Want your students to keep up to date with student loan trends while also exposing them to vocabulary and terminology that will further their understanding?  Here are some articles that will help:

• Student loans seem to be crimping entrepreneurial activity (WSJ Blog):

A recent study from the U.S. Small Business Administration sheds light on one additional factor that may challenge this group: rising student loan debt. Entrepreneurs under age 40 with student-loan debt were less likely to apply for a business loan and had fewer employees, according to the SBA’s November 2014 analysis, which focused on the self-employed.

• Interesting story in Washington Post provides inside look at financial aid decisions at one private university in the northeast:

Here are nine examples of how Franklin & Marshall College sized up the finances of students admitted to the class of 2018. F&M’s full charge for tuition, fees, room and board is $60,799. There are also expenses for books, supplies and transportation.

• This college guarantees students will graduate with $37,000 job or get all or portion of student loans repaid (Detroit News):

  For those who graduate and get a job that pays less than $20,000 a year, the college will make full monthly student loan payments until they make $37,000 a year. With a job that pays $20,000 to $37,000, the college makes payments on a sliding scale.  There’s no time limit for the payment plan, but the college caps total loan payments at $70,000 per student. Adrian’s annual cost of tuition, room and board is about $40,000 before any forms of financial aid.

• Student loan borrowers struggling; 16% postponing payments and 13% in default (Wall Street Journal); lots of terminology for students to grapple with while also providing information on student loan repayment options.

• Instructive tale about how student loans can impact important relationships (parents who co-sign on loans) (FoxNews).  Good advice:

His advice for students contemplating taking out student loans? Think about the kind of job you’ll get after you finish college. Consider what an entry-level position typically pays, and then look carefully at the employment rates for new grads. Use a calculator to get an idea of what your monthly payments will be after school is done. And know that nothing is guaranteed, including that you’ll still want the career you’re borrowing money to prepare for.

• Recent graduates struggle with student loan debt with advice from higher education expert, Sandy Baum (Northeast Public Radio):

“And if they know that they’re borrowing money, they don’t know how much. And if they know the aggregate amount, they have no idea of what that means in terms of monthly payments. So we do have a real problem with financially literacy on this front. Some of it is information, but some of it is failure to process information, so really need to do a better job of when students are borrowing, they need to make sure they know exactly what they’re getting into.”

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About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.

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