Missing payments on your student loan has serious consequences. If you're making monthly payments and you're 270 days delinquent, or 330 days delinquent if you pay less often than monthly, then you are in default. Your Borrowing Responsibilities It's important to read the fine print when you borrow money for school. Unless you're granted loan deferment, forbearance or forgiveness, you must ...

Earning a graduate degree can be a smart idea, but how do you find the funding to pay for an expensive advanced degree? There are ways to earn a graduate degree without ending up with a lot of debt. Figure Out How Much Money You'll Need First, figure out the expenses associated with getting a degree. Don't just focus on tuition ...

When it comes to financial aid, late is often too late. Funds for next year are already allotted, and your school simply has nothing more to give. But don't give up until you consider these options: Step 1: Check out your school's Web site. Many sites provide information about the school's late applicant policies, additional suggestions for late applicants and links ...

My nephew has asked me to cosign a private student loan for college. He's on his own since he lives independently from his mother, his parents are divorced, and his father is completely out of the picture. He's made it through 2 years of college with great success. I'd like to help him. I have very good credit. What would be ...

Help!!! My Parent PLUS loans are presently in a forbearance that will end in a few months. My expected installment payments are more than my monthly income. I am retired and my husband is on disability retirement. We have another son presently attending college. What options are available to me (if any)? Do I ask for an extended repayment, or continue ...

Think you know financial aid? These five facts might surprise you. 1. Most students receive financial aid. If you’re not going to bother applying for scholarships because you think no one ever wins, you’re wrong. Two-thirds of full-time undergraduate students receive financial aid in the form of grants or scholarships, according to the College Board. The cost of college is rising, ...

Meet College Joe. He attends a four-year university and is going to graduate in May. Unfortunately, College Joe had to take out a lot of loans to pay for his education. When he graduates, he'll be roughly $21,000 in debt. What's worse is that College Joe has no "real world" job prospects. In fact, he's been hearing from most of his ...

QUESTION: Why not borrow from my 401(k) for my daughter's college tuition, as there will be less to lose in this economic crisis? -- Betsy Thomas ANSWER: Borrowing from your 401(k) is almost always a big mistake. It may seem innocuous, since instead of paying back a bank loan, you're paying yourself. But you've lost the opportunity to earn further returns ...

Most families evaluate education loans based mainly on cash flow considerations: How much money can you get to pay for college costs and/or living expenses? How much are the monthly payments? When do the payments start and when do they end? What is the total cost of the loan (total payments over the life of the loan)? Who is responsible for ...

My daughter received some financial aid for her freshman year of college but we still had to take out a sizable loan for the rest. She applied for a loan her sophomore year and was denied because we have "insufficient income" to repay the debt. My husband is self-employed as a landscaper and it was a bad year. She was attending ...

Several grass-roots groups were established on Facebook in early 2009 calling for the cancellation of all student loan debt under the theory that this will stimulate the economy. Most noteworthy is the group Cancel Student Loan Debt to Stimulate the Economy (see also www.forgivestudentloandebt.com) founded by Robert Applebaum, a New York attorney. This group has grown to have more than 220,000 ...

Universities like Harvard, Princeton and Yale are doing away with college loans in favor of endowment-driven grants. Could this spark a bona fide loan-free trend among the nation's colleges? Is this the financial leg up you've been hoping for? The good news is that if your family's income is less than a certain magic number, you are bound to be eligible ...

The Albany Common Council passed a non-binding resolution urging Congress to "consider forgiving student loans" on Monday, August 17, 2009 by a vote of 12 to 0. The city council's resolution was inspired by similar calls for forgiveness by several Facebook groups. Resolution #43.42.09R was proposed by Jim Sano, chair of the city council's Finance Committee. It urges Congress to forgive ...

If you have already graduated from college, will you be affected by the new changes to student loans in the health care bill? — Lauren A. No. None of the changes enacted by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 will affect students who have already graduated. Starting July 1, 2010, all new federal education loans will be made ...

If you borrowed federal student loans from NorthStar Education Finance, you may get a small refund as part of a class action settlement concerning NorthStar Education Finance's suspension of its T.H.E. Repayment Bonus loan discount program. As a non-profit education lender, NorthStar Education Finance had one of the best loan discount programs, which provided a 1% interest rate reduction for undergraduate ...

Congress is proposing to allow borrowers to discharge private student loans in bankruptcy. Under current law, education loans are not dischargeable in bankruptcy except in extreme circumstances. The US Bankruptcy Code at 11 USC 523(a)(8) requires borrowers who want to get a bankruptcy discharge for their student loans to demonstrate in an adversary proceeding that repaying their student loans "would impose ...

With the new Obama tuition plan do you now have to go through FAFSA to get a loan? Is it better to take a loan out in my child's name or take a parent PLUS loan? — Michelle A. As of July 1, 2010, all federal education loans are now made through the Direct Loan program. This includes federal student loans, ...

How do outstanding loans affect future financial aid awards for my children? Is there any advantage to trying to pay them back early (other than less interest)? Are they counted towards my outstanding debt thereby potentially increasing my aid package? — Linda H. Most forms of consumer debt, including auto loans and credit card debt, are ignored by the Free Application ...

Your parents are broke but not broke enough for you to qualify for full need. You have no chance of getting a student loan. During your summer vacation, you burned through your savings. Tuition prices just shot up another 7%. And despite receiving several scholarships, you will still owe thousands of dollars for your college education. So what do you do? ...

Throughout the country, the economy seems to be cropping up in every conversation. In fact, the economy has students and their parents talking about finances more than ever. A survey of FastWeb users revealed that 57.1% of high school juniors and seniors talked with their parents just last week about finances for college. As the reports for a grim outlook over ...