In a year fraught with financial challenges, going home for the holidays will have heightened significance this year for many Black and Latino families. New research findings reveal that between […]
Author Archives: Charlene Crowell
Posted inEducation, National, News
When student loan repayments resume, will problems return too?
Although a college education is strongly believed to be the bridge to a better life, building financial security is a long way off for millions of graduates beginning their careers […]
Posted inOpinion
Business, bank groups sue to stop CFPB’s fight against financial discrimination
On September 28, two of the nation’s largest and most influential business groups filed a lawsuit against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and its director, Rohit Chopra. The action […]
Posted inNews
Varied responses to President Biden’s plan to cancel most student debt
President Joe Biden’s recent student debt cancellation announcement elicited a diverse range of reactions– some congratulatory, others critical, and still others that seem unsure what to make of the unprecedented […]
Posted inEducation
Like Black families, HBCUs are financially short-changed
As college students settle into campus life, many Black Americans remember the multi-generational sacrifices that have established higher education as a bridge to a better life. Despite the continuing pandemic, […]
Posted inNational
Record inflation shrinks housing affordability, worsens racial wealth gaps
This summer, temperatures are not the only thing rising above normal. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the nation’s consumer price index (CPI) at the end of May […]
Posted inBusiness, Business-OW, Education, National
Despite years of payments, student loan balances go up – not down
With every passing day, urgency grows to cancel the nation’s $1.7 trillion student loan debt. The current federal pause on payments and interest rates will expire on August 31. If […]
Posted inNews
Costly auto repairs driving consumers into a financial ditch
New research reveals how costly car repairs are now ballooning into a new form of predatory lending. And just like other forms of financial exploitation, consumers are feeling duped and […]
Posted inBusiness, National
So-called ‘free credit’ offers come with costly catches
Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) plans increasingly are being offered as a convenient credit alternative that enables purchases to be made in installments, typically four payments over six weeks. The […]
Posted inNational
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau eyes huge problem of medical debt
A new report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) finds that the nation’s healthcare system is supported by an infrastructure of billing, payments, collections, and credit reporting that is […]
