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

, , , , ,

No Comments »

engineering degree online : More Colleges adding online courses

Posted by bposton on October 24th, 2006 — Posted in engineering degree online

I think that the time has come that many colleges and universities are seeing the fact that
the popularity for taking classes online is growing like crazy.

And as a result, they’re willing to add more online programs to their rosters.

case in point:

Huntington University recently added its first online program.
Students can receive a master’s degree in youth ministry leadership, which recently earned accreditation
from the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.

The program has accepted from states such as Maryland, Texas and Florida.

Case in point number 2:

Indiana Tech just added its first online courses this fall but has offered
independent-study correspondence courses for about 20 years two decades.
Associate and bachelor’s degrees in business administration are available to students
who want to study on their own.

Case in point number 3:

Taylor University, in Fort Wayne Indiana, is working on adding bachelor’s and eventually
master’s degree programs to its offerings at the Center for Lifelong Learning.

Chancellor Duane Kilty had this to say about their online strategy:
“We’re heading there as aggressively as we can go. I would hope we would have four-year degree programs online by the fall of ’08.”

The university already offers individual courses and associate degrees online.

Kilty also said that Taylor’s program will be different from other programs in that it continues
the Christian education present on campus.

By the way, Kilty received his master’s in business administration from Ball State University with distance learning.
He never set fool on the Ball State Campus. And he has also has taught distance courses. So he know that students
can be just as engaging as those sitting in a traditional classroom.

Ben

, , , , ,

No Comments »