Engineering Degree Online | Paying off your Student Loans

Posted by bposton on November 13th, 2006 — Posted in engineering degree online

So let’s say you have a rich uncle and you’ll have no loans to pay off after you graduate…

Well you can stop reading now, if you wish (you lucky dog) :-)

For the rest of us, how to pay off our student loans is a big deal.

According to a recent study by the U.S. Department of Education, 26 percent of college graduates borrow at least $25,000 to pay for their college educations.

So if you see that you’re going to graduate with a large amount of  debt, you’d be wise to take some time and sort of “map out” a strategy for paying it back as quickly as possible.

Here are some tips to consider from American Education Services, a national financial aid services organization:

Consolidate. Consolidating your loans can reduce your monthly payments and maybe even lower your interest rate. But You need to look into this option as soon as possible to lock in a low interest rate. When you consolidate, you’ll get just one bill per month, which makes it easier to keep track of your payments.

If possible, make payments during your six-month grace period. This is a great way to save money on your subsidized loans because any payments you make will be applied directly to the principal balance. This lowers the amount of interest you will owe after the grace period expires. Plus, you’ll be able to pay off your loan months earlier than you expected.

Use direct debit to help you pay your loans on time every month. Direct debit is a free, automatic payment service for borrowers who prefer to make their loan payments electronically. If you use this service, you also may qualify for an interest rate reduction after a specified number of on-time payments.

Make everyday expenses count toward repayment of your loans. When you join Upromise, participating merchants will contribute a portion of what you spend with them to your Upromise account, which you can use to help pay off your loans.

AES has a web site called youcandealwithit.com, designed to help college students and graduates become financially responsible.

Hope that helps

Ben

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Engineering Degree Online | Your tax dollars at work??

Posted by bposton on November 7th, 2006 — Posted in engineering degree online

Here’s a statistic that just burns me up…

Back in September of 2004, the Government Accountability Office released a report that found federal
agencies had spent at least $169,000 for their employees to obtain degrees from two so-called “diploma mills,”
California Coast University and Kennedy-Western University.

The GAO report defined diploma mills as “non-traditional, unaccredited, post-secondary schools
that offer degrees for a relatively low flat fee, promote the award of academic credits based on
life experience, and do not require any classroom instruction.”

That’s $169,000 of YOUR tax dollars going out to diploma mills, my good friend.

In the report, however, it was also mentioned that no “uniform verification process” exists for such institutions,
particularly online degree programs.

Don’t you think we need a verification process? Otherwise this number will just get higher, and probably already has.

At there are some states who have taken the initative. These include Oregon and California,
who have refused to recognize Kennedy-Western degrees.

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Engineering Degree Online|What is a Portfolio Assessment???

Posted by bposton on November 4th, 2006 — Posted in engineering degree online

Since I talked about getting credit a some legit colleges for a portfolio assessment, one of my online dorm room buddies asked, what the heck is a portfolio assessment?

Simply put, a portfolio assessments give you the chance to prove that you already possess certain knowledge that you would be gaining via a college course.

Ah, I know what you’re thinking - my job can be proof of that, right?

No way, hosea…

Having a job does not prove anything. In fact, if a school says that they will give you academic credit because you’ve been performing a certain job for a certain number of years run away fast because they’re almost certainly a diploma mill.

Portfolios don’t show time, but rather ability. But you can prove you’ve learned a body of knowledge. For example, do you play the piano? If you can prove that you play the piano to a standard achieved after taking a piano class or course at the university level (of which there are plenty), that skill could net you an easy three credits.

Dr. Steve Levicoff, who is a distance learning guru, earned his bachelor’s degree at Thomas Edison State College. He earned 98 college credits using portfolio assessment.

Think about that, now. 98 out of 120 credits. Hopefully that gives you some indication of the possibilities.

Levicoff was able to prove his knowledge in such diverse areas as “Folk Music in the United States,” “Advanced Radio Production,” and “Society & Sexual Variations.”

(wonder how he proved that one…)

Even though you can’t use your job, you can use professional certificates and licenses as well as speaking a foreign language (other than English), or writing a book or series of articles.

Hope that helps…so go ahead and give yourself some credit :-)

Ben

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