30 Issues in 30 Days is our election year series on the important issues facing the country this election year. Today: The future of American education at the postsecondary level. Visit the 30 Issue home page for all the conversations.

Anya Kamenetz, senior writer for Fast Company, discusses a recent report from the NY Fed on student loans that found nearly half of loans in deferment or forbearance, and gives advice on paying off those kinds of loans. Kamenetz is the author of DIY U: Edupunks, Edupreneurs, and the Coming Transformation of Higher Education and Generation Debt: How Our Future Was Sold Out for Student Loans, Bad Jobs, No Benefits, and Tax Cuts for Rich Geezers--And How to Fight Back.

OWS wants people to default on their student loan debts. Anya Kamenetz, senior writer for Fast Company magazine and author of DIY U: Edupunks, Edupreneurs, and the Coming Transformation of Higher Education, and Generation Debt, discusses the idea and other news around higher education financing. 

OWS wants people to default on their student loan debts. Anya Kamenetz, senior writer for Fast Company Magazine and author of DIY U: Edupunks, Edupreneurs, and the Coming Transformation of Higher Education and Generation Debt, discusses the idea and other news around higher education financing. Later in the segment, Robert Applebaum, founder of ForgiveStudentLoanDebt.com, talks about his efforts to forgive student loans - and why he thinks mass default is a bad idea.

President Obama is set to announce a new program on Wednesday that the White House says will help lower interest rates on student-loans. He will unveil the proposal during an appearance in Colorado. The plan will allow students who hold both government and private loans to consolidate both into one low-interest government loan. The announcement comes as the president continues to highlight ways his administration can boost the economy through executive actions that don't require approval from Congress. Obama has expressed frustration with lawmakers, who have held up his jobs plan on Capital Hill.

What’s been the return of investment on your college experience? Anya Kamenetz, senior writer for Fast Company magazine and author of DIY U: Edupunks, Edupreneurs, and the Coming Transformation of Higher Education and Generation Debt: How Our Future Was Sold Out for Student Loans, Bad Jobs, No Benefits, and Tax Cuts for Rich Geezers--And How to Fight Back, discusses the way in which the value of college is being reassessed.

Staff writer for Fast Company Anya Kamenetz discusses her new book DIY U: Edupunks, Edupreneurs, and the Coming Transformation of Higher Education.

The Obama administration is pushing to incorporate innovative technology initiatives in its reforms of No Child Left Behind. The President has set aside millions for a technology investment fund, but should that investment go to buying computers, getting mobile devices or to teacher training? For our week long series on the future of education in America, we look at how technology factors into education.

We asked author Anya Kamenetz to jot down some suggestions for people considering whether their education plans should include traditional college. She gave us some places to craft one's own learning, some education experiments, some thoughts on paying for schooling, and more ... but began with four big questions:

College tuition for a four year public school rose, on average, seven percent last year.  That rise came in a year where many American families are already feeling squeezed for money.

Labor leaders had pinned their hopes on a new bill in Congress called the Employee Free Choice Act. They hoped something called a "card check" would be part of that bill, which would have made it much easier for employees to unionize. But it looks as though Congress will pass the bill without the card check provision. To talk about what labor unions will do without the card check is Anya Kamenetz, writer for Fast Company Magazine. We've also got Andrew Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union, one of the largest unions in the U.S.

The foreclosure crisis is not just about subprime mortgages anymore. Because of job losses and rising health care costs, homeowners who were once able to keep up with their payments are beginning to fall behind. Shannon Riggs, a homeowner from Norfolk, Virginia, who almost lost her home after her husband lost his job, tells The Takeaway her story. And Anya Kamenetz, Staff Writer for Fast Company magazine and author of “Generation Debt,” will look at what options homeowners have, and how the Obama administration can better address the problem.

"More regulation" is the magic phrase some claim is needed to prevent another economic meltdown. It looks like the credit card industry may be the leading front of that new regulation. Today, lawmakers in the U.S. House are working on a bill that would curb some practices that consumer advocates consider the most egregious, like arbitrarily raising interest rates. On Thursday, President Obama is meeting with the heads of the credit card divisions of 14 major banks, and it's widely thought that the he will express his support for the legislation. Anya Kamenetz, a staff writer at Fast Company magazine and the author of Generation Debt joins The Takeaway with a look at what new regulation we can expect for credit card companies, and what that will mean for borrowers.

The weekly February guest is Anya Kamenetz, author of Generation Debt, writer for Fast Company, and blogger at "The Narrow Bridge" and Yahoo Finance, who will be discussing issues of debt, credit, and loans. This week: Anya answers some lingering ...

The weekly February guest is Anya Kamenetz, author of Generation Debt, writer for Fast Company, and blogger at "The Narrow Bridge" and Yahoo Finance, who will be discussing issues of debt, credit, and loans. This week's focus: Rescuing your credit ...

The weekly February guest is Anya Kamenetz, author of Generation Debt, writer for Fast Company, and blogger at "The Narrow Bridge" and Yahoo Finance, who will be discussing issues of debt, credit, and loans. This week's focus: Student loan woes ...

What's so wrong with special interests? Mary Boyle, Vice President of Communications for Common Cause, discusses the role she foresees them playing in the next administration. Then, Anya Kamenetz, staff writer for Fast Company, author of Generation Debt and

The New York Times reports that banks are starting to limit student loans, particularly to community colleges. Anya Kamenetz, Yahoo Finance columnist and the author of Generation Debt: Why Now Is A Terrible Time to Be Young discusses the credit crunch and what it means for students.

Stephen Burd, senior research fellow in the Education Policy Program at the New America Foundation and Anya Kamenetz who writes for the Village Voice and is the author of Generation Debt: Why Now Is A Terrible Time to Be Young (newly out in paperback) discuss the student ...