Given the consistent rise in the cost of college over the past two decades, it’s no secret that student loan borrowing and student debt are at all-time highs.
As you might expect, the percentage of students from low-income families who take out student loans to pay for college is greater than their higher-income counterparts, with 77% of low-income students borrowing for college in 2011-12 vs. 50% for high income students.
However, according to Pew Research Center, the rate at which students from more affluent families are borrowing is increasing faster than that at which low-income students are taking out student loans.
While the return on value of a college degree is at an all-time high, according to a recent analysis by FiveThirtyEight, not all degrees are created equal. As we’ve written, the return on investment of a college degree depends on many factors, including the field of study, student’s debt level, and what the graduate does with […]
According to a recent PayScale survey, of 68,000 workers, 43% of Americans feel underemployed in their jobs.
As we recently reported, the worker’s choice of college major is a factor in feeling underemployed. Healthcare and Business majors were among the top majors listed by underemployed workers.
This infographic from PayScale presents a broader look at underemployment in America–including the jobs in which workers feel most underemployed and the ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ job skills employers most value.
Every year, U.S. News & World report famously releases a list of America’s Best Colleges. While many other publications create their own lists, the U.S. News rankings are taken the most seriously by parents and prospective college students. The list is so revered that colleges even attempt to game their admissions policies to appear more […]
The general consensus among the public is that the cost of college has risen dramatically over the past few decades. We’ve reported how much the rise in college tuition has outpaced gas, cars and any other household item that the government tracks. According to the government, college tuition and fees have risen a shocking 107 percent since […]
We recently wrote about a new set of college rankings based on which colleges provide the best value for your money.
A few states dominated the list and were home to several colleges that provide students with a great bang for their tuition buck. Watch the video to find out what they were.
There’s no perfect method for ranking colleges, and every media organization that releases a list has its own standards and criteria.
We tend to focus on lists that take a college’s value compared to its cost into account and which colleges leave their graduates with little student debt.
That’s why we’re intrigued–and a little surprised–at these latest rankings from Time Money. The newsmagazine recently ranked 1,500 four-year colleges by which colleges offer the most bang for your tuition buck.
With college costs reaching record levels and still rising, the idea of free college might sound like a pipe dream. Some colleges offer free tuition to the very top students, but these scholarships are extremely competitive. And even with financial aid, most students usually end up paying large amounts for college and taking out student loans. […]
It’s not easy to quantify how much a college degree is worth in dollars. While we know that college graduates make $830,000 more by retirement on average than their less-educated peers, that number can vary widely by individual, college, major and more.
And of course, there are many intangible benefits to going to college. But with costs topping $60,000 at some colleges and continuing to rise, more students and families are realizing they need to consider a college’s future value when determining where to invest their tuition dollars.
A new college-ranking system makes that easier by ranking colleges based on how much better off graduates are financially once they earn a degree.
Many of the nation’s top universities, such as Harvard, Stanford and Duke, are lauded for having need-blind admissions policies, meaning they don’t take into account a student’s ability to pay for college when making admissions decisions. These schools say the policy a way to make sure the best students are accepted because of their merit, […]