Student Aid Matters - The Edvisors Blog

We are in an unprecedented state of emergency with economic impacts due to the coronavirus pandemic. If you are a student or student loan borrower, we want to make sure you have an understanding of your options.

Tess Michaels, Founder and CEO of Stride Funding, informs us that financial management is absolutely necessary, and there are tools to help.

Georgene Huang, CEO & Co-Founder of Fairygodboss, the largest career community for women, addresses the financial stress that recent college graduates experience and ways to combat that anxiety.

Financial aid letters can play a big part in what school you choose to attend. We've got tips on what they mean, plus how to compare them.

Donna Vieira, Executive Vice President and CMO of Sallie Mae, shows us that courage and diligence can have a strong impact on accomplishing one’s dreams.

The SAT can help you with more than just getting in to college, it could save you money!

Are you unsure about how much you should put towards your child's education? You are not alone. Find out how much parents are spending and tips to help your child pay for college.

In the wake of the college admissions scandal, students should remember it’s their hard work and drive which can lead them to success. 

After you submit the FAFSA, focus your energy on getting additional money for college. Here are four strategies to help reduce the need for loans.

New guidance from the IRS allows companies to help employees save for retirement while paying off student loan debt. 

There are plenty of free resources out there to provide guidance through your college journey. Here are some places to go if you need help with the financial aid process.

How do you get your financial aid money, when do you get it, and does the money go to you or your school? We’ve got the answers.

Sometimes financial aid isn’t enough to cover the cost of college. You still have options available to you to help make ends meet and make your college dreams a reality.

You’ve filed the FAFSA…now what? The next two big steps in choosing a college are being accepted and receiving your financial aid award letters. Here’s what to expect.

Borrowing for college can be confusing. When you look at student loan interest rates, it can get even more overwhelming. We help you understand how interest works and the impact it has on the cost of your loan.

Wondering how to pay for college? Start here with our blog on financial aid basics. Learn some of the terminology and what to expect when navigating how to pay for school.

If you have student loans, chances are you’ve heard of certain deductions or tax credits that you may qualify for. We explain the basics, including which forms to keep your eyes peeled for.

It’s time to start paying the bills for next semester. Are you worried about covering your college tuition? We’ve got top tips to help!

Roughly 9 million borrowers with federal student loans were either in default or delinquency, or had postponed payments in 2016.

The IRS Data Retrieval Tool (IRS DRT) returns in time for the 2018-2018 FAFSA®. Here's what you need to know about using it after the reintroduction.

How the outage of the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) affects filing the FAFSA. What to know about filing without the DRT.

Nearly half of American adults have suffered a hacked account. Here are some warnings signs you may have been hacked - and what you can do to keep your accounts safe.

Learn more about 2017-2018 FAFSA changes that will affect when you can file and which year's tax information you will use to document your finances.

Interest rates on Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans and PLUS Loans are set to drop on July 1, 2016. Find out what the new interest rates will be.

The Federal Reserve announced a .25% interest rate hike on December 16, 2015. Find out how this rate increase could impact your student loan interest rates.

Learn more about income-dependent repayment plans for student loans and how the plans are successfully preventing low-income borrowers from defaulting.

Find out what typically happens when the Federal Reserve raises interest rates, including how your federal and private student loans will be affected.

Learn more about the policy that will change which year’s income and data are used to judge eligibility for student aid, starting with the 2017-2018 FAFSA.

Download a new white paper that proposes free college tuition, fees and textbooks at public colleges and universities, without tax increases.

The U.S. Department of Education will no longer let colleges see the list of colleges on a student's FAFSA, starting with the 2016-2017 FAFSA.

Edvisors analyzes how the quickly plummeting asset protection allowance could affect financial aid, especially for middle-income students.

Edvisors analyzes the federal education loan program and identifies similarities to predatory lending practices.

Many student have to borrow money to pay for college. Learn tips for cutting costs when you’re shopping for student loans and when it’s time to pay the loans back.

Learn more about the July 23, 2015 U.S. District Court Ruling on the U.S. Department of Education's gainful employment regulations.

Despite the switch from the FSA PIN to the FSA ID for the online FAFSA, security flaws remain. Learn more about these flaws and find out how to secure your account.

Less than 10% of borrowers who apply for cosigner release are approved. Learn how to increase the odds of being approved for cosigner release.

The so-called experts have a lot of advice about paying for college. Find out how to tell the good advice from the bad so you can make the best decisions about your education.

Learn the details behind the U.S. Department of Education's announcement of a student loan debt relief plan for former Corinthian students.

Hackers accessed the tax records of 100,000 taxpayers and filed false tax returns. Find out how this security breach affects student loan borrowers.

On July 1, 2015, the interest rates on Federal Stafford Loans, Federal Parent PLUS Loans and Federal Grad PLUS Loans will drop. Learn more about the rates for the 2015-2016 academic year.

Corinthian Colleges filed for bankruptcy and closed its campuses, affecting thousands of students with federal loans. Learn about loan cancellation options.

A new study finds that the children of parents with college savings plans are less likely to graduate with student loan debt. Learn more about the results.

College financial aid fraud can make it more difficult to get federal student loans and grants. Check out this article for tips on preventing, detecting and reporting student aid identity theft.

Without an extension from Congress, the Federal Perkins loan program will expire on September 30, 2015. Find out what this means for student loan borrowers.

How can we encourage more families to save for college? Check out Edvisors ideas for improving college savings plans.

Find out how President Obama’s proposal to tax college savings plans would affect college affordability and college saving rates.

The Higher Education Act of 1965 is due for reauthorization in 2015. Find out which proposals have a higher probability of being included, and which proposals will likely fail.

College Ave Student Loans is the first new lender to start making private student loans since 2011. Find out if this could be a sign of economic recovery.

Students who file the FAFSA early receive more money than students who file later. Find out why timing is so important when applying for financial aid.

President Obama presented a proposal to partner with states to eliminate tuition and fees at community colleges nationwide. Read on for Edvisors analysis.

Learn about the U.S. Department of Education’s proposed college rating system and read an analysis of the proposal from Edvisors financial aid experts.

Find out about federal student loan borrowing trends and see what these changes could mean for the economic recovery and future college debt.

New federal regulations ease eligibility for borrowers of Federal Parent PLUS and Federal Grad PLUS loans, backing off from tighter rules that were implemented three years ago. Borrowers with a current 90-day delinquency or accounts that were in collections or charged-off will remain eligible if the total debt is under $2,085 or if the collection activity occurred more than two years ago.

Get the facts about student loan forgiveness and see how advertisers are exploiting borrowers who need honest, helpful advice about student loan debt.

Find out how former college students with student loans responded to a recent survey and learn helpful tips and traps for student loan borrowers.

Find out what’s causing the strange increase in serious student loan delinquencies. Edvisors analyzes the data and offers several explanations.

A new GAO report shows that more Americans are having a portion of their Social Security income withheld to repay their defaulted student loans. Learn about the implications of the findings.

When does private consolidation of federal education loans save the borrower money? Learn about the potential benefits and drawbacks for student and parent borrowers.

For the first time, the U.S. Department of Education has released data on federal student loan delinquency. Edvisors provides expert analysis.

Edvisors responds to and analyzes the U.S. Department of Education’s proposal to loosen the eligibility criteria for the Federal PLUS loan.

Edvisors analyzes key findings from the 2014 report on how families are covering higher education costs and summarizes the implications of the data.

A new college ranking system from Money magazine tries to measure the value of a college education based on three factors: educational quality, affordability and outcomes.

The complexity of the FAFSA acts as a barrier that prevents some low-income students from applying for financial aid, and as a result, attending and graduating from college.

Some debt settlement companies are charging borrowers fees to consolidate their federal student loans, even though borrowers can do this for free on their own.

The Senate HELP Committee releases 785-page draft legislation to reauthorize the Higher Education Act of 1965 and improve federal student aid programs.

Starbucks announced a new employer-paid tuition assistance plan for its 100,000+ employees. The Starbucks College Achievement Plan provides tuition reimbursement for online Bachelor’s degrees through a new partnership with Arizona State University.

Student loan debt at graduation continues to increase every year. A new report presents facts and figures concerning average student loan debt for students graduating in 2011-2012, demonstrating that the burden of paying for college continues to shift from the federal and state governments to students and their families.

Get 12 practical ideas for simplifying the student loan repayment process. These tips can help you save money on your student loan payments.

Check out these tips for parents who are considering Parent PLUS Loans to help their dependent undergraduate children pay for college.