Making Savvy Student Loan Decisions For College

Tipping during the holidays isn’t about keeping score — it’s about showing appreciation to the people who help you all year. Whether that’s your babysitter, delivery driver, or building staff, a thoughtful tip or small gift can mean a lot.Every year, as it gets closer to Christmas, I see more and more stories about holiday tipping etiquette and who I should tip. I understand tipping in the hospitality industry. For example, waiters make most of their money on tips, and they have an established custom on what to tip. I don't always agree, and if the service was poor, I tip less, and if the service was great, I tip more.But with higher inflation, workers having to do more with less, and simply showing your gratitude, let's talk about holiday tipping (and some food for thought on tipping in general).

Millions of federal student loan borrowers are entering a new repayment era. After years of uncertainty (payment pauses, injunctions, administrative forbearances, and changing policy) the United States is preparing to consolidate repayment options, ending multiple plans (including SAVE, PAYE, and ICR) and replacing them with the Repayment Assistance Plan, or RAP.The challenge is that many borrowers are still fixated on their old payments from 2022 or 2023 and are concerned about what the cost will be in 2025 or 2026.During SAVE’s administrative forbearance, payments were $0 and before that , they were based on older income data from as early as 2019. That anchoring has left many borrowers with expectations that no longer match current options. Interest has resumed, SAVE is no longer accepting new enrollees, and for new borrowers in 2026, RAP will be the only income-based option.RAP has many perks, but the transition isn’t simple. Understanding how RAP compares with SAVE, PAYE, and IBR can help borrowers plan for the next several years.

The latest national data on college completion shows a stark picture: the cohort of students who started college in fall 2019, only 61.1% earned a degree or certificate within six years. That figure has hovered between 61.1% and 61.4% since the 2016 cohort.While the pattern of stability shows a trend - it's also a reminder that one-in-three college students never finish.The slight 0.3% dip from the previous year was not driven by a surge in students leaving college altogether. Instead, more students remained enrolled at the six-year mark (9% of the cohort, up 0.4%) suggesting that a portion may still complete in later years. The findings come from the latest Yearly Progress and Completion Report, which tracks all first-time students (full-time and part-time) who entered a U.S. degree-granting institution in fall 2019. Completions at any institution count, including after transfer, offering one of the most comprehensive national views of student outcomes.

A long-running legal battle over the Biden administration’s Saving on a Valuable Education, or SAVE, plan reached a conclusion on Tuesday, when the U.S. Department of Education and the State of Missouri announced a proposed joint settlement agreement (PDF File) that would terminate the program, pending final court approval. The announcement, which has been expected for months especially in light of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act also terminating the plan, brings borrowers another step closer to some timelines for resuming payments.The agreement, filed in federal district court, comes after nearly two years of legal challenges from Missouri and several other states, which argued that the administration exceeded its authority by redesigning the federal income-driven repayment system through executive action. Courts repeatedly halted portions of SAVE and, earlier this year, blocked the program in its entirety, throwing borrowers into a prolonged period of confusion.Under the proposed settlement, the Department of Education will:Stop enrolling new borrowers in SAVEDeny all pending applicationsShift existing enrollees into other legally authorized repayment plans.The department would also undertake a negotiated rulemaking process to formally repeal SAVE and address related regulatory questions, such as how, when, and where the borrowers in SAVE will be moved.The settlement still requires judicial approval, but that's expected shortly. It's important to note that the negotiated rulemaking process will determine how and when SAVE is formally removed from federal regulations.

Getting an inheritance is the epitome of a mixed blessing. You receive a financial windfall, but the cause is the death of a loved one. On top of complicated emotions, you may be dealing with the largest sum of money you’ve ever seen.Nobody is born knowing how to handle an inheritance, and few people are prepared to handle one. But if you’ve received an inheritance, you can take a few steps to use the money wisely.

Students today are worried about whether AI use is allowed in college admissions essays, whether schools use AI detectors, and if an application can be rejected over suspected AI content.As AI increasingly weaves its way into our lives, we are entering a new phase of college admissions.More and more, AI has become second nature for students in their schoolwork while concerned teachers and professors try to play catchup. These are major concerns, and bring up issues related to academic integrity, the nature of learning and even fundamental questions like “what is the goal of an education?”. These concerns are now front and center in the college admission process, and as a college consultant I hear about them almost daily from concerned students and parents. Freaked out students reach out to me all the time with questions like these: “I am not using AI to write but when I plug my essay into an AI checked it says very high levels of AI so I’m nervous :-(““I wrote my essay about the hardships about my surgery and an ai detector said it was 96% ai, now I’m worried idk what to do.”There are extremely important questions at the heart of this:Can a student use AI in their college essay or other parts of their application?What is appropriate versus inappropriate use of AI?Do colleges use AI detectors?If so, are they reliable?And central to it all, can a college reject me if they think, correctly or incorrectly, that I used AI inappropriately on my college application?

Practicing law can be a fulfilling and lucrative career, but the price of a J.D. keeps rising. In 2024, the average law school graduate had $130,000 in student loan debt. That’s more than twice as much as a starting public defender earns in a year.Outside of the public sector, lawyers tend to earn more ($120,000 on average). But with a six-figure debt hanging over your head, that six-figure income may not feel like it goes far enough.Thankfully, practicing lawyers may qualify for a variety of student loan forgiveness plans. Here are the four major loan forgiveness programs for lawyers, and some considerations if you don’t qualify for the plans.

Getting a financial aid award letter is the first step in making a college admissions decision.You’ve been accepted to your school of choice and have been awarded a financial aid package. This is certainly an exciting time, but once you open the financial aid award and begin reading, your excitement turns to confusion and frustration.Welcome to the annual interpreting of your financial aid award. While there are some guidelines for schools to follow when creating financial aid awards, for whatever reason, there aren’t any strict standards on formatting. This often leaves many schools using unfamiliar formats and terminology.Unfamiliar language and cryptic codes can be found throughout many financial aid awards. Loans and grants can be lumped together. Codes such as “L” or “LN” are sometimes the only indication that an amount is actually a loan. In fact, most financial aid students receive come in the form of student loans.Additionally, the true cost of attending the school is often underestimated on award letters. This can leave students constantly coming up short on funds to pay for school. This guide will walk you through exactly how to read, compare, and evaluate your financial aid award letter, no matter how confusing it looks. We’ll also show you how to spot red flags, determine your real costs, and decide whether you should appeal for more aid.

The Department of Education moved this week to counter a wave of online claims about how the federal government will classify nursing programs under new student loan limits taking effect next year.The guidance, released in a post titled "Myth vs. Fact: The Definition of Professional Degrees", attempts to clarify how the term “professional degree” will be used under President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) and why certain nursing programs are not included in the category eligible for the highest borrowing cap.The answer, the agency insists, has little to do with whether nursing is considered "professional" and everything to do with how federal loan limits have ballooned over time.

House Democrats are moving to curb the benefits of Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), arguing that the popular tax-advantaged accounts increasingly double as investment vehicles for the wealthy rather than a way for families to pay medical bills.Rep. Lloyd Doggett, a longtime Texas Democrat and the ranking member on the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, has introduced the Health Savings Accounts (HSA) Consumer Protection Act.The bill arrives just as millions of Americans are facing some of the largest health care insurance premium increases ever. While HSAs are a great tool to invest and build wealth - their key benefit is to help families afford the high cost of healthcare in America.Democrats point to a new Government Accountability Office report (PDF File) and other analyses showing HSAs skew heavily toward higher-income, healthier, and disproportionately White and Asian account holders. They also highlight projections that HSAs will reduce federal tax revenues by roughly $180 billion over the next decade.But it's important to note that wealthier families opt towards HSAs because they have to - not by choice. These plans are typically the cheapest option in the face of ACA penalties. And this potential fix would punish everyone due to changes in qualifying expenses and reimbursement options. In short, this proposal is bad for everyone except the government. All it would do is increase taxes for Americans, while providing no benefit to those who are trying to pay for the excessive healthcare costs created by the current healthcare system. It's even bad for health insurance companies and HSA providers, who'll be subject to more record-keeping and potential taxes. It's actually pretty wild to see such a terrible bill proposed.