Students learn to borrow less at ECC, Harper, CLC - Larissa Chinwah, Daily Herald

A mandatory loan counseling program is helping Elgin Community College buck the nation's historically high default rate, while also reducing the amount of money college students borrow. Across the country, student college loan debt now tops $1 trillion, according to a report earlier this year from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a federal agency created in response to the financial crisis. Elgin Community College estimates its attendance cost at about $8,000 a year (tuition, books, other expenses without room and board) for a total of $16,000 over two years. http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20121015/news/710159937/