7/11/2017

DEBT/EDUCATION: “Study after study shows that college students are terrible at keeping track of how much debt they are racking up in school, so states are working to make the cost of higher education crystal clear—and there are signs the moves are slowing runaway borrowing.
This month, Florida joined Indiana and Nebraska in requiring that colleges and universities provide detailed information about student debt and projected loan payments.
Under a law that went into effect July 1, Florida’s institutions of higher education will now have to provide students a yearly report detailing how much they’ve borrowed so far, their expected loan total and estimated monthly payment.
The Florida law applies only to federal loans, and the disclosures will be required of all schools that disburse state financial aid…
Federal Reserve data show that Americans had almost $1.44 trillion in student loans outstanding at the end of the first quarter this year, up by nearly $100 million in the past year.”

-Melissa Korn, “I Owe That Much? Having Student-Loan Data Leads to Drop in Borrowing,” The Wall Street Journal online, July 11, 2017 02:36pm