Student Loans: The Fund-Eating Dragon

What's the role of government in society? What do we mean when we talk about individual responsibility? What makes us free? 'Neoliberalism' might feel like a squishy term that's hard to define and understand. But this ideology, founded by a group of men in the Swiss Alps, is a po ... Show More

Captain America: an all-American superhero. Clad in red, white, and blue, he carries only a shield. And he fights only when he must. When it's right.But what happens when what's right isn't so clear? And how does a comic book hero designed to represent America's values survive in ... Show More

The Iran-Iraq war, 9/11, and the story of Iranian Revolutionary Guard general Qassem Soleimani, from his rise to power, to his assassination, by the U.S., to the power his legacy wields now.This episode originally ran as Soleimani's Iran. You can find more of Throughline's covera ... Show More

The cost of college has been on everyone's minds, especially with student debt cancellation. Pell Grants are one way many low income students have managed to pay for college. And they exist in large part because of one Black woman who often goes unmentioned. Learn more about spon ... Show More

When President Biden canceled college debt last month, he left untouched the problem that created that debt: the soaring price of college.In the 1980s, the list price of undergraduate education at a private four-year institution could hit $20,000 a year. At some of these schools ... Show More

Like pretty much everything we talk about, Student Loans started out as a great idea.  A way to ensure education for all. A way to advance America in the Space Race. And a way to promise citizens a brighter future. But as we’ve seen time and time again, with money on the table, s ... Show More

The number of Americans with student debt is higher now than ever before. And student debt is a lot like an STD: You can get it by accident in college, but then it follows you around your whole life. Trevor examines how student debt got so out of control in the U.S. and its poten ... Show More

Colleges and universities in the United States attract more than a million international students a year. Higher education is one of America’s top service exports, generating $42 billion in revenue. But the money spigot is closing. The pandemic, visa restrictions, rising tuition ... Show More

Jessie Suren grew up hearing the same advice over and over: College would be her ticket to the middle class, even if it meant taking out tens of thousands of dollars in student loans. But when the job she applied for after graduation fell through, she ended up working at a call c ... Show More

College has gotten incredibly expensive. And some colleges are offering students a new way to pay. It's not a scholarship. It's not quite a loan. It's more like the students are selling stock in themselves. We check in on how income share agreements at one school have been workin ... Show More

The cost of living crisis has reopened a discussion on the return of maintenance grants. Fun fact: The maximum maintenance loan available to students this year is £1,000 less than a job paying the national minimum wage – the biggest gap between the two since 2004. In this episode ... Show More