By Valerie Strauss. Unobtrusively slipped into the debt deal that Congress passed late Wednesday night to reopen the federal government after 16 days and allow the United States to keep borrowing money to pay its bills is a provision about school reform that will make Teach For America very happy. Read more...

By Gwyn Morgan. What is the return on a university education? Sadly, many Canadians graduate to find that their $30,000 debt (national average) has bought them employment prospects no better than when they left high school. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce estimates more than 500,000 postsecondary graduates will be working in low-skilled jobs by 2016, while 1.5 million skilled jobs will go unfilled. What is the problem, and how can it be fixed? More...

By Rachel Fishman. This blog post is the fourth part in a series that takes a look at recent changes to the credit criteria for Parent PLUS loans and the subsequent effect on colleges and universities. You can find the rest of the series here.
Since making relatively minor changes to the credit check requirements for Parent PLUS loans last year, the Department of Education has been under a firestorm of criticism from historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and their lobbying organization, the National Association for Equal Opportunity (NAFEO). According to HBCUs, the impact of the policy change caused a significant decline in enrollments and a huge loss in revenue for their institutions. In an effort to ease tensions, Education Secretary Arne Duncan recently apologized to HBCU leaders at their annual meeting saying, “I am not satisfied with the way we handled the updating and changes to the PLUS loan program. Communication internally and externally was poor. I apologize for that, and the real impact it had.” More...

By Sonya Stinson. Best way to wrangle runaway loan debt is making students masters of basic money management.
A spooky cloud of crimson smoke dramatizes the dread of overwhelming student debt in “The Red,” a short movie thriller created for SALT, the American Student Assistance financial literacy program for students and alumni.  Less dramatic but noteworthy still, college students logging onto the National Endowment for Financial Education’s CashCourse can take a “Financial Realities” quiz to test their knowledge. In the opening question, they’re asked what will have the worst impact on their finances: gourmet coffee drinks, borrowing money, or spending without a plan. More...

By Sonya Stinson. Parents are important stakeholders in improving the financial literacy of college students. 
The interest in financial literacy has expanded beyond the financial office, which is where Lyssa Thaden, financial education content manager at American Student Assistance, used to focus her pitches. 
“Now, at a stakeholder meeting, I’ll have someone from the financial aid office but also someone from admissions and enrollment management,” says Thaden, who consults with school sponsors of SALT, ASA’s financial literacy program. “The marketing folks show up, the residence life people show up, and even alumni.” More...

By Gary Mason. Thousands of young Canadians headed off to university this week, many worrying about the amount of debt they were amassing in the process. The often meagre amounts saved from summer jobs don’t come close to paying for a year at school. And unless they have parents helping them out, loans are essential. If you’re in graduate school, lines of credit from a bank are often needed to cover costs. More...