October 6, 2008 by Mara Strom You can’t turn on the TV these days without being bombarded by financial doom and gloom.  If you are a college student (or planning to be one in the near future), there is no doubt that current economic climate is going to have some kind of an impact on your student financial aid package.  Over the next few weeks, we’ll be looking at the cost of attending college during an economic downturn, with stories on how to recession-proof your college savings and how the market cash will impact your 529 Plan. This week, I’m putting the spotlight on how the recession may impact your student loans. The University Chronicle recently reported on how that the current credit market crunch is affecting education lenders. According to this October 2nd a...

September 15, 2008 by Mara Strom The news has been doom and gloom all year for would-be student borrowers.  From private loan companies folding to their insurers going under, it seemed that finding an affordable student loan for the ‘08-09 school year was going to be impossible. Well, lo and behold, according to recent articles in the Wall Street Journal, Chicago’s Daily Herald and a survey conducted by the New England Board of Higher Education, it turns out the bark of the financial aid crisis may have been worse than its bite. So what gives? Well, here are a few factors that may have eased the crisis: * Congress raised the cap on its unsubsidized Stafford loans by around $2,000 a year. Unsubsidized loans don’t require applicants to demonstrate financial need.  In ...