debt
When I was growing up, my mom told me that education is never wasted. I was fortunate to grow up in a household where college was on the table.Having graduated from high school one year early, I started my associate degree shortly after my 17th birthday. For two years, I…
My deeply southern family raised me to never talk about money. We were poor, sometimes living in our car, and occasionally hungry. But we never said it out loud.Now, as a single mother of three kids with significant medical needs, I’ve worked several jobs to pay for their childcare and…
Jessica Salmi waited nearly an hour on hold before her call was disconnected. Jason Marques’ servicer can’t say if his next student-loan payment will be $100 or $633. Robin Binkley is struggling to find out which repayment plan she qualifies for.As millions of borrowers navigate President Donald Trump’s sweeping student-loan…
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Lana Ng, a 35-year-old stay-at-home mother based in Houston. It has been edited for length and clarity.I used to work as a marketing coordinator at a local hospital in Houston. I worked in a hybrid role, spending three days working from…
My mom got sick, then gradually, and then all at once.In 2014, she survived a subarachnoid aneurysm that ruptured while she was driving on the West Virginia Turnpike. After stabilizing, she spent six months recovering with me in South Carolina before heading back to her townhouse in my hometown of…
Private companies penalized for their student-loan collection tactics may be making a comeback.As President Donald Trump transfers federal student loans from the Department of Education to the Treasury Department, defaulted borrowers will be routed through the Treasury’s “Cross-Servicing program,” which uses private contractors to collect federal debts. Two agencies in…
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Mattie Gardner. It has been edited for length and clarity.My husband and I are in credit card debt. We started at $63,227, and our current balance is $17,401. Back in 2022, we took a big risk and jumped into a building…
