Student Finance 101 Blogs

  • Surviving School: My Incredible Shrinking Student Loan

     

    “Shouldn't there be an extra zero at the end of that?”          




  • New Student Loan Calculators - Here's How to Use Them

     
     
    Debt 101's calculator team has now added two new custom calculators to the In Payment Calculator section. Thanks for your great work, team!!
     
    Our new calculators will help you manage your student loans and save money too. Check them out below..
     
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  • BC Student Loan Aid Not Quite as Advertised

     
    It was a case of 'the hand being quicker than the eye'.
     
    Yes, even while their BC award, bursary and loan repayment aid programs were still posted on government websites, some students and grads who applied this year were shocked to receive letters stating that their program was gone.
     
    There seemed no hint that student aid cuts were coming.
     




  • The Departed: List of the Cancelled BC Student Aid Programs

     

    In recent blogettes, I've made several references to the BC student aid programs cut so quietly this summer.  Perhaps it's time I made a list of what was cut.

    And it really is a list. Almost overnight, more BC student loan aid programs were taken away than now remain.

    Here's a record of 'the departed':

     

    Premier's Excellence Award

    Permanent Disability Benefits Program (after July 31)




  • Newfoundland Ends Interest on Student Loans!

     

    As of August 1, 2009, Newfoundland and Labrador will strengthen its student-friendly reputation by removing interest charges from provincial student loans.

    Media reports on the story seemed to overlook this point: Before the government made this change, the Newfoundlanders and Labradorians Against Student Debt (NLASD) had run an online campaign to end interest charges, which included a petition.




  • Catch-22s - and Solutions - When You Try to Cut Debt at School

     

    Most of the media advice about keeping your student debt low just repeats the same old cliches. Media "guest experts" who string these cliches together must assume that everything is the same today as it was back when they were still in school.

    Here's the biggest cliche out there: "Save money: Work your way through school by only taking classes part-time."