Student Loans
Student Loan Interest Rates Were Just Lowered. Why Does the Government Charge Interest in the First Place?
The federal government isn't a private bank, but it has reasons for charging interest on student loans.
To Understand the High Cost of Colleges, Think of Them as Investment Banks
A growing endowment generates wealth. A small part of that wealth is invested to bolster an administration tasked with generating prestige, and, as students rush to take out federal loans, raising tuition and fees.
Financial Aid Letters Are Really, Really Confusing
And that makes it hard for kids to choose the right school.
A Federal College Loan Program Is Exacerbating the Racial Wealth Gap
A new report points to troubling flaws with the Parent PLUS loan program.
Brown University Plans to Eliminate Loans From Student Aid
Brown hopes to raise $30 million by December in order to eliminate loans starting in the 2018–19 academic year.
Department of Education to Roll Back More For-Profit College Regulations
The regulations sought to protect student loan borrowers.
Head of Federal Student Financial Aid Office Resigns
James Runcie submitted his resignation following an apparent disagreement with Betsy DeVos over his scheduled testimony on improper aid payments.
Know When to Withhold 'Em, Know When to Fold 'Em
Think withholding taxes is an easy fix to America’s mess of a student loan re-payment system? Alex Holt explains why you should probably think again.
Confessions of a For-Profit College Inspector
Young, broke, and desperate, I worked at the heart of an emerging nationwide scandal in higher education. Here's what I saw.
A Nationwide Scandal in Higher Education
An early look at a Pacific Standard story that's currently only available to subscribers.
What It's Like Not to Be Able to Pay Your Student Loans
Unlike most of the school-loan borrowers who make it into the news, the most severely delinquent borrowers tend to have low balances and low monthly payments.
Are Adjunct Professors the New Fast-Food Workers?
For many universities and colleges, both public and private, it’s their most embarrassing secret—paying educated professionals minimum wage salaries with no benefits.
We're All Paying When Parents Can't Repay College Loans for Their Kids
New Department of Education data shows rising default rates on federal loans to parents.
Investing in Human Capital, Literally
In what’s been criticized as a modern-day version of indentured servitude, a new batch of start-ups are giving investors the opportunity to turn people into profit by buying a piece of their future earnings. Could this be a solution to our student debt problem?
It Is Possible to Graduate From a for-Profit College
For-profit higher education's failings have the feds exercised anew. If only there was some way to know who might thrive in these institutions....
The Student Debt Explosion
We celebrate education as the answer to almost all of our economic problems. At the same time, we largely ignore the enormous debt many American students are forced to acquire and the great difficulties they face in landing a job that makes it possible for them to pay it off.
Four Sites We Like and Are Reading This Month
Four destinations across the Web that Pacific Standard staffers find themselves returning to again and again.
In Rankings Race, Colleges Giving Low-Income Students Less Aid Than Better Off Ones
A new study from The New America Foundation makes it clear why so many schools have fought efforts for greater transparency when it comes to financial aid.
The Three-Year Engagement: 25 Percent Off College Term
Wesleyan University wants to graduate some students in just three years, saving them (or their parents) thousands in tuition costs. Is this a brave idea—or a blasphemous one?
Should Uncle Sam Attend For-Profit Schools?
Problems with student loans revolving around for-profit universities draw moves to reform the federal footprint.
The State of Student Loans
Obama's State of the Union speech addressed the problem of student loan debt.
The Imperfection of Income-Based Student Loan Repayment
If you commit to a public service salary for 10 years, the government will forgive your student loans.