“Maybe I should finally get my MBA,” is a thought that went through the heads of many an out-of-work or underemployed college graduate during the last few years. But the allure of becoming a master of business administration has faded in the last year, as the number of business school applicants has taken a nose dive. [More]
college
Child Day Care Now More Expensive Than College In Most States
By 8.16.12
While much has been made in the last year about the soaring cost of a college education, it’s also worth noting that the price of full-time child care has continued to increase, even while many parents have struggled to make ends meet. And a new study finds that the average cost of day care in 35 states and the District of Columbia is now higher than the price of in-state tuition at a four-year college. [More]
Shouldn't We Be Able To Negotiate On College Tuition?
By 8.2.12
If someone offers to sell you a life-changing product ranging in price anywhere from $10,000 to $250,000 — maybe more — chances are that most of you will at least attempt to negotiate that price down; only suckers pay sticker price. And yet, when it comes to a college education, it’s unheard of to call up competing institutes of higher learning to see if you can knock a few bucks off the MSRP. [More]
Why Do Student Loan Borrowers Default?
By 8.1.12
On Monday, we shared the results of a two-year Senate investigation into how much federal money is going to for-profit colleges, and what kind of return students and society as a whole are getting on that investment. (Answers: $32 billion, and a pretty terrible return on that investment.) A study that the National Consumer Law Center released yesterday shows the college bubble from a different perspective: that of student loan borrowers who have gone into default. It’s not pleasant. [More]
Scholarships For Moms Seeking Degrees
By 4.11.12
Juggling parenthood and college classes is no easy feat, and even tougher when you consider the financial side of the equation. Any scholarships out there help, and it so happens that there are several out there earmarked for mothers attempting to better their career prospects by earning degrees. [More]
130,000 Students Petition Congress To Not Double Interest Rates On Stafford Loans
By 3.13.12
While interest rates on federal Stafford loans have stepped down over the last several years from 6.8% in 2007 to 3.4% for the current school year, that number is set to bounce all the way back up to 6.8% on July 1, leading 130,000 students to deliver letters to lawmakers in protest. [More]
Recent College Graduates Making 8-11% Less Than They Did 10 Years Ago
By 3.7.12
To the graduating class of 2012: All that money you or your parents have spent or borrowed to pay your tuition for the past few years? It’s not getting the same return on investment it did a decade ago. [More]
Tiny Robotic Kroger Invades College Campus
By 2.16.12
Ah, progress. Thanks to advances in vending-machine technology, tiny robotic convenience stores have opened up shop in apartment complexes and on college campuses nationwide. Sure, consumers in Europe and Japan had similar stuff a decade or more ago. But they don’t have the world’s tiniest Kroger, which is about the size of a bus shelter and opened last month on the campus of private Ohio Northern University. [More]
5 Student Loan Terms To Learn
By 2.13.12
The process of applying for student loans, using them and eventually paying them back can be a decades-long class that teaches you a plethora of difficult lessons about personal finance. One of your first quizzes is something of a vocabulary test when you’re trying to wrap your head around what the terms mean. [More]
Hard-Up College Students Turning To Food Stamps
By 2.3.12
Being in college and having an empty wallet tend to go hand-in-hand. A full course load can make it difficult for students to find steady work, and in many college towns the work that’s available isn’t going to pay for very much. But while my fellow students were undergoing (legal) drug trials and donating whatever bodily fluid they could get a few cents for, some in the current generation of cash-strapped collegians are turning to food stamps. [More]
A College Financial Aid Primer
By 1.9.12
Students need to call upon several sources to cover the massive expenses college drops on them. Unless they’re independently wealthy or have a large college fund set up for them, they’ll scramble to come up with the funds to pay for tuition, fees, books and living expenses. [More]
Advanced Degrees That Don't Pay Off
By 12.30.11
Grad students are making heavy investments of time and money in their future income prospects, but in many areas of study the odds are stacked against the gambles paying off. A Georgetown University analysis identifies the advanced degrees that gave students the smallest pay bumps. [More]
3 Ways For Students To Save Money
By 12.14.11
College is a minefield of financial disaster, but it also offers unique opportunities to save money. A combination of marketing forces and old-fashioned sympathy for starving students presents cost-cutting opportunities for those who keep their eyes open. [More]
Average Student Loan Balance For New Grads Is More Than $25K
By 11.3.11
If college sent you into the real world last year saddled with $10,000 in student loan debt, take solace in the realization that there is someone out there who owes $40,000 in order to average things out. A newly released study found that the average balance of a student who took out loans and graduated in 2010 was $25,250 — a 5 percent increase from the previous year. [More]
20 Colleges Costing Over $55,000 A Year Total
By 10.7.11
In 2007, there was only one college that had a total cost of over $50,000. Now, there are twenty that cost over $55,000. Here they are. [More]
Higher Education Charging High Prices For Food On Campus
By 10.5.11
It’s not just drug stores that have boosted prices for grocery items, but also campus dining options at universities. Reader Bryan Carroll wrote an article about them for his school newspaper at Stonybrook University, The Statesman. On average, he found the food items from the campus commissary were a whopping 42 percent higher than local grocery stores. [More]
Campus Cops Catch Bike Thieves With "Bait Bikes"
By 10.5.11
With a high concentration of bicycles and larges crowds to hide in, campuses and universities have been a favorite target for bike thieves. Sometimes they take just one, sometimes a crew comes and cleans out a whole rack. Now campus police at the University of Minnesota are fighting back with “bait bikes.” [More]
Bundle Together Several Small Scholarships
By 10.3.11
Rather than banking on one big scholarship, students are finding success by stringing together several small scholarships. By filling out an online questionnaire, you can get matched up with organizations that focus on specific subjects, talents, interest groups, ethnicities, and industries. Here’s your first step: [More]
