Student Loan Blog

To combat one of the most severe budget crises in its recent history, the state of Arizona is considering opening a fourth major university or converting an existing community college into a four-year school, The Arizona Republic reports (“Regents’ Plan: A New College,” May 6, 2009). State legislators and Gov. Jan Brewer are pressing the ...

Vice President Joe Biden intends to make higher education a reality for more young people, the Associated Press reports, in part by closing the gap between families’ incomes and rising college costs (“Biden Wants to Make Higher Ed More Affordable,” USA Today, April 18, 2009). At a town hall–style meeting he hosted in St. Louis ...

In response to a $274 million loss in state funds, Georgia’s Board of Regents voted unanimously to suspend its “Fixed for Four” program, which guaranteed freshmen entering the University System of Georgia a set tuition rate for four years of school, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports (“Regents Suspend Fixed Tuition Program,” April 14, 2009). ...

College students are piling up alarming amounts of credit card debt, according to a recent survey by student loan company Sallie Mae, which suggests that not only are more students relying on credit cards to pay for their rising college costs, but that more students are charging more frequently (“Average College Credit Card Debt Rises With ...

Judah Lakin, a Rhode Island high school teacher, spends much of his time trying to help his students prepare for college. But even if his students have what it takes to pursue a higher education, many of them are undocumented immigrants and will never step foot on a college campus because they don’t have access to federal financial aid or ...

Public colleges and universities are experiencing a greater influx of transfer applications from private school students as the flagging economy heightens students’ concerns about their ability to pay for college, Bloomberg reports (“Rutgers Sees 50% Jump in Transfers as Economy Sours,” March 5, 2009). “Students seem to be price shopping,” said ...

College-age students who want a higher education without the hefty high price tag are heading to Canada, where a college education can cost nearly half of what it would cost in the United States, reports The Boston Globe (“Canada: Passport to Higher Ed, Lower Cost,” Dec. 25, 2008). The number of Americans attending Canadian universities has ...

The University of California Irvine will usher in its first class of law school students this fall, none of whom will have to pay tuition for their first three years, reports The National Law Journal (“Irvine, Calif., Law School Gets New Name, Offers First Class Full Tuition Scholarships,” Oct. 22, 2008). Although the UC Irvine School of Law ...

To help ensure that Connecticut students continue to have access to higher education in today’s economy, Governor M. Jodi Rell recently announced a new $17.5 million initiative that will help students obtain college loans at interest rates as low as 5.75 percent, reports TheDay.com (“Lending a Hand,” Dec. 14, 2008). The new program, a ...

A new report has found that last year’s increases in college tuition were more on pace with rises in the Consumer Price Index — the measure of the average price of consumer goods and services. But despite the relative steadiness of college affordability, students still received record amounts of financial aid and borrowed more in student loans, ...