Student Loan Blog

A large proportion of students who only take out non-federal private student loans to finance their education aren’t applying for federal financial aid at all, and it’s the application itself that may be culprit, a new study suggests (“Nightmare Application May Be Driving Students to Costly Loans,” Forbes, June 9, 2009). In his study of 250,000 ...

According to analysis of Department of Education data released last week, the number of college students taking out private student loans over the last five years has risen sharply. Analysis by student advocacy group The Project on Student Debt revealed that the percentage of all undergraduates who took out private student loans last school ...

Colleges and universities all across the country are seeing larger numbers of students who may soon be forced to drop out of college due to unpaid bills, according to a recent survey (“Unpaid College Tuition Bills Rise, Survey Finds,” U.S. News & World Report, Jan. 9, 2009). The American Association of Collegiate Registrars and ...

If recent data is any indication, families are struggling to come up with the cash they need to send their children to college, and schools across the country are doing something to help those who’ve come up short, reports The Chronicle of Higher Education (“Colleges Offer Extra Aid to Strapped Students,” Jan. 9, 2009). During ...

Students who want to maximize their federal financial aid for the 2009–10 academic year should fill out their FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) this week — the first week applications are accepted, reports The Baltimore Sun (“Ringing in the New Year With FAFSA Might Be a Good Move for 2009,” Dec. 30, 2009). “The ...

Nearly 40 percent of full-time community college students don’t receive federal financial aid because they don’t bother to fill out the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid), according to a new report released by the federal Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance. The September 2008 report, ''Apply to ...

While college enrollment is only expected to grow by 300,000 students this year, some 1.3 million additional college students have already applied for federal financial aid — an increase of 17 percent, according to an article in U.S. News World Report (“Financial Aid Applications Jump 17 Percent,” Aug. 11, 2008). The U.S. Department of ...

Students and parents could spend less time filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid under a new provision of The Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008, according to an article in The Austin American-Statesman, (“New Law to Trim College Financial Aid Form,” August 2, 2008). The legislation was approved by Congress last week ...

The Feb. 20, 2007 article titled “Lifeline to Low-Income Students” written by Doug Lederman that appeared in Inside Higher Ed proposes an intriguing if shaky reason why lower-income students “are far less likely to go to college than their peers.” The reason? According to the article, “But one oftcited explanation is that potential college ...

Students are winding down their winter term and starting to breathe a little easier knowing that finals soon will be out of the way. Early January marks the beginning of a new term as students return to college after the holidays. Jan. 1, 2007 is an extremely important date, but it probably is not what you are thinking. It is not the excuse to ...