Managing Debt During School

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...

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...

A Federal Work-Study award is not just spending money. It is a tool to borrow less, pay down interest, and avoid credit card debt while you are in...

Your loan servicer is the company that sends bills, tracks your balance, and answers questions about federal student loans. It is not the lender, and...

A credit card can be a useful financial tool in college, or it can make you spend your first post-graduation years paying for pizza you ate sophomore...

If you are enrolled at least half-time, most federal student loans come with an in-school deferment. That means you do not have to make payments...

Summer money disappears if you treat it like a windfall. You get paid, cover gas and food, buy a few things you put off all year, and suddenly August...