Here are the best articles from around the web this week talking about student loans…

For the week ending Friday September 13, 2013

Student Loan News:

1. Susan Tompor: Some public service jobs offer student loan forgiveness

Corey Nelson, 27, graduated from Michigan State University’s law school in 2012 with a plan to work his way out of six figures in student loan debt.

His goal was to work in public service by getting a job as an attorney for the government, maybe on the state or local level, and qualify for a federal student loan forgiveness program to tackle that debt.

First challenge: getting hired in a government job. It’s not all that easy. Full story: http://www.freep.com/article/20130912/COL07/309120006/student-loan-forgiveness-Susan-Tompor

Student Loans

Student Loans

2. Burkina Faso's government boosts civil servant salaries, student loans amid unrest: 

Burkina Faso's government says it's lowering taxes for civil servants and increasing student loans amid growing unrest over the high cost of education and living in the landlocked West African country.

Under the new plan announced Thursday, the government is boosting student loans each month by about $50. Civil servants' salaries are expected to go up by about 5 percent as a result of the changes.

Burkina Faso's capital was rocked earlier this year by violent student protests. Get more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/09/12/burkina-faso-government-boosts-civil-servant-salaries-student-loans-amid-unrest/

3. Education Department Lets Borrowers Default On Student Loans, Ignoring Helpful Alternatives: 

Companies working for the Department of Education over the past year have allowed hundreds of thousands of borrowers to default on their federal student loans rather than enrolling them in the Obama administration’s debt-relief programs, new data reveal.

In results that have invited comparisons to the Treasury Department’s lackluster distressed homeowner initiative known as HAMP, about as many student loan borrowers defaulted on their federal debts as were aided by the administration’s three main initiatives meant to avert defaults, according to the Education Department figures. Click here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/11/income-based-repayment_n_3903208.html

Student Loan Blog Posts:

1. Refinancing student loans for better rates:

U.S. Representative Mark Pocan (D-Wisconsin), visits the University of Wisconsin Memorial Union in Madison (Thursday) to talk about college affordability. “We know that Wisconsin students and people across the country are facing the average debt of $26,000 when they leave college. And we know that student debt has now topped the $1 trillion mark.” He emphasizes, “That’s trillion with a T-R, not a billion or a million, but trillion.”

Pocan wants to ease the burden of college costs by allowing graduates to refinance their student loans to the lowest interest rates available, thereby freeing up more money to spend on necessities and help grow the economy. More details: http://www.wrn.com/2013/09/refinancing-student-loans-for-better-rates/

2. Cheap Money Means Nothing is safe – Not student loans, Emerging markets, or London flats…

Did you enjoy your monthly dose of non-farms nonsense last Friday?

Gold and silver both erased Thursday's drop when the latest US jobs figures were released. Set your gold or silver chart to one-week (1w) to see the silliness.

But were August's non-farm payrolls really so meaningless? Cutting the jobless rate is one-half of the US Federal Reserve's mandate (the other is beating inflation – or whisking it, perhaps, after folding in egg whites). And whatever he does (or doesn't do) to quantitative easing at next week's much-awaited policy meeting, Fed chairman Bernanke has made a 7.0% jobless rate a key condition for any talk of raising Dollar interest rates from zero. Learn more: http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article42193.html

3. Sallie Mae accused of mistreating student veterans: 

The student loan company Sallie Mae is under investigation for allegedly violating federal laws protecting student veterans.

The company is accused of excessive interest charged on veterans’ student loans despite clear legislation prohibiting such practices.

In 2008, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) filed suit against Sallie Mae – a private company that specializes in non-federal student loans, savings accounts for education and online banking – claiming “weaknesses in its compliance function,” according to the quarterly report issued by Sallie Mae in June 2013. More info: http://sundial.csun.edu/2013/09/sallie-mae-accused-of-mistreating-student-veterans/

PayMyStudentLoans.com Around The Web:

1. http://www.mrmilitarymoney.com/2013/09/financial-carnival-for-young-adults_8.html

2. http://moneyqanda.com/yakezie-carnival-september-8th-2013/

3. http://www.budgetinginthefunstuff.com/carnival-of-retirement-cruise-edition/

4. http://bitethebulletinvesting.com/Blog/carnival-financial-independence-27/

5. http://www.theskilledinvestor.com/wp/web-finance-this-week-sept-6-2013-1255.htm

6. http://www.aspiringblogger.com/aspiring-blogger-personal-finance-carnival-14-september-7-2013/