Tag: interest rates


Student loan debt is a symptom, not a disease

Posted on June 18th, 2013

"As the President and Congress spend all their time focused on interest rates and repayment plans, the cause of all this debt continues to grow with impunity. This continued focus is dealing with the symptoms of student indebtedness and not the disease." -- Craig Anderson

This enlightening post from Common Sense Student Loans argues that the student loan debate going on in Congress right now is preventing us from dealing with the root “disease” of skyrocketing college costs. Student loan debt, author Craig Anderson argues, is a symptom of this much larger issue, and current government proposals are merely Band-Aids […]

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The differences between private & federal student loans

Posted on June 14th, 2013

Student debt is a huge issue, and borrowers with private student loans get the worst of it. Check out this chart and read on to learn about the differences between federal and private student loans.

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Elizabeth Warren slams Republicans for failing to act on student loans

Posted on June 11th, 2013

"Have we become a people who will support our big banks with nearly free loans, while we crush our kids who are trying to get an education?...This is morally wrong, and we must put a stop to it." -- Sen. Elizabeth Warren

With federal subsidized student loan interest rates set to double from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent on July 1 unless Congress acts, it’s crunch time for government officials to come to an agreement to prevent rates from rising. Sens. Jack Reed (D-RI), and Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) have co-sponsored a bill that would freeze interest rates […]

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College in Sweden is free. So why do students have so much debt?

Posted on June 10th, 2013

Students in Sweden attend college for free, but they still graduate with an average of $19,000 in debt. But unlike in the U.S., this debt is easily managed due to low interest rates and long repayment periods.

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Senate deadlocks on student loans

Posted on June 7th, 2013

The Senate deadlocked Thursday over federal student loan interest rates, with no consensus in sight on how to prevent rates on certain loans from doubling for about 7 million borrowers on July 1.

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How the government wants to fix student loans

Posted on June 3rd, 2013

With federal student loan interest rates set to double from 3.4 to 6.8 percent on July 1, government officials have offered a flurry of proposals to prevent the rates from increasing and to help borrowers currently mired in debt. In the chart above, Mother Jones breaks down the long- and short-term fixes for the current student loan crisis from Senate Democrats, Senate Republicans, House Republicans, and President Obama himself.

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The case for lowering federal student loan interest rates

Posted on May 28th, 2013

"Unlike big banks, students do not have armies of lobbyists and lawyers. They’re banking on us to do what’s right. Let’s bank on students by investing in their futures and giving them a break on student loan interest." -- Elizabeth Warren & John Tierney

This awesome op-ed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. John Tierney lays out the case for lowering interest rates on all federal student loans. Sen. Warren and Rep. Tierney argue that if banks can get special treatment from the government and are able to borrow at low rates, there’s no reason why students cannot. Right […]

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Federal Student Loans vs. Private Student Loans

Posted on March 13th, 2013

Confused about the difference between federal student loans and private loans? Not sure which ones to choose to pay for college? If you need to borrow money to pay for school, it’s best to start with federal student loans, such Direct Subsidized Loans and Direct Unsubsidized Loans, Direct PLUS Loans, and Federal Perkins Loans. Once […]

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