Generation Debt

Hello all. Student loan news is heating up even as the weather does this spring, and we have a ton to report:

The New York Times discusses the plight of debt-ridden culinary school grads, and a whole lot of folks get in on the discussion in the blog/comment section. More on the lifelong debt burden of student loans comes from The Daily Southtown, Sys-Con Media, Buzzflash, The Arizona Republic, the ABA, the Temecula Valley News, the Chicago Sun Times, and the National Law Journal.

Kiplinger has a note on loan forgiveness for teachers.

Dealbreaker mentions the sale price of Sallie Mae, and The Independent reports the sale. Note also Saliie Mae's contributions to U.S. Representative Howard "Buck" McKeon.

Meanwhile, the New York Times reports that "JPMorgan Chase & Company invited more than 200 officials in town for the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators’ meeting two years ago on a July 4 dinner cruise up the East River", an event that cost over $70,000. That would never happen today, according to JPMorgan Chase, because of the increased attention being focused on the cozy relationship between lenders and schools. Yes, that's right, we've got ourselves a genuine student loan scandal, and just look at all the coverage it's getting:

-The New York investigation: Scripps, WNYC, the Indy Star, Inside Higher Ed, and Time.

-The Congressional investigation: ABC News, Inside Higher Ed, and the Concord Monitor.

-The fallout and commentary regardng both: The Washington Post reports that Theresa S. Shaw (a former sallie Mae excutive, natch), chief operating officer of the Office of Federal Student Aid, is stepping down in the wake of the widening investigations of student loan issues. Education Department official Matteo Fontana was found to hold $100,000 worth of stock in a student loan lender. Ellen Frishberg, student financial services director for Johns Hopkins University, has resigned her membership on "an Education Department committee that helps develop financial aid regulations." Columbia City Paper offers some extreme solutions. The Washington Times comments on both investigations and the industry in general. A Yahoo News opinion column calls for a revamp of the system. An economist's view is noted at the Bangor Daily News.

Student Loan Debt Clock: $473 billion and growing all the time.