Does Bankruptcy Provide Relief to Student Loan Debt?

While most people probably would never want to claim bankruptcy, it may be a sensible option for some people looking for help with student loan debt.  Learn how you may qualify for this debt relief, and more in the following infographic. Continue Reading

Facing the Troubling Realities of Student Loans

Maura Kastberg, Director of Student Services at RSC, Your College Prep Expert

Student loans are part of getting a college degree for most students. Just this year the student loan debt rate reached one trillion dollars. This astounding fact has led many to question whether or not a college education is still worth it. As long as students follow some rules as they take on college debt and again as they pay off that debt getting a college education is more important than ever. Continue Reading

Ways To Help Get Out Of Student Loan Debt

College can be a wonderful experience for American students but it can also be one that leads to a lifetime of debt. Over $100 billion worth of student loans were taken out in 2011. The total level of outstanding debt also crossed the $1 trillion mark recently for the first time ever. The level of student debt in the nation is now officially greater than credit card debt according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. In the last 35 years, the cost of college tuition has increased by over 900% and in 2010; the average student had collected $25,000 worth of debt by the time they graduated. It seems as if student debt is inevitable so how do you cope with it? Continue Reading

The price of a graduate career: attainment, opportunity and exclusion

David Hoghton-Carter, Programme Director at Minerva Pathway

Last week, the British government’s “social mobility Tsar” Alan Milburn* published “Fair Access to Professional Careers”, an update to the 2009 “Unleashing Aspiration” report. The same day, I attended Gradcore’s Graduate Employment Conference, and had the chance to hear Steven Rothberg talk about the impact that the high cost of getting an education has for American graduates. The US experience resonates with me; a UK graduate with two degrees and plenty of student debt, I’m building a new social venture called Minerva Pathway to address the nightmarish state of the British graduate economy after years of frustration in trying to develop my own career.

Though the UK has only recently started to follow the USA on the downward slide to exclusionary University tuition fees, we’ve been seeing the consequences of badly thought-through education and careers policy for years. As highlighted by Milburn, cities and nations which can offer plenty of graduate jobs do best nationally and internationally. In today’s world, a strong knowledge economy is essential to innovation and economic development. But market conditions often exclude individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds from the graduate economy; the high cost of an education, the internship dynamic and poor economic and industrial policy-making mean that access to opportunity is often limited to individuals from wealthy backgrounds. Britain has the potential to reap a significant economic dividend from graduate attainment, but only by opening up opportunities in social mobility. So far, it’s failed to do so, and failed badly. Continue Reading

College Students and Recent Grads Concerned about Finances and more After Graduation

Those who don’t think that college students and recent graduates are concerned about their futures, think again.

According to a national survey sponsored by eHealthInsurance (NASDAQ: EHTH), this year’s college graduates are not likely to earn anywhere near as much as they think they need in order to be financially secure, and their expectations for getting employer-sponsored health insurance are unrealistic.

The survey, conducted in April 2012 by Kelton Research, found that this year’s college graduates may be in for a harsh reality check when they enter the job market. According to the survey:

• Today’s college students estimate that they will need to earn an average salary of $81,600 per year after graduation in order to feel financially secure; however, former college students who had graduated in the past three years said that their first job out of college paid only $21,900 per year on average
• More than eight-in-ten college students (82%) believe their first job out of college is likely to provide them with health insurance; however, nearly six-in-ten recent grads (59%) say that their first job out of college did not provide them with health insurance Continue Reading

Video Interview in U.K. Immediately After Keynote About U.S. Job Market for College Grads

Last week I had the good fortune to fly over to Leeds, England to keynote their annual Graduate Employment Conference. CEO of Graduates Yorkshire and Gradcore Martin Edmondson asked me to deliver a presentation about the U.S. job market for college and university students and recent graduates. Many of the issues we’re facing are similar to those they’re facing. They’re experiencing some of them before we do and we’re experiencing some before they do.

One issue that I knew was important but didn’t realize just how important it would be to them was the high cost of attending just about any type of post-secondary school. The cost of attending a higher education institution is far higher in the U.S. than it is in almost any other country and FAR higher than it is to attend an equivalent school in the United Kingdom. But their recent implementation of austerity measures threatens to put their schools on a similar path to that which our schools have long been on. Without exception, every attendee and organizer with whom I spoke greatly appreciated my urging that they do not follow our lead as we are making higher education impossible for many and soon, I fear, for most. As bad as that would have been decades ago, it is even worse moving forward as we cannot and should not hope to compete against other nations to see which can manufacture goods at the lowest possible cost. Unless we want our citizenry to again have third world standards of living, we need to ensure they have first world standards of work. And that means that we need a workforce which uses the muscles between their ears more than the muscles on their backs. Continue Reading

College Dropouts Lost $3.8 Billion in Income in 2011

Sixty-eight percent of those who dropped out of college in 2011 stated that they blamed financial circumstances and lack of time for dropping out. According to the Department of Education, only 50 percent of this year’s freshman will graduate within five years. As bad as that sounds, a staggering 59 percent of low-income students are expected to drop-out before earning their four-year degree and the disparity is growing between their rate and the 34 percent rate amongst high-income students.

Sheila Danzig, founder of TheDegree.com said, “Students need to take advantage of what is available to them to ensure that they have the best chance at successful career. Many can test out of courses over a summer break and take less time to complete a degree.” Continue Reading

Unemployment Penalty Applied to Student Loans by Sallie Mae

Student loan giant Sallie Mae defended itself from a popular campaign on Change.org demanding the company stop charging jobless borrowers a $50 fee on their student loans, drawing a sharp response from the campaign’s creator Stef Gray. More than 60,000 people have joined the campaign since its launch.

In Sallie Mae’s response to Gray’s petition, spokesperson Patricia Christel described the fee as “a good faith deposit that acknowledges the importance of and commitment to resuming payments in the future.” Continue Reading

Ten Private Colleges with Lowest Student Graduating Debt

College students, it is no secret that furthering your education isn’t exactly cheap these days.  There are schools, though, that are looking to make the cost of learning a little easier.

Kiplinger.com found ten private colleges, including three Ivy League institutions that provided enough financial aid to get their students across the finish line for around $6,000—well below the national average of $28,100.

Some of them include: Continue Reading

Student Loans About to Top $1 Trillion and Surpass All Credit Card Debt

With the average American household bringing in $50,221 a year, many parents face a serious dilemma on how they will pay for their child’s college education. “What happens when their child gets accepted into the college of his or her choice only to discover that it costs over $50,000 a year?” asks Forrest Broman, President of The International Educator, a newspaper that reports on news and trends in the field of international education.

“Even with scholarships and financial aid that still leaves a huge out-of- pocket expense, one for which most families are unprepared for,” said Mr. Broman. “Double or triple that amount if they have more than one kid of college age, or approaching college-age,” he estimated. What does that leave cash-strapped families to do? Borrow. Continue Reading