There are only a few instances when the period when a perpetrator of a crime can be charged and convicted never expires:

1. If you kill someone: A charge of murder can be made at any time.
2. Fraud and embezzlement: You will be looking over your shoulder forever.
3. War Crimes: If you commit a series of crimes against humanity – a la Slobodan Milosevic – then you will never be forgiven just because you have lived a long happy life.
4. Kidnapping: Do not think you can get away with taking someone’s children.
5. Treason: Some of our famous spy cases have been prosecuted decades after the events took place. We never forgive (more…)

This is an excerpt from the story of one student currently working to pay off her student loans. Although she went to school in the 90s, she is still paying her loans. She has been making payments for fourteen years.

This is an anonymous story but there are probably many other people out there facing similar challenges.

This is an important week for student loan policy. President Obama is speaking on the subject this week. (more…)

I recently had a chance to survey the debt loads of approximately 40 recent graduates from two universities in North Carolina. All of the students earned an undergraduate degree. Generally, they came from low-wealth families.

The data covered all of their debt – not just student loans but also credit card debt, medical debt, car loans, (more…)

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says that it will create a standard disclosure form that will make the real cost of college clear to prospective students. The model disclosure is designed to help students gain a sense of the costs of college. It does not break down the costs for individual schools but it does differentiate by the type of school.

College is increasingly become more of a financial risk. The cost of college is still going up, (more…)

The momentum against college enrollment spiked this week. Much of the fervor draws from Texas Governor Rick Perry’s State of the State address earlier in the year. Perry believes that college costs too much. He wants a new model that allows students to get a bachelor’s degree for less than $10,000. He also wants to address curriculum. He says that too many students graduate with a degree that does nothing to help their chances of participating in the workforce. Texas subsidizes the supply and demand sides of college education. Yet according to Perry, the benefits to Texas accrete through the (more…)