Tracy Davidson

In an effort to maintain access to lucrative federal student aid dollars, some for-profit colleges have used aggressive efforts to manage the statistics showing how many of their students default on federal loans, according to internal documents released at a Senate hearing Tuesday. Some colleges have hired private investigators and dedicated entire departments toward driving [...]

As many college students look forward to graduating this spring, one thing many of them aren’t looking forward to is starting to pay off their student loans. Staying current on college debt payments is serious business, especially since defaulting on a student loan can result in a host of problems, ranging from wage garnishments and [...]

Ambitious, educated, yet jobless—that’s the story for many newly minted grads and unfortunately the student loan statements aren’t stalling along with the hiring managers. If you haven’t quite landed a job, and are taking on volunteer positions, internships, or revisiting that oh-so-faithful summer job, the thought of making your first payment is likely taking you [...]

“So what are your post graduation plans?” …It’s a dreaded question that many recent grads are facing in this uncertain job market. You’ve worked hard and graduated with valuable skills, a strong resume, and wonderful memories …but little knowledge of how to manage your finances. This year’s grads certainly aren’t the first to cross the [...]

The Treasury Select Committee is investigating how credit checks are depriving borrowers of the best deals on loans and credit cards. Numerous credit applications in a short period of time could signal fraud or a chequered history, agencies said. Uncertainty about the system meant some people missed out on credit or were put off shopping [...]

In the tough job market, grads are finding it increasingly difficult to land a job post graduation, so new programs are focusing their efforts on lending a helping hand. BridgeSpan Financial introduced SafeStart this week, which helps grads who are either unemployed or have loan payments greater than 10% of their income to repay their [...]

Home Retention Services is joining forces with Freddie Mac and will help several regional mortgage services to process thousands of additional applications for Home Affordable Modifications. By using Home Retention Servicers’ staff and resources, Freddie Mac will be able to ease some of the pressures on their staff and help more borrowers to participate in [...]

Pitches made by military recruiters seem to be working- each of the military service academies has seen a sharp rise in applications this year. West Point saw a 9% increase and the U.S. Naval Academy reported a jump of 40%. Students at the academies receive an all-expenses-paid undergraduate education in exchange for serving in the [...]

Two-thirds of four-year undergraduates leave college with debt, and many students are graduating without a job, so making loan payments will not be easy. Now there may be a solution. Beginning tomorrow July 1, a new repayment plan, Income Based Repayment (IBR), will kick into effect for the major types of federal loans made to [...]

There’s no question that the housing market is suffering in this economy. With sky high mortgage rates, total home loan applications have decreased and the demand for refinancing hit the lowest level since November.  http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090610/bs_nm/us_usa_economy_mortgages