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Graduate Student Loans - 7/29/15

A new study from the Center for American Progress finds that twenty universities received one-fifth, or six point five billion dollars, of the total amount of loans the government supplied to graduate students during the twenty thirteen twenty fourteen academic year.  Though these twenty schools were associated with a fifth of government supplied school debt, they only educate twelve percent of all graduate students. 

A reported by the Washington Post, what’s most striking about the Center’s findings is that a majority of the debt taken to attend these twenty universities is not for law or medical degrees that offer the prospect of large paydays.  Most graduate students at these twenty schools are seeking master’s degrees in journalism, fine arts or government.  It comes as little surprise that among the list of twenty schools are pricey private schools like New York University, Georgetown and George Washington. 

But eight for-profit institutions, including the University of Phoenix and Capella University also make the list.  Who is at the top of the list?  Students collectively borrowed the most amount of money, 756 million dollars, to attend Walden University, a for-profit school that specializes in offering graduate degrees in education, healthcare and business.

Anirban Basu, Chariman Chief Executive Officer of Sage Policy Group (SPG), is one of the Mid-Atlantic region's leading economic consultants. Prior to founding SPG he was Chairman and CEO of Optimal Solutions Group, a company he co-founded and which continues to operate. Anirban has also served as Director of Applied Economics and Senior Economist for RESI, where he used his extensive knowledge of the Mid-Atlantic region to support numerous clients in their strategic decision-making processes. Clients have included the Maryland Department of Transportation, St. Paul Companies, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Players Committee and the Martin O'Malley mayoral campaign.