SoFi Blog

It’s hard to feel “merry and bright” when you’ve got student loans hanging over your head. This season, instead of letting loans dampen your spirits, why not use some of that holiday downtime to make a dent in your debt? Grab a drink (or six) and use our Holiday Student Loan Game to help you get organized, save money and set your loans up for success in the New Year.

Cheers to dominating your student loan debt in 2016 – and happy holidays from SoFi!

When Matt Bachmann decided to get his MBA three years ago, he didn’t imagine it would lead to a startup fueled by his favorite beverage. “I was committed to using the time as a break from the corporate world, and I knew I wanted to explore entrepreneurship,” says Bachmann. “But I had no idea what the final outcome would be.”

With higher education expenses galloping far ahead of inflation, parents at all income levels are finding it difficult to help out with their kids’ college education. If you’re one of many parents whose savings is coming up short, even with a 529 Savings Plan, a Coverdell, or other education-specific plan in place, you may be considering other options to cover the expense gap, including taking out a loan or dipping into retirement accounts.

Before going either route, be sure to fully explore the options available to your family, including potential grants, financial aid, work study programs and employer-provided education assistance programs. And if it’s too late to apply or your child won’t qualify for financial aid, your family may still qualify for one of the tax credits or deductions currently available. While these education-related tax credits won’t necessarily help every family due to limitations and income level phase-outs, they are worth exploring if you’re new to the education funding process.

If you want to explore using retirement savings or private loans to help close the funding gap, here is an overview of the available options in those areas.

When it comes to choosing an MBA program, cost is only one consideration. For years, business schools, pundits and publishers of MBA rankings have urged that you should also weigh factors such as average class size, required test scores and placement rate when choosing where to apply. This advice still rings true, but it fails to convey a harsh reality.

If you’re thinking about getting an MBA to advance your career, you’ll first want to conduct due diligence to ensure the return on investment is what you need it to be. After all, the average cost for top MBA programs in 2013 was $111,418, according to U.S. News & World Report.