A Lyrical Soul – T.J.’s Student Loan Story

What sort of person becomes a composer?  One thinks of a small, be-suited child, perhaps wearing a bowtie, a bit out of place and yet mature beyond his years as he sits eating dinner at a long, dark, candle lit dinner table in Manhattan.   Rigoletto plays in the background as wine glasses clink and his [...]

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Sallie Mae No Longer Offering Consolidation Loans

I was bemoaning my five loan payments to a co-worker today when she mentioned that since the Fed has recently cut the interest rate again, it would be a good time to try consolidating my loans.  I had tried to consolidate with CitiBank in the past, but they turned me down because of complicated paperwork [...]

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Project on Student Debt Releases New Report

The Project on Student Debt has released its third annual report on student loan debt.  The report shows the average amount of student debt at the national, state, and individual college level.  One interesting finding: Average debt for graduates of 4-year colleges (both private and public) increased 6% from 2006 to 2007. 
Read the report here.

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Obama v. McCain on Student Loans

The New York Times had an interesting article on Oct. 29th on the differences between Obama and McCain’s positions on student loans.  To summarize:
Obama’s Plan: $4,000 tax credit for tuition in return for 100 hours of community service (available to all students, even those whose families do not make enough to pay taxes); Add $1.5 billion to the [...]

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My Student Loan Story – Part II

I couldn’t afford the expensive test prep. courses for the LSAT so, while working as a barista in the cafe section of a Barnes & Noble, I devised my own study method, reading books and working out logic puzzles on my breaks.  I wound up doing well, but because I took the test in February, I had [...]

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My Student Loan Story – Part I

By some estimations, I am one of the lucky ones.  I went to some of the best schools in the country, I have a good job in a field that I may not have dreamed about but certainly respect, and I am in no danger of winding up on the streets any time soon.  Yet [...]

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The Trouble with Student Loans

Over the past twenty to thirty years, a college education has become increasingly necessary to the pursuit of the American Dream.  In a Spring 2007 article in the Harvard Educational Review, Bridget Terry Long and Erin Riley note that, “on average, people with a bachelor’s degree will earn $1 million more over the course of their lifetimes [...]

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