Student Loan Debt Repayment Plan News; Unemployment Tied to Tuition Repayment; Federal and State Financial Aid Funding Notes 2011
Posted on | March 18, 2011 | No Comments
Recent data reveals that student loan amounts are increasing. The amount of money needed for a college education continues to move higher and the amount of federal and state funding could fall lower during this time of economic recovery.
States are in a budget crunch and many are reducing the amount of funding for education across the board. As tuition costs soar, and available funding decreases, the amount that a prospective college student will be required to finance is increasing. The incidence of loan defaults and delinquency continues to rise. According to the Institute for Higher Education, two out of five student loan borrowers have had difficulty in the last five years repaying the money that was borrowed to finance their education. One specific problem in our current market environment is competition to find gainful employment. Unemployment rates are still at relative highs and college graduates are not finding entry level position employment that pays well enough to pay for, among other things, the monthly student loan payment. According to the Institute for Higher Education, data collected and analyzed from 2005 revealed that only 37 percent of student loan borrowers were able to make monthly payments and pay the amount borrowed on time and in full. The problem is a national one and it appears to be getting worse. Data on tuition analyzed and reported via the Project on Student Debt reveals that tuition rates are increasing faster than inflation and family income levels. Many argue now that the problem is so pervasive that student loan debt has surpassed the nations average credit card debt.
Author: Stephen Johnson