The high cost of higher education may seem out of reach
for students from low income families as the cost of tuition
continues to rise. 

When you factor in expenses like room and board, books,
transportation and supplies, the average 4-year public institution
costs roughly $14,333 per year. And at a private institution
you can double or even triple that amount.

Even students from middle class families will probably not have
the funds to cover a full post secondary education.

Funding for school can be found for almost any person, for any
purpose, and can be sponsored by any organization or individual.

Scholarships can be awarded for scholastic abilities, talents and skills,
athletics, and ethnic background, just to name a few of the reasons.

Therefore, it is important to know one’s background, talents,
interests, and career aspirations when looking for scholarships.

The chance for many students to attend college depends on
receiving scholarships. Otherwise, they will have to take out loans
that will have to be paid back.

Scholarships do not have to be repaid.

Many students and families are under the impression that only
highly intelligent people can receive scholarships.

Scholarships are not only for the valedictorians and star athletes,
but for regular students with some unique qualifications.

They typically fall into two categories:
1) need-based 
2) merit-based.

Need-based scholarships are more often than not determined
by the student’s EFC (Expected Family Contribution).

Merit-based scholarships are typically based on a student’s talent
or academic prowess.

However, other things like the leadership ability, moral character and
involvement in extracurricular activities can warrant scholarship access.

While a family’s financial situation could impact merit-based eligibility,
usually it does not.

Funding for school can be found for almost any person, for any
purpose, and can be sponsored by any organization or individual.

Scholarships are awarded for scholastic abilities, talents and skills,
athletics, and ethnic background, just to name a few of the reasons.

Therefore, it is important to know one’s background, talents,
interests, and career aspirations when looking for scholarships.

Being aware of these details can give perspective when faced with
lists of awards that are available, and can also give some ideas of
where to look for scholarships.

Another thing to be aware of when it comes to scholarships is that
not all of them are full scholarships, so it is imperative to apply for
as many as possible.

On the other hand, some scholarships will not be awarded to
students who are already recipients of another award, so before
accepting any combination of awards, be sure that they allow the
freedom to use other scholarships to assist with education costs.

Some scholarships will vary in amount depending on additional
sources of financial aid and may award just enough money to cover
the remaining tuition balance.

With this knowledge, and the help of a high school counselor or
financial aid officer, the process should less intimidating.

Here are some resources to get more information:

Scholarship Resource Network Express - http://www.srnexpress.com

College Answer - http://www.collegeanswer.com

Fastweb - http://www.fastweb.com

College Board Scholarship Search - http://www.collegeboard.com

FreeScholarshipGuide.com - http://www.freescholarshipguide.com

Need to Make Money Online - http://www.Cardiac-Diet.net

The New York Yankees beat the defending Philadelphia Phillies 7-3.
The win is their 27th World Series title.

It’s the first time since New York was attacked on 9/11 they’ve been champions.
And it is fitting they won the World Series Chanpionship in their new ballpark.

Hideki Matsui was the man of the hour with a 2 run home run, a 2 run single,
and a 2 run double for a total of 6 RBI’s out of the scored 7 Yankee Runs.

And he doesn’t even speak English (at least not on camera).

It just goes to show you that anyone with the drive and determination can
“make it” because the USA is the land of opportunity.

Interestingly enough, most of the Yankee players were recruited from college.
It seems if you want to make it in professional sports, you need to make a
name for youself while playing college sports, otherwise the recruiters
will never find you.

But with the US economy in turmoil, college is becoming less affordable
for many families. In addition to the affordability problem to get into and
remain in University comes one of the unexpected and most difficult challenges…

PAYING YOUR STUDENT LOAN’S BACK!

Amanda, a communications major who graduated from a major University this year,
was fortunate enough to land a decent entry level job at the Rachael Raye show.
However, after she pays her rent, electricity, cable, phone, etc etc  bills,
the $600 per month for student loans she has to pay back is unaffordable.

What should she do?
The answer may surprise you.

If anyone has read the book “The Secret” or seen the movie or watched Oprah
when she was talking “The Secret” or has the DVD, then you know that the
secret to getting whatever you want in life is to “focus on what you want.”

Huh?

You see, you have to stay focused on exactly what you want.
So the first thing that needs to be done is to…

Figure out EXACTLY what you want.

Most people Never do this and it is the secret to success.
Consequently and unconsciously, people focus on what they don’t want.

For example, when I asked Amanda what she wanted, she said…
she wanted the bill collectors to stop calling and harassing her.

That’s not really what she wants.

She is focusing on what she doesn’t want. She DOESN’T want the bill collectors
to call her. So by not focusing on what she wants, she’s automatically focusing
on what she doesn’t want and manifest MORE of that into her life.
Hence, more bill collector calls.

I’ll get deeper into the law of attraction at another time.
But for now here is some practical advice…

Paying off college loans can seem like a next to impossible task.
Each year, more people graduate with increasing levels of debt.
This is largely due to the fact that college is expensive.

It doesn’t matter if you’ve graduated from a state school, private college,
or community college. Most people have some level of debt associated
with getting a degree. Now the trick is how you’re going to pay for it.

Depending on the type of loan you have, repayment options are many.
Some people are so overwhelmed by the total amount of the debt,
that they rarely see the various types of repayment options that are available.

A good suggestion is to stay focused on the monthly payment versus the total sum
of what you owe. This should make the idea of repayment more manageable.

If you are a recent grad and you’re wondering exactly how you are going to pay off
your loans, don’t despair. There are a variety of methods you can use.

One of the most popular and effective is student loan consolidation.
Using student loan consolidation, you group your loans into a single loan
which often reduces your monthly payment amount.

Keep checking back at this site for updates. For a ton of information
about scholarships, grants, FASFA, college and paying student loans:

College Scholarships, Grants, FASFA, Paying Student Loans

Here are a couple comments from some of the readers…

“Thanks for the great site i really enjoyed it!”
Jeff

“Wow! This will be my first time visiting, very useful.
Good resources here.”
Allen

Thank you for your comments!

Here is a HUGH Tip that can save you weeks of aggravation… If you have a student entering college this fall and need money quick
Here is How you can get your Parent Plus Loan. Go to HESC.org.
Try to sign up for the Parent Plus Loan.
90% of those that apply are getting this message…

“We cannot process your request at this time.”

Period! - That’s It!
No reason or explanation.

Herein lies the PROBLEM… Nowhere on the forms that you fill out does it say -
MUST answer questions in CAPITAL LETTERS. If you don’t answer the questions in all Caps,
You get the “Not able to process your request at this time” statement.

SO, just answer the questions in ALL CAPS.

If you run into problems call HESC…
1(888) 697-4272

By The Way…

When you enter your phone number on the Parent Plus Loan application
the numbers must be written in this format… 8886974272
(unless you want another error message).

As well as borrowing money for college, an even better way are
scholarships and grants - YOU DON”T HAVE TO PAY them back.

An excellent resource is available to help you win scholarships.

Gain the favor of scholarship committees…Win More Scholarships!
http://ScholarshipMoneyInformation.com

TAGS: grants, HESC, Parent Plus Loan, scholarships

According to the Federal Trade Commission…

There are “unscrupulous companies that guarantee or promise
scholarships, grants or fantastic financial aid packages”.

Many use high pressure sales pitches at seminars where students
are required to pay immediately or risk losing out on the “opportunity.”

The FTC cautions students to look and listen for these tell-tale lines:
- “The scholarship is guaranteed or your money back.”
- “You can’t get this information anywhere else.”
- “I just need your credit card or bank account number to hold this scholarship.”

- “We’ll do all the work.”
- “The scholarship will cost some money.”
- “You’ve been selected” by a “national foundation” to receive a scholarship”
- “You’re a finalist” in a contest you never entered.

If you hear any of those pitches - WATCH OUT!
I have found a website “The FindTuition website” which is “Built on Trust”.
They doesn’t guarantee that any student will be awarded a scholarship.
Scholarship awards are granted based on the eligibility requirements
established by each individual scholarship sponsor.

FindTuition offers the largest database of scholarships available on the internet.
By using technology and superior search engines they can match scholarships
with students. But it is the student’s job to win the award.

In order to win a scholarship award, you have to understand how the
scholarship committee thinks and what they base their decisions on.

Gain the favor of scholarship committees…Win More Scholarships!
http://ScholarshipMoneyInformation.com

In the last post you heard the horror story about how much college costs now.
Imagine what it will cost in 10 or 20 years. Regardless, it’s not too late to find a way
to make paying for college manageable — not easy, but manageable.

Parents and students have to work together to make college affordable.
The earlier you start, the easier it will be.

There are three basic ways to pay for a college education.

* You can pay for it before your child enrolls by saving.
* You can pay for it while he or she is enrolled in college by working.
* You can pay for it after graduation by paying back student loans.

Many people use a combination of the three strategies.
Think of the best approaches that fit your family’s payment strategy.

Most people will use college financial aid…
- scholarships and grants
- work/study jobs
- student loans

Start planning NOW!

In the next post we’ll start diving into the specifics.

Gain the favor of scholarship committees…Win More Scholarships!
http://ScholarshipMoneyInformation.com

Columbia University will pay $1.1 million into an education fund.

Columbia said in a statement that it “does not admit, and expressly
denies, that it has violated any law in connection with its student
loan practices.”

Under the agreement, both Columbia and the National Association
of Student Financial Aid Administrators will adopt codes of conduct
that ban such practices as lender gifts to college financial aid officers.

Both will be monitored by Cuomo’s office for five years.

Drexel University in Philadelphia settled student loan steering cases
with New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

Drexel, which said in April it did nothing wrong and vowed to defend
its practices. Yet they still agreed to pay student borrowers the $250,000
it had accepted from a lender in exchange for a listing as the school’s
“preferred lender”.

Drexel allowed the lender to use its name, logo and mascot in marketing
to Drexel students leaving students and families unaware they were
speaking to employees of a lending company and not the college.

Capella University, an online college based in Minneapolis, also settled
student loan steering cases with New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

Cuomo said the agreement with Capella (which doesn’t include any
compensation) does not preclude cases he may bring against school
officials in the future.

Student Loans, in spite of the corruption are still a good deal and
allow students to pursue their academic aspirations.

But don’t overlook scholarships.

Scholarships are still better than loans because you don’t
have to pay them back. However, 95% of scholarship applications
are thrown away without consideration.

Gain the favor of scholarship committees…Win More Scholarships!
http://ScholarshipMoneyInformation.com

Sallie Mae is the largest U.S. student loan group.

Sallie Mae recently announced its first foreign venture…
a loan program targeting British post-graduate students.Just as in America, higher education costs are hammering
other developed nations and forcing a reassessment of
who pays, how and how much.

A “Free” university education (meaning one paid for by taxpayers)
and not students or their families in much of Europe,
was seen for decades as a basic right… Not Any More!

Britain in the late 1990s became the first European country
to impose more than a nominal university tuition fee.
Today in the UK, tuition is capped at about $6,000 a year
for full-time students who started school last autumn.

Still cheap by U.S. standards, but costly compared to most systems.
Tuition is being imposed for the first time in other countries,
including Germany this year.

Even in China and former Communist countries (where a free college
education was once politically sacred), students now are paying fees.
Many take out student loans to make ends meet.

The U.S. is #1 in college costs!

The U.S. has the world’s most expensive higher education system.
And the cost keep getting higher and higher. American students
pay an average of $5,800/year in tuition.

That’s to attend a four-year PUBLIC university.
For a private four-year school, it will cost an average of…

$22,200/year… according to the College Board.

The College Board is an educational testing and services group.
For middle-class U.S. families, college costs are a major burden.

Just this morning a co-worker of mine was complaining about the
25,000 after tax, out of pocket dollar expense he has to pay
to send his daughter to Boston University.

That’s a huge chunk of money for the average American family.
Most families don’t have that kind of cash and will have to borrow.

Students can borrow directly from the government, or from banks
through federally guaranteed private loans.

On the increase are loans from banks with no federal guarantee,
so you will end up paying more interest.

What College Students really need is More Scholarship Money.
More Scholarship Money means Less Loans.
 
However, 95% of scholarship applications are thrown away
without consideration.

Gain the favor of scholarship committees…
Win More Scholarships! 

Podcasts And eBooks 
http://scholarshipMoneyInformation.com
 

Millions of seniors graduating from high school
will start turning their attention over the next few weeks
to paying for college.

Scholarships and grants (which don’t have to be paid back)
are the best options. But not everyone has the academic record
to win scholarships and merit aid.

About two-thirds of four-year college students who graduate
are typically about $20,000 in debt - and the numbers are rising.

Many are confused by the programs and options for borrowing.

Look over to the right hand side on this page where it says “Archives”.
Check out some of the past post. They are a treasure trove of
information about loans, scholarships, grants, work-study programs
even savings and earnings.

Many parents and students get stuck with more debt than they should.
An investigation by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo
has exposed some questionable financial arrangements…
(he calls them “kickbacks”) involving lending companies and universities.

The whole situation has called into question whether the advice
many students get is really unbiased.

As I have noted in the past couple previous posts,
the education cost for my daughter will be over $200,000 by the time 
she gets her Masters Degree from St Johns University.

And now she’s taking about getting her Doctorate!… Ouch!

Just Remember This: The more you get in scholarships and grants…
the less you have to pay back. I have found an excellent tool
for helping you to win scholarships.

It’s called the Unfair Advantage Scholarship Superpack.
It gives you an inside look at what it takes to win scholarships.
It will give you an advantage over everyone who doesn’t read it!

http://ScholarshipMoneyInformation.com

In the last couple post you received many tips on
what NOT to do when applying for scholarships and
how to make your application stand out from the crowd.

Now I’ll give you a few tips on what TO do
when writing your scholarship essay.

1) Be specific.
When talking about your future plans, be specific
in terms of how they will benefit others.
For example, if you say you want to be a high school
teacher or a doctor or lawyer, that is vague and general.

Be more specific such as - I want to teach mentally and
physically challenged high school students and help them to
assimilate into the general population and lead productive lives.

Or I want to be a doctor that performs research that
leads to new drugs to reduce the effects of Alzheimer’s…
You get the idea. The more specific you are, the more
your essay will resonate with the scholarship committee.

2) Stay on topic.
Everything in your essay should be relevant to the topic
at hand. Exclude any unnecessary references to your
birthday or where you were born or how many brothers
and sisters you have. Everyone has a birthday.

This is called commodity information and will not score
any points with the judges. Unless it has some special
significance, you should leave this out of your essay.

3) Talk about what you’ve actually done.
Although you might think it sounds impressive that
you were a volunteer in your churches youth group for 4 years,
it doesn’t tell the committee what you’ve done.
You might just be showing up and “shooting the breeze”
for all they know.

Set yourself apart. Maybe your church’s youth group
served meals to the homeless in a soup kitchen one day
a week. You could say, you helped serve over 30,000 meals
to the homeless over a 4 year period. Now that stands out.

Set yourself apart from the thousands of other applicants by
being specific, staying on topic and writing about what you
have actually done and you will be remembered by the committee
members and increase your chances of winning scholarships.

To learn more about winning scholarships, an excellent
resource is available at:

www.ScholarshipMoneyInformation.com  
 

In the last post I discussed what “NOT” to write on your
scholarship essay. Now I’ll give you a few tips about what
“TO” do on your scholarship essay to win.

But first, a little background.

In the old days (about 10 years ago, before everyone had a computer)
many scholarships were available… BUT not everyone knew about them.

Sometimes the scholarship committee would only receive a couple dozen
submissions for certain lesser known scholarships.

Today, with the advent of the internet, more scholarships then ever before
are available - BUT… More students than ever before now apply for them.

And not just American students, but students from all over the world - 
from little countries that you probably never heard of before.

So now, instead of getting a couple dozen applications, the scholarship committee 
gets a couple hundred applications.

Or, instead of getting a couple hundred applications, they get thousands
and thousands of applications from qualified applicants.  

What this means to you is that the judges can now be very selective
about who they pick for the scholarship winner. They get dozens
(if not hundreds) of “perfect” applications.

So what you must remember is this… Your application has to be perfect.
No spelling mistakes, no typo errors or grammatical slipups.
One missed comma could cost you the scholarship.

So here are a few tips to help you win the scholarship.

1) Follow the instructions.
If the essay calls for 750 words or less, don’t go over.
The reason for this is that the judges have a dozen or more
“perfect” essays that did follow the instructions to the letter.

If you didn’t follow the instructions to the letter,
your application gets tossed… Period.

2) Appearances count.
Don’t try to be artistic with fancy fonts and colors.
Use a standard font size (11 or 12 points) and use black ink.
Save the creativity for the essay.  

TIP:

Use a laser printer instead of ink jet.
Ink jet ink smudges easily and laser toner doesn’t.

3) Use a high-quality paper.
This may sound a little mundane but consider this…
95% of all essay papers received have been printed on “copy paper”.

To make your essay stand out from the thousands of others,
get a  high-quality paper stock. High-quality paper doesn’t wrinkle
or crease as easily as copy paper.

Remember - Appearances Count!

Scholarship money can save you tens of thousands of dollars in
student loans which you have to pay back.

It is worth the little extra time and effort to make your application
Stand Out From The Crowd… Be Outstanding and Win!

And if  for some odd reason, out of the tens of thousands
of scholarships applications that are received and your outstanding one
isn’t selected as the winner…

Do like Bill Gates did…
Earn while you Learn. 

Make Money online and pay your way through college… DEBT FREE!
Sign up for a FREE 400 day Training Program at:

MoneyPlus2000.com