Student loan debt in the U.S. has passed the $1 trillion mark while the cost of an education continues to outpace inflation, meaning tomorrow’s students will need to take on even more debt than the millions of graduates who already owe money. A new report from our coworkers at Consumers Union shows just how screwed up and unbalanced the student loan system is at every step of the way. [More]
student loans
Today’s College Grads Can Expect To Retire When They Are 73
By 10.23.13
Dear college seniors, if you’re planning on living out a long, comfortable retirement, you need to start saving now… or hope that medical science figures out how to extend life even further, because it looks like the average millennial will have a few years of retirement time before they kick off to a higher plane of existence. [More]
Getting Ahead On Paying Down Student Loans Is A Good Plan, But Not Without Problems
By 10.16.13 — Updated: 5.14.15
For people looking to get out from under student loan debt before they have grandchildren, paying more than is owed each month has traditionally been an option. But according to a new report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, questionable practices and a lack of transparency at loan servicing companies have resulted in prepayment causing undue headaches. [More]
New Rules Could Hold Career Education Programs Accountable For Graduates’ Success
By 9.6.13
While college tuitions and student loan debt has skyrocketed, a number of institutions — especially for-profit schools — have been criticized for failing to provide sufficient education and guidance to students who are then stuck without jobs and without the ability to pay back student loans. Starting Monday morning, the Dept. of Education will begin hearing feedback on a recently drafted regulation that would hold schools accountable for the performance of their students in the real world. [More]
CFPB: Many Of The 33 Million American Workers Eligible For Loan Forgiveness Aren’t Using It
By 8.29.13
Are you working in a job that serves other Americans — in a school, hospital, city hall perhaps — while living saddled with student loan debt? You could be part of the more than 33 million workers eligible to have student loans forgiven, a large number of which aren’t even aware they can do so. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says loan forgiveness program are too confusing for many to take advantage of, leading to a large number of wasted opportunities. [More]
Federal Student Loans Affordable Again (For Now)
By 8.9.13
To all the incoming college freshman and other first-time student loan borrowers, you need no longer worry about paying 6.8% interest rate on the federal Stafford loan disbursement you’re about to receive, as today the President signed much-debated, long-delayed legislation that will only result in a slight uptick in interest rates for the coming school year, but could also go much higher in years to come. [More]
Fewer Than Half Of Federal Student Loans Currently Being Repaid
By 8.5.13
It’s scary enough to think that the federal government has around $1 trillion in student loan money out there waiting to be repaid. More frightening is the fact that not even half that amount is currently being paid back. [More]
Drop In Number Of First-Time Home Buyers Is Cause For Concern
By 7.23.13
The notion of buying your first home, building equity, and eventually moving up the property ladder is still something many young Americans aspire to, but between more stringent underwriting procedures, lingering student loan debt, competition from real estate speculators and higher interest rates, first-time buyers are being squeezed out of the market. [More]
Sen. Elizabeth Warren: It’s Obscene That The Govt. Profits Off Student Loans
By 7.18.13
There were several sticking points that bogged down the U.S. Senate from quickly passing legislation that would provide a long-term solution to the problem of interest rates on federal Stafford student loans. Among these was whether the government should be able to charge a rate that would allow it to make a profit. [More]
Senate Reaches Tentative Deal On Student Loan Interest Rates
By 7.11.13
One day after failing to move forward on a one-year extension of low interest rates on federal Stafford student loans, the U.S. Senate has reportedly reached a tentative agreement that tie interest rates to the 10-year Treasury bond, thus resulting in a moderate increase in interest rates for students taking out their first loan this fall. [More]
Senate Fails To Figure Out Solution To Keep Student Loan Rates In Check
By 7.10.13
As we mentioned before the holiday, the U.S. Senate had gone off to make sandcastles and enjoy fireworks without figuring out a way to keep interest rates on federal Stafford student loans from doubling. Now the first attempt to retroactively fix that problem has failed, with the Senate unable to move forward with a one-year extension on the lower rate. [More]
Lawmakers Letting Stafford Loan Interest Rates Double, But Don’t Freak Out Just Yet
By 6.28.13
U.S. Senators are taking the next week off to relax, which means the June 30 deadline for figuring out a way to keep the interest rates on subsidized federal Stafford student loans from doubling will pass without even an attempt at a last-minute resolution. But some lawmakers aren’t so worried and say they’ll get it all resolved when they come back after the fireworks. [More]
More Than Half Of People With Student Loans Are Worried They Can’t Repay
By 6.26.13
Only 1-in-5 American adults is carrying some sort of student loan debt, and yet that relatively small group of consumers accounts for more than $1 trillion owed to lenders, more than either auto loans or credit card debt. And a new survey finds that nearly 60% of these borrowers are worried that they won’t be able to pay off their student loans. [More]
The Pros And Cons Of Using A Home Equity Loan To Pay Off Your Student Debt
By 6.11.13
American consumers currently owe around $1 trillion in student loan debt, and many of them are paying it back at a higher interest rate than what you’d pay on a home equity loan. Furthermore, many student loans don’t offer the ability to refinance at a lower rate. So does it make sense for homeowners with student loan debt to take out an equity loan in order to pay off that lingering college debt? [More]
House Passes Bill Tying Student Loan Rates To Treasury Notes
By 5.23.13
While Senator Elizabeth Warren pushes for legislation that would allow student borrowers to enjoy the same insanely low interest rates as big banks (for one year at least), the House of Representatives today passed a bill that would link the interest rates on federal student loans to the yield on the 10-year Treasury note. [More]
CFPB Student Loan Ombudsman Now Taking Questions On Reddit
May 10, 2013
In a series of posts on Consumerist, Rohit Chopra, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Student Loan Ombudsman, answered readers’ questions about comparing, paying for, and getting out from under student loans. If you missed it, or didn’t get your question answered, head on over to Reddit where Rohit is currently taking part in an Ask Me Anything session with readers. [More]
Sen. Warren Introduces Bill To Lower Rates On Student Loans To .75% For One Year
By 5.9.13
While commercial and personal borrowers are currently enjoying historically low interest-rates on loans, and big banks are able to obtain loans at less than one percent interest, student borrowers have had to fight against lawmakers looking to raise interest rates on federally subsidized student loans. With the rates on Stafford loans set to bounce back to 6.8% from 3.4% on July 1, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren has introduced legislation that would actually lower that rate for one year to only .75%. [More]
Student Loan Company Implies That If I Don’t Friend Them On Facebook, I Will Default
By 5.8.13
Great Lakes Higher Education Corporation is a large student loan servicer/guarantor, and a not-for-profit company. Their goal is a worthy one: they want to keep their customers engaged and get them to pay their student loans back. This is for the good of their customers, the good of the company, and really for the good of our entire economy. A recent e-mail they sent to their customers bothered a few readers, though, because it seemed to imply that if they didn’t follow the company on Twitter, they will default on their student loans. [More]
