Financial Aid
FAFSA, scholarships, grants, loans, and employer benefits that make school affordable.
SAVE, IBR, PAYE, PSLF, Parent PLUS: Your Biggest Repayment Questions Answered in One Place
SAVE vs. IBR vs. PAYE: still confused? — a new Q&A breaks down which repayment plan actually costs less over time and what Parent PLUS borrowers must do before they can access income-driven options at all.
One New Federal Loan After July 2026 Could Cost You 10 Extra Years of Repayment
A single new federal student loan taken after July 1, 2026 can force your entire existing debt onto RAP's 30-year repayment schedule — potentially costing private-sector borrowers hundreds of thousands of dollars compared to IBR's 20-year forgiveness timeline.
Grad PLUS Loans End July 1 — Here's What the New $20,500/$50,000 Caps Mean for Your Degree
Grad PLUS loans end for new borrowers July 1, 2026, replaced by annual caps of $20,500 (grad) and $50,000 (professional) — leaving most dental, vet, and medical students with a five- to six-figure funding gap they'll need private loans to fill.
Fall Bill Due and You're Short? Here's the Exact Order of Operations to Close a Tuition Gap
Fall tuition due and you're short on funds — a July 1 rule change may affect your options, and the order you pursue remaining aid sources determines how much debt you actually take on.
$23 Billion Student Loan Settlement Is Now the Largest Class-Action in U.S. History — Here's Who Gets Relief
The Sweet v. McMahon student loan settlement hit $23 billion after a unanimous Ninth Circuit ruling — making it the largest class-action settlement in U.S. history and unlocking automatic discharges for 170,000+ borrowers who attended predatory schools.
SAVE Plan Is Dead: 7 Million Borrowers Have Until Late September 2026 (at the Earliest) to Pick a New Repayment Plan
Nelnet is staggering SAVE transition notices through March 2027 — meaning some borrowers could have until July 2027 to switch plans, far later than the Education Department's urgent emails imply.
SAVE Plan Is Dead — Here's What It Actually Costs PSLF Borrowers
PSLF borrowers with kids and middle incomes ($70K–$150K) face the steepest hit from SAVE's repeal — up to $6,072 more per year under the replacement RAP plan.
House Bill Would Let Adult Children Take Over Parent PLUS Loans — Here's What It Means for Your Family
H.R. 9272 would create the first federal mechanism to transfer Parent PLUS loans from parents to adult children — a move that could reshape how families assign college debt from the start.
Boston University Will Cover Full Tuition for Families Earning Up to $200K This Fall
Boston University will cover full tuition — and all costs — for families earning under $75,000, with aid capped at $20,000 for families earning up to $200,000 starting fall 2026 — joining Harvard, Yale, Rice, and Swarthmore in making the $200K threshold the new standard among elite schools.
Rice University Offers Free Tuition Up to $200K Family Income — Starting Fall 2027
Rice University will cover full tuition for families earning up to $200,000 — starting with fall 2027 admits, making one of the country's top-10 engineering and research schools effectively free for a large share of middle-class families.
Rice University Will Cover Full Tuition for Families Earning Up to $200K — Starting Fall 2027
Rice University will cover full tuition for families earning up to $200K starting fall 2027 — making one of the country's top-ranked private universities potentially cheaper than many public alternatives for middle-income families.
New Federal Rules Give Post-July 2026 Borrowers Just Two Repayment Options — Here's Which One Wins
Post-July 2026 federal borrowers are limited to just two repayment plans — and the new Tiered Standard option doesn't count toward PSLF or forgiveness, making RAP the default choice for anyone carrying six-figure debt.
MOHELA System Glitch Is Sending False Delinquency Notices — Here's What to Do If You Got One
MOHELA borrowers are receiving false past-due and delinquency notices after a system glitch erased forbearance records — don't pay or panic until you verify your actual account status.
Parent PLUS Loans Just Got Capped at $20K/Year — Here's What That Means If You're Still Borrowing
Parent PLUS loans are now capped at $20,000/year and $65,000 lifetime per student under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act — and the income-driven repayment loophole parents used to access PSLF is officially closed for new borrowers.
Athletic Scholarships Pay an Average of $12,500 — Here's What Changed in 2025 and How to Stack More Aid
Fewer than 2% of high school athletes earn an NCAA scholarship and the average award is just $12,500 — but the 2025 House v. NCAA settlement rewrote the rules on who gets funded and how much, making it worth understanding before your next recruiting conversation.
Betting on Loan Forgiveness Cost Some Borrowers 43% More Debt, New Research Finds
Borrowers who paused payments expecting Biden loan forgiveness now carry balances up to 43% higher than those who kept paying — NBER research quantifies the real cost of betting on relief that never arrived.
Your IDR Payment Amount May Be Wrong — The Department of Education Says Reapply Now
The Department of Education is emailing IDR applicants about a payment calculation error — if you got the notice, you must reapply or risk an incorrect monthly payment.
Grad PLUS Loans Are Gone — Here's How to Fund Your Master's or PhD Without Them
The Grad PLUS Loan program was eliminated July 1, 2026, capping most master's students at $20,500/year in federal borrowing — making scholarships, fellowships, and employer tuition benefits the primary tools for closing the gap.
New Federal Loans Taken After July 1, 2026 Could Wipe Out Your Repayment Options — Including PSLF
Any federal student loan disbursed on or after July 1, 2026 strips you of IBR, PAYE, and PSLF eligibility across your entire loan balance — not just the new debt.
AI-Written Financial Aid Appeals Are Backfiring — Here's What Actually Works
A hand-crafted financial aid appeal letter earned one student $40,000 more than an AI-generated version of the same letter — a warning that generic ChatGPT appeals are creating extra work for financial aid offices and smaller awards for students.
Race-Based Scholarships Are Shrinking — Here's What's Replacing Them
Diversity-tagged scholarships have fallen from 12% to 8% of a 33,000-scholarship database since 2023 — and legal pressure from the Trump administration and advocacy groups means more cuts are likely on the way.
63% of Americans Think Colleges Are Failing on Affordability — Even as Net Tuition Falls
63% of Americans say four-year colleges do a 'poor job' on affordability — but Lumina's VP says the real culprit is price opacity, not price itself.
Where the Real Scholarship Money Is: Pell Grants, $55K Awards, and the Programs Most Students Miss
The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation awards up to $55,000 per year — $220,000 total — to low-income undergrads — and that's just one of several programs most students have never heard of.
7 Million SAVE Plan Borrowers Have 90 Days Starting July 1 to Pick a New Repayment Plan
7 million SAVE Plan borrowers have a 90-day window starting July 1, 2026 to choose a new repayment plan — miss the deadline and the Department of Education picks one for you.
38% of Students Graduate With Zero Student Loan Debt — Here's What They Do Differently
38% of college students graduate with no student loan debt — and NPSAS data reveals the specific financial and enrollment choices that separate them from the borrowing majority.
Federal Grad Loan Caps Hit July 1 — and Private Lenders Won't Save Everyone
Nearly 4 in 10 grad students who need private loans to cover new federal borrowing caps have subprime or no credit — meaning they may not qualify for private loans at all when limits kick in July 1.
Wisconsin's 30-Year Minority Retention Grant Is Gone — And Similar Scholarships Could Be Next
Wisconsin's Supreme Court unanimously killed a 30-year-old minority student grant program — and the court's taxpayer-standing ruling could put similar race-based scholarships across the state in legal jeopardy.
July 1 Student Loan Deadline: What Every Borrower Must Do Before the Rules Change
7 million SAVE plan borrowers have 90 days from July 1 to pick a new repayment plan — or the government picks for them, likely at a higher monthly cost.
Whitman College Caps Tuition at 10% of Your Family's Income — and Covers It Fully If You Earn Under $100K
Whitman College caps tuition at 10% of family income, with full tuition coverage for households earning $100K or less — the Washington liberal arts school's new 10% Promise takes effect for the 2026–27 academic year.
Your Loan Servicer Is Calling — What SAVE Borrowers Need to Know Before July 1
Loan servicers are robocalling SAVE plan borrowers about a July 1 repayment switch — if you've gotten one of these calls, action may be required before the deadline.
Free Tuition, $250/Month Housing, and Single-Parent Scholarships: 3 Schools Tackling Basic Needs Head-On
42% of Pell recipients face food insecurity — three colleges are responding with programs ranging from $250/month stable housing in NYC to a first-dollar free tuition model in Texas that lets students use grant money for rent and food instead.
MBA Grads Averaged $77K in Student Debt — Here Are 7 Ways to Borrow Less
New federal rules effective July 1, 2026 eliminate Grad PLUS Loans for new MBA borrowers and cap lifetime graduate federal borrowing at $100,000 — making scholarships, employer tuition benefits, and part-time enrollment more critical than ever.
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