finances

    What happens if your parents aren't helping out with college costs? Your financial aid package isn't likely to be more generous.

  image by flickr user Sal Falko, cc license As school decisions are made, students and parents have to figure out how to pay. For most families (70%!), that means student loans. However, it's likely that students and parents have lots more to learn about the basics of student loans. To that end, enter Vox. 

  image by flickr user 401(K)2012, cc licenseConsider higher education an investment in your student's future? Then Payscale.com has a must-read ranking list just for you. 

  Approximately 55,000 students took a gap year before their freshman college year to volunteer, intern, travel and work. For those who would like to supplement their collegiate academic experience with a cross-cultural experience, this is a welcome statistic. And gap years seem to pay off in the long run, as gap years seem to correlate with increased employability, higher GPA, higher wages, higher motivation and much more (see the American Gap Association's list here). For some families, though, the reaction to a gap year is likely to be: that sounds great, but who has the extra money for that? And that’s what makes what Tufts has recently announced so appealing. 

   image by flickr user FutUndBeidl (cc license) Our senior researcher recently got a request to look into the prevalence of schools with a total cost of attendance listed at $40,000 per year or above. The jump over the last 10 years of federal data is nothing short of shocking.

  photo by flickr user 401(k)2013 (cc license) If you're still not done with your 2014 tax filing, this CBS article is a must read. 

   image by flickr user lendingmemo (cc license) Over the past four months, debit cards on college campuses have faced heightened scrutiny. Much of this scrutiny has come from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Today, the Department of Education's Office of Inspector General has published a report that is sure to garner attention, both on Capitol Hill and on college campuses nationwide. 

  image by flickr user doug8888 (cc license) Spring break time has arrived for many college students across the country. One question that may need to still be sorted out: who's paying for all that spring break fun?

  pic by flickr user nesster (cc license) The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) continues its push for sunshine/transparency for financial organizations’ relationships with institutions of higher education. In a blog post last week, the CFPB discussed how many of these arrangements work:1. Direct payments for using school logos: We found several agreements where a financial institution offers a licensing fee in order to use a school’s logo to market its financial products. (In 2008, Congress restricted this practice for student loans, but not for other financial products.) For example, we found an agreement which provides $25 million to a university for use of the school’s logo, among other benefits.2. Bonuses for recruiting students: Other agreements provide bonus payments based on whether students sign up for a financial institution’s student checking account marketed on campus. For example, one agreement paid a university an upfront payment of $400,000 and an additional bonus of upwards of $200,000 each year if enough new students signed up for the accounts.3. Discounted prices in exchange for marketing access: Some colleges receive discounted – or even completely free – services in exchange for allowing a provider to market financial products to students. For example, we found many agreements where a financial institution charges a university to transfer loan and scholarship funds to students.However, some school officials have told us that these charges may be heavily discounted, since these agreements provide the financial institution with unique access to market to students receiving financial aid. This gives the financial institution a foot in the door to generate significant revenue in fees from students, making it worthwhile to provide discounted services to schools.  The CFPB went on to praise the voluntary disclosure of such agreements as a commitment to transparency and informed consumer choice. College Parents of America praises these efforts as commonsense, consumer-friendly steps that these institutions can take. Thankfully, college financial transparency has increased significantly since the days of on-campus Frisbees, T-shirts and candy in exchange for college credit card applications.   Transparency in college isn’t yet perfect, however.  

   image by flickr user jparise (cc license) Over the past year, there have been multiple accounts of how much the federal government profits from its student lending. This week, the Congressional Budget Office announced that those profits project to continue through 2024.