By Quentin Fottrell. American students borrow twice as much as they did two decades ago and the total student debt mountain has increased fourfold over that period. And women appear to be taking on more debt than their male counterparts.
The amount a typical borrower owes has more than doubled over the last 20 years, according to new analysis of government data (pdf) — “The Changing Profile of Student Borrowers” — by the non-profit Pew Research Center. In 2012, students carried a median loan amount of $26,885 versus $12,434 two decades ago. More...

By John O'Connor. To get a student loan at Broward College, one of Florida's largest community colleges, you first have to sit through a two-hour financial lesson with Kent Dunston.
It's a little like Scared Straight, the 1978 documentary designed to keep kids from ending up in prison.
Dunston's lesson, though, is about scaring students into making good financial choices. Nationwide, student loans total more than $1.2 trillion. More...

Local community colleges block students who haven't paid tuition, and track them down for old payments. In turn, some students are blocked from a better education to get a better job.
Westchester Community College has resorted to taking students to court to collect tuition in arrears; the two-year public institution had about 631 active lawsuits against former students in state Supreme Court so far this year. Rockland Community College carries almost $3.4 million in past-due tuition from its students. More...

Afin de faciliter l’accès des étudiants à l’emprunt, un système de prêts bancaires garantis par l’État a été mis en place pour tous les étudiants qui le souhaitent. Ce prêt ne fait l'objet d'aucune demande de caution ou de conditions de ressources. Le dispositif concerne la Société générale, le Crédit Mutuel, le C.I.C., les Banques populaires et les Caisses d'épargne du groupe B.P.C.E. More...

By Robert Farrington. The financial aid office – the place where students figure out how they are going to pay for school. We’ve talked about the secrets of the financial aid office before, and how students can take advantage of programs that may not be available to them. More...