Elyssa Kirkham Expertise: Personal finance, student loans, consumer credit Education: Brigham-Young University - Idaho Location: Salt Lake City, Utah Highlights Elyssa Kirkham has nearly a decade of focused experience as a personal finance journalistShe specializes in student loans, student loan issues, and consumer creditElyssa has published widely in personal finance, having written for The Balance, LendingTree, Student Loan Hero, GOBankingRates, and others Experience Elyssa started her career in personal finance journalism with GOBankingRates, where she wrote hundreds of educational articles on a variety of financial topics. She leveraged those efforts into a specialty in explaining education debt and financing as a writer for Student Loan Hero and LendingTree.Since she went freelance in 2019, she has been writing about student loans, consumer credit, and other personal finance topics for The Balance and other outlets. Education Elyssa holds a B.A. in English from Brigham-Young University, Idaho.Other WorkHow to Know If Your Bank Is Giving You a Good Deal - GoBankingRatesHow Personal Loans Impact Debt and Credit Scores a Year Into Repayment - LendingTreeHow to Apply for Financial Aid for College: 10 Steps - Student Loan Hero About The Balance The Balance, a Dotdash Meredith brand, makes money easy to understand. We give people tools they need to not only make smart financial decisions but also prepare for the experiences they will have along the way. Our team of expert writers and editors have extensive qualifications in the topics they cover, and many of them have MBAs, PhDs, CFPs, and other advanced degrees and professional certifications. We require our writers to use primary sources in their articles, which are also approved by our Financial Review Board and fact-checked. You can learn more about the standards we follow in producing accurate, unbiased content in our editorial policy.