(HealthNewsDigest.com) - CHICAGO – The American Medical Association (AMA) voiced its strong support for new legislation introduced by Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) and Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA) to permanently reinstate medical student loan deferment eligibility during residency.

The government’s Council on Graduate Medical Education now predicts a shortage of 85,000 physicians by the year 2020, as the U.S. population ages. Making it harder for students to defer medical student loans during a portion of their residency years could further deter the best and brightest from pursuing a career in medicine.

In a recent letter to the senators, the AMA thanked them for their leadership on this important issue and pledged its support to help advance the legislation. Helping medical students, residents and young physicians better finance their education and manage their high debt burden is a top legislative priority for the AMA.

“The average medical student today graduates with $139,000 in debt,” said AMA Board Member Chris DeRienzo, fourth-year medical student at Duke University School of Medicine. “Making it harder for residents to pay back this high debt can deter young physicians from going into primary care medicine or practicing in underserved areas where patients desperately need them.” (more…)

Online learning is a relatively new phenomena delivered courtesy of the availability and pricing of the computer. This new trend in learning, however, is taking off at the speed of light. As more and more students realize the benefits of these courses, distance learning master degrees are becoming more common.

Distance learning master degrees still require all the key features of a degree earned in a classroom setting, but they give students the freedom to live (and earn) a little while they learn. These factors alone account for the biggest reasons why more and more people and more and more universities are seeing distance learning master degrees as viable options for advancing education. (more…)

Hannah Cross, a marketing major at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith, hasn’t let anything derail her from her college degree — not having a baby, not having back surgery, not having to hold down a job.

The 22-year-old single mother plans to graduate on time this spring — because she can take classes online and fit her education around her life, instead of the other way around.

Cross says she often studies until midnight or 1 a.m. while her daughter sleeps.

“You have to do everything yourself because you don’t have anyone feeding it to you,” she says. But “I learn more this way. I have to read the book and do the work to understand it, because I don’t have a professor talking about it to me.” (more…)

Affordable college education is still possible in both online format and traditional campus based education. Tuition at an online degree education program is often similar to that of a traditional campus based college or university.

The average cost of tuition, fees, books and supplies at a public four-year college or university is $20,000. At a private school these cost can increase to $80,000.

Tuition for the same education through a four-year online program will be similar. However, at a traditional campus based college or university the additional cost of room and board, and transportation can push the costs of a four-year education at a public school to $50,000 and at a private school to $110,000!

It is easy to see the financial advantage of attending an online program vs a traditional campus based program. But are you getting what you are paying for? (more…)

The best way to reduce student loans? Don’t borrow any more than absolutely necessary. One young man I know just “had” to go to an expensive big-name school. During the summers he liked to relax rather than get a part-time job. Now, six years later, he has a master’s degree, makes $30,000 and has $100,000 in loans.

A second young man I know went to a junior college and lived at home, then transferred to a state college. He worked summers as an intern in his chosen field of study. Six years later he has a master’s degree and just $9,000 in student loans. With his summer work experience, he started at $46,000 and figures he can pay off all his loans the first year.

I’ve often recommended that cost-conscious students consider starting their education at a community college.

I come from a family with nine kids, so it’s up to me to pay for my college education. I’m the music director for my school’s radio station, which gives me half-tuition, and the news director for our TV news program, which pays the other half of my tuition. I’m majoring in broadcasting, so I’m paying for college by getting hands-on experience.

It pays to take the initiative to find creative solutions beyond loans. (more…)

HACKENSACK, N.J. - It’s no small thing to make it to the top of one of U.S. News and World Report’s college lists. But the folks at Seton Hall University aren’t exactly celebrating their No. 1 national ranking for student-loan debt.

Sixty-one percent of students graduating from the South Orange, N.J., campus have to pay back student loans - the average totaling $37,724, according to America’s Best Colleges 2008. The numbers are high but they are not an aberration. Nationally, nearly two-thirds of graduates of four-year schools have debt, according to the Project on Student Debt. That debt load averages $20,000.

New federal measures are expected to ease some of the burden going forward. But, for now, student debt - which is estimated to have more than doubled in the past decade - has a stranglehold on many students and families.

“I’ll be paying it off for at least 10 years,” said Andrea Antwi, who quickly ran up $20,000 in debt during her freshman year at Seton Hall. She ultimately decided on a less expensive route, attending Essex County College and now Rutgers University, where she is a junior. Still, she will graduate with at least $35,000 in loans to repay. (more…)

The bad news about attending college is that it costs more than ever to attend. The College Board estimates the average four-year public college costs almost $5,000 per year to attend and a two-year public college is almost $2000. And that’s not counting the skyrocketing cost of textbooks or other class fees.

The good news is there is more than $105 billion dollars available in student financial aid. Some of this money is available for free…in the form of college grants.

While there are many options to consider financing your college education, this article will discuss specifically grants for college.

The most common form of Federal grant money is the Pell Grant. The amount awarded is based on your financial need and it is for undergraduate study only. Pell Grants can be awarded to part-time students. The maximum amount of a Pell Grant is $3000 per year and it can be combined with other grants or financial aid. (more…)

WASHINGTON, Nov 15 (Reuters) - A U.S. congressional committee on Thursday approved a bill to crack down on deceptive marketing practices in the $85 billion student loan industry, while urging colleges to restrain tuition inflation.

The House of Representatives Education Committee adopted the measure by a vote of 45-0 after scandals involving kickback schemes and conflicts of interest among lenders and some college officials embarrassed the industry and academia.

Under the bill, lenders and colleges would be required to adopt codes of conduct on loans; students and parents would get more information about borrowing; and, for the first time, colleges would be explicitly pushed to rein in tuition hikes.

“This bill includes meaningful steps to hold colleges and universities accountable for excessive tuition increases,” said California Rep. Howard McKeon, the panel’s top Republican. (more…)