Shows / The College Investor Audio Show
The College Investor Audio Show
The College Investor podcast is a daily audio show that's dedicated to bringing you the best of TheCollegeInvestor.com. We discuss a variety of topics, all relating to millennial money - including student loan debt, investing, earning more money, and more! Robert Farrington, the founder of The College Investor and a Millennial Money Expert, shares how to get out of student loan debt so that you can start investing and building wealth for the future. Instead of cutting expenses and living a…
Episodes
- The College Investor Audio Show
43 Million Americans Have Some College But No Degree — Here’s Why They Left
A new Trellis Strategies survey (PDF File) of 3,182 former students who left college without a credential finds that financial pressure and life circumstances…
- The College Investor Audio Show
Education Department Tells Borrowers To Expect Repayment, Not Forgiveness
Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent told an American Enterprise Institute audience on Thursday that federal student loan forgiveness “is not happening,”…
- The College Investor Audio Show
Judge Approves $425M Capital One 360 Savings Settlement — Payments Expected July
A federal judge has approved a $425 million class action settlement with Capital One over allegations that the bank paid low interest rates to older 360…
- The College Investor Audio Show
New Analysis Projects Class Of 2026 Will Borrow $43,500 For A Bachelor’s Degree
High school seniors heading to public four-year colleges this fall could graduate with more than $43,000 in student loans, according to a new NerdWallet…
- The College Investor Audio Show
Treasury Set To Ramp Up Defaulted Student Loan Collections In July
Hundreds of thousands of federal student loan borrowers in default could start hearing from the government and their debt collectors as soon as July, as the…
- The College Investor Audio Show
Democratic Senators File Resolution to Block Trump PSLF Employer Restrictions
A group of Democratic senators led by Tim Kaine (D-VA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and Cory Booker (D-NJ) introduced a Congressional Review Act (CRA)…
- The College Investor Audio Show
California Tops List of States With Highest Student Aid Fraud at $171 Million
The Big Number: $1 billion — that’s how much the Department of Education says it saved taxpayers by cracking down on student aid fraud over the past year. Why…
- The College Investor Audio Show
554,000 Borrowers Still Stuck in Student Loan Repayment Backlog Despite Record Processing
The Department of Education processed more IDR applications in March than any month since court-ordered tracking began, cutting the pending backlog to 553,966…
- The College Investor Audio Show
89,720 PSLF Buyback Applications Are Pending — But Many Borrowers Won’t Need Them
The PSLF Buyback backlog grew to 89,720 pending applications in March, according to the latest court-ordered status report (PDF File) filed today. The…
- The College Investor Audio Show
College Board’s Education Pays 2026 Report Confirms: A Degree Still Pays Off
College remains a strong financial investment, and the latest data from College Board makes that case with the most recent numbers available. The Education…
- The College Investor Audio Show
Why You Shouldn’t Name Minor Children As Beneficiaries
Parents buying life insurance or opening retirement accounts usually want to name their children as beneficiaries (typically as a contingent beneficiary after…
- The College Investor Audio Show
5 Beneficiary Designation Mistakes That Can Wreck Your Estate Plan
You spent thousands on an estate plan. You signed the will. You funded the trust. And none of it may matter because a beneficiary form you filled out 15 years…
- The College Investor Audio Show
The Education Department Is Exposing Tens of Millions in Covid-Era Fraud
The U.S. Department of Education, working with its Office of Inspector General, says it has uncovered tens of millions of dollars in fraud and mismanagement…
- The College Investor Audio Show
IDR Payment Tracker Returning to StudentAid.gov After Education Department Reversal
The Department of Education says it is working to restore the income-driven repayment (IDR) payment count tracker on StudentAid.gov — reversing its own prior…
The College Investor Audio ShowCan You Accept More Than One College Admissions Offer?
Receiving multiple college acceptance letters can be both thrilling and confusing. It's a time when students may wonder if it’s permissible to hang onto more…
- The College Investor Audio Show
Trump Accounts: 4 Million Kids Enrolled, IRS Says
he Internal Revenue Service announced that taxpayers have opened more than 4 million Trump Accounts. Of those enrollments, more than 1 million families have…
- The College Investor Audio Show
Trump’s Budget Proposal Would Cut $2.3 Billion From Education
If you’re a college student or family relying on financial aid, President Trump’s newly released fiscal year 2027 budget proposal (PDF File) could signal major…
- The College Investor Audio Show
Colleges Are Requiring SAT and ACT Scores Again — Here’s the Full List for 2027
The test-optional era in college admissions is rapidly drawing to a close. What began as an emergency response to Covid-19 disruptions has turned into one of…
- The College Investor Audio Show
PSLF Strategy in 2026: New Employer Rule, RAP Plan, and Parent PLUS Changes
Public Service Loan Forgiveness remains one of the best student loan forgiveness programs for federal student loan borrowers working in government or at…
- The College Investor Audio Show
Education Department Says 10 Million FAFSA Forms Complete
The U.S. Department of Education announced that more than 10 million Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) forms for the 2026-27 academic year have…
- The College Investor Audio Show
What Are Ghost Students? Financial Aid Fraud Explained
Across the country, colleges are discovering that their enrollment rolls are full of students who don’t actually exist. They’re called “ghost…
- The College Investor Audio Show
Dept. of Education To Downsize Headquarters And Move Buildings
The U.S. Department of Education announced Thursday that it will move out of its longtime headquarters in Washington, D.C., downsizing to a smaller building…
- The College Investor Audio Show
SAVE Plan Forbearance Ending: What To Know
The Department of Education is going to begin contacting the more than 7 million borrowers enrolled in the now-defunct SAVE student loan repayment plan…
The College Investor Audio ShowA Parent's Guide to College Applications: From Essays to Financial Aid
College applications present students with a challenging and time-consuming project — perhaps the largest they have faced in their lives. As a parent, you can…
The College Investor Audio ShowWhat's The Difference Between Prepaid Tuition And 529 Plans?
The main difference between a prepaid tuition plan and 529 plan is that prepaid tuition plans allow you to lock in tuition credits at today's prices. Prepaid…
- The College Investor Audio Show
200,000 Borrowers Await Ninth Circuit Ruling on $12 Billion Student Loan Settlement
A federal appeals court heard arguments on Friday over whether the Education Department can further delay a court-approved settlement that promises loan…
- The College Investor Audio Show
Treasury Department Takes Over Student Loan Collections From Dept Of Education
The Department of Education and the U.S. Treasury Department announced a new interagency agreement on March 19, 2026, that will shift operational control of…
- The College Investor Audio Show
Low-Earning Degrees Will Soon Lose Access to Federal Student Loans
Hundreds of thousands of college students are enrolled in degree and certificate programs that, under new federal law, may soon be cut off from federal student…
- The College Investor Audio Show
$180 Billion in Student Loans Are Now in Default, New Federal Data Shows
Federal Student Aid released its latest quarterly data update, and the numbers paint a stark picture: 7.7 million borrowers with $180 billion in outstanding…
- The College Investor Audio Show
8 Last-Minute Tax Reminders For 2026
The tax deadline is almost here! Here are some last minute tax reminders if you're still working on filing your taxes. Although it might not be the most…
- The College Investor Audio Show
Student Loan IDR Backlog Drops To Record Low, But PSLF Buyback Issues Remain
The Department of Education’s income-driven repayment application backlog has dropped to its lowest point on record, according to a new court filing submitted…
- The College Investor Audio Show
Average Tax Refund Up 10.6% This Year, IRS Data Shows
Tax refunds are running more than 10% larger this filing season, the IRS reported, with the average individual refund reaching $3,742. That's up from $3,382 at…
- The College Investor Audio Show
GAO: FSA Halted Student Loan Servicer Reviews
The federal government quietly stopped independently checking whether student loan servicers are keeping accurate borrower records (and stopped monitoring the…
- The College Investor Audio Show
SAVE Student Loan Plan Officially Ended By Court Order
The SAVE student loan repayment plan is dead — and a federal appeals court just made that official. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled on…
- The College Investor Audio Show
Lawmakers Warn Student Loan Oversight Is Slipping
Senators Elizabeth Warren and Jeff Merkley accused the U.S. Department of Education of obstructing congressional oversight of federal student loan servicers…
- The College Investor Audio Show
86,000 Public Servants Stuck In 3-Year Loan Forgiveness Queue
A new federal court filing (PDF File) shows that borrowers seeking Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) credit through the buyback process could face waits…
- The College Investor Audio Show
The Most Educated Religious Groups In America
A new report from the Pew Research Center offers one of the most detailed looks at how educational attainment differs across religious groups in America. The…
- The College Investor Audio Show
Judge Dismisses SAVE Plan Lawsuit — SAVE Borrowers Still In Limbo
A federal judge on Friday dismissed the central lawsuit challenging the Biden-era SAVE student loan repayment plan — not because the court endorsed it, but…
- The College Investor Audio Show
Opinion: Moving Education Programs Around Washington Is Bad Policy
The U.S. Department of Education has announced two new interagency agreements, handing off selected responsibilities to the Departments of State and Health and…
- The College Investor Audio Show
Navient Borrower Compensation Payments Begin In 2026
Borrowers who were a part of a years-long legal battle over student loan servicing practices are now seeing tangible results: compensation checks arriving in…
- The College Investor Audio Show
Could The Trump Administration Sell And Privatize Student Loans?
The Trump administration is once again weighing whether to sell off parts of the federal government’s $1.6 trillion student loan portfolio to private investors…
- The College Investor Audio Show
The U.S. Is Taking Harvard To Court (AGAIN) Over Race In Admissions
The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against Harvard University, arguing that the university has unlawfully withheld admissions records needed…
- The College Investor Audio Show
Student Loan Borrowers Get Balance Adjustments After SAVE Interest Error
Student loan borrowers in the SAVE forbearance may be getting some relief. Borrowers are reporting that when they login to their online accounts there is a new…
- The College Investor Audio Show
Social Security Cuts: What Young Workers Face
Headlines warning that Social Security is “running out” have sparked fresh anxiety among younger investors. Some stories highlight a potential $460 monthly…
The College Investor Audio ShowStudent Loan Debt And Unemployment: Steps To Take For Your Loans
When you’re unemployed, it’s hard enough getting out of bed in the morning, let alone searching for a job. Add to that the stress of dealing with your student…
The College Investor Audio ShowFront-Loading Financial Aid: Watch Out For This Sneaky Trick
Front-loading of financial aid like grants and scholarships is a form of bait-and-switch, where a college gives a better financial aid offer to freshmen than…
The College Investor Audio ShowHow To Get Student Loans For Community College
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…
The College Investor Audio ShowHow Does A 529 Plan Affect Your FAFSA And Financial Aid?
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…
- The College Investor Audio Show
The State Of Student Loans And What Families Need To Know
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…
- The College Investor Audio Show
Workforce Pell Grant: Eligibility, Programs, Timeline
Workforce Pell is a new legal pathway within the Pell Grant program that’s intended to cover short-term workforce training - the kinds of programs that…
- The College Investor Audio Show
Parent PLUS Student Loan Alternatives in 2026: Private vs. Federal
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…
The College Investor Audio Show6 Weird But Successful Stock Market Indicators
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…
- The College Investor Audio Show
The Truth About Administrative Bloat At U.S. Colleges
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…
- The College Investor Audio Show
Yale Joins Harvard and MIT in Expanding Free Tuition for Middle-Class Families
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…
- The College Investor Audio Show
Income-Based Repayment Comes To Private Student Loans
For years, income-driven repayment has been a dividing line between federal and private student loans. Federal borrowers could tie monthly payments to income…
- The College Investor Audio Show
Education Freedom Tax Credit: Who Qualifies and When
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…
- The College Investor Audio Show
50 Ways To Save Money In College
The idea of saving money in college might sound impossible - but it's totally doable! For most college students, this is the first time really having to budget…
The College Investor Audio Show7 Best Ways To Save Your Tax Refund
Looking for the best ways to save your tax refunds? We have seven ideas that can help you build wealth with your tax refund. The April 15th tax filing deadline…
- The College Investor Audio Show
Should You Pay For Audit Protection
Audit protection is a service most tax preparation companies advertise as an upsell to help you if you get a notice from the IRS. These services can involve…
- The College Investor Audio Show
New Bill Would Expand Definition Of Professional Degrees
The Professional Student Degree Act, introduced by Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) and several other House Republicans, would expand the list of degrees considered…