Graduating with Less Debt

The math on student debt is brutal, and most people don’t figure it out until the diploma is already in hand. Every extra semester you spend in...

The biggest lie about student debt is that it is only tuition. Tuition gets the headline, but most people graduate with more debt than they expected...

The biggest student debt mistakes don’t happen at the loan office. They happen when you take a light semester, drop a class, or add a major because...

The biggest lie about student debt is that you cannot do anything until after graduation. Not true. You might not wipe out your loans while carrying...

Student loans are not free money. Every dollar you borrow today is a dollar plus interest you will pay later. If you want to graduate with less debt...

The biggest lie about student loans is that you have to accept the full package. Every semester, your financial aid office offers a number. You can...

You have student loans. Somewhere, a company is responsible for managing them. That company is your loan servicer. Not your school, not your rich...

Your student loan servicer is the company that sends bills, processes payments, answers calls, and handles paperwork. It is not always the company...

Most student budgets fail because they assume your money arrives in neat, equal amounts and your expenses are predictable. Real life is messier. You...

You’ve spent the last three months sweating through a summer job. Maybe you were waiting tables, stocking shelves, lifeguarding, or working a desk...

A campus job can be more than pizza money. Treat it like a tool, and it can keep you from borrowing more, cut interest that piles up while you are in...

A credit card in college is not free money. It is a tool that can build your credit history or trap you in minimum payments for years. If you already...