Student Loan Blog

College graduates who were lured into high-need fields, including teaching, nursing, and public service, by programs that would forgive a portion or all of their student loans are receiving this sobering news: The cavalry isn’t coming after all. These graduates, who in some cases were enticed by the loan forgiveness programs to take out ...

An anonymous donor is playing secret Santa with at least a dozen colleges and universities nationwide, but instead of giving $5 trinkets this Santa has left schools with $1 million to $10 million gifts, The New York Times reports (“Anonymous Donor Gives Millions to Colleges,” April 24, 2009). Over the past two months the donor has given away ...

Some 1,500 Georgia high school students will not receive the state scholarship funds they were promised for becoming valedictorians or for graduating in the top of their class, The Associated Press reports (“Georgia Scholarships to End for 1,500 Students,” April 26, 2009). In a last-minute decision, state legislators cut the Governor’s ...

For the first time, San Jose State University has turned away qualified students from its freshmen class — 4,400 students who live outside the county, to be exact — saying that budget cutbacks have forced the university to scale back enrollment, reports the San Jose Mercury News (“San Jose State University Rejects 4,400 ...

At a time when large numbers of lenders exiting the student loan marketplace has made it more difficult for international students to find college and graduate school funding, Harvard has announced an exclusive agreement with JPMorgan Chase that will allow the school’s international graduate students to borrow up to the full cost ...

To help ensure that low-income students can afford a college education in the midst of a recession, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is committing nearly $70 million in grants toward its goal of doubling the number of low-income students who earn a college degree or vocational credential by age 26, The New York Times reports ...

The rising cost of food and gas has become so taxing for some students that food banks in college towns are beginning to see an influx of students, according to an Associated Press article (“Struggling College Students Turn to Food Banks,” July 26, 2008). The University District Food Bank located in a college neighborhood near the ...

Colorado Governor Bill Ritter recently signed into law the Higher-Education Construction Act, allocating more than $200 million for construction projects at colleges and universities across the state, according to an article in The Cherry Creek News (“Gov. Ritter Signs Higher-Ed Construction Bill Into Law Today,” May 12, 2008).Gov. Ritter signed ...

The nation’s urban public colleges and universities, faced with a decline in state funding along with mounting pressure to keep tuition low and to produce measurable results of academic success, are confronting the same challenges that have already defined so many of the country’s urban high schools and elementary schools and that have turned them ...

Last week I speculated on how President Bush intended to pay for the increase in awards for Pell Grants. Now it is official, with the details recently being released. The president’s proposal is summarized in an article by Kelly Field titled “How President Would Pay for Increase in Pell Grants” that appears in the Feb. 16, 2007 issue of The ...