Student loan debt repayment program.

One of the bummer things about President Barack Obama’s proposed budget changes is the effect on student loan financing. In order to increase the amount of money available for grants, without increasing the federal deficit by very much, Obama is proposing changes to the way lenders are subsidized for making low interest student loans. This is one of the few items of disagreement I have with Obama’s economic policies.
The end to low interest student loans?
Right now, in order to encourage lenders to offer rock-bottom interest rates on student loans, the government hands out subsidies. Now, though, without these subsidies, lenders …read more

As jobs are lost, the idea of going back to school to finish a degree, get a higher level degree or get some sort of professional certification becomes more attractive.

Almost two weeks ago, I posted a news package from NPR in which I was heard talking about fixing the economy. One of the major points of the interview — although it didn’t make a significant appearance in the news package — was that as long as we have an economy that is based on continued consumerism fueled by debt (mostly credit card debt), we will have a relatively unstable economy in which explosive growth is expected, but unsustainable, over the long run.
Indeed, everything our leaders have been doing, in the name of fixing the economy, has been aimed at …read more

I’ve had a lot of experience with loans. A lot. And I’ve had just about every type of loan you can think of. Which is why I have a deeply personal and abiding dislike of debt, despite the fact that the social stigma associated with debt has largely disappeared.
So, with inspiration from Ginger at Girls Just Wanna Have Funds, I am sharing my  loan experiences with the world.
I do hope that you’ll join in by leaving a comment, and/or a link to any post you write on the subject.
Payday loan
I think I’ll get the ugly out of the way right …read more

“Today, the cost of college is skyrocketing,” Akash Agarwal tells me. “It is growing faster than inflation and faster than the median income. Federal student aid is shrinking. This leads to a college funding gap for many students.”
Agarwal is the CEO of GreenNote, a new college loan provider (launching next month) that aims at using microfinance to close that college funding gap. “Up until now, students had to turn to expensive private loans to meet their needs,” he says.
The idea is that everyone has a social network. Students can take advantage of that by asking friends and relatives (and even …read more