Student-loan debt is not just a problem for young, recent college graduates searching for their first jobs. Growing numbers of adults nearing the ends of their careers are accumulating such big debt, too, and they don't have a lifetime to pay it back. In fact, student-loan debt is growing fastest among adults ages 60 and older, with more than two…

Over the past five years, the number of complaints filed against agencies collecting on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education has grown by 45 percent. The Federal Trade Commission, which oversees the entire industry, received 142,743 complaints involving debt-collection companies last year, though only some involved student loans. Consumer…

For 40 years, federal money has sustained higher education while enabling its worst tendencies. That is about to change. The end may have come on February 12, 2013, when President Barack Obama delivered his State of the Union address. "Skyrocketing costs," the president said, "price way too many young people out of a higher education, or saddle…

As the cost of college has spiraled ever upward and median family income has fallen, the loan program, called Parent PLUS, has become indispensable for increasing numbers of parents desperate to make their children's college plans work. Last year the government disbursed $10.6-billion in Parent PLUS loans to just under a million families. Even…

In a January speech at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, laying out his policy for higher education, President Obama opened by noting his agenda: "How can we make sure that everybody is getting the kind of education they need to personally succeed but also to build up this nation--because in this economy, there is no greater predictor…

As the nation's student-loan debt surpasses the $1-trillion mark, alarming students, parents, and politicians, few are thinking about the effects it is having on people like Michael J. Trivette, a 28-year-old graduate student in higher education at the University of Georgia. Two-thirds of Ph.D. and other doctoral students and nearly three-quarters…

The Law School Admission Council recently reported that applications were heading toward a 30-year low, reflecting, as a "New York Times" article put it, "increased concern over soaring tuition, crushing student debt, and diminishing prospects of lucrative employment upon graduation." Since 2004 the number of law-school…

Efforts to keep higher education affordable for all students and to promote not only access, but success--all in a climate of dwindling state appropriations and lean budgets--made the past year one of reckoning for colleges. Total outstanding student-loan debt hit the $1-trillion mark as federal officials scrambled to ease the burden on borrowers,…

As Europe has lurched from one economic crisis to another in recent months, one thing has become clear: Any long-term solution will depend on the willingness of Germany, Europe's largest economy, to shoulder much of the financial burden the debt crisis has created. German taxpayers, known for their thrift, have balked at underwriting what many see…

In this article, the author examines the issue of student debt. Despite tales of gargantuan student debt burdens for some college graduates, studies show that most students borrow sensibly, pay it back, and are better off for having gone to college. But for a vocal minority of borrowers, problems with student-loan debt are very real. About 8…

A common type of variable-rate financing has suddenly increased the risk of bankruptcy for an unknown number of colleges, said two experts at credit-rating agencies. The threat affects mostly less-wealthy colleges that have used variable-rate bonds either to get a better price when borrowing or because they lacked bond ratings and had little other…

This nation's federal student-loan system has reached a tipping point that, with the new leadership in Washington, offers a rare opportunity to create real change. To create a more consumer-focused student-loan program with both public and private capital, the Education Department, lenders, colleges in both programs, guarantors, and others should…

2008 has been a tumultuous year in the financial world, culminating in scandals and bailouts. In 2009, the author asserts, people can probably expect not only more financial upheaval, but also further attempts by state and local governments to stem the all-but-fated turmoil. But in all the talk of bailouts, of embattled homeowners, and the…

Eight years ago, Texas Tech University started a financial-literacy program to help its students master the basics of budgeting, saving, and not buying what they can not afford. Now, as colleges grapple with rising costs and an economic downturn, the university has found itself at the forefront of a growing effort to sharpen students' financial…

Professors of economics, business, and related fields were asked to answer the following question: Does the financial crisis affect how economic theory should be thought? This article presents some excerpts from their answers.