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Cal State Approves 3-Year Bachelor’s Degrees Across All 22 Campuses Jun 01, 2026

Show notes

California State University, the largest public college system in the U.S., just voted to allow (PDF File) the creation of bachelor's degrees that can be completed in as little as three years. This is a massive shift that could reshape how working adults and community college transfers earn a credential.

The first shortened degrees could launch as early as fall 2027, though 2028 is more likely.

Education Department Sends SAVE Borrowers a “Courtesy” Warning Before July 1 Formal Notices Begin May 29, 2026

Show notes

The U.S. Department of Education has started emailing borrowers enrolled in the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan a second round of reminders (which we're dubbing as "courtesy" notices) ahead of the formal transition emails set to start July 1, 2026.

Why it matters: Around 7 million borrowers are still sitting in SAVE forbearance after a federal court order killed the plan. Once a borrower's servicer sends the official notice, a 90-day clock starts to pick a new repayment plan or the servicer will move the borrower into one automatically (likely the Standard Plan). Borrowers who still don't resume payments will being the path towards default.

How Mandatory College Fees Like SMU’s $8,080 Catch Families Off Guard May 28, 2026

Show notes

Families comparing colleges usually start with the published tuition number. That number is rarely what they will actually owe. While most families don't pay sticker price, another line item is becoming a shocking addition: fees.

Buried in the fine print, the mandatory student fee can add $1,000, $4,000, or even $8,000 to the annual bill before housing and food. At Southern Methodist University (SMU), the general student fee is rising to $4,040 per term in 2026-27, or roughly $8,080 across two semesters, on top of $63,376 in undergraduate tuition and fees published for 2026-27.

Stack on the other charges colleges break out from headline tuition (recreation fees, student health fees, transit fees, technology fees, athletic fees) and the gap between sticker tuition and real out-of-pocket cost can run into five figures. For families building a college budget, the math gets harder still when a private school also requires a student or parent contribution that financial aid is not covering.

These are the costs that make true apples-to-apples comparisons between schools almost impossible without a spreadsheet.

Wage Garnishment On Defaulted Student Loans Restarts This Fall May 27, 2026

Show notes

The U.S. Department of Education, with the Department of Treasury, plans to resume administrative wage garnishment on defaulted federal student loans this fall, restarting involuntary collections after a months-long pause announced earlier in 2026.

The timing will likely reflect the end of the period of time for borrowers to select a new repayment plan. While specific details have not been announced, multiple members of the administration have pointed to getting borrowers back into repayment on their loans.

Dan Zibel of Student Defense on AI in Admissions, Student Data Rights, and the AI Bill of Rights May 26, 2026

Show notes

Student Defense co-founder Dan Zibel joins The College Investor at the ASU+GSV Summit to talk about how colleges are using AI in admissions, grading, and student lending — and why students deserve transparency about it.

Recorded live at the ASU+GSV Summit in San Diego, Robert Farrington sits down with Dan Zibel, co-founder of Student Defense, to talk about how artificial intelligence is reshaping higher education — from admissions decisions to classroom grading to student lending — and what students and families should be asking about it.

UC Irvine Cuts MBA Tuition to $99,000 to Slip Under New Federal Loan Cap May 22, 2026

Show notes

UC Irvine's Paul Merage School of Business is cutting tuition on its Flex MBA program by $30,000 and its Executive MBA by $48,000 starting this fall — a reduction of up to 38%.

The school is openly framing the move as a response to new federal graduate borrowing limits that take effect July 1, 2026. However, this move raises more questions than answers.

Why it matters: At the new $99,000 price tag, Merage's Flex MBA squeaks in just below the $100,000 lifetime aggregate cap on federal graduate borrowing established by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

The school's pitch: "University of California MBA is priced within reach of government loan limits — making a world-class degree not just aspirational, but truly attainable." This is one of the first explicit examples of a business school repricing a degree around the new federal lending rules.

Education Department Stops Updating Key School Data After Cutting Research Arm May 21, 2026

Show notes

Key federal databases that tracked American schools since 1962 is now running on outdated numbers. After Education Department gutted their research arm last year, large portions of the Digest of Education Statistics (covering per-student spending, teacher pay, enrollment, and student safety) have not been refreshed in more than a year.

The Department says new contracts are coming, but the public (and researchers) are operating without current school data in the meantime.

Federal Student Loan Rates Set To Rise For The 2026-27 School Year May 20, 2026

Show notes

Federal student loan interest rates are heading higher for the 2026-27 academic year, following Monday's May 10-year Treasury Note auction (PDF File). Undergraduate Stafford Loans will carry a 6.52% fixed rate, up from 6.392% a year earlier, with graduate and PLUS borrowers seeing similar increases of roughly 13 basis points.

The new rates apply to federal student loans disbursed on or after July 1, 2026, and remain fixed for the life of the loan.

SAVE Forbearance Is Ending: 7 Million Borrowers Face Repayment Restart May 19, 2026

Show notes

The payment pause protecting borrowers in the SAVE plan is winding down, with loan servicers set to begin notifying borrowers starting July 1 to move into a new repayment plan.

Once a borrower receives that notice, the clock starts: forbearance ends 90 days after the official notice is sent, which means most affected borrowers will be back in active repayment by the end of September 2026. This means either the borrower selects a new repayment plan, or will default back into the standard repayment plan.

The bottom line - nearly all of these borrowers will have a payment due in October or November, whether they elect a repayment payment or not.

Tyler West On Saving For College, Picking The Right School, And Avoiding The Student Loan Trap May 18, 2026

Show notes

Financial planner and former college admissions consultant Tyler West joins The College Investor Audio Show at MilMoneyCon to talk about how families should actually approach paying for college — from 529 plans to commuter schools to the conversations parents aren't having with their kids.

Recorded live at MilMoneyCon, Robert Farrington sits down with Tyler West, an associate financial planner at CL Sheldon & Company who works with military and veteran families. Before financial planning, Tyler served in the Army, worked in higher ed at the University of Colorado, and ran his own college planning business advising high-net-worth families on admissions and financial aid.

His central message: families spend too much energy optimizing the savings vehicle and not enough on the conversation that actually determines whether the money is well spent.

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