Be Smart get Knowledge before you decide which college to attend. Investigate the cost difference between them.
Did you know attending your local community college for your 2 year Associates Degree will save you Thousands. Do you know why many For Profit schools dont want to credit you for previous credits taken at local commuity or other trade colleges ? Profit it all comes down to Schools, Colleges, University Profits.
Here are some facts to consider when investigating your choices of schools to attend.
Cost #1 – Compare options of schools thinking about attending, go to other post on careers offered on this website and see what the expected earning of that particular program, degree ect… Apply for FAFSA early, put in school codes for each school you are considering, in weeks each school will recieve the SAR report stating what loans you are elegible for, how much your families contribution is . Then visit each school , meet with addmissions and see who has the best cost effective program for you. Before you say yes, if they dont offer which legally they should be disclosing to you the student the amount of student loan debt your responsible to pay off. They also should provide how many years to pay off that debt if they do not , then use this calculator to figure out the loan repayment facts. Keep in mind numbers dont have alot of reality until pay back time, upon graduation you need time to find a job, in a few months some lenders 6 months all of a sudden you are responsible to make the payments, not to mention your living expensed, food, car loans, insurance the list goes on and on. This is not meant to discourage anyone just lessons learned by many to take in account.
- Be extra careful when looking into Private colleges which most are For Profit, and many Universities. Many are under scrutiny for cost versus the degrees being offered. Poor job placenent , false reportings on job placement. Aggressive recruiting practices, Kick backs from lenders.
- Multiple Law suits have been won, settled out of court , others pending. Go to wikapedia enter your College look to the very bottom of page for facts, legal issues and such.
- Are the credits from classes you take transferrable? Very important should you relocate, or change your career path.
Example, say you want to attend “The Art Institute” which has schools aprox 72 brick and morter schools in the US, and multiple locations in various states, You are attracted to the exciting career opportunities they offer such as: Interior designs, graphic design, culinary arts, fashion degrees, and many more bachelor degrees (4 year degrees)programs to choose from, you apply and are excepted and they tell you all the grants, & loans available to you, You are so excited” a dream come true”
Well single mothers and lower income families qualify for lots of financial aid programs, Federal loans, grants , Schools know how to get all the free money so they get paid for there 2 & 4 year Degrees. But what you don’t consider or are you might not be told is that part of the degree is really a” 2-year Associates Degree”, which could have been taken at your local community college and your Cost probably close to Free for single moms. You then with transferrable credits could still attend a similar degree at another school. You would just get the basics requirements classes out of the way at an affordable price at your local community college first, then transfer over those credits , choose the program your wanting and now you saved tens of thousands of dollars and still get the same degree.
There is a terrible injustice happening in Colleges today, taking advantage of young people who are not getting proper council when choosing a Career Path. This is happening to single moms all over the Country.
Ask yourself or find out before you attend a school #1. if the classes being taught are with the most up to date technology ? such as computers, or the programs taught on the computers actual computers companies have, or are they outdated, check out for yourself what employers are expecting from graduates in the projected fiscal year you will be graduating, what they are looking for when hiring college graduates#2. Are their programs, classes being offered being used by employers around the country? There are many horror stories where this was not looked into and students and their parents have found out after graduation when students go looking for a job.
True story,
Not to long ago a single mother signed up for a fashion marketing and business management degree, finished in 3yrs got the bachelors degree, and found out a few hard knocks after graduation.
- After graduation found out that most marketing jobs positions offered by employers had job descriptions that included web site management, building web sites, and social media as an example well remember the Degree said fashion marketing. The school she attended did not teach any of those kind of classes, or skills in their curriculum for that particular degree. This was in 2007-2010 school year. No computer training at all, The market was changing and This mother was taught old school techniques that were not up to date with what was going on in the real world of marketing.
- The school also did very little when it came to helping find a job after graduation ” no wonder how could she sell her skills” now it also was at a time during the Mortgage financial crises which did not help but even if that was not the case at that time reguardless she was not taught up to date marketing skills employers needed at that time.
- This single mother was in debt almost 70,000 both private and federal loans, for a over priced degree, now how did the cost get so high partly it was the Sallie Mae private loan, see the school steered her to apply for private loans, but REALITY SINKS in after graduation. With interest still acruing daily after making payments over 6 years the debt has not been touched and never will.
- The school did not properly inform the single mother about the dangers of private student loans, I am certain they were not looking after her best intersts, and they should not qualify a students re payment based on a co-signers ability to repay , The school very well knews that the students ability to repay based on the yearly projected income from that degree would be impossible, and if that was not a red flag for the school how about knowing that the private loans are a variable rate, not fixed. The school is at fault for charging an exuberant amount of money for a degree , They also knew her combined payments to the Federal Loan & the Sallie Mae loan would be over $ 700.00 a month.
- The Single mother never regrets for a moment the opportunity that was given to her to get an education and degree from a prestigious school. She just kicks herself in the butt for being so unknowledgeable and Naive during the process of getting that education, and later finding out how there were cheaper options in not only school choices, but with the loans that were dispursed by the College.
- Getting the proper knowledge could have save lots of hard earned or unable to earn money.
