College Finances
Estimating the Cost of College
posted from nytimes.com
Although grants, scholarships and loans can significantly lower the costs of college, prices have increased faster than the rate of inflation. Use this tool to estimate the future cost of college.
College Finances
Why College Costs Rise, Even in a Recession
posted from nytimes.com
If you have paid a college tuition bill recently, perhaps the sticker shock has abated and your children have been good enough to friend you on Facebook so you can see what they are doing on your dime.
What probably still lingers, however, is the desire to ask some pointed questions of the people who are doing the educating. Where does all that money go? And why can’t the price tag fall for a change?
Earlier this year, the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities announced with some pride that the average increase in tuition and fees at private institutions this school year would be the smallest in 37 years — 4.3 percent, just a little higher than inflation.
College Finances
A Hand Up for Students Facing a Mountain of Debt
posted from nytimes.com
The biggest problem for consumers of American higher education is that many of them must take on a mountain of debt to get the degree they want. That intimidating quandary has inspired some unique, though often unsuccessful, attempts to make student loans more affordable over the years.
[...]
Now comes the latest innovator, SafeStart, just in time for back-to-school season. It aims to reduce the fear of debt that might keep, say, middle-class 18-year-olds from borrowing for school in the first place. SafeStart, owned by a company called BridgeSpan Financial, charges $40 to $70 for every $1,000 a student borrows. In exchange, it promises to lend customers money interest-free later on to pay back some of those loans. You get the money only if you’re having trouble paying back your loans in your first years in the workplace because your income is too low.
College Finances
Study Shows Rise in Average Borrowing by Students
posted from nytimes.com
Although about a third of the students who earned bachelor’s degrees in 2007-8 graduated with no debt, nearly the same as four years earlier, the average amount students borrow has increased, according to a policy brief released Tuesday by the College Board.
“People think students are drowning in debt, and there is a small proportion of students that borrow an exorbitant amount, but most students graduate with a manageable debt load,” said Sandy Baum, an author of the brief.
College Finances
College loan repayment now linked to income
posted from post-gazette.com
Students are taking on more debt than ever to pay for college and sometimes find themselves unable to make ends meet when they graduate. But thanks to a new federal student loan repayment program that went into effect this month, relief may be in sight for many.
Under the new plan, monthly payments will be based on how much borrowers make instead of how much they owe. And, after 25 years of faithful payments, any remaining balance will be canceled. The debt could even be wiped out in 10 years if the student chooses a career working for the government or a nonprofit agency.
College Finances
Paying in Full as the Ticket Into Colleges
posted from nytimes.com
In the bid for a fat envelope this year, it may help, more than usual, to have a fat wallet.
Facing fallen endowments and needier students, many colleges are looking more favorably on wealthier applicants as they make their admissions decisions this year.
Institutions that have pledged to admit students regardless of need are finding ways to increase the number of those who pay the full cost in ways that allow the colleges to maintain the claim of being need-blind — taking more students from the transfer or waiting lists, for instance, or admitting more foreign students who pay full tuition.