LIZ WESTON

Personal Finance

A guide to figuring out your real cost of college

Many parents will not learn how much they must pay for their children's college education until financial aid packages arrive this spring. By then it may be too late to get a better deal.

Personal Finance

How to give the gift of college this holiday season

Saving for college can be tough, but many families do not tap a potentially generous resource: relatives and friends.

Markets

U.S. students need more help dealing with loan companies

U.S. students are still largely on their own to protect themselves when they are struggling to repay their debt, despite the government's condemnation of some education loan servicers' unfair, deceptive and illegal practices.

Markets

U.S. student loan debt is not killing homeownership

Is surging student debt really preventing an entire generation from becoming first-time homebuyers?

Personal Finance

U.S. student loan debt is not killing homeownership

Is surging student debt really preventing an entire generation from becoming first-time homebuyers?

Personal Finance

Prepaying student loans may mean less money in retirement

Rising student loan debt may be hampering young people's ability to buy homes or even move out of their parents' basements. But that does not mean student loan borrowers always should be in a hurry to pay off this debt.

Personal Finance

College is now a buyer's market

Colleges are increasingly worried about getting enough enrollments, and students can use the situation to their advantage.

Personal Finance

Beware of offers to refinance federal student loans

People with federal student loan debt now have a few options to lower their rates with private consolidation loans, but consumer advocates warn they could be giving up vital protections in doing so.

Personal Finance

Column: What to do when your college shuts down

The collapse of Corinthian Colleges Inc. and the abrupt shutdown of several other for-profit campuses this year have left tens of thousands of students wondering about the future of their education - and their debt.