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Higher education brings ever higher costs
Both saving and borrowing are essential strategies, financial experts say.

Eight Financial Aid Moves to Make at Year-End
Smart financial aid ideas for both students and parents to make at year-end to improve chances for getting financial aid. Also tax benefit tips for college savings regardless of your child's age.

US Gets Tough On Failure To Repay Student Loans
Years after a political outcry over high levels of student loan defaults, the Education Department has become one of the toughest debt collectors around. Over the past decade, it has won a steadily expanding arsenal to wield against former students who don't repay.

A Guide to Student Aid Programs
The federal tax code has ways to help financially strapped families that are more generous this year if you know the ABCs of education tax breaks.

President Bush signs Higher Education Act Extension Legislation
On September 30, President Bush signed the Higher Education Extension Act of 2005, extending programs authorized under the Higher Education Act until December 31. The President also signed legislation that extends the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students (HEROES) Act through September 30, 2007

Supreme Court Rules That Disabled Can't Escape Student Loans
America's seniors and disabled cannot escape debts from old student loans, the Supreme Court ruled Wednesday, freeing the government to pursue Social Security benefits as part of an effort to collect billions in delinquent loans.

Fed Raises Rates Again
After the latest rate hike, the central bank's fourteenth since June 2004, the target for the federal funds rate now stands at 4.5 percent, the highest in nearly five years.

Senator Hillary Clinton Calls For Student Borrower Bill Of Rights
Senator Hillary Clinton introduced S. 3255, The Student Borrower Bill of Rights Act of 2006, a bill to provide student borrowers with basic rights, including the right to timely information about their loans and the right to make fair and reasonable loan payments. Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) co-sponsored the legislation.

Consolidation could save on college loan
The latest government reports show the amount of student loan debt has skyrocketed to more than $50 billion. Now, students, parents and graduates have only a few days to save money.

Legislative Developments - March 2006
Several bills of interest to the student loan community, including a bill to extend programs under the Higher Education Act yet again, to June 30, have been recently introduced. In addition, on February 28, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions filed a report on its bill to reauthorize programs under the Higher Education Act.

Bush FY 2006 Budget Proposes Major Changes in Consolidation
President Bush's FY2006 budget request would replace the current fixed-rate interest formula for Consolidation Loans with the variable rate formula.

The President's FY 2006 Education Budget
The White House offers details regarding the President's FY 2006 Education budget, including changes in the student loan program.

Senate HELP Committee Approves HEA Reauthorization Bill
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee yesterday approved S. 1614 by a 20 to 0 vote. The legislation, titled the Higher Education Amendments of 2005, reauthorizes the Higher Education Act, among other changes.

House to Take Up HEA Reauthorization
Last night the House Rules Committee reported out for floor consideration H.R. 609, the College Access and Opportunity Act of 2006. The bill consists of most of the provisions approved by the Education and the Workforce Committee last year on a party-line vote, though those provisions enacted earlier this year as part of the Deficit Reduction Act have been stripped out.

House Budget Committee to Markup FY07 Resolution
The House Budget Committee convened this morning to begin marking up its FY 2007 budget resolution. As drafted, the resolution would cap discretionary spending at $873 billion—the level requested in President Bush’s proposal.

Hurricane Katrina
US Government Takes Steps to Assist Education Financing
The U.S. House of Representatives yesterday unanimously approved the Student Grant Hurricane and Disaster Relief Act (HR 3668) legislation that would allow students forced to withdraw from postsecondary institutions due to a natural disaster, to keep all of the federal grant aid received under Title IV of the Higher Education Act . Other Federal departments are also taking steps to assist Katrina evacuees with education-related financial issues.

Congress Urges Consolidation of Student Loans Before July 1st
House Democrats voiced their recommendation that anyone eligible to consolidate their student loans do so now, in view of law changes and higher interest rates to take effect July 1, 2006.

Rate rise spurs student loan refinancing
Former and current students are rushing to beat a deadline tomorrow to refinance their college loans before a big interest rate increase kicks in.

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