debt

The Missouri Attorney General leads a lawsuit from several Republican states to stop a nationwide plan that would provide loan relief to millions of students. The case was moved this week from Georgia to Missouri.

When a low-income driver in Kansas fails to pay their traffic tickets on time, it could turn the fine into thousands of dollars of debt. Plus: Some Kansas districts are scaling back on screen time for students.

Critics argue adding additional fees and interest on unpaid traffic fines is unfair to low-income drivers. And it may not even be legal under Kansas law.

This year's new version of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid was delayed and glitchy, so many students struggled to complete it. College classes start soon, so education professionals are still helping students fill it out to get financial aid.

The rulings from Kansas and Missouri federal judges put on hold the federal government helping many of the intended borrowers ease their loan repayment burdens starting July 1. Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey and Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach had led lawsuits from several GOP states.

The lawsuit, filed last month by Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey and seven other states, seeks to block an income-driven repayment plan for borrowers proposed by President Joe Biden’s administration.

After a win in the U.S. Supreme Court last year, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey is leading a coalition of states challenging the Department of Education’s second attempt at loan forgiveness. The federal program could waive or help with payments for more than 8 million borrowers.

A Missouri Foundation for Health report finds both planned and unexpected costs of medical care create financial, physical and emotional burdens for the state’s residents. “It's a system where even insured folks struggle,” one analyst says.

The report follows the end of the free federal school meals program, which paid for breakfast and lunch for students at all income levels from March 2020 through June 2022. Since the program ended, families in Kansas have experienced a six-fold increase in school meal debt.

The Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority — MOHELA — is named 85 times in the U.S. Supreme Court’s opinion striking down the Biden administration's student loan forgiveness program. The ruling affects more than 777,000 Missourians with federal student loans who would have received $10,000-$20,000 of relief.

On Friday, the Supreme Court handed down a decision that dismayed millions of people who were hoping for debt relief through President’s Biden program. Many of those borrowers live in the Midwest states that brought the case to the high court.

The court unanimously dismissed on standing grounds a challenge to President Biden's groundbreaking plan to forgive some or all federal student loan debt for tens of millions of Americans.