From Jessica Endlich Winkler:

Student loan debt is everywhere right now — on the news, in magazines and newspapers, in political debates. Lesson 6.6, Manage Your Educational Investments begins with the following discussion prompt:  Debt is money that is owed to someone, generally because they loaned you money and you must pay it back.  It’s often said that a home mortgage and student loans are both “good debt” to take out.

• What do you think is meant by “good debt?”
• Do you agree that student loans would be “good debt?”
• Why or why not?

You as the teacher decide how to structure these discussion questions for your classroom. Do students write responses silently as a Do Now or Bell Ringer? Do they Pair Share or discuss with those at their table? Do you use this as a class-wide discussion topic that you circle back to at the lesson’s end? All of these options could work, and you as the teacher decide what works best for your class; we just provide the content.

In terms of content, we like to provide a wide variety of media, and this lesson includes multiple brief articles, this pamphlet from StudentAid.gov, and videos such as this one on deferment and forbearance.  There’s also a cool resource from PNC Bank that allows students the choice of reading or listening to the text, which appeals to two learning styles.

If this sounds like something that could work in your personal finance course, advisory, college prep class, or elsewhere in your curriculum, check out the complete lesson plan here from NGPF.

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.