April 10, 2008 America’s largest not-for-profit guarantor of private student loans declared bankruptcy Monday night. The Education Resource Institute or “TERI” explained its decision to seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy by citing a sharp increase in the number of borrowers defaulting on their loans plus the troubled credit market. TERI currently has more than $17 billion in outstanding guarantees. How could TERI’s announcement impact you? For current borrowers, your loan will likely be unaffected. Future borrowers, however, may encounter problems. Here’s the rundown on some possible scenarios. How Guarantors Work When you are approved for a student loan, the bank or lending organization seeks a guarantor to repay the loan should you default on it. The guarantor co...

Physical Therapists May Soon Be Eligible For Loan Forgiveness Physical therapists might be enjoying some student debt relief in the near future if Congress gets its way. On February 7, the House approved The College Opportunity and Affordability Act, H.R. 4137, which would allow physical therapists to apply for student loan forgiveness. The wide-reaching Bill, introduced by Reps. George Miller (D-CA) and Rubén Hinojosa (D-TX), aims to overhaul the 1960s Higher Education Act and ensure better access to college education for all qualified Americans, especially those from low- and middle-income families. Among its many priorities, H.R. 4137 would provide service-based loan forgiveness as a means to encouraging students to enter “critically needed” fields. Physical therapy is now co...

It’s a rare college student who does not have to assume student loans. If student loan debt is in your future, now is the time to educate yourself on your rights and responsibilities. New changes to the student loan program make it necessary for student loan borrowers to educate themselves on their rights and responsibilities. New student loan borrowers are required by the Department of Education to complete a rights and responsibilities tutorial aptly named Entrance Counseling. This counseling used to be done en masse on campuses to incoming students but is now easily accessed via the internet and can be accomplished at the borrower’s convenience from and computer with internet capability. Since this tutorial is required of all borrowers we’ll concentrate our attention in th...

May 14, 2006 The low interest rate on Stafford Loans and other federal loans is about to change. Due to the Budget Reconciliation Act of 2005 the interest on federal loans will rise 2.0 percentage points in July. That means that if you have not done so already it is in your best interest to consolidate your student loans now! Financial Aid advisors say that it is best to consolidate your loans now as paperwork could take up to a month to process. ...