Graduate Student Financial Aid Information Found on DegreesofWisdom.com

(PRLeap) March 15, 2007 — Students who have education loans can access DegreesofWisdom.com, a site offering personalized financial aid information, to learn about loan repayment, deferment and forgiveness/cancellation, as well as consolidation loan options (http://degreesofwisdom.com/financialAid/CGFT_introduction.html).

The Council of Graduate Schools released a "Statement on Student Debt Relief" last month showing that graduate students, who comprise 16 percent of all subsidized Stafford Loan borrowers, have more than twice the student loan debt of undergraduates, with graduate borrowing increasing faster than undergraduate borrowing. Saddled with increasing high loan debt, graduates can benefit from DegreesofWisdom.com's comprehensive information about loan rights and responsibilities, debt repayment options and maintaining good credit (http://degreesofwisdom.com/financialAid/CGFT_RepayingLoans.html).

Graduate students can accumulate substantial educational loan debt. In addition to any undergraduate loan debt, graduate students can borrow $18,500 per year up to a maximum of $138,500 from the Stafford Loan programs, with an option to borrow additional amounts under private educational loan programs.

With the increased cost of postsecondary education and the added expense of a graduate degree, 69 percent of full-time master's degree students borrow to cover their educational expenses, reports the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Moreover, a full 90 percent of all MBA students take out the maximum loan amounts on their federal Stafford Loans, according to Graduate Leverage, a student debt advisory service.

"There is a brilliant bloom on the MBA rose," says David A. Wilson, president and CEO of the Graduate Management Admission Council®, adding that, "The increase in applications only reinforces the conclusion that the market for MBAs is hot and getting hotter." A strong increase in MBA program applications during 2006, with the trend showing no signs of slowing, can only lead to continued high levels of graduate student loan borrowing and an increased need for the timely, accurate loan and credit information available on DegreesofWisdom.com.

"Investing in college is worth it," says Sandy Baum, Skidmore College economist and author of the College Board's "Education Pays 2004: The Benefits of Higher Education for Individuals and Society," which shows that today's college graduates not only have an unemployment rate of 2.3 percent, which is almost half the general rate, but they earn from 63 percent (men) to 70 percent (women) more than adults who only have a high school diploma.

DegreesofWisdom.com has collected extensive financial aid information for all students seeking higher education. Students and parents can find information by degree level, education format, and other specifications. Information and resources are also available for students seeking to repay their loans.
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