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New Federal Initiatives Help Students Understand Loans
Tweet Share on Facebook February 29, 2012 CommentBorrowing and repaying loans in any context is a complicated process to understand. Borrowing for college is no different; teenagers are expected to weigh numerous—and complex—factors and conduct a sophisticated cost-benefit analysis before deciding whether a particular school is worth the debt. And they are bound by their choice for many years after graduation.
[Find out why you should consider federal student loans.]
At the Student Loan Ranger, we like to help guide you if we can. The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Department of Education have also been plugging away at deciphering some of the information you may want to look at when considering borrowing for school.
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Obama Proposal May Address Growing Education Gap
Tweet Share on Facebook February 22, 2012 Comment (4)Recently, the New York Times reported on the growing education gap between low-income and affluent students. One study cited found that since the 1960s, the gap in standardized test scores has grown by about 40 percent.
And the gap isn't limited to primary and secondary education. A separate University of Michigan study, also cited in the article, found that since the late 1980s, the gap in college completion grew by about 50 percent.
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Student Loan Debate Rages On
Tweet Share on Facebook February 15, 2012 Comment (1)The growing chorus of concern over the rapid growth of student debt is being heard in the hushed and hallowed halls of Congress and at some of our nation's foremost educational institutions.
[Find out why the student debt crisis isn't just about the economy.]
In Congress, where the move for reform has recently been incremental, the latest concern is that the interest rates on subsidized Stafford student loans will double from 3.4 to 6.8 percent on July 1.
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Law School Transparency Weighs in on Reform
Tweet Share on Facebook February 8, 2012 Comment (1)Law School Transparency (LST) is a nonprofit legal education policy organization. Its mission is to improve consumer information and usher in reforms to the current law school model. This week, the Student Loan Ranger (SLR) is interviewing Patrick Lynch, its cofounder and policy director.
Lynch is a licensed New York attorney with a J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School in Tennessee and a B.A. in Economics and English Literature from Fairfield University in Connecticut. He splits his time working for LST and providing policy support for environmental nongovernmental organizations in southern Chile.
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Law School Student Debt Is Just Tip of the Iceberg
Tweet Share on Facebook February 1, 2012 Comment (4)Your Student Loan Ranger was intrigued by a recent report from the Center for American Progress titled "What Can We Learn from Law School? Legal Education Reflects Issues Found in All of Higher Education." In a nutshell, the report argues that the failure of schools, students, and policymakers to respond as the cost of getting a degree climbs and the chances of getting a job that pays well enough to justify that level of debt diminishes is not unique to legal education. It is the highly visible tip of a growing iceberg of student debt that threatens all of higher education.
