Home » Next Student Blog » Archive

Things I Wished I Learned in College

13 Key Realizations To Prepare Me for the Business World  I wrapped up my time with a BA in marketing and an MBA after six long, rambling years of college life. Jumping headfirst into the “real world” was like, whoa, things aren’t exactly how they “would be” as portrayed in school. Seriously,while college laid down a bare … Read more

Home » Next Student Blog » Archive

Recruiting for Student Loans Leads to $40 Million Settlement With Cooking School

Thousands of students who took out tens of thousands of dollars in student loans to attended San Francisco’s California Culinary Academy, one of 18 cooking schools in the Le Cordon Bleu for-profit college chain, may be getting some of their money back. Under a pending $40 million settlement in state court, Career Education Corp., Le Cordon Bleu’s parent … Read more

Home » Next Student Blog » Archive

Government Warns: Pell Grant Program in Trouble

Without additional taxpayer funds next year, the government’s “most important” federal financial aid program may be unable to provide Pell Grants to millions of eligible low-income students, likely pricing these students out of a higher education, according to an article in The New York Times (“Pell Grants Said to Face a Shortfall,” Sept. 17, 2008). In a … Read more

Home » Next Student Blog » Archive

Sallie Mae Offers Fixed-Rate Private Student Loans to Compete With Feds

This month, education loan giant Sallie Mae is launching its first fixed-rate private student loan to compete with federal student loans, which have historically been better deals for students because of low, fixed interest rates, as opposed to variable rates, and more protections for borrowers. The private loans will have a fixed interest rate from … Read more

Home » Next Student Blog » Archive

Federal Student Loan Servicer Transition Leaves Borrowers Lost in the Shuffle

The U.S. Department of Education has been busy transferring large collections of federal Direct student loans to new nonprofit loan-servicing companies in an effort to streamline how education loans are serviced. However, the massive transition is causing some borrowers to suddenly encounter problems with their college loans. The transition, which has been going on for … Read more

Home » Next Student Blog » Archive

Senator Durbin: Private Student Loans Should be Dischargeable in Bankruptcy

A 2005 law that prevented private student loans from being discharged in bankruptcy courts, thereby stripping a vital consumer protection from proprietary college loans that remains available to all other types of consumer loans, should be overturned, according to Sen. Dick Durbin. Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, said at a hearing on Capital Hill last week … Read more

Home » Next Student Blog » Archive

Protesting Debt From Student Loans Becomes Larger Part of Occupy Wall Street

The messages of frustration and dissatisfaction from the Occupy Wall Street protests have targeted unemployment, economic inequity, and healthcare costs. But as the protests have spread to other U.S. cities, as well as cities in countries around the world, debt from student loans has became a larger and louder focus of the protests. The unemployment rate has … Read more

Home » Next Student Blog » Archive

Subsidized Student Loans on Federal Debt Limit Chopping Block

The subsidy that the U.S. Department of Education uses to pay interest on federal student loans for undergraduates while borrowers are enrolled in college has been placed on the table in federal debt limit negotiations. During budget negotiations last week between the White House and Congressional Republicans, Rep. Eric Cantor, the Republican majority leader, reportedly proposed ending … Read more

Home » Next Student Blog » Archive

Proposed Legislation Allows Discharge of Private Student Loans in Bankruptcy

Democratic lawmakers in both chambers of Congress have proposed legislation that would make private student loans eligible for discharge under U.S. bankruptcy laws. Sens. Richard Durbin of Illinois, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, and Al Franken of Minnesota introduced the Fairness for Struggling Students Act (S. 3219) in the U.S. Senate on April 15, the same day that Reps. Steve … Read more

Home » Next Student Blog » Archive

Bill Gates To Give Low-Income Students $70 Million In Grants

To help ensure that low-income students can afford a college education in the midst of a recession, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is committing nearly $70 million in grants toward its goal of doubling the number of low-income students who earn a college degree or vocational credential by age 26, The New York Times reports (“Gates Grants Aim … Read more

Home » Next Student Blog » Archive

Colleges Face Having to Alter Admissions Process Due to ‘Stealth Applicants’

A growing trend in how students apply to college is changing the landscape of college admissions, forcing admissions offices to rethink the number of students the school needs to admit and, in turn, how the school awards its available federal grants, student loans, work-study, and other limited financial aid funds. As colleges and universities provide a … Read more

Home » Next Student Blog » Archive

Poor Handwriting As a Cause of Underachievement

These are typical of the comments we received in response to a list of characteristics of the visual-spatial learner that we posted on our website. Visual-spatial learners think in pictures and need more time to translate their pictures into words. If they have sequential weaknesses, they have difficulty with word retrieval, and struggle with sequential … Read more