Student loan | The Student Loan Mess, and implicit vs. explicit leverage in higher ...

*The Student Loan Mess*, and implicit vs. explicit leverage in higher ...
What is a 1098-E: Student Loan Interest - TurboTax Tax Tips & Videos
education sector welcomes postgraduate student loans

*The Student Loan Mess*, and implicit vs. explicit leverage in higher ...

Posted: 06 Dec 2014 11:06 AM PST

by Tyler Cowen on December 6, 2014 at 2:06 pm in Books, Economics, Education, Uncategorized | Permalink

I reviewed this very good and very useful book by Eric and Joel Best in the 28 November issue of the Times Literary Supplement, not on-line. Here is one excerpt from my review:

The second problem is that American higher education is much more indebted than it appears at first glance. Most non-profit colleges and universities have only small amounts of explicit debt on their books, but there are many forms of implicit debt. Many of those institutions made salary commitments to tenured faculty members, or promised donors they would continue various programmes, or they initiated or expanded sports teams and facilities, hoping to fund those plans with future tuition increases. A slow economic recovery, sluggish entry-level wages in labour markets, recalcitrant state legislatures, and, yes, the student debt crisis will make those tuition increases very difficult to pull off. This liquidity crunch is already under way and it has come first to the profit-making institutions and to stand-alone business and law schools, which will be closing and consolidating in great numbers.

I call it "probably the best and clearest book on the United States' complex student debt problem." You can buy the book here. Also buy the TLS issue, it is their best of the year, as it contains an especially fine "Best Books of the Year" list, you can stop worrying about TNR now.

What is a 1098-E: Student Loan Interest - TurboTax Tax Tips & Videos

Posted: 08 Apr 2014 12:00 AM PDT

The student loan interest deduction is taken as an adjustment when calculating your adjusted gross income, or AGI. This means you don't have to itemize your deductions to take it.

To qualify, the interest payments you make during the year must be on a student loan that you took out to put yourself, your dependents or spouse through school. If you're married filing separately, or if your modified adjusted gross income, or MAGI, is $75,000 or more, you can't deduct any student loan interest. Your MAGI is essentially your total income minus the other adjustments you take, except for the tuition, student loan and domestic production activities deductions.

When you use TurboTax to prepare and file your taxes, you don't need to do any of these calculations on your own. We'll ask you questions in plain English, handle all the calculations, and put all of your answers on the appropriate tax forms.

education sector welcomes postgraduate student loans

Posted: 03 Dec 2014 11:48 AM PST

Loans will be available to students resident in England studying in the UK and EU students taking taught courses in England. Photograph: Susan Swindells

An offer of loans of up to £10,000 to students taking taught postgraduate degrees has been greeted with enthusiasm by the education sector.

According to Treasury estimates the new loans would see an additional 10,000 students taking such degrees each year, giving a shot in the arm to university departments that have seen an overall drop in the number of undergraduates going on to postgraduate study in recent years.

The loans will be available to students resident in England studying in the UK and EU students taking taught courses at universities in England, aged 30 and under, from 2016. They will be available to part-time and full-time students.

Announcing the new scheme, the chancellor, George Osborne, said: "Until now there has been almost no financial support available, and the upfront costs of postgraduate degrees deter bright students from poorer backgrounds."

Student Loan

Sunday, 7 December 2014