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How To Get Student Loans For Community College Feb 18, 2026

Show notes

Almost 50% of students borrow student loans for community college.

It's no secret that the cost of going to college and debt from student loans have significantly increased over the past several decades. Although wages have also gone up, the cost of higher education has increased more than inflation. The average cost of tuition for a four-year private college is $43,775 and $28,238 for public. And what's even scarier is that the most expensive colleges cost over $60,000 per year!

Many potential college students explore community college because it offers cheaper tuition than traditional four-year colleges. In 2024, the average tuition for public community colleges is approximately $5,184 per year for in-state students and $8,806 for out-of-state students.

So while going to a community college is more affordable than other forms of higher education, you still may need to explore student loans for community college to cover the cost.

How Does A 529 Plan Affect Your FAFSA And Financial Aid? Feb 14, 2026

Show notes

There are many benefits to 529 college savings plans. They provide tax and financial aid advantages to families who save for college. However, the 529 plan does impact your financial aid and you likely need to report it on your FAFSA.

Saving for college reduces student loan debt at graduation and increases college choice. But it can also affect eligibility for need-based financial aid.

Depending on who owns the 529 plan account, a 529 college savings plan may affect either the income or the assets reported on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). In this guide, we'll explore how a 529 plan can affect your FAFSA and financial aid eligibility.

The State Of Student Loans And What Families Need To Know Feb 13, 2026

Show notes

Robert joined Lacy Langford on the MILMO® Show to discuss everything that's happening with student loans right now - from changes to repayment plans, new borrowing limits, and loan forgiveness.

Check out the MILMO® Show here to learn more.

Workforce Pell Grant: Eligibility, Programs, Timeline Feb 12, 2026

Show notes

Workforce Pell is a new legal pathway within the Pell Grant program that’s intended to cover short-termworkforce training - the kinds of programs that historically have fallen outside Pell rules because they were too short.

Under the new rules, eligible programs generally must run at least 8 weeks but fewer than 15 weeks, and include 150 to 599 clock hours (or certain credit-hour equivalents).

The Department of Education has emphasized that Workforce Pell awards are still Pell Grants - but with a different set of program eligibility rules, not a totally separate pot of money. That matters because it ties Workforce Pell to Pell’s broader budget pressures and to how Pell eligibility is tracked over a student’s lifetime.

How big could the program be? Federal officials have cautioned that it’s hard to estimate because many short-term programs aren’t well captured in federal datasets today. In a Department of Education slide deck (PDF File), ED suggested the number of eligible programs could range from “several hundred to a few thousand,” depending on state decisions and how the final rules land.

Parent PLUS Student Loan Alternatives in 2026: Private vs. Federal Feb 11, 2026

Show notes

Major changes to Parent PLUS loans are coming in 2026, and for many families, the timing could not be more complicated. Parents with students starting college this year or next (or already have kids in college), need to make plans for how they will pay for school.

For decades, Parent PLUS loans acted as a backstop. When grants, scholarships, and student loans fell short, parents could borrow the rest without limits. Beginning July 1, 2026, that changes. Borrowing caps take effect, and repayment options shrink.

The result: more families will need to rely on parent PLUS loan alternatives.

This article explains what is changing, how private loans compare to Parent PLUS loans, and what families paying for college right now should be thinking about.

6 Weird But Successful Stock Market Indicators Feb 07, 2026

Show notes

There are many different ways to invest in the stock market—some people prefer to buy and hold, while others trade stocks on a more frequent basis. Day traders and other stock investors have a lot of different indicators to measure performance and provide insights on when and how to invest.

There are also a lot of weird indicators for stocks and other odd hypotheses when it comes to stock market performance over time. I thought it would be fun to share a few that have actually been pretty successful over time (there are, of course, thousands of others that are not as successful).

Who knows, maybe there is some subliminal fate driving the performance of the markets.

The Truth About Administrative Bloat At U.S. Colleges Feb 06, 2026

Show notes

In the last few years, rising college costs have been at least partially blamed on a simple and provocative idea: administrative bloat.

The claim is easy to repeat and hard to forget. Some versions suggest that elite colleges employ one administrator for every two students, or even several staff members per student. These figures have even made it to Congressional policy debates, opinion pieces, and social media posts, often presented as self-evident proof that colleges have lost control of their staffing.

But when these claims are checked against federal data, they fall apart.

Using enrollment and staffing figures from the National Center for Education Statistics and the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, a much different picture emerges.

Across U.S. colleges, and even at Ivy League institutions, students outnumber staff by wide margins. Faculty account for a significant share of employees, and many institutions appear staff-heavy only because they operate hospitals, medical schools, or large research enterprises that serve the public far beyond their student bodies (and usually fund themselves).

Let's dive into the data and see how these rumors fall apart.

Yale Joins Harvard and MIT in Expanding Free Tuition for Middle-Class Families Feb 05, 2026

Show notes

Yale University will allow students from households earning up to $200,000 a year to attend tuition-free beginning in fall 2026, the university confirmed this week, expanding a financial aid policy that has been in place for several years. The threshold had previously been set at $150,000.

Under the updated policy, families earning up to $100,000 annually will continue to pay nothing at all — covering tuition, housing, meals, and other required costs. Families earning between $100,000 and $200,000 will no longer be charged tuition, though they may still have to pay for room and board.

Income-Based Repayment Comes To Private Student Loans Feb 04, 2026

Show notes

For years, income-driven repayment has been a dividing line between federal and private student loans. Federal borrowers could tie monthly payments to income but historically, private borrowers could not.

That line is starting to blur.

RISLA (Rhode Island Student Loan Authority), a nonprofit student loan lender based in Rhode Island, has introduced an income-based repayment (IBR) option for borrowers who refinance student loans through the organization. The plan borrows heavily from the "old" IBR framework created in 2009, offering payment flexibility during periods of lower income and forgiveness after decades of repayment.

It is a small but notable shift in a private lending market that has traditionally emphasized fixed monthly payments and faster payoff schedules. As federal student loan policies continue to change, the question is whether other lenders will follow and whether borrowers should welcome them if they do.

Education Freedom Tax Credit: Who Qualifies and When Feb 03, 2026

Show notes

The U.S. Departments of Education and Treasury released new details on the Education Freedom Tax Credit, a centerpiece of President Trump’s Working Families Tax Cuts Act.

Administration officials describe it as the largest expansion of education choice to date, with the potential to steer billions of dollars toward private scholarships and education services outside traditional public school funding streams.

Unlike past education tax benefits aimed directly at families, this credit works by encouraging taxpayers to contribute to nonprofit Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGOs), which then distribute aid to eligible students.

The design is complex and a bit confusing, the rollout will take time, and its impact will vary sharply by state. For families, the key question is not whether the credit exists, but whether and how it will be available where they live.

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