Tisa Silver Canady, Ed. D., MBA, is a financial wellness advocate for today’s scholar. Specializing in student loan debt, she helps new borrowers think strategically about financing higher education while advising existing borrowers on their strategy to tackle, manage, and eventually eradicate their student loan debt. As an author and collegiate financial wellness expert, she has personally advised students and families on the repayment of more than $100 million in student loans. 

A highly sought after thinker on personal finance, Tisa has authored personal finance content for outlets including Forbes, Investopedia, and BET. Her financial insights have been featured in radio, television, and print outlets including TIME, USA Today, Ladies’ Home Journal, ESSENCE Magazine, Black Enterprise, FOX Business, MSN Money, Yahoo! Finance, and Maryland Public Television.

Tisa understands that graduating and starting the next chapter of your life is hard enough; being saddled with tens of thousands of dollars or more in student loan debt can make major goals like buying a house or starting a family financially impossible. Once classes end and loans come due, borrowers - especially borrowers of color - often find they didn’t understand loan terms, were unaware of opportunities for loan forgiveness, don’t know all the loan repayment options, and have no real plan in place to pay the money back.

Whether existing borrowers need to consolidate, identify a repayment or loan forgiveness program, Tisa works with you to understand all available options, choose the best course of action, and tackle the debt. For new borrowers, Tisa works with students and their families to understand what they can afford, develop a strategic plan to pay for college, and borrow as little as possible. 

Passionate about how the student loan crisis has perpetuated a wealth gap in the  African-American community, in 2020 Tisa launched Melanin, Money, & Matriculation, a book series and consumer education initiative. The book series includes Borrowing While Black and the forthcoming titles Black Women Beyond the Bachelor's and When Borrowing Becomes a Family Affair, and focuses on helping African-American borrowers make strategic decisions about student loans.

Tisa’s service and leadership have been recognized by numerous organizations including:

• Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition: Consumer Volunteer of the Year, 2014

• The Daily Record: Leading Women Award, 2015

• Delaware-DC-Maryland Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators: Volunteer of the Year, 2016

• Maryland State Department of Education, the Maryland Council on Economic Education and the CASH Campaign of Maryland: Community Champion, 2017

• American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) National Council on Black American Affairs - Northeast Region: Dissertation of the Year, 2018

• Delaware-DC-Maryland Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators: Committee of the Year, 2019

• Eastern Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators: Leadership Award, 2020

Tisa is the founder and managing director of Silver Canady & Associates, LLC, an educational research and consulting firm based in Prince George’s County, Maryland. In 2021, she founded the Maryland Center for Collegiate Financial Wellness (MCCFW). The Center fosters a continuum of campus-based financial wellness programming and supports that build financial life skills and empower students to thrive.

Tisa is on a mission to increase financial education around student loan borrowing. A double graduate of the University of Delaware, she earned a doctorate in higher education administration/community college leadership from Morgan State University.