EduPlan Blog

Options for Paying Student Loans (or not paying)

A daughter of a friend of mine wanted to get out of her dead-end job and go into a field she liked--fashion.  I begged her to go to the Community College, an inexpensive option to see if she even liked returning to school.  But no, she wanted to believe the claims from a trade and technical school (not accredited) and got accepted there.

The school asked for the entire first year's tuition up-front (before she could evaluate the courses or her commitment to complete) and she took out student loans to fund this education.  As I suspected, she hated school and thought the entire program was "bogus" and quit.  So now, she is in debt for several thousand dollars in financial aid.

Sandra Block offers some options on paying student loans in Tuesday, Sept 22, 2009 edition of USA Today.  Some of these might help my friend's daughter.  Sandra gives 3 options to avoid default even if someone can't afford the payments.  Options include:

    *  Deferment--This option may work for those who are still in college, unemployed or experiencing economic hardship.

    *  Forbearance--This option may help some students postpone payments up to 3 years.

    *  Income-based Repayment--This option may help some students by having to pay only 10% of their income per year on student loan payment.

Read the entire article in USA Today for other ideas.

by Sandy Womack, Ed.D. Director, EduPlan   http://www.eduplan.org

Inexpensive Textbooks and Free Classes

Get Educated (http://www.geteducated.com) has listing some places to get inexpensive textbooks.  Since college textbooks average $150/each, a semester-worth of books might cost over $1000. 

http://www.geteducated.com/financial-aid-center/consumers-college-cost-cutting-guide/how-to-save-money-on-textbooks-and-even-get-some-for-free

My friend Debra Marrs (http://www.writingtogether.com) sent me a listing of free, fun, college classes. 

http://www.mixx.com/stories/6812614/100_totally_fun_and_weird_college_courses_you_can_now_take_for_free

by Sandy Womack, Ed.D., Director, EduPlan  

Get free e-book at:  http://www.eduplan.org

Evaluating Graduate Degree Applicants

Educational Testing Services (ETS) has lauched their new component of the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) called the Personal Potential Index (ETS PPI).  This index evaluates applicants of graduate degree programs on 6 attributes:

    *  Planning and Organization

    *  Resilience

    *  Communication Skills

    *  Teamwork

    *  Knowledge and Creativity

    *  Ethics and Integrity

Applicants choose evaluators to fill out the ETS PPI and this information is sent to the admissions team to add results to applicant's admission file.  Evaluators only have to fill out information on the PPI one time, even if the applicant has applied to several graduate schools. 

Check out the information and video on this new index for admission at:  http://www.gre.org

by Sandy Womack, Ed.D., Director, EduPlan   http://www.eduplan.org

Blended Programs for Graduate Degrees

by Sandy Womack, Ed.D., Director, EduPlan   www.eduplan.org

I'm not sure if colleges and universities use the term "Blended Degrees" in their listing of majors.  It is a term I made up to describe new majors offered by online schools, private, for-profit colleges and even a few state universities.  The new degrees "blend" classes from technology, business, leadership and project management.

Starting in early 2000's, corporations wanted employees to be flexible and able to move into many fields, many jobs.  The companies expected employees with master's degrees to have business skills, even if they were "technical".  Employees had to work with clients in technical sales, technical marketing and technical support.  Project Management skills were also needed.

University of Oregon's Master of Applied Information Management is a good example of a blended degree (also called Multidisciplinary).  The degree offers Core classes in Project Management, Business Administration, Information Design and Applied Research.  The sampling of Short Courses include:  Business Ethics, Data Mining, Search marketing and Sustainability.

This degree and other blended degrees may be alternatives to the MBA, MS Information Systems, or MS Computer Science.

Upside Down Degrees

by Dr. Sandy Womack, Director, EduPlan

www.eduplan.org   Get the free E-book:  5 Considerations before Choosing an Online Degree

Did you attend a community college and gain an Associate's degree?  At the time, you may have wanted to gain a trade or technical degree and move quickly into the work force.  You may have an Associate's in electronics, computer repair, graphics, secretarial science or automotive repair. 

The degree might be an Associate of Applied Sciences (AAS) or an Associate of Science (AS) or Associate of Arts (AA), but not transferable to a 4-year degree (or so you were told by an advisor at your community college).  The good news is that this has changed in the last few years. 

Several colleges have set up ways to transfer the AAS or non-transferable associates to a Bachelor degree plan.  In Arizona, both Arizona State University and Northern University Arizona (my hometown university), offer the Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS) degree, either on-campus or online.  The BAS degree REQUIRES the AAS as part of the admission process.  So, students with the AAS in electronics (for example) can now select from several majors in the BAS curriculum.  Their AAS will transfer as a whole to the BAS program. 

The BAS is considered an Upside Down degree because the major (electronics, graphics, etc.) was taken at the lower level instead of the usual junior and senior year.  Other Upside Down degree programs you might consider are:

    *  Rogers State University offers the BS Applied Technology.  RSU offers the online degree and you can transfer up to 30 units into the major from community college coursework in one field, or military courses in one field. 

    *  Thomas Edison State University and Excelsior College are both good schools to transfer in lower division major credits.

Schools have finally realized that many community college students need an inexpensive way to transfer into a 4-year program.  The Upside Down Degree is a good start.