More than 43 million Americans owe a collective $1.7 trillion in college debt with experts calling it a student loan crisis. NBC News’ Shaquille Brewster is in Wisconsin speaking with recent graduates about how they feel about President Biden’s initial plan in supporting federal forgiveness of student loans.

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#NBCNews #StudentLoanDebt #College

Approximately 1 in 8 Americans hold student loan debt. Amy Richardson, a certified financial planner with Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Premium, joined CBSN’s Tanya Rivero with tips for how new college graduates entering the workforce can pay off debt and save money.

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Graduates of Morehouse College’s 2019 class may have just heard the best thing anyone could hear upon graduation: your student loan debt is repaid. Billionaire Robert F. Smith accepted an honorary doctorate at the HBCU on Sunday in Atlanta, and the commencement speaker surprised the nearly 400 seniors with the news. Smith is the chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners, a technology and software investment firm with more than $46 billion in cumulative capital commitments.

We have all read the headlines featuring a fortunate college-bound student who received $100,000 or more in scholarship awards. Assuming that the scholarships were renewable annually, this amount could easily pay for four years of college at any American college or university. However, these success stories are the exception, not the rule. They are aberrations among the pool of millions of aspiring college students who submit scholarship applications to the hundreds of companies, foundations and non-profit groups that offer them. The reality is a much different, and sobering, picture. According to federal government estimates, the average undergraduate who borrows money to pay for college graduates with about $37,000 in student loan debt. 101 Scholarship Applications: What It Takes to Obtain a Debt-Free College Education was written specifically to address the issue of college loan debt, and help students and their parents identify scholarship opportunities, as well as develop strategies for submitting applications and winning awards. This book’s author, Gwen Richardson, is a parent who has spent five years carefully researching scholarship sources for her daughter, who will enter her senior year in college in 2017 and is completely debt-free. The highlight of this book is a comprehensive listing of more than 200 scholarship sources, including award amounts, eligibility requirements and direct web site links. All sources have been vetted and researched for accuracy.

You’d love to get your kids through college debt-free — but your kids aren’t getting any scholarships, you haven’t saved for college, and you make too much to get government financial aid. Is there still hope? Yes, but you’ll need someone to guide you.

In LAUNCH, academic strategist Jeannie Burlowski lays out clear, step-by-step strategies that empower parents to get their kids through high quality, best-fit colleges debt-free — and then directly into jobs they love afterward.

Experts rave about LAUNCH:

“The checklists at the end of each chapter in this book are fabulous. They’re golden. Well worth the entire price of the book.”

—Bob Shorb, former associate dean of admissions and financial aid and director of student aid and family finance, Skidmore College

“Students who go through college without career direction are, as Jeannie Burlowski says, ‘like archers who pull the arrow back on the bow string, shoot, and then years later look around for the target.’ This book helps parents set their kids up to take aim early and fire a sure shot, whether that’s at medical school or at some other worthy endeavor.”

—Dr. Paul Amble, MD, assistant clinical professor, Yale School of Medicine

“I’m a certified financial planner who cares deeply that parents are able to send their kids to college without risking their retirement. You can be sure I’ll be recommending this book every chance I get.”

— Mike Branch, CFP, Focus Financial, Minneapolis, MN

“High school guidance counselors have a difficult time covering the intricacies of the college admission and financing process in the small amount of time they have to work with a large number of students. This book fills in all the gaps—and more—for parents.”

—Josie Robinson, author and former high school guidance and career counselor, White Bear Lake Area High School

The Money Champ’s Guide to Getting a College Degree Debt Free gives you the blueprint on how to attend college without falling into substantial debt. Through sharing his personal story, tips and strategies, podcast interviews, and other resources, Nick Blair shows you the key to success. In this book, you will discover: • The proper way to prepare financially for college • How to find your area of interest before you graduate high school • Strategies on picking the right classes for your future • How to find and get the best and most advantageous scholarships and grants • Creative ways to generate more income while in college • Money and time-management principles and savings strategies • Real-life scenarios to think through and role play

As their children grow up parents face increasing need to develop and guide their wise formal use of money. In the teen years, acquiring a credit card is a first foray. Then purchasing a first auto comes along. As post-secondary education nears, student loans arise. Graduation moves a better auto and a first condo or home purchase to the horizon. Increasing complexity and monetary magnitude of loan needs can be a scary challenge for people relatively new to debt.

Debt is a 4-Letter Word, but it need not be! is a book series that helps parents and young people to effectively maneuver through first-time debt worries. In The College Experience the reader walks along as a fictionalized Dad and daughter go through her independent need for a credit card for ongoing college expenses, financing her college dreams, considering graduate school, and planning for post-graduation repayment of student loans. One observes Dad’s caring teaching path; taken atop informed, strategic borrowing strategies he shares and uses as they make important decisions and take vital steps together. You see a parent become less and less overseeing and a daughter more and more self-reliant.

Debt is a 4-Letter Word, but it need not be! The College Experience volume includes:

• 20 LESSONS about typical college-related debt needs young families face

• 42 detailed hypothetical SITUATIONS numerically covering borrowing circumstances commonly encountered in real life college experiences

• Step-by-step explanation of needed calculation techniques

• 39 easy-to-do EXERCISES for the reader to try the illustrated calculation methods

• Table-based aids to simplify/expedite applying the detailed calculations procedures

While pragmatic and detailed, the book is written in a fun, narrative style so the reader will enjoy learning what otherwise might be unexciting financial matters.

Nearly 70% of students graduate with close to $30,000 in debt. But you don’t have to be one of them!

In these pages, acclaimed author Kristina Ellis walks you through the wide world of college-finance options, presenting tips, secrets, and strategies so you can develop a personalized plan. A plan to overcome obstacles and get your degree debt-free. With Kristina as your mentor, you’ll discover how to: -Establish a winning money mindset

-Save up and cut costs before you get to campus

-Figure out the dollars and sense of financial aid

-Secure your share of free cash for college

-Earn money to pay as you go

-Choose a school and a major that’s worth it

-Stretch your funds when every penny counts

With determination, the right information, and a well-planned strategy, you can earn that career-advancing degree and graduate from college debt-free. #NotGoingBroke

Preparing for college is an exciting time of life, but I know it can be dampened by the mountain-sized financial obstacles standing between you and the college experience of your dreams.

The many parents and student athletes I speak with today are in the exact same boat. They want to know what to expect throughout their college journey. They crave more knowledge, they want to know they’re on the right track, and they want an amazing college tenure that doesn’t leave them high and dry financially.

Well hindsight is 20/20, and I’m excited to share insights with you to ensure you have the best college experience possible. By the end of our time together you will have the training you’ll need to graduate completely debt-free. That means no student-loans, no parent-loans, and freedom after graduation to live your calling and change the world.

See you inside!

We have all read the headlines featuring a fortunate college-bound student who received $100,000 or more in scholarship awards. Assuming that the scholarships were renewable annually, this amount could easily pay for four years of college at any American college or university. However, these success stories are the exception, not the rule. They are aberrations among the pool of millions of aspiring college students who submit scholarship applications to the hundreds of companies, foundations and non-profit groups that offer them. The reality is a much different, and sobering, picture. According to federal government estimates, the average undergraduate who borrows money to pay for college graduates with about $28,400 in student loan debt. 101 Scholarship Applications: What It Takes to Obtain a Debt-Free College Education was written specifically to address the issue of college loan debt, and help students and their parents identify scholarship opportunities, as well as develop strategies for submitting applications and winning awards. This book’s author, Gwen Richardson, is a parent who spent nearly two years carefully researching scholarship sources for her teenage daughter, who entered college debt-free as a freshman. The highlight of this book is a comprehensive listing of more than 200 scholarship sources, including award amounts, eligibility requirements and direct web site links. All sources have been vetted and researched for accuracy.