Student loans have frequently been in the news in recent years. Going to college effectively means going into debt for a majority of American college students. As state funding for higher education has decreased and tuition and fees have increased, many students have had no choice but to select a lower cost college to attend and/or to graduate with more debt. In 2010, outstanding student loan debt rose to over $800 billion, overtaking credit card debt for the first time, as well as auto loan debt. By July 2016, the continually updated student loan debt clock showed an accumulated debt total of approximately $1.38 trillion.
eXtension responded to the student loan crisis with a series of ten research-based fact sheets to help students and their parents understand student loans both before and after they borrow money. Development of the fact sheets followed two studies about student loan decision-making conducted by members of NC2172, a multi-state group of land-grant university researchers. The webinar will briefly describe the NC2172 research group, the format and findings of the two research studies, the content of each fact sheet, how to access the fact sheets, and other reputable sources of information about student loans. The co-presenters are Project Leader Dr. Carrie Johnson (North Dakota State University), Dr. Melissa Welsh (University of Maryland), and Dr. Barbara O’Neill (Rutgers University).
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