After a three-year hiatus, tens of millions of Americans are starting to make payments again on their federal student loans. While a robust job market and wage growth should ease the sting of the added bill, stubbornly high prices for food and housing have stretched household budgets. Households are less optimistic about their financial well-being and report being worse off than a year ago, according to a September survey released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Center for Microeconomic Data. Respondents reported a higher probability of missing a debt payment over the next three...…After a three-year hiatus, tens of millions of Americans are starting to make payments again on their federal student loans. While a robust job market and wage growth should ease the sting of the added bill, stubbornly high prices for food and housing have stretched household budgets. Households are less optimistic about their financial well-being and report being worse off than a year ago, according to a September survey released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Center for Microeconomic Data. Respondents reported a higher probability of missing a debt payment over the next three...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareIn August, Paige McConnell became the first in her family to go to college — and the first to drop out.McConnell, 18, could not make online classes work. She doesn’t have WiFi at her rural home in Crossville, Tenn. The local library turned her away, not wanting anyone sitting around during the pandemic. She spent hours in a McDonald’s parking lot using the fast-food chain’s Internet, but she kept getting kicked off her college’s virtual classes because the network wasn’t “safe.” Two weeks after starting at Roane State...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareIn August, Paige McConnell became the first in her family to go to college — and the first to drop out.McConnell, 18, could not make online classes work. She doesn’t have WiFi at her rural home in Crossville, Tenn. The local library turned her away, not wanting anyone sitting around during the pandemic. She spent hours in a McDonald’s parking lot using the fast-food chain’s Internet, but she kept getting kicked off her college’s virtual classes because the network wasn’t “safe.” Two weeks after starting at Roane State...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift SharePenny Elliott watched them as they arrived — fresh-faced students and their parents carrying boxes, wheeling in suitcases and not wearing masks.Elliott’s own mask was making it difficult for her to breathe as the late-morning sun began to bear down Friday, but the 37-year-old housekeeper at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill refused to take it off. With three children to care for at home, getting sick was not an option, and neither was calling in sick.But with every corridor she cleaned as students filed past...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift SharePenny Elliott watched them as they arrived — fresh-faced students and their parents carrying boxes, wheeling in suitcases and not wearing masks.Elliott’s own mask was making it difficult for her to breathe as the late-morning sun began to bear down Friday, but the 37-year-old housekeeper at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill refused to take it off. With three children to care for at home, getting sick was not an option, and neither was calling in sick.But with every corridor she cleaned as students filed past...WW…

WASHINGTON - On his first day in office, President Joe Biden is asking the Education Department to extend the suspension of federal student loan payments through Sept. 30.The move arrives days before the moratorium is set to expire at the end of this month. It makes good on Biden’s pledge to give borrowers some breathing room as the economy struggles to find its footing.On a call with reporters Tuesday, Brian Deese, the incoming director of the National Economic Council, spoke of the struggles of many households, particularly Black and Latino families, to pay basic expenses and said that...…WASHINGTON - On his first day in office, President Joe Biden is asking the Education Department to extend the suspension of federal student loan payments through Sept. 30.The move arrives days before the moratorium is set to expire at the end of this month. It makes good on Biden’s pledge to give borrowers some breathing room as the economy struggles to find its footing.On a call with reporters Tuesday, Brian Deese, the incoming director of the National Economic Council, spoke of the struggles of many households, particularly Black and Latino families, to pay basic expenses and said that...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareEducation Secretary Miguel Cardona on Friday announced the resignation of the head of the federal aid office that oversees the government’s $1.5 trillion student loan portfolio amid growing calls from liberal lawmakers and advocates to oust the Trump administration holdover.Mark A. Brown, a retired major general in the U.S. Air Force, was appointed by former secretary Betsy DeVos in 2019 for a three-year term with the option for an extension. People familiar with the matter who were not authorized to speak publicly said...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareEducation Secretary Miguel Cardona on Friday announced the resignation of the head of the federal aid office that oversees the government’s $1.5 trillion student loan portfolio amid growing calls from liberal lawmakers and advocates to oust the Trump administration holdover.Mark A. Brown, a retired major general in the U.S. Air Force, was appointed by former secretary Betsy DeVos in 2019 for a three-year term with the option for an extension. People familiar with the matter who were not authorized to speak publicly said...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareWith her , Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is taking shots at and tuition-free college proposals, hallmarks of President-elect Joe Biden’s agenda for higher education.Speaking at an Education Department financial aid conference on Tuesday, DeVos criticized politicians — none by name — for advancing “the truly insidious notion of government gift giving.”Biden has said that canceling at least a portion of the $1.6 trillion in student debt held by 44 million Americans is part of his . He has supported at least $10,000 in...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareWith her , Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is taking shots at and tuition-free college proposals, hallmarks of President-elect Joe Biden’s agenda for higher education.Speaking at an Education Department financial aid conference on Tuesday, DeVos criticized politicians — none by name — for advancing “the truly insidious notion of government gift giving.”Biden has said that canceling at least a portion of the $1.6 trillion in student debt held by 44 million Americans is part of his . He has supported at least $10,000 in...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareThe House Education Committee issued subpoenas to career staff at the Education Department on Thursday seeking information regarding the federal agency’s role in helping as the for-profit college operator spiraled into insolvency.The legal request comes after more than a year of attempts by the committee to obtain documents and interviews from department personnel about the demise of Dream Center, owner of the Art Institutes, South University and Argosy University.A committee investigation found that Dream Center...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareThe House Education Committee issued subpoenas to career staff at the Education Department on Thursday seeking information regarding the federal agency’s role in helping as the for-profit college operator spiraled into insolvency.The legal request comes after more than a year of attempts by the committee to obtain documents and interviews from department personnel about the demise of Dream Center, owner of the Art Institutes, South University and Argosy University.A committee investigation found that Dream Center...WW…