Cheap College Degrees

Just ask me...

This site (and my other blogs) all have Google Adsense advertisements. While this is good for me, it is not without peril for you.

Why, you may ask? Because some of those "colleges" and "high schools" are diploma mills. While I try to stop them from showing up (and there is a process to do so), these are unethical enterprises. As with most unethical enterprises, they are quite good at being unethical. In other words, I stop one URL and they create twelve more. Some less obvious and some that are more obvious.

I periodically do look to see what is actually showing up on the site and stop the more obvious. But sometimes they look fine because, oh yeah, the unethical are good at being unethical.

How do we get past that? I encourage you to ask my thoughts on a particular school in the comment section on any of the posts here. If it is about online high schools, I would think a better choice would be to ask a question here.

Exchanging skills for tuition

Do you have a skill that your university might need? If you do, consider offering that skill in exchange for tuition remission. One traditional way for paying for graduate school is to teach courses for the university. This is a virtually non-existent possibility at the undergraduate level. However, there are other possibilities.

I know a person who is a computer programmer in his day job. Like some programmers of a certain age, he has the ability, but got into it before the degree became an absolute requirement. Now that he would like to advance in the field, he has discovered that he needs the degree. However, the school he chose is small and outsources some of its computer needs for short projects. He approached their IT department and was, after some discussion, able to work out a deal where he does some programming for them that equates to a number of free courses. While he is not sure the programming jobs will get him all the way through his degree, it will drastically cut his costs at this private university.

I mentioned that I have done the same. In addition to writing about cheap college degrees, I am also the author of four books on distance learning (see one here). I have been able to barter my online learning knowledge into developing courses for a brand-new program being brought online. I will also be doing some teaching for them. While I do not know if it will end up paying for an entire degree, like my friend above, it will substantially reduce the costs.

Homework: Make a list of skills that you have to trade. Think outside the box.

Apply for college grants

There are basically two types of grants; the kind provided by the government and the kind provided by everyone else.

I mentioned earlier in the week that I am yet again a graduate student. Seems to be something that I do. One way that I am paying for this next master's degree is through a graduate grant from the university.

Here is some advice that will sound strange to you, but that often works. Choose the grant with the most difficult, time-consuming application process and apply for that one. Why? Students, whether undergraduate or graduates, are busy folks. Things that look like they take a lot of time get pushed to the side. Smaller applicant pool = higher chance for success.

With this grant that I applied for, I needed to submit an application, a personal statement, and two letters of recommendation. That's quite a bit for a grant that only pays for the equivalent of one class. However, since I only take one class at a time, that works for me. Am I anything special? My mother's opinion to the contrary, not really. I applied, went through their process, and received the grant.

By the way, in conversations with others in this not inexpensive program, I had fellow students say that they were also going to apply. How many of them actually did? Zero. Zip. Nada. Zilch.

I mentioned that it only pays for one class. I am, however, eligible to apply again. And I will.

Homework assignment: Visit the financial aide office or their website and discover university grant possibilities. They are often posted on the walls.

Student loans are plentiful?

I have had people tell me, more than once, that they don't need to work that hard at getting a cheap college degree because they can just get student loans.

Setting aside the fact that the statement makes no sense, there are some out there in student loan land that are becoming increasingly concerned about the future of that industry. If you have not noticed, the U.S. economy is not doing well and things are going to get worse before they get better.

It is beginning to look like there may be problems with student loans beginning this fall. Take a listen over at FinancialAidPodcast.com and tell me what you think. You will need to find podcast FAP737. Click on the podcast symbol on the left side of the screen and have it pop up in its own window.

General advice: Apply for student loans now. Do not wait until the summer or fall.

By the way, student loans are a more expensive way to pay for your college degree. This should be a last choice and not a first choice. As it happens, I am in yet another graduate program and I am paying nothing for it. How? Through a combination of a graduate student grant that I applied for (and about which I will blog later this week) and trading some expertise on online learning for tuition remission (something I will also blog about sooner rather than later).

DDI? What is DDI?

Spring is in the air. Well, almost, and a young boy turns his fancy to college admissions essays. Which is as it should be. However, if it is too good, if it is too mature, if it is really written by a parent or a professional admissions essayist, this is not a good thing.

Some admissions offices even call this "DDI" meaning "Daddy Did It." If it is too good, admissions offices have been known to cross-reference your essay with the essay portion of the SAT. Oops. Easy to forget that admissions officers now have a second readily available writing sample.

Dude, do your own work.

From the Boston Globe:

Sometimes it is the choice 10-cent word or two, a spot-on sublime or consummate, that is the giveaway. Maybe it is a series of suspiciously skilled turns of phrase, syntax the envy of Strunk and White, or some pitch-perfect metaphors that raise the red flags.

Guest Column: RL Aguirre on Student Loans

When looking for debt consolidation student loans, you must consider all or as many of the moving parts that make up the cost of the money borrowed. Just like any loans, there are three (3) general areas where the lender can charge that will raise your costs. These areas are the fixed costs, the interest rates, and penalties. Additionally, there is a fourth area, promotions, that you must heed in order to reduce the total cost of consolidation for private student loans.

FIXED COSTS

You've heard of these as application fees and/or origination fees. These are generally explained as covering the paper work to process your loan. Application fees are usually fixed so that a consolidation for private student loans totaling $25,000 will have the same fee as a $100,000 loan.

On the other hand, origination fees are a percentage of the total loan, typically 1%-3%. In the mortgage industry, the origination fee, also called "points", depends on the interest rate. Lower interest rate means higher origination fees and vice-versa. There's a term in the mortgage industry that you can "buy down the interest rate by paying higher points". This is one way to lower the monthly payments. Additionally, the origination fee is a major source of the broker's commission. The student loan industry seems to have the same mechanics. So it is best to understand how they work.

Because of the current competitive nature of the student loan services, many lenders are discounting the fixed costs. Some are even slashing them off completely. So if you're in the market for consolidation of private student loans, look first to the program with no origination and no application fees. Make the lenders compete!

INTEREST RATES

Another area of cost is the interest rate. Furthermore, this is where the lender gets most of its income for the life of the loan. Again, because of the competitiveness of the student loan consolidation services, many lenders give incentives that will lower the interest rate.

The most common way to reduce a private student loan interest rate is through an automatic payment plan. In this plan, the lender will deduct the monthly payments directly from your checking account with your authorization. Since it's done electronically, it will be timely. And that leads to a second opportunity to reduce the interest rate -- consecutive "no late" payments for a stated time period. For example, some lenders will lower your interest rate if you make 48 consecutive monthly payments without being late. Over the life of the loan, that could be significant. You must learn these incentives and take advantage of them.

Also, not necessarily a rate reduction plan, but could nevertheless reduce the total cost of the student loan is the option of a fixed rate over that of a variable rate. A fixed rate private student loan consolidation program gives you a predictable monthly cost. A variable rate adjusts according to typical financial factors, such as the federal interest rates and economical conditions. In the early years of the new millenia, interest rates have been its lowest just hovering around 4-7%. However, from the 70's to most of the 80's, interest rates were in double digits. Opting for a student loan consolidation with fixed rate can avoid the cyclical high's of the interest rate roller coaster. But you must catch it at the lowest student loan consolidation rate at that time.

PENALTIES

Just like many mortgages written in the 90's and older, some student loans have pre-payment penalties. These are money that you owe if you were to pay the loan ahead of schedule. They were industry standard so that the lender does not lose money in the transaction. The penalty is typically a percentage of the remaining balance. Imagine if you paid a 10-year loan in 6 years. There would be a percentage of the 4 remaining years to pay over and above what you already paid.

However, as the student loan consolidation services get more competitive, many lenders have been giving up prepayment penalties to attract credit worthy borrowers. Hence, when speaking to a student loan consolidation counselor, you must ask if you'll be assessed a pre-payment penalty because there are many programs out there that do not have such penalty.

PROMOTIONS

Lenders are competing for your business. Hence, they give incentives such as a student loan consolidation credit that could lower the total cost of your loan. Typically, these are rebates where the lender will write you a check once you finished paying off the loan. Another popular method is a "no last month payment" where you don't owe the last month of your bill. Since these are promotions, they are normally given in a limited window of time. But sometimes, it helps to ask your counselor if the lender he's representing is offering any promotion.

SUMMARY

When times are tough economically, you need all what you can do to relieve the stresses. One way is to take control of your finances, including your debts. For student loans, the opportunities are there to save money. But you must know what they are. When looking to consolidate your private student loans, be aware of the costs. If you have to compromise, understand the advantage you're gaining and the benefit you'll be losing. And most of all shop for the right lender and ask the right questions.

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RL Aguirre maintains Compare Student Loans to share his recent experience in dealing with consolidation. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=RL_Aguirre

Cheap, yes, but also accredited!

You definitely want cheap. What you do not want is unaccredited. I wrote an article for the Adult Education section of About.com on this very topic. Take a read. Choose wisely. Choose carefully.

The reason that I bring up this topic is that, when you go looking around the Internet, you will find many cheap options. Most of them are bad choices. Choose wisely. Choose carefully.

Go to Google and type in "cheap college degrees." Yes, you will find me, but you also find garbage.

Choose wisely. Choose carefully.

Grants are a better option

In my last post, I talked about how scholarships are not always your best friend. This is often true. And, yet, you know that there is a growth industry in finding scholarships for students. I am most definitely not saying that you should not apply for scholarships, but understand that the final math may look very different than you think it ought to look.

So where should you put your time?

Look for state and federal grants. These are often based on fairly simple things like GPA or income. Either you qualify or you don't. While often scholarships require additional paperwork, grants usually require the FAFSA and a minimum application.

An example are the Cal Grants. The State of California offers two types of Cal Grants. One type is offered based on some entitlement (i.e. need). However, what some people do not know is that there is a second type of Cal Grant that is competitive. So, even if you your family makes too much to qualify for the first kind, you can possibly earn one based on GPA or other qualifications.

While these grants are typically for traditional college-aged students, if you are in a California community college and under the age of 28, you may qualify as well.

So put in the time on the scholarships. However, make sure that you check with your state department of education and with the federal government about possible grants.

Are scholarships a good choice?

One of my more serious articles on how to earn a college degree as cheaply as possibly is the one that brings about one-fourth of you to this blog. The article, Cheap College Degrees: Save money on an accredited degree, has been up for some time over at the Adult Education part of About.com.

One of the things that I mention in the article is that getting scholarships does not always help you. When you complete your FAFSA, your intended school looks at it to determine how much scholarship money you might be get. It also looks at any scholarships you have earned from outside the school. However - and this is key - you are only going to get as much in scholarship money as the school believes you should.

Here's an example: When I was an undergrad, I received about $8000 in scholarship money. That seemed good to me. At the last minute, I qualified for an additional $1000 scholarship. Now, being rather good at math, I figured I should then get $9000.

Nope.

I got $8000. Why? Because most of that $8000 was university scholarships. My getting an outside scholarship for $1000 meant that they could and would give me $1000 less. The university gave me $7000.

There are three exceptions to this:

1. If you end up at a school that either has a small endowment fund or is student-loan happy (which can make things even worse); and/or

2. You qualify for a lot of grants and don't get scholarships; and/or

3. You get scholarships that equal 100% of the cost of tuition.

Otherwise, you get what you get.

Cheap units make for cheap degrees

One way to earn cheap college degrees is to find a place that offers college units as inexpensively as is possible. If you are fortunate enough to live in one of those places that have that available, then life is very good for you.

Why do you need to live in a particular place? Because, almost always, the cheapest college units are going to be from state colleges and universities. One example would be the community colleges in the state of California. Very cheap for people who live there and not-so-cheap for people who do not. You can see the costs at, for example, Fresno City College. $20 per unit is very reasonable. And, interestingly, there is a proposition under way to lower that cost!

By the way, you can live anywhere in California and take advantage of those inexpensive courses. The California Community Colleges system now offers quite a few online courses. One source for those courses is Foothill College, but there are many others as well.

As we progress, I will be showing you different schools with reasonably priced courses, but the first place you should check are your very own state colleges, whether 2-year or 4-year. Often that is your best bet. And, remember, you do not need to get the degree there. It is quite easy to transfer in many courses. At the undergraduate level, it is typically possible to be able to transfer up to three years worth of courses.