The U.S. Education Department recently released numbers showing that the total amount of money borrowed by students in the 2008-2009 grew by 25%, to $75.1 billion, over the previous year. The number has been rising for many years, but this bump is the largest on record. The deputy undersecretary of the Education Department, Robert Shireman, has said that this increase was “definitely above expectations” but was likely caused by the nation’s dire economic crisis. According to the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, two out of three college students borrow money to pay for college — and their debt load is growing significantly. In 2008-2009, the average debt load was $23,186; in 1997 the average amount was $13,172. With a growing debt load and the highest unem...

We have been conditioned to think that student loans are inevitable. A necessary evil for today’s college student. But yesterday’s New York Times article on student loan debt has an optimistic message: One out of three students earn their BA degree with no student debt. That’s right — one-third of all undergrads will get through their degree without owing a penny in student loans, according to a new survey conducted by the College Board. So what’s that we keep hearing about how all students are drowning in student loan debt? According to one of the College Board’s researchers, Sandy Baum: People think students are drowning in debt, and there is a small proportion of students that borrow an exorbitant amount, but most students graduate with a manageable d...

It looks like the last two weeks have unintentionally turned in to the “Student Loan Hour” here at the Financial Aid Finder. Earlier this week, I covered the New York Times piece on student loan debt. Five experts sounded off on the question, “How much student loan debt is too much?” (Did you answer that question for our student debt poll on Tuesday? Please do that now if you haven’t already!) You might also want to check out the Times’ follow-up to their student debt piece, appropriately titled Student Debt, Fool’s Gold? There are hundreds of reader comments that painfully, at times, illustrate the naivety with which so many students take out tens of thousands of dollars in student loans. If nothing else, it’s an eye opening read. *** I ha...

Did you read my post yesterday How Much Student Debt Is Too Much? If you haven’t yet, give it a read. Then I’d love to get your opinion on that question. <br /> <a href=”http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1709860/” mce_href=”http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1709860/”>How much student loan debt do/would you feel comfortable taking out?</a><span style=”font-size:9px;” mce_style=”font-size:9px;”>(<a href=”http://answers.polldaddy.com” mce_href=”http://answers.polldaddy.com”>opinion</a>)</span><br /> Feel free to explain yourself in the comments section! I’d love to hear from you. ...

How much debt is too much debt? It’s a question that anyone taking out a student loan needs to grapple with. According to a series in the New York Times today, the average debt load for a graduate of the class of 2007 was $20,000; students attending private colleges took out an average of $25,000. But how much the average student carries in debt isn’t necessarily the answer to how much you should borrow. Financial planners typically recommend borrowing no more than 10-15% of your expected annual salary post-graduation. Of course, there are numerous variables that go into how much you will actually earn after graduation — and, given the current economic climate, whether or not you will be able to find a job right away in your field. In general, however, your anticipated ...