Those with student loans who graduate this year will have an average of $35,200 in debt.
According to a new study by Fidelity Investments, 70 percent of students who graduate with debt in 2013 will have a large balance made up of federal student loans, private student loans, state loans and credit card debts.
Furthermore, the study found that half of survey recipients are surprised by the amount of debt they have accumulated.
Student Loans News
May, 10, 2013
On average, 60 percent of student loan borrowers regret their financing choices for higher education, according to a recent survey by the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA).
According to 2012 statistics from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, student loan debt impacts over 39 million adults in the United States. This is a 70 percent increase from 2004.
Ernie Almonte, chair of the AICPA’s National CPA Financial Literacy Commission, said this difficult reality will become apparent to many new graduates in the coming weeks.
May, 6, 2013
A new poll by Gallup found that only 8 percent of university presidents believe higher education is affordable for all students.
The survey is the first in a series of quarterly studies on opinions of U.S. college and university presidents on key issues in higher education, including the affordability of higher education and the possibility of alternative education models.
The results found that, on a scale of one to five, with one being strongly disagree and five being strongly agree, 16 percent of presidents strongly disagreed with the idea that higher education is affordable for everyone who needs it.
May, 1, 2013
On Wednesday, a Michigan House panel began debating a new bill concerning student loan payments.
The Michigan Competitiveness House Committee met to debate House Bill No. 4182, which was proposed by Michigan State Representative Andy Schor on Feb. 5, 2013.
Apr, 23, 2013
Nearly half of high school seniors do not understand the cost of college, according to a recent survey.
The Credit Union National Association (CUNA) survey found that U.S. high school seniors lack the knowledge surrounding college costs and basic terms of student loans.
The poll of 847 high school students across the country was conducted online.
The survey found a disillusion among students: 70 percent are confident they will receive a high-paying job upon graduating. These students believe that high college costs will not affect their financial futures.
Apr, 22, 2013
A 26-year-old college graduate tried to resell his copy of Google Glass on eBay to repay his student loan debts, but removed the bid due to recent security restrictions.
The bidder from Philadelphia, who, for security purposes, would only give the name Ed, said he did not know about Google Glass’s terms of service clause which includes a ban on reselling or loaning the products to others. Once he learned about the clause on Wednesday, he decided to take down the Glass bid which had climbed to over $90,000 in four days.
Apr, 17, 2013
Students from the University of Virginia (U. Va.) were awarded the first prize in a competition to spread awareness about the growing federal debt.
The Up to Us competition, the first of its kind, offered students from 10 different universities to have open discussions with their peers about the federal debt problem. The separate campaigns led to multiple student events, social media efforts and several conversations with members of Congress.
Currently, the federal debt is at $16.8 trillion.
Apr, 16, 2013
The rising cost of a medical degree is a growing concern in the healthcare industry according to a report by the American Medical Association (AMA).
The average student debt for all majors in 2011 was $26,500. But the amount of debt that burdens medical professionals can reach into the hundreds of thousands. According to the AMA, of those students who graduate with student loan debt, the average debt is $166,750. Furthermore, one-third of medical graduates have over $200,000 in debt.
Apr, 12, 2013
In a proposed budget plan, interest rates for federal student loans will be linked to the government’s cost of borrowing.
In President Obama’s new budget request, which spans a lengthy 244 pages, several large changes to the federal student loan program were announced.
Other plans for the year’s budget include additional funding for community colleges, more federal work-study programs and increasing the maximum amount that Pell Grants deliver.
Apr, 8, 2013
The majority of signatures on a recent petition to forgive a percentage of student loan debt for federal workers come from Maryland, home to 136,148 federal jobs.
Created on April 2, the White House petition cites the recently renewed federal pay freeze as the main cause of the “fiscal uncertainty” faced by federal employees, and asks that their principle loan balances be reduced by 2.2 percent for each year the pay freeze has been in effect.