Getting the right college degree can open the door to a bright future in the career that you wish to pursue, but there are things that you need to know in advance in order to save money and protect yourself. Here are some important reminders then to keep in mind.

First of all, if you are going to pursue a degree program, you need to make sure that it is a fully accredited course provided by an accredited school. This is more important than ever before as several websites have sprung up across the Internet that are designed to look like legitimate colleges and universities who are offering college degrees at bargain basement prices. However, they are really nothing more than education scams, or diploma mills, that hand out what amounts to a fake degree that is worth very little in the employment world.

Of course, you can find plenty of legitimate, fully accredited schools both online and off line that can give you a high quality education in whatever major that you choose. But before you sign up with any school to pursue your higher education, do your homework first and make sure that it is accredited with a legitimate well recognized accreditation agency.

It’s important that you not only verify the accreditation of the school itself that you are considering, but also the accreditation agency that recommends it. This is because these websites have now gone so far as to not only set up a phony school, but also fake accreditation agencies that appear to verify its curriculum. So don’t be deceived by any school’s apparent claims with regard to accreditation. Be sure to check it out yourself and know for a fact that the education you will receive at that school will be worth the investment that you make before signing up.

It’s actually pretty easy to establish the validity of the school, as you only have to go to the web site for the Council for Higher Education Accreditation or CHEA. This agency is not affiliated with the government, but helps coordinate research on accreditation issues. All you have to do is enter the name of the educational institution and they will tell you if it is accredited by a recognized legitimate accreditation agency or not. Just taking this one simple step can save you a lot of frustration and lost money.

You can also save money on pursuing an education degree if you have been in the military in the past, as there are plenty of options open to former military personnel through the GI Bill.

Another popular way of controlling education costs is to attend a community college in your area for the first two years and then transferring your credits over to a major college for your final degree. As long as the community college cooperates with the major colleges in the area, your credits should all transfer and you can usually save lots of money on the first two years of your education.

Hopefully these suggestions will help you be better prepared to find a college degree program that is not only fully accredited but also affordable as well.

Steadman Issenburg writes on many consumer related topics including education. You can find college search engines and learn about a rn degree online and more by visiting our education website.

Every semester college students all across the country are pursuing scholarship money to help pay for their college education. Some are very successful in getting scholarships, and others aren’t. So here are the most common mistakes that are made when pursuing college scholarships, and how you can avoid them.

1. One of the most common mistakes that students make when applying for college scholarships is to only apply for one or two at a time and then hope for the best. Instead, think of scholarships as a numbers game, where the more scholarships you apply for, the more you are most likely to get.

2. Another mistake that you want to avoid is not following the directions that are clearly stated for applying for the scholarship. Some students seem to just send off generic packets of information to every college scholarship program they can find, but this would usually only guarantee failure.

3. A scholarship application mistake that is often made is in filling out the form itself. Scholarship reviewers like to see the entire form filled in, so if there is a blank on the form make sure that it has something in it. Even if that particular section does not apply to you personally, just note that on the space provided.

4. Another deadly mistake that will almost guarantee failure in applying for college scholarships is sending out a sloppy application that is hard to read. If you put yourself in the place of the scholarship reviewers who will most likely be looking over several scholarship applications at the same time, you can understand why they will most likely not spend much time with applications that are very hard to read and understand. The best way to avoid this is to type in the information on your application, but if that is not possible be sure to write it in clearly and legibly instead.

5. Closely related to neatness is spelling and grammar. Even if the information in your scholarship packet appears neat and easy to read, it can still reflect badly on you if it is filled with spelling errors and grammatical mistakes. So before you send off any scholarship information packet, be sure to have someone with good writing skills review the entire packet beforehand looking for all spelling and grammar mistakes that they can find. Also, it’s a good idea to ask them for any suggestions on how to improve your essay at the same time.

6. Of all the mistakes that are commonly made each semester when students apply for scholarship money, perhaps the worst is simply not getting the application and packet in on time. This usually indicates that there is a failure to organize your schedule enough to get the job done. So don’t let all your hard work go down the drain because you miss the scholarship deadline.

7. A common mistake that is growing in popularity these days is falling for college scholarship scams that are designed to separate students from their hard earned money. So if any scholarship program promises to do all the work for you, or asks for money or credit card information in advance in order to qualify for the scholarship, it’s best to avoid this scholarship program altogether if you don’t want to get taken.

These are some of the most common mistakes that are made when students apply for college scholarships, and hopefully by being aware of them you can avoid falling victim to the same mistakes yourself.

Steadman Issenburg writes on many consumer related topics including education. You can find college grants and scholarships and graduate school scholarships and more by visiting our education website.

Don’t use a home equity loan to pay for your child’s college education.

Use a home equity loan to buy a house for your child to live in and rent out while he is at school! The house will pay your child’s college costs.

This method will work if the college he/she is attending has private student housing.

What you will do is you buy a house or condo in the immediate vicinity of the school with at least 3 and preferably 4 bedrooms; 2 bath rooms is ideal.

A 2 family house is even better as it has 2 bath rooms and 2 kitchens.

The idea of course is to have your child occupy one bedroom and rent out the others to other students.

Your child will be the official property manager. His or her name should be on the deed to the house as well.

This will also give your child a greater sense of responsibility, which is a good thing.

The fact that your child’s name is on the deed may qualify you for first time home buyer status as well, plus it will be a benefit as far as down payment and interest rates go.

Speaking of down payments, instead of a home equity loan, a loan from your IRA or retirement plan as the source of the down payment is not such a bad idea, as you will see later.

Actually, you cannot borrow from your IRA, but you are allowed to withdraw funds toward a down payment without penalty, even if you are under 59 ½ years of age, although you will still have to pay taxes on the amount withdrawn.

If you have a 401(K), you should be able to borrow the down payment from it and receive up to 5 years to repay. Perhaps your company’s pension also has a provision to let you borrow from it to buy a house.

You can furnish the house in early American furniture (1960′s!), the cost of which will be tax deductible.

Be careful Not to get separate leases from the other students. While this may sound strange, the reason is that if there should be some type of insurance claim, fire, water, etc. the presence of the leases would be evidence that you were using the house as a commercial rooming house without insuring such a use and the insurance company could legally deny payment of the claim.

Just try to get the parents of the other students to pay the year’s rent in a lump sum, just as they would with the school’s housing.

The rents from the other bedrooms should more than cover the mortgage and operating expenses of the house and perhaps provide Junior with a little tax deductible spending money, as management fees are tax deductible; in addition to write offs for the mortgage interest, insurance costs and real estate taxes.

You can also deduct your percentage share of the depreciation.

Taking furniture, such as a TV set or chairs to the house is also a business expense.

You would also have the right as a property owner, twice during the year, to visit your investment, which just happened to contain Junior!

The property appreciation during the 4 (5-6?) years that Junior is in school, combined with the cash flow and tax deductions, should pay for his entire college tuition costs!

You could either reimburse yourself from the sale of the property or, if feasible, use the cash flow from the continued rental of the property after he graduates to pay off the loans you took out to finance your child’s education.

This way, the house can finance Junior’s education And help finance your retirement, especially if it were 10-15 years away.

If the distance makes it infeasible to continue to rent the property, consider selling it on a wrap-around mortgage, (ask your realtor) whereby the new owner’s payments will give you a profit after deducting the cost of your mortgage payments for the next umpteen years.

Of course, there is no reason you could not use this strategy with 2 or more houses, if you think about it. It could be the launch of Junior Trump’s real estate empire!

Copyright 2006 Bill Young. Bill is a real estate investor, Internet investment columnist and personal wealth consultant. If you would like to learn to boost your income by giving yourself a Pay Raise of $200-$1,000-Tomorrow, visit http://301url.com/PayRaise or contact him at 877-291-3642 to speak to your group. If you would like to learn more about wealth building via real estate: http://ARealEstateIRA.com

Choosing which college to go to is not as hard as figuring out how much money you’ll need and where you’re going to get it from. Now if you come from rich family than you might have your college funds tucked away in a bank however if you’re like the rest of us then you’re going to worry about where you’ll find your college funds from.

If you’re thinking of studying and getting a part time job to cover your college fees, you should really think again. How can you get top marks and stay up late at night working at restaurants or retail jobs?

Getting A College Loan.

You can always apply for a college loan to help you with your annual fees and expenses. However you’ll need to consider a few things before you get yourself a college loan. Firstly you have course fees, books and equipments. Then you have living expenses, rent, food, social life, and it goes on. Once you’ve figured out how much you need look for the best college loan you can find.

Federal Loans For Students.

If you apply for a federal student loan you’re entitled to apply for a subsidized or unsubsidized loan. Subsidized loans are really helpful because the government will pay for all the interest that you accumulate on your student loan. However to apply for a subsidized loan you need to prove to the government that you’re in desperate need of a loan and you have no financial help. Last but not least unsubsidized loans are available for anyone.

Can I Get More Than One Loan?

Yes you can get as many college loans as you want but you’ll have to pay them back. The trick is not to get too many loans however if you’ve already got more than one loan then you should know that you’re repayments are very high at the moment.

For everyone who has more than one student loan, there is a way to save money on your repayments. It’s called Consolidating your student loans. To consolidate your student loans you’ll need to talk to a lender who specialises on the topic. How it works is really simple. When you consolidate your student loans, you’re putting all your loans with different lenders and combining them with one lender.

Can Consolidating My College Loan Save Money?

If you’re monthly repayments is around $250 at 5% interest, once you consolidate your loan you can save up to 50% of your repayments. So you’re new repayments should be around $130 a month.

You can also take up to 20 years to pay of your newly consolidated college loan. Now you know the risk and rewards of consolidating your student loans, your financial future is up to you. Good luck with the rest of the year and I hope it’s a profitable one soon.

Consolidate your student loans today and save up to 60% on your monthly repayments. Find out how you can start saving money and find out more about consolidate student loans.

Most parents would want the best for their children especially when they’re start off at college for the first time. So if you’re a financially smart parent you would have started saving for you child’s college fund when they hit the age of 5. However not everyone is as lucky enough to put aside enough money or even think about college at such a young age. Never the less it’s never too late to send your children to college even if you can’t afford it.

You might have heard of college loans or student loans on the TV, newspaper, and telemarketing or maybe from a friend. And yes it actually works and you apply for a college loan from most lenders. However there is a big catch to loans and if you already have a loan with a bank then you’ll know that interest rates pay a big role in your repayments.

That is why as a parent you can help finance your children through college by helping them pay off their college loans. But before you go out and get you kids a college loan you’ll need to figure out how much money they’ll need. Here’s a check list of a few things to calculate.

1. Annual college fees
2. Books and equipment
3. Boarding
4. Food
5. Social life (yes they will be going out once in a while too)
6. Transportation

These are just a few things to think about when figuring out how much you need to borrow. Once you’ve determine how much they’ll need you need to figure out how many years they’ll be in college for.

Now that you’re ready to get a loan make sure you get the loan under your children’s name because some lenders offer lower interest rates for students. Make sure you’re getting a good rate for your loans before you sign any papers and always read the fine print.

Suppose your child finishes their studies and wanted to go for another year to do their masters. What do you do and where do you get the money from? You can always get another loan from another lender but what happens if you already have 2 loans going for a third loan is going make your interest rate sky rocket.

Thank God for student consolidation loans. If all fails and you really need to get more loans why not consolidate all your loans with one lender. A student consolidation loan can actually save you more money than you think, even up to 50% per month.

It works in a very simple manner. When you consolidate your loans you’re combining al l your loans with one lender who will offer you a lower interest rate but spread out your repayments for a longer period. It works to cheaper in the long run. Now what are you waiting for send your children to college and stop worrying about funding them.

Consolidate your student loans today and save up to 60% on your monthly repayments. Find out how you can start saving money and find out more about consolidate student loans.

Did you know that a college educated person will earn 2.5 times more over a lifetime than someone without a post secondary education? College educated people are more likely to keep their jobs when times are tough and are more likely to be working than those without a post secondary education. Now getting an education can be expensive. One year in a Canadian degree program such as an arts and science program can easily cost $5000/year. If you are an out of province student, the extraneous expenditures can easily increase your education costs by $3000/school year.

To help pay for future education cost, the Government of Canada has taken great initiative to ensure that every Canadian child will have the funds necessary to get an education by providing families with free government grants. The free grant was introduced in 1998 to encourage parents to start saving for their children’s education costs.

How does the program work?

The most popular form of the education savings is the registered education savings plan known as an Resp. Although an Resp can be started at any time, parents are advised to start an Resp when the child is born. Qualifying families who start the plan early will receive a $500 government bond in the first year to invest towards the program. Once the plan is started, the Government of Canada will continue to contribute by matching every dollar invested anywhere from 20 up to 40%.

A good strategy for investing into an resp is to invest your monthly government child tax benefit. So for example, if your family receives $50/month per child in child tax benefit and if you invest the benefit into an Resp, not only will your Resp earn interest from the investment firm but it will also be topped up with the 20-40% contribution from the government. Therefore, a $50/month investment earning 5% annually will easily gross $45,000 at maturity (18 year plan). And the best part is you will be using free money from the government (Child Tax Benefit) to earn free government grants on the investment. So take advantage of the free government grants by opening an Resp and secure your child’s future.

Angela McKenzie has an online program aimed at helping parents learn more about the Free Government Grants and saving for future education costs. To learn more on how you can take advantage of free Canadian grant visit http://www.respresourcecenter.org

Credit cards are a huge industry. Everybody who can get one or two or 10, uses them because they are a great convenience. But there are so many credit cards being offered to students these days that it might seem nearly impossible to choose the right college credit card for you. But it is very important to investigate and to choose carefully to make sure you end up with the best deal you can find.

It’s also important not to go overboard and get a half dozen cards or more. It is very easy to get yourself into serious financial trouble before you realize it. It is so easy to use the cards when you want something – but then the bills start coming and getting bigger and bigger.

The interest rate that a college credit card charges is a critical factor in your considerations. Let’s face it, when you make a purchase on a college credit card you are actually borrowing money from the credit card issuer. They will want it back – with interest. So you must pay a monthly interest rate on this loan unless you pay your balance off in full every month.

Naturally, the best option is to pay off the credit card every month, but sometimes that just isn’t going to happen, so you want to get a college credit card with the lowest annual percentage rate and the longest 0% interest introductory period. The majority of college credit cards will be very similar in these two regards so the next point to consider is what kind of rewards you receive for using the credit card.

For many students, college credit cards are the first ‘real’ credit cards that they have gotten and they may not know what types of reward would be the best to look for. Generally, the three main reward types that will be most valuable for students are:

* Cash Back

* Frequent flyer miles

* Free gas

Cash back on a college credit card is actually a kind of points system. As you spend money these points accumulate on your college credit card account. Then they can be exchanged for cash, gift certificates or special discounts at popular outlets and stores. While the amount of ‘cash back’ that you get as a college credit card reward might seem small, remember that every little bit helps and you will soon be racking it up.

If you have cash available to pay for items like books and other necessities, you can use your card instead and then pay off the bill as soon as it comes. This does two important things for you. First, it helps build your credit history in a very positive way. Second, it accelerates your rewards. BUT, you must pay it off, don’t spend that cash on something else and end up paying interest. You have to keep your finances under strict control.

Frequent flyer miles could be the best rewards to have with a college credit card if you attend a college a long distance from your home. As you use your college credit card you accumulate frequent flyer miles that you can later exchange for flights back home – or wherever you want to go. Unlike the airline reward schemes, normally credit card frequent flyer miles can be used on any participating airline, worldwide.

Free gas when you use your college credit card could be your best option if you have your own car. Gas prices keep getting higher and some college credit cards offer rewards that can help with the rising costs of operating a car by providing rebates for gas station purchases. These free gas college credit cards may also offer discounts and points towards other motoring related items so it can be well worth your time to compare the different programs available.

With careful research, a little good sense, and careful attention to your finances, your college credit card can definitely help make your college years easier and give you a great head start on an excellent credit rating.

Copyright 2005 Richard Keir

As a writer and educator, both online and offline, Richard strongly supports the value of quality education, whether online or off. Learn more about college programs, online education and college finances at http://online-learning.blgz.info/

College life can be a lot of fun but there are college and university exams that need to be taken. Unless you are the type of student who can sail through college and university exams with little or no effort, you’re going to have to spend time studying hard in order to pass them. The stressful situations that college exams bring can hold you back if you do not learn how to handle it in a health manner.

You obviously must study before taking your university exams and you should make an effort to review all of the material that was covered in classes thoroughly.

Many students get so anxious and worked up that they actually make themselves sick with worry and stress and are unable to recall the information that they studied.

Does this sound familiar? If so, you need to find a way to help you relax or you may very well find yourself failing courses.

The sooner you can start preparing for your college exams, the better chance you’ll have at scoring high marks. This may sound obvious, but with all the distractions that come along with college life, it can be easy to put off studying until the last minute. Doing this will cause a lot of unnecessary pressure and you’re not going to help yourself if you approach your college course preparation this way.

You also need to make sure that you have a study schedule laid out when you’re getting ready to take an exam. Lay out a schedule of the material you are going to study and follow the plan.

Many college and university students don’t remember to build ample rest time into their study plan and end up being too tired to accomplish anything effectively.

The best way to prepare for college testing is in short sessions so that you’re able to absorb all of the material.

Make sure you get enough sleep and eat properly. If you’re not healthy and alert you are going to find your exams much more difficult then they would’ve been if you had taken proper care of yourself.

At the end of the day, your college examinations are important but they aren’t worth making yourself sick over.

If you find yourself becoming overly anxious about taking those college exams, consider getting in contact with a tutor who may be able to give you some additional help as needed.

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College costs are rising at a rate that far exceeds the average raise in salaries by comparison. This is a great concern for average American families who must rely on student loans to finance their educations.

Even though there are various financial aid programs available to students to help with college costs, not all who apply qualify for financial assistance, especially if they are receiving support from parents or another income source.

Scholarships and grants are always an option, but there are qualifying factors that must be met, and competition may be quite fierce for some financial awards. Everyone is looking for a way to reduce college costs and the amount borrowed on student loans.

College costs vary from institution to institution and depend on the program chosen and how long it takes to complete the course of study required. Community colleges and schools that offer technical training usually charge less per credit hour than universities, both public and private.

Even if the goal is to complete a four year degree plan, most of the general education requirements can be completed at two year community colleges for half of the cost. After these courses are completed, credits can be transferred to most four year colleges and universities, and the major course of study can then be pursued. This is just one way to help reduce college costs.

Work study programs are also available to students who qualify, which is a great way to earn money to pay tuition fees. Some students also choose to live at home with parents so that more of their funds can be used to pay for college instead of for rent, food, and other living expenses.

There are also various savings plans that offer good tax advantages for setting aside funds to pay for college costs. These plans feature tax-deferred growth and tax-free withdrawal for education expenses, and are a very attractive way to save funds for rising college costs.

There are good resources available online to anyone looking for information on college costs, savings plans, financial aid, scholarships, and other types of awards offered. Don’t be discouraged by all the chatter; make a plan and stick to it.

Check out all available options that can help reduce college costs and related educational expenses. An education is worth all the effort, and you don’t have to shell out a fortune to get a good one!

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Today students have more choices about where to buy text books than ever before. In most cases, these other options are much cheaper (and sometimes even more convenient) than purchasing on campus.

One of the best alternatives for students in recent years has been discount websites. These websites specialize in college texts and supplies, and can offer these materials for significantly less than campus bookstores can. In fact, some students who have used this option to buy text books in the past report savings ranging anywhere from 20 to 70 percent. I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a pretty compelling reason for me not to buy text books from the college store anymore! Plus, all of these discount websites will ship your order to your home or dorm room, which is about as convenient as it gets.

Of course when you buy text books from a website, you won’t be able to examine the merchandise before you commit to it so the potential for problems does exist. For instance, the website might sell you a used book that has a tattered cover, missing pages, or more highlighted passages than plain ones. Or, you might get the wrong title altogether, which could lead to even more hassles when you try to exchange it. For the most part, however, I think students generally have good shopping experiences with these discount websites.

So if you’re a college student looking for a way to save some money the next time you have to buy text books, I recommend checking out some discount websites. By doing so, you might just end up with a bit more cash in your pockets when the first day of classes rolls around.

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