SoFi Blog

In our efforts to bring you the latest updates on things that might impact your financial life, we may occasionally enter the political fray, covering candidates, bills, laws and more. Please note: SoFi does not endorse or take official positions on any candidates and the bills they may be sponsoring or proposing. We may occasionally support legislation that we believe would be beneficial to our members, and will make sure to call it out when we do. Our reporting otherwise is for informational purposes only, and shouldn’t be construed as an endorsement.

Student loan forgiveness has become (finally!) a hot topic in our national conversation, but it looks like the complex system that services these loans to begin with is in very sad shape. (Yep, another broken cog in the bureaucracy wheel.)

In fact, the shape is so sad that it’s actually violating federal law and even the Constitution. It’s looking like before any progress can be made on student loan forgiveness, the system has to first be straightened out so it can fly right.

Hopefully, this fix can be hammered out with the help of our justice system. On July 11, 2019, the American Federation of Teachers filed a lawsuit in federal court asking the U.S. Department of Education to fix the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program in order to meet legal standards.

A second request was included: have the department create an appeals process for those who feel they were treated unjustly.

Your child’s transition to college can be a time of great excitement. From the moment that he or she begins to apply to colleges, new horizons are opening up. Next come the acceptance letters, and then there’s choosing the right college for your child’s goals, moving him or her to college housing, and so forth.

Your child will likely make new friends, perhaps join clubs or other organizations, discover new interests, and so much more. But, what happens when you discover that your child’s grades are slipping?

How to deal with bad grades, of course, depends upon numerous factors, including how your child performed academically in high school, your child’s personality, reasons why grades are falling, and much more.

Fortunately, no matter why the grades are slipping (reasons may be immediately clear or they may take some investigating), this post will share helpful tips and strategies about what to do when your child gets bad grades in college.

When you first got to college, becoming an RA may not have been on the top of your to-do list. You probably imagined yourself heading out to fun parties with your friends on a Saturday night, not doing rounds in the dorm.

Now that you’re a full-time college student, the idea of becoming a resident advisor seems slightly more appealing. Sure, you’d have to deal with some negatives, but the job does come with its perks. Before you jump into life as an RA, it’s a good idea to think through some of the benefits and downsides to determine if it’s the right decision for you. Here are a few common starting points.

Master’s degrees are more popular—and maybe more necessary—than ever. According to the U.S. Census Bureau , the number of people with a master’s has doubled since 2000 and, on average, a person with an advanced degree earned 3.7 times as much as a high school dropout.

Of course, whether you get a good return on your education and if it results in higher earnings depends on a lot of things: the type of program, the field of study, job prospects. Graduate school is a big time commitment and can be costly, so you want to weigh all the pros and cons. That’s also partially why online graduate degrees have become more popular.

If you’re wondering, ‘Can I get a master’s degree online?’ The answer is: yes, you can. Over 50% of master’s students got their degree either entirely online, also known as distance learning, or partially online.

Online classes can be an effective way to advance your education on your own schedule—and maybe save yourself some money. Graduate-level classes are no different.

Our 20s can be such a wonderful time to learn about ourselves, bond with friends, and earn our first “real” paychecks. That said, our 20s do not come and go without their fair set of challenges. If you’re like most 20-somethings, you have plenty of mistakes under your belt—financial and otherwise.

And though it may not always seem so, that’s a good thing. Luckily, mistakes and missteps are often followed by learning and expansion.

Early in adulthood, trial and error is usually the name of the game when putting together a financial education. And while that’s great as an introduction to learning about money, there comes a time when everyone must be proactive with their money. Your mid to late 20s might be a great time for this.

While it is possible to create some guidelines on what to achieve by 30, keep in mind that everyone’s goals are going to be a little bit different because everyone’s personal financial situation is different.

For example, someone who has student loans will likely have financial goals that are different from someone who doesn’t. Therefore, you could pull from this list what makes sense for you, and amend as needed. (And none of this should be considered financial advice.)

Here are eight financial goals you might reach for before you turn 30.