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.

What does it mean for a millennial to run for President of the United States? In the case of Pete Buttigieg, the current mayor of South Bend, Indiana, it means a candidate who is passionate about the country’s student loan crisis.

And why shouldn’t he be? Like so many college graduates of his generation, Buttigieg has a significant amount of student loan debt. He is personally affected by the issue.

Buttigieg and his husband, Chasten, have a combined total of over $130,000 in student loan debt. Buttigieg says he received his undergraduate degree from Harvard without taking on too much debt, and he received a Rhodes Scholarship to attend graduate school at Oxford University.

However, Chasten accumulated a good bit of debt by obtaining his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and by attending teacher training programs in preparation to become a middle school teacher. When they got married, Buttigieg took on Chasten’s debt–and it’s no small amount.

If elected, Buttigieg could be the first President with student loan debt upon entering the Oval Office. It only makes sense that he has a plan to address the issue.

The member’s experience below is not a typical member representation. While her story is extraordinary and inspirational, not all members should expect the same results.

What do a simple question, a tropical rainforest, and a shiny purple catsuit have in common? For SoFi member Caitlin Boston, they’re all part of the story that helped her pay off more than $222,000 in student loan debt.

This unconventional tale begins back in 2009, after Boston had earned two bachelor’s degrees in anthropology and American studies from the University of Maryland and a master’s degree in social psychology from Cambridge.

Like many other recent graduates, Boston knew her student loan payments would start coming due. But what she didn’t know was just how high those numbers would be.

College graduation can be a wild time. You go from juggling your last term papers and final exams (and graduation parties) to managing a career, often in mere months.

This period may be one of the most glorious—and confusing—transitions in your life. There is so much to learn about being an adult, especially in regards to managing your money. And learning this stuff is not an overnight process.

For many college grads, a good first step to successful money management is understanding student loans—including a loan’s grace period. If you have federal student loans, you may even be in your student loan grace period now.

For those of you that graduated in the spring, student loan grace periods may soon be coming to an end. It’s important to start there: What is a student loan grace period? And what happens when that student loan grace period ends?

Here are some tips for managing your student loans for the first time, including ideas on how to make payments once your student loan grace period is over.

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.

Bill Weld , the former governor of Massachusetts, was the first Republican to announce that he’s running against President Donald Trump in the election primaries. Weld has historically supported education, in particular online education and training programs.

Who is Bill Weld, what are his positions on the major issues, and what exactly is his stance on education and student debt? Let’s dive in.

These days, heading off to college often means scrimping and saving, and borrowing student loans to make ends meet. As you’re applying to college and trying to find the right fit, it could help to explore a variety of options.

At some work college programs in the United States, students work in exchange for free or discounted tuition. While these programs are limited, work colleges may be worth exploring.