Study Abroad to Save Money on College

Did you know that if you study abroad you can actually save money on college?

 

Most people think it costs a lot of money to study abroad. If you are going to study abroad through a college in the United States, it will be costly. However, if you study abroad by actually attending a college that is out of the country, it can be a cheaper alternative.

I had a new client walk in today which reminded me of this study abroad trick to saving money on college. She was finishing up her undergraduate degree in Biology this December, but still did not know what she wanted to do career wise. She majored in Biology because she thought she wanted to go to Medical School, but now she was not as certain. Although she did not know what direction she wanted to go in, she was set on continuing her education anyways. After talking to her for a while, I found out that she was originally born in Sweden and was thinking of moving back since she loved it so much the last time that she visited.

I suggested that she should study abroad in Sweden since that is where she is thinking of moving to eventually. Since she was a dual citizen of Sweden and the United States, if she wanted to study abroad and go to school in Sweden it might be cheaper for her (especially since she had already acquired student loan debt). When you study abroad, some colleges that are overseas will offer free tuition or very reduced tuition fees. However, each country has different requirements so the client would have to look into that country's specific requirements to see if she would qualify for the reduced or free tuition.

By: Shanice Miller, founder of DebtFreeCollegeGrad.com

Is 4 Years of College Worth A Lifetime of Debt?

By: Shanice Miller, founder of DebtFreeCollegeGrad.com

Recently, there have been a lot of articles surfacing about skyrocketing college costs and the effects that student loan debt has on graduates. Usually, the student loan debt that graduates end up with is so abundant that it puts a serious burden on them. The burden is so great that it poses the question, "Is 4 Years of College Worth A Lifetime of Debt?"

Yahoo! Finance spotlighted "7 College Graduates Whose Lives Were Wrecked by Student Loan Debt." These 7 people's stories and experiences can help you be the judge--- Is 4 years of college worth a lifetime of debt?

"Stephanie Snyder, 44, graduated in 2005 with a B.A. in Public Administration. She worked three jobs at one time to pay down her $38,000 student loan balance."

"Carla Ruiz, 53, earned her MBA in 2006. Today, she's $120,000 in debt and lives in an attic apartment."

"Kyle Laffin, 25, asked his dad to co-sign a $100,000+ private student loan for a B.A. in accounting. Now, he has $1,200 monthly payments. His dad is working two jobs and dipping into his retirement savings to help him pay it down." 
  
"Since earning his MBA in 2004, Michael Pope, 38, has been bankrupt, homeless, and unable to find a job that pays well enough to tackle his $140,000 loan debt."

I've only summarized 4 of the 7 people in the Yahoo! finance article whose lives were wrecked by student loans. (To read the full article, go to: finance.yahoo.com/news/7-college-graduates-whose-lives-were-wrecked-by-student-loan-debt-151703790.html?page=all)

So back to the question, "Is 4 years of college worth a lifetime of debt?" After reading these stories, I think not. College is supposed to help you obtain a better life, but being submerged in debt will not help you accomplish that goal.

Would you trade a lifetime in debt for a college degree? Leave your comment below.

Testimony from A DebtFreeCollegeGrad.com Graduate

By: Shanice Miller, founder of DebtFreeCollegeGrad.com

I met Floyd Clark in April 2013. He told me that his son, Tavion Clark, was considering joining the military because he didn't have any money to go to college and didn't want to put the burden on him [his father]. Floyd really hoped that his son wouldn't join the military so he asked for my advice. I revealed to Floyd and his son some of my scholarship and grant secrets. Now, it's September 2013 and Tavion Clark is attending Old Dominion University in Virginia. All of his college expenses are covered and he is even receiving refund checks back from the college. I'm so glad that Tavion really followed my instructions and took his scholarship search seriously. In less than 5 months, Tavion went from having no money for college to having more than enough.

Are Refund Checks Real?

By: Shanice Miller, founder of DebtFreeCollegeGrad.com

After one of my last posts, I've been getting a lot of questions about college refund checks. One of the most common questions that I received was, "Can you really get refund checks back from the college? Is that really true?" The answer is yes.

What do you think happens when you get more money than it costs to attend college? It's just like when you overpay a bill. Or like when you purchase something that costs $5 and you only have a $20 bill. The store does not get to keep the difference. You get the change back. The same applies when you go to college and get more money than what it costs to attend. You get the change back. With college, the "change" that you would get from that $20 bill is in the form of a refund check.

The college will give you refund checks when you get more money than what it costs to attend college. No, I don't mean have your grandparents or parents make a bigger payment than what you need, of course that will work too, but that defeats the purpose. You get more money than what the college costs by winning scholarships.

FAFSA Tip: Should You Put Assets In Your Child’s Name?

BIGGEST FAFSA MISTAKE

Stocks, bonds, real estate investments, money in checking and savings accounts, and other assets are very valuable to have. I am a huge advocate of parents teaching their children early on about these things. It is even better if the children learn how to and actually invest in these assets themselves.

However, it is NOT a good thing when it comes to filling out the FAFSA and other financial aid forms for college.

 

Assets that are in the student’s name will get penalized heavily when it comes to the FAFSA and other financial aid forms. When it comes to financial aid from the FAFSA form, 20% of the student’s assets will be counted in the FAFSA’s financial aid calculations as opposed to only 5.64% of the parent’s assets being counted in the financial aid calculations on the FAFSA form. This is a difference of nearly 14%.
Also, parents can “protect” some of their assets. This means that the FAFSA form will not count a percentage of the assets at all when trying to determine the amount of financial aid that the student will qualify for.

Overall, putting assets in the students name versus the parent’s name could be the difference between your child qualifying for some financial aid through the FAFSA form and not qualifying for any financial aid.

Money Saving Tip for Your Master's Degree

By: Shanice Miller, founder of DebtFreeCollegeGrad.com

Have you ever thought about getting your Master's degree?

If you have, you have probably started looking at the fees associated with it. A Master's degree can be

pretty expensive for only two years worth of education. For example, if you want to get a Master's degree at Harvard University, you can expect to pay $40,000 per year for only tuition--- this doesn't include room and board or other fees. Usually it takes 2 years (sometimes more) to complete your Master's degree so you are looking at $80,000 total at the very least. That will be a lot of money, especially if you already have a student loan tab from your undergraduate degree.

To help decrease the costs associated with obtaining a Master's degree, I am going to share with you a money saving tip for your Master's degree.

One money saving tip for people that are thinking about getting a Master's degree is to get the Master's degree overseas. Usually the Master's degree programs overseas only take 1 year to complete. That means even if the tuition is still the same, you would only have to pay $40,000 versus $80,000 for your Master's degree in the United States so you already saving 50% of the cost. However, tuition is not the same. In addition to the overseas Master's degrees taking less time to complete, they are also cheaper.

Although going overseas to get a Master's degree will be cheaper and quicker, you might want to check with your potential employers first to make sure that they will accept it.

Student Loan Forgiveness Programs: Do You Qualify?

With all of the concern and discussions on the debt crisis, can you believe that there are actually student loan forgiveness programs?

According to a recent study, over 33 million workers can qualify for student loan forgiveness.

If you work in a school, hospital, city hall, or join the military, you can be eligible for the student loan forgiveness program. Teachers, firefighters, police officers, soldiers, and even health care workers can qualify for these student loan forgiveness programs. Clerks at state department of motor vehicle offices, secretaries at city halls, and accountants that work at non-profit art groups can also qualify.

One of my friends that graduated with student loan debt signed up to become a teacher through a student loan forgiveness program. She had to work in an under-served area, committed to working there for a set amount of time, and took a pay cut, but to her it was worth it. At the end of her contract, she will be free of student loan debt.

Would you make that trade off--- taking a pay cut and working in an under-served area for a specified amount of time to rid yourself of your student loan debt? Leave a comment below with a "yes" or "no" and why you would or wouldn't.

By: Shanice Miller, founder of DebtFreeCollegeGrad.com