. [More]
Glitch In FAFSA Form Changes Thousands Of Future College Students’ Financial Aid Offers
By 7.22.14
Federal financial aid is a vital part of funding many college careers; even the slightest mistake on a form could mean the difference between attending school and taking out costly private student loans. For thousands of prospective college students a glitch in this year’s Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form may have put their financial aid offers at risk. [More]
5 Things You Shouldn’t Buy For Your College-Bound Kid
By 7.15.14
So your kid is finally set to leave home and head off to college. You might be tempted to splurge on all manner of purchases to ensure that he or she will be able to study, eat, sleep, and dress properly. But some of those commonly bought items are just money down the drain. [More]
Starbucks Announces College Plan For Workers Who Want To Earn A Bachelor’s Degree Online
By 6.16.14
Starbucks announced a new education program for its workers this morning, under which any of its benefit’s eligible workers — from plant workers to baristas — can get either full tuition reimbursement or partial scholarships to complete a bachelor’s degree online through Arizona State University. [More]
For-Profit Schools Are More Flexible & Convenient Than Community Colleges, But Can Land You In Debt Hell
By 6.7.14
Whether it’s for financial, academic or personal reasons, a traditional four-year college isn’t in the cards for everyone. Community colleges have long offered the opportunity for people to get started (or restart) their education without having to go into debt, so why have so many Americans recently opted for more expensive for-profit colleges that are regularly criticized for spending more on acquiring students than they do on teaching them? [More]
Here Are Two Graphs Any Parent Of A College-Bound Kid Didn’t Want To See Today
By 5.30.14
As we’ve mentioned numerous times over the last few years, college tuition costs have skyrocketed during the past two decades, far outpacing inflation and saddling an entire generation of college-educated Americans with student loan debt that can take many years to pay off. All the while, college graduates aren’t making as much as they did when college was more affordable. Surely the trend of soaring college costs has to level out, right? [More]
How To Not Suck At Making The Transition From School To The Real World
By 5.18.14
All around the country, people who’ve never had a full-time job or paid their own way are going to be pushed out of safe bosom of school. Maybe you’re one of them. Well, now that you’re done with your cap and gown and you have a diploma in your hand, it’s time to join the rest of us in the real world. [More]
High School Senior Auctions Himself On eBay To Acquire College Baseball Scholarship
By 5.13.14
There are thousands of scholarships available to prospective college students each year. But there are only so many Division 1 athletic scholarships to go around and snagging one of those could be considered an incredible feat. [More]
Student Loan Forgiveness Plans Could Be A Victim Of Their Own Success
By 4.29.14
Student loan debt in the U.S. currently totals more than $1 trillion, with some predicting it will only get worse as tuition increases continue to outpace inflation. Recently launched federal student loan forgiveness programs were intended to provide relief to some of these borrowers, but the plans’ unexpected popularity has created a new set of concerns. [More]
Tennessee Becomes First State To Offer Free Tuition To All Graduating High School Students
By 4.16.14
Earlier today, Consumerist reported on a town in Michigan that is footing the bill for recent high school graduates to attend public universities and community colleges. Little did we know that was small potatoes compared to a program brewing in Tennessee. [More]
GAO: Changes Needed For Student Debit Cards Offered By Colleges, Universities
By 2.14.14
Going to college comes with a new set of responsibilities for students, and one of those responsibilities is being in charge of their own finances. What better way to impart a lesson in finances than giving them access to federal student aid on a prepaid debit card? As the use of such cards is growing in popularity at universities and colleges, advocates are calling for more oversight to their use. [More]
Millennials Who Chose Not To Attend College Are More Likely To Live In Poverty Than Past Generations
By 2.11.14
The always rising cost of tuition and the number of students graduating college with significant debt might be enough to turn some away from getting a college education. But a new study by the Pew Research Center found that not going to college could be an even more expensive decision. [More]
