Students News
Changes to FAFSA Benefits Students
You’re a college student, and life feels grand. You have your classes picked out for next semester, and you’ve signed a lease through next year. Everything is falling into place. The last thing on your mind is filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, commonly known as FAFSA. It should be the first. […]
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College Graduates Should Budget (And Save!) Right Away
When Ryan Dwyer received his undergraduate history degree from the University of South Florida in 2016, he felt a sense of accomplishment. His hard work had paid off with society’s definition of the ticket to a brighter future. But the degree has simply given him entree into another realm of much harder work: grinding through […]
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Who’s Paying For Student Loans
Now that the college graduation parties are over, parents and students can sit down and have a serious talk about who’s going to pay for it. College, that is, not the parties. The cost of college and how families are paying for it, has dimmed the celebration that should accompany receiving a diploma. Some people […]
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Student Loan Repayment A Benefit Millennials Love
Companies have a new carrot to dangle in front of college graduates – help repaying student loans – and experts believe it quickly will become the gold standard benefit for the next crop of college graduates. “Getting help repaying student loan debt is at the top of the list of benefits for today’s graduates,” Bruce […]
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Attention 2015 college graduates: You just started a six-month grace period. Most of you, anyway.
There are approximately 2.8 million college graduates this year and 75 percent of them – 2.1 million people – borrowed an average of $35,000 to pay for that diploma. That is the highest debt load ever and takes some of shine off the celebration, which is why the federal government and most private lenders give […]
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FAFSA Deadlines Hamper Access To $150 Billion In Student Aid
If you have a college-age child in the house, this will be your reminder that now is not just “tax season”, it’s also “FAFSA season.” The two are very much related. Everyone knows what tax season is about – pay the IRS! – but the FAFSA season can have an equally momentous impact on your […]
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Worries About Student Debit Cards Similar To Credit Card Issues
The crisis over credit card use by college students appears to be under control, but another problem with plastic is causing concern. This time it’s debit and prepaid cards and once again, colleges and universities are being criticized for helping promote the problem. A 2013 survey showed 77 percent of college students using debit cards […]
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Private Student Loan Lenders Open Door To Modifications
Help is coming for beleaguered borrowers who took out student loans from private lenders. How much help – and how many people actually will benefit from it – is still very much under discussion, but two private lenders at least have opened the door to assist financially distressed customers. Wells Fargo Bank and Discover Financial […]
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Student Loan Debt Continues To Make News Over Summer
When the bell rings to start a new school year, college students, especially the 70 percent using loans to pay for expenses, need to catch up on a few news items that surfaced during the summer break. Here is the quick summary of what happened while you were away: You will pay a higher interest […]
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Student Loan Debt Relief Options
Consumer debt isn’t what it used to be in this country, with one very notable exception. People owe a trillion dollars less on mortgages than they did five years ago; $225 billion less on credit cards and $750 billion less on overall consumer debt. Student loans, however, have gone in the opposite direction. Consumers owe […]
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