For the first time in half a decade, the rate of education loan defaults among recent college students has risen, highlighting the struggle many recent graduates face when it comes to paying their educational debts. [More]
education
Student Loan Defaults Increase For First Time In Five Years; 8.5M Borrowers Now In Default
By 9.28.17
States Ask Betsy DeVos To Not Drop Protections For Student Loan Borrowers
By 9.26.17
Earlier this month, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos declared that the Department of Education would no longer work with the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to root out bad players in the student loan servicing arena. While the CFPB fired back, accusing DeVos of misunderstanding just what the Bureau does, a coalition of state attorneys general are now joining the choir, claiming the decision to end the agencies’ agreements undermine protections for student borrowers. [More]
Amazon Really Wants Echo Devices In The Hands (And Dorm Rooms) Of College Students
By 8.29.17
If you want future developers of technology to create new things for your product, try giving it to engineering students for free. Amazon is experimenting with that at one college, giving away an Echo Dot (list price $49.99) to every student in a new dorm at Arizona State University. [More]
New Drivers In Texas Have To Take Online Class About Distracted Driving
By 8.4.17
An average of nine people die every day from crashes caused by distracted drivers, a statistic that’s especially tragic when those deaths could be preventable. That’s why Texas is expanding its requirement for new drivers to learn more about what they shouldn’t be doing behind the wheel. [More]
Education Dept. Civil Rights Chief Sorry For Saying 90% Of College Rape Claims Are Result Of Bad Breakups
By 7.12.17
As Education Secretary Betsy DeVos moves forward with her plan to review the federal government’s policy regarding sexual assault and harassment on college campuses, the acting head of the Department’s Civil Rights division is now apologizing for making an unsubstantiated and unsourced claim that nine in ten of these assault allegations are baseless and can be tied back to nothing more than too much drinking and bad breakups. [More]
Dozens Of Organizations Come Out In Support Of Gainful Employment, Borrower Defense Rules
By 7.12.17
A week after two separate lawsuits were filed by 19 state attorneys general and a group representing students accusing Education Secretary Betsy DeVos of breaking the law by delaying protections for student loan borrowers, a coalition of more than 50 consumer groups have stepped forward to join the opposition against a “reset” of regulations put in place to protect students at for-profit colleges. [More]
Some Schools Don’t Let Kids Bring Sunscreen, But That’s Starting To Change
By 7.11.17
It’s a hot, sunny day. Your progeny is going on a fieldtrip to a literal field, where she will likely find little shade. Can you throw a bottle of sunscreen in her backpack with strict instructions to slather it on? That depends on where you live. [More]
Best Buy, Amazon Fighting To Get Into Your Home To Install Smart Devices
By 7.11.17
For years, Best Buy’s Geek Squad has offered to enter customers’ homes to install, troubleshoot, or teach people about their new electronic devices. With the rising popularity of the connected home, such a service seems all the more useful. Not one to be left on the sidelines, Amazon is getting into the installation and education business when it comes to their own connected home devices, setting up a house-call showdown of sorts between the e-commerce giant and the brick-and-mortar electronics retailer. [More]
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos “Resets” Rules On For-Profit Colleges
By 6.14.17
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has announced plans to “reset” two regulations that were recently put in place to hold for-profit colleges more accountable and prevent students at these schools from being left with nothing but debt if their college collapses. [More]
States To Education Secretary DeVos: Stop Delaying Loan Forgiveness For Students Deceived By Corinthian Colleges
By 6.5.17 — Updated: 6.9.17
Two months after the Attorneys General from dozens of states sent letters to former students of defunct for-profit college chain Corinthian Colleges reminding them to apply for federal student loan discharges, a number of those same state officials are calling on Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to stop delaying loan forgiveness. [More]
For-Profit Colleges Sue To Stop Rule That Protects Students Of Failed Schools
By 5.25.17
Federal regulations that aim to protect and refund student loan borrowers defrauded by their schools could end before they even go into place, thanks to a lawsuit filed by the for-profit college industry. [More]
DeVos Education Budget Could Make It Harder To Obtain, Repay Student Loans
By 5.23.17 — Updated: 5.25.17
Days after the Department of Education revealed it would give all student loan accounts to one servicing company and strip away more protections for federal student loan borrowers, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos outlined the Department’s proposed budget, which goes even further by eliminating or completely overhauling programs intended to make student loans more accessible and easier to repay. [More]
Education Secretary DeVos To Give All Student Loan Accounts To One Company; Strip Away More Protections
By 5.22.17 — Updated: 5.25.17
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has made another sweeping change to the student loan system that consumer advocates claim favors student loan collectors over the American people repaying those loans. [More]
Trump Administration Looking To End Student Loan Forgiveness Program
By 5.18.17
This October will mark the first time that student loan borrowers who have worked for 10 years with the government or a qualifying non-profit will be eligible to have their debts wiped clean. It may also be the last time, as the Trump administration is reportedly targeting this and other Department of Education repayment programs for elimination.
[More]
The System To Collect Defaulted Student Loans Is No Longer Functioning
By 5.5.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
Consumers who expected their student loan payments to be deducted from their bank accounts this month have reportedly found the funds untouched, and their calls to the companies unanswered thanks to a Department of Education’s order prohibiting the debt collection companies from working on default accounts in response to two lawsuits against the agency.
Chipotle Offers Employees Accelerated Business Degree Program
By 5.2.17
Last summer, Chipotle joined the ranks of Pizza Hut, JetBlue, Starbucks, and others in offering to foot the bill — or at least some of it — to provide employees with a college education. Today, the company expanded that program, offering workers the ability to combine real-world experience with classroom time in order to earn a business degree in less than two years. [More]
Students Claim For-Profit College Operator Deliberately Let Their School Fail
By 5.2.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
Former students at one for-profit college allege that the school’s parent company, Laureate Education, committed fraud by deliberately allowing their college to fail and close down. [More]
Purdue University Buys For-Profit Kaplan University, But Is It A Good Idea?
By 4.28.17
On the surface, Purdue University and Kaplan University don’t have a lot in common: One is a public university from Indiana and the other is a for-profit chain mostly offering online courses. But now they have one rather large thing in common: ownership. Purdue has purchased Kaplan — for a dollar. [More]
