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Post-Annual Meeting Resources

Even though the 2012 NAICU Annual Meeting is history, you can continue to benefit and learn from the many presentations and speeches that were offered, and are now available on line.


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Another Highlight


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Student Debt/Default Rate/Credit Cards


Student loan debt: The next financial disaster?

CBS Money Watch
February 9, 2012

Student loan debt is pushing a growing number of Americans into bankruptcy and an organization of bankruptcy lawyers predicted this week that the college debt problem could become as big a catastrophe as the home mortgage crisis.

Student Loan Debt Woes Fuel Bankruptcy

Investor's Business Daily
February 7, 2012

A new survey by the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys found that 81% of bankruptcy attorneys say that potential clients with student-loan debt have increased either "significantly" or "somewhat" in the last three to four years. The sharp recession and historically sluggish economic and jobs recovery have taken their toll. But the numbers are another sign that major troubles may lie ahead for higher education. Critics contend that we are in the middle of a "higher education bubble," meaning that increasingly the value of a college degree does not match the rising cost.

UC Students Propose Alternative To Tuition Increases

NPR - Morning Edition
February 7, 2012

Under the Fix UC proposal, students would pay 5 percent of their income for 20 years following graduation. Fix UC recently presented the idea to the university regents. The idea is that students would have a dependable bill to pay, rather than wrestling with unpredictable tuition increases and rising debt. It's an appealing idea to some, but not a brand new one. Bob Shireman of the nonprofit group California Competes says conservative economist Milton Friedman wrote about similar concepts in the 1950s, saying education should be seen as an investment.

Online Campaign Prompts Sallie Mae to Change Fee Policy for Loan Suspensions

New York Times
February 3, 2012

On Thursday, three months after Bank of America backed down from imposing a $5 monthly debit card fee in response to an online petition, Sallie Mae changed its fee policy in response to an online petition. For years, Sallie Mae had required unemployed people who could not afford their monthly payments to pay a $50-per-loan fee every three months to suspend their payments temporarily, even as interest charges mounted. Sallie Mae called this forbearance fee a "good faith deposit" - but it was neither credited to the borrower's account nor refunded.

Unemployed Criticize Sallie Mae 'Forbearance Fee'

Inside Higher Ed
February 2, 2012

A petition asking Sallie Mae to revoke the $50 quarterly "forbearance fee" that the lender imposes on borrowers who are unable to repay their student loans has gathered more than 75,000 signatures. Forbearance, when loans continue to accumulate capitalized interest although borrowers do not have to make payments, is the last resort to avoid default, and the petition protests the $50 fee as an "unemployment tax."

Parents Snared in $100 Billion College Debt Trap Risk Retirement

Bloomberg News
February 2, 2012

It's not just graduates who are staggering under the weight of educational loans. Parents, too, are borrowing record amounts to put their kids through college, jeopardizing their retirements. With the housing crisis, many families can no longer avail themselves of one popular option for financing university studies: taking out a second mortgage.

Student debt: Obama gets it, Romney and Gingrich don't

Forbes Magazine - Opinion Piece
January 27, 2012

This isn't the first time Obama has used the State of the Union platform to draw attention to college affordability and student debt but I noticed two major differences in his latest speech: (1) the president's rhetoric has become decidedly stronger and (2) he drew a direct line from the personal burden of student debt to the more abstract concept of long-term economic competitiveness. Obama is painting the issue as not just good social policy but fundamental economics.

7 ways to tackle the nation's student debt crisis

CBSNews.com
January 23, 2012

Leading financial aid expert Mark Kantrowitz, the publisher of Finaid, recently posted a paper on the website of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators that outlines ways to help reduce student debt. Here are seven of Kantrowitz's suggestions, including perhaps the most controversial -- allowing graduates to once again be able to discharge student debt in bankruptcy court.

Few options available to help pay off private student loans

USA Today
January 13, 2012

The sluggish economy has made the differences between federal and private loans even more pronounced. For example, federal student loan borrowers who are unemployed are entitled to defer payments on their loans for up to three years. Borrowers earning less than they had been expected to can apply for a reduction in payments, based on their discretionary income. After 25 years of making qualified income-based repayments, the balance of the loan is forgiven, even if it hasn't been fully paid off. For private lenders, such relief is voluntary - and rare.

Quarterly FICO Survey Says Student Loans to be Next Casualty of Sluggish Economy

LoanSafe.org
January 12, 2012

FICO's quarterly survey of bank risk professionals found growing concern for the stability of the student loan market and deepening fears about the nation's housing sector. The survey, conducted for FICO by the Professional Risk Managers' International Association (PRMIA), shows that bankers expect delinquencies on most types of consumer loans to rise, balances on credit cards to grow, and global economic forces to put increasing pressure on the U.S. economy. Student loan debt now exceeds credit card debt in the U.S.

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