Each year, millions of college students rack up student loans that won’t come due until they leave school. But even with financial aid, some students have trouble keeping up with the soaring costs of tuition, and once that debt ends up in the hands of a collection agency, the amount can mushroom out of control while the student is still in school. [More]
the price of an education
Huge Collection Fees Making It More Difficult For Cash-Strapped Students To Afford College
By 8.7.17
Man Claims He Was Arrested For Unpaid Federal Student Loan Debt
By 2.16.16
More than a century ago, the U.S. did away with the idea of debtor’s prison, and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act explicitly forbids debt collectors from using the threat of jail time as a way to collect on owed money. So how does a Texas man end up with U.S. Marshals at his door, ready to arrest him for a nearly 30-year-old student loan debt? [More]
Colleges Paying Sketchy Agents To Recruit Rich Foreign Students
By 10.1.15
With schools looking for ways to bolster their bottom lines without having to rely on federal funding, a growing number of colleges are paying recruiters to bring in well-heeled students from overseas — even though some of these agents have been caught trying to fake applicants’ transcripts. [More]
White House Unveils New “College Score Card” To Help Students Select Schools
By 9.12.15
With student loan debt now well past the $1.2 trillion mark — due in no small part to students that paid top-shelf tuition prices but ended up with bottom-shelf educations and job prospects — there’s a need to provide American students and their families with all the relevant information they need when it comes to picking the right school for their goals and their wallets. [More]
Wisconsin Sues Corinthian Colleges Over Everest’s Job-Placement, Graduation Rate Claims
By 10.27.14
Corinthian Colleges, the for-profit educator behind controversial school chains like Everest and WyoTech, is facing yet another lawsuit. This time, it’s from the state of Wisconsin, which alleges that Everest misrepresented important information, like graduation rates and job-placement stats, in order to lure students in. [More]
As Many As 1-in-3 Student Loans May Be Delinquent
By 3.19.14
Over the years, Consumerist has reported on student loans and the crippling impact their debt can have on recent graduates. But with rising tuition costs and financial aid opportunities becoming increasingly competitive it’s easy to see why student loans are a necessity for entering college. A new report claims that overall loan delinquency rates are declining, but a closer look at the numbers may reveal a problem that is much worse than previously believed. [More]
Proposed Rules Take Second Stab At Holding For-Profit Colleges Accountable For Graduate’s Success
By 3.14.14
The Department of Education is making a second attempt to rein in those for-profit colleges that benefit from financial aid to students without providing them the education needed to find gainful employment after graduation. But some consumer advocates say the proposed regulations don’t do enough to help students. [More]
Federal Lawsuit Claims For-Profit College Group Misled Students, Falsified Documents
By 2.20.14
We’ve heard horror stories about some for-profit colleges from students: the false promise of gainful employment after completing a short program at the cost of thousands of dollars. Now come claims from former employees about alleged fraud carried out by officials at a for-profit college group thanks to a federal lawsuit. [More]
51 Groups Call On President To Not Let For-Profit Colleges Weaken “Gainful Employment” Rule
By 2.4.14
Last summer, the Dept. of Education began the process of reviewing a new rule aimed at those educational institutions that failed to demonstrate their students could find gainful employment in the fields in which they had been trained. The for-profit college industry has managed to weaken the rule, but today more than 51 different groups — including advocates for consumers, veterans, and students — asked the President to help prevent this rule from becoming toothless. [More]
How To Not Suck… At Borrowing For College
By 1.28.14
(This is Part Two of a two-part feature on paying for an education. Last week’s HTNS column focused on the best way to save up for college.)
With the rising cost of college tuition, many families figure they’ll have to beg, borrow and steal to pay for the cost of higher education. If those are the only options available to you, we recommend borrowing. [More]
College Student Protests Tuition Hike By Paying With Singles
By 1.23.14
Like many schools around the country, tuition at the University of Utah has soared in the last decade. In-state students at this school are now paying more than double what students paid only a decade ago, with another 5% increase coming. In minor protest of these rate hikes, one Utah student chose to express his feelings by paying his tuition in singles. [More]
College Senior Hopes To Pay Off Student Loans By Selling Ads On Graduation Cap
By 1.22.14
A student at the University of Michigan-Flint looked into the crystal ball and saw visions of student loan debt. But what if he could figure out a way to pay off that pile of debt before he even enters the job market? And so the young man started a campaign to sell advertising space on the top of his graduation cap. [More]
Jury Awards Former Student $13 Million In Lawsuit Against For-Profit College
By 6.21.13
One of the more common complaints against for-profit colleges is that the institutions make promises to prospective students about job placement and salary that the schools don’t make good on. A woman in Missouri recently sued one such for-profit school, saying it misled her about its medical assistant program. She had been seeking somewhere between $2-4 million in damages, but the jury went ahead and awarded her $13 million. [More]
Study: Some State Universities Offer A Better Return On Investment Than Ivy Leagues
By 9.26.12
Sure, everyone has a hope that their kid can go to Harvard, Princeton — or even Brown, the Staten Island of the Ivy League — but a new study that compares how much graduates earn to what it cost for that framed piece of paper on the wall shows that there are many less expensive public universities that offer a better return on investment. [More]
Say Goodbye To The Student Loan Grace Period
By 6.28.12
Though it looks like federal lawmakers will finally come to an 11th-hour deal to keep interest rates on federal Stafford student loans from doubling, certain programs that student borrowers have benefited from will be going by the wayside come July 1. [More]
