Financial Aid

It can be tough to find the money to pay for college, and the federal government's flexible, low-interest student loans often aren't enough. In the past, that has only left the option of private loans, with painfully higher rates. But now, hundreds of community groups are getting into the action.

Sending your kid to college can be a budget buster, but even before freshman move-in day, the application process can drain your wallet: prep courses, application essay tutors, campus visits and more. Before that happens to you, here's what you need to know to tame the costs of college prep.

With total student loan debt long past the $1 billion mark, activists are doing all they can to put as many faces on the crisis as possible. Their mission is simple: To convince Congress student loan debt should be dischargeable through personal bankruptcy.

Kids born today will need an average of nearly $250,000 for college -- and that's a lot of saving for parents to do. But there are ways beyond the obvious 529 plans and Coverdell accounts to bump up your savings -- and some require no sacrifices, nor any extra money out of your pocket.

If you're sending Junior off to school this fall, you might think that you know everything there is to know about where your money is going. Right? Wrong. Here are a few things your college student doesn't want you to know.

While most attention in the ongoing student debt crisis narrative has focused on new graduates, it turns out the federal government has been quietly targeting a different group of debtors: retirees.

While most attention in the ongoing student debt crisis narrative has focused on new graduates, it turns out the federal government has been quietly targeting a different group of debtors: retirees.

It's a painful and pricey college tradition: Buying expensive new textbooks at the beginning of the term, only to turn around and sell them at cheap at semester's end. But Amazon.com hopes to change all that with its move into the textbook rental business.

Middle class Americans are fairly fervent in their belief that the route to career success has to run through a good college. But the numbers don't lie: Vocational studies might offer many the best chance at a solid career and a lifetime free of debt.

As fiscally painful as it is to send a child to college, you can actually save money when your son or daughter goes off to school. Here are five areas where you can find that extra cash, plus one "cost-cutting" trick you should actually avoid.

Ready or not, it's time for back-to-school season. Like the Christmas shopping season, it seems to begin earlier every year, and you have to play the game if you want to catch the sales. Or do you? Personal finance guru Jean Chatzky has some surprising advice for parents.

More than 80% of parents of 16- to 18-year-olds believe college is important to their child's future -- and a similar number are worried about how to pay for it. Here are a few tips that could make solving the college financing puzzle a little easier.

In recent years, the number of students enrolling in for-profit educational institutions has more than quadrupled. Tuition is lower that at private colleges, and there's more flexibility. But there's good reason to worry that most of those students are wasting their money and time.

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan is urging colleges and universities to adopt an easy-to-understand financial aid form to help students make smarter decisions on where to study, how to pay and determine what they'll owe.

Student loan debt is a $1 trillion issue today, but according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, one fairly small part of the student loan market appears to be most responsible for many of the problems borrowers face: private student loans.

Risky lending caused private student loan debt to balloon in the past decade, leaving many Americans struggling to pay off loans that they can't afford, a government study says.

Families are implementing more cost-saving strategies to cut college spending, choosing less expensive schools and finding more economical ways for students to attend, according to a study from Sallie Mae, the country's largest student lender.