New survey results from studentloanplanner.com found that marriages and life aspirations are impacted by student debt. BenefitsPro reporter Marlene Satter provided commentary on the survey in “Student loans put the kibosh on kids”.** “There are plenty of life plans that fall by the wayside for people carrying a big load of student loan debt, and having children is just one of them.” The survey found that “not only did 51 percent of student loan borrowers say those loans have affected their plans for having kids, a third of those with...

Veterinary Debt Initiative co-lead organizations the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) and the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC) are integral parts of “The Coalition to Preserve PSLF*.” The coalition continues to push Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to address the PSLF’s administrative problems. Specifically, the coalition sent a letter to remind the secretary she has the authority to waive requirements that borrowers be employed at a public service job when they apply for and receive PSLF even if they have fulfilled the requirements.The AVMA and AAVMC work...

EVERFI, with sponsorship by AIG, surveyed over 30,000 college students about their financial knowledge, experience, behaviors and perspectives. The report, “2019 Money Matters on Campus,” stated that “These adults are suffering from a lack of financial capability long before they enter the workforce and employers will need to be aware of how these attitudes and behaviors may impact their job performance.”...

The Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC) and many others in the higher education community recently sent a letter to Congress urging lawmakers to support funding for student aid programs for graduate and professional students as it works toward reauthorizing the Higher Education Act (HEA). The groups wrote “decisions made by Congress in the past relative to student loans have made graduate and professional education more expensive for students, such as charging them higher interest rates on loans, and eliminating the in-school interest subsidy for graduate students.” The groups...

Researchers from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York released “Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit” which found student loans outpacing other household debt among most severely delinquent loans. Here’s commentary from Inside Higher Ed on the report: “A new report shows student loans outpacing other household debt among most severely delinquent loans…Defaulted student loans have surpassed all other types of household debt classified as "severely derogatory," including mortgage and credit card debt.” The article added, “Fed researchers defined severely derogatory debt as any kind of delinquent loan combined...

The Veterinary Debt Initiative (VDI) is committed to raising awareness and providing access to resources that enable pre-veterinary students, veterinary students and veterinarians to make highly informed financial decisions. Check out how VDI is leading efforts in the student debt crisis at these upcoming VDI-sponsored speaker events: AVMA Annual Economic Summit 10/22/19: Veterinary Debt Initiative Update Wellbeing Summit 11/19/19: The Collaborative Approach to the Veterinary Debt Initiative Veterinary Leadership Conference 1/9-1/12/20: time and location TBD ...

AVMA has produced a series of videos to address this important topic. Each video is approximately one and-a-half minutes long and focuses on one of three critical aspects of the suicide discussion: What should you do if someone tells you they’re thinking about suicide? What is the correct terminology for talking about suicide and does it matter? What does suicide contagion mean and what can be done to prevent it? To find out more about the videos (and perhaps incorporate them into your VMA’s wellbeing resources), QPR Suicide Prevention Training, and...

VMAE members who attended the VMAE | Summer Conference 2019 in Washington, DC had the opportunity to learn from Randy Hall (CEO of AspireVet.com) as he shared thoughts on creating a podcast series – through the lens of leading change.  Two recent podcasts from Randy build on the concept of leading change: Episode 15: Leading Change in Your Practice – Forward Booking (where he discusses how to get team buy-in for forward booking – and how this approach is universal for any behavior change) Episode 24: Leading Change in Your...

The VIN Foundation Student Debt Center is a mobile-friendly, comprehensive resource helping pre-veterinary students, veterinary students, veterinarians, and those who support them reduce their costs and manage student debt through school and beyond. It is made up of four sections:   Cost of Education Map – a comparison of veterinary school costs considering tuition, living expenses, and student loan interest My Student Loans – a tool to help make sense of the typically complex student loan portfolio Student Loan Repayment Simulator – an interactive program giving detailed repayment cost comparisons WikiDebt...