The College Solutions Blog

Valuable insights from Lynn O’Shaughnessy
a nationally recognized college expert.

Federal student loan

10 Great Ways to Cut College Costs

How do you cut the cost of college? Recently I shared 10 tips on the first session of #CollegeChat, which is a live monthly conversation for teens, college students and parents on Twitter. I pulled all the tips from my new eBook, Shrinking the Cost of College: 152 Ways to Cut the Price of a Bachelor’s Degree. Here are the...

Cushy Student Loan Repayment Plan: Will It Boost College Costs for Everyone Else?

Is a generous federal loan repayment program that Congress recently made even better going to increase the cost of college for everybody? It’s an interesting question that’s being posed by Daniel L. Bennett, who is a research and policy analyst at the Center for College Affordability and Productivity. In a Forbes article, Bennett argues that the federal student loan repayment...

5 Things You Need to Know About Private School Loans

Earlier this week, I talked with Tim Ranzetta, a national expert on college loans and the founder of Student Lending Analytics. Today, I wanted to share some of his advice about private school loans that can save you money! Here are some things that you absolutely need to know about private school loans: 1. Students should max out their federal...

Federal Student Loan Reform: Biggest in a Generation

Congress is on the verge of enacting the biggest federal student loan reform in a generation. I’ve been following the high-stakes fight on Capitol Hill between the student lending giants and the Obama administration for some time, but I didn’t feel compelled to share the news until the legislation looked like a sure thing. The Democrats have tucked the federal...

February 11, 2010

How Much College Loan Debt is Too Much?

The typical student graduates from college with $23,200 in college loan debt. That figure, which comes from a recent study from the Project on Student Debt, only includes student loan debt. The $23,200 tab does not include money that parents borrowed through the federal PLUS loan program, a home equity line of credit or by dipping into retirement accounts. Is...

College News On the Weekend

I wanted to share with you three college posts that I wrote this week for my other college blog at CBSMoneyWatch. Hope you enjoy them! 1. Shrinking Your Federal Student Loans A great federal program will begin this coming Wednesday that will provide relief to many borrowers who are struggling with repaying their federal student loans. 2. Declawing the FAFSA...