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Republican House bill proposes variable rates for student loans
In advance of an automatic increase on student loan rates, House Republicans will take up a proposed bill that would peg the interest students pay on their loans to market-based rates, which some criticize as risky. The “The Smarter Solutions for Students Act,” introduced by Reps. John Kline (R-MN) and…
Center-left group proposes new private fund to help people refinance student loans
A new proposal published last week claims that creating a new secondary market would to “deflate” the so-called student debt “bubble” by repackaging both public and private student loans for banks to buy and sell. “The student loan bubble is about to burst,” the authors write in the proposal, released…
Colleges sue impoverished recent grads over unpaid Perkins loans
Three of the highest-profile colleges in America are suing students over unpaid student loans, according to a Tuesday report in Bloomberg News. Yale University, George Washington University and the University of Pennsylvania have all filed lawsuits recently over loans to students that have fallen into default. The lawsuits all focus…
Student loans get the same subpar servicing that subprime mortgages do
By Marian Wang, ProPublica Oct. 24: This post has been updated to include a comment from Sallie Mae. The parallels between the mortgage market and the student loan industry have been frequently noted. Both involve big borrowing and have a history of lax underwriting by lenders. But the two are…
Report: Obama student debt-relief payment plan ‘windfall’ to wealthy borrowers
A new report from the independent think tank the New America Foundation released Tuesday provides a sobering analysis of a much-touted Obama administration plan to offer repayment of student loans adjusted to one’s income. The report found that the debt-relief plan actually offers the “unnecessary” help to higher-income students, while students…
A record 1 in 5 U.S. households carry student loan debt
About one in five U.S. households now carry some form of student loan debt — the highest share ever, according to a new Pew Research Center study. The number of households with student debt is now 19 percent, more than double what it was 20 years ago. The numbers are…
When did we start hating teachers?
Like many Americans, my access to a quality public education was the single most important determining factor for my access to the middle class (via a college education funded by subsidized federally-issued student loans, Pell grants and academic scholarships). And, for that, I can thank a teacher. Or, rather, I…
Republican Congressman apologizes for linking student loans to the Holocaust
Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD) said this week that he’s very sorry for telling his constituents that the federal student loan program is a step down a “slippery slope” to Nazi Germany’s Holocaust. The 86-year-old congressman used the analogy on Wednesday night, speaking to a constituent who asked if he believes…
Rep. Bartlett apologizes for comparing student loans to the Holocaust
Republican Rep. Roscoe Bartlett of Maryland apologized Thursday after video emerged of him comparing student loans to the extermination of Jews in German concentration camps. “While explaining my position on an important Constitutional issue I regrettably used an extreme example as a comparison that was ill-advised and inappropriate,” he said…
College graduates play game of high risk and high reward in struggling economy
Katherine Trujillo, 23, was thrilled the week that she talked to Raw Story. Though she walked in the graduation ceremony last May from the University of California at Berkeley, the stress of looking for a job since then plagued her with constant stomach pain, but that struggle finally came to…
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