Tag Archives: College

What’s the R-O-I On
Your Higher Education?

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OK – Listen up! We need to know the R-O-I of that higher education your pursuing?

ROI you ask? That’s RETURN ON INVESTMENT.

Whether it be college, trade or vocational schools you INVEST your time as well as money to get an education. The end result is a career you hopefully will love with yearly earnings being the RETURN.

It’s important to ask yourself – what is the payoff for all your blood, sweat and tears…and cost. It’s time to do the math.

QUESTION 1 – What is the cost of your higher education.

QUESTION 2 – What is the average starting salary of a job in your area of study?

The blog fivethirtyeight.com has a great chart of understanding what the average median earning is for your degree and future job.

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-economic-guide-to-picking-a-college-major/

QUESTION 3 – Now look the first two questions – how many years will you have to work to equal the cost of higher education. In other words, how many years of working will it take you to break even in paying back that cost of education.

That’s your ROI.

Life is about pursuing interests that you love, but it’s equally important to consider the path you take and whether the return will be worth it.

April is National Financial Literacy Month, Talkin’ Money’s favorite month! To celebrate the importance of being financially literate, we’re going to post financial literacy tips every day.

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Advice for New Students From Those Who Know (Older Students)

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From the NYTimes, some great advise for new students, from older students…

New supplies, new clothes, new start. Freshman year is a chance to redefine yourself, to challenge assumptions, to lay the foundation for the rest of your life. Gee whiz, you say, I’m just 18! So we asked for help, from those who have been there, done that. Below are words of wisdom from 25 upperclassmen and recent grads. See the comments section for additional reader submissions.

EXTEND YOURSELF

As an incoming freshman I wish I’d known I didn’t need to know everything! I was so wrapped up in the idea that I had to know my major, how to navigate campus and the social scene, even how to do laundry. Sometimes the beauty is in figuring these things out organically. To be a successful freshman, you just have to be willing to learn as you go. — Grace Carita, Bucknell University, ’18

The first day of college I was a ball of nerves and I remember walking into my first class and running to the first seat I found, thinking everyone would be staring at me. But nobody seemed to notice and then it hit me: The fact that nobody knew me meant nobody would judge, which, upon reflection, was what I was scared of the most. I told myself to let go. I began to force myself into situations that were uncomfortable for me — for example, auditioning for a dance piece — and the performance was a highlight of my freshman year. Challenge yourself to try something new, something you couldn’t have done in high school. — Ria Jagasia, Vanderbilt University, ’18

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Four Steps to Choosing a College Major

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From the NYTimes – What will you be doing on this date 20 years from now? No, really. Try to answer that. Given what you know about your ever-changing self, and factoring in the breakneck pace of societal change, can you accurately predict what the future world around you will look like and what role you’ll play in it?

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Here’s what happens when you stop paying your student loans.

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From Yahoo – Two years after leaving school, students default on their federal loans at a rate of 9.1%, according to a 2013 report by the New York Federal Reserve. That figure jumps to 13.4% at the three-year mark.

Pulitzer Prize-nominated author Lee Siegel wrote an op-ed article in The New York Times on Saturday in which he advised people to default on their student loans rather than remain stuck with crippling debt.

But what actually happens when you default?

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How Bad is Student Debt?

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From the NYTimes – Once again, the headlines are filled with claims that student loans are bad. Several articles have highlighted results from a Gallup poll that shows that college graduates who borrow for college are less happy, healthy and wealthy than debt-free graduates. The Gallup report (which is cautious in its interpretation of the data) has been drawn into a rising chorus of news media reports on the negative consequences of borrowing: Student loans not only make you sick but also hamper homeownership and delay marriage.

Student loans need reform. But recent reports obscure the key benefit of borrowing for college: a college education.

The highlight of the Gallup report is a comparison of the well-being of college graduates who did not borrow and those who borrowed more than $50,000. As I discussed in this New York Times article in June, 43 percent of undergraduates borrow nothing, and 98 percent borrow less than $50,000. The report is therefore comparing the 43 percent of undergraduates who borrow nothing with those with the highest debt loads.

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How to Simply Cut Student Loan Debt

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From The Motley Fool – Think about this statement for a minute: Education can reduce student loan debt.

Though it might sound like a paradox – after all, isn’t it the pursuit of education that has ignited the college debt crisis? – the Hoosier state university system has proved that educating students about loan debt can alter their behavior in a positive way.

Last year, the seven colleges making up the Indiana University system sent letters to students giving them a sneak peek at their post-graduate monthly loan payments. The missives were a wake-up call for many, who decided against taking out additional loans, according to Bloomberg. Overall, the university system saw an 11% decline in the amount of federal Stafford loan disbursements, which fell by about $31 million over the course of the academic year.

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Starbucks to Provide Free College Education to Thousands of Workers

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Aside from the fact we are addicted to their coffee – this is why we love Starbucks! From the NY Times:

Starbucks will provide a free online college education to thousands of its workers, without requiring that they remain with the company, through an unusual arrangement with Arizona State University, the company and the university will announce on Monday.

The program is open to any of the company’s 135,000 United States employees, provided they work at least 20 hours a week and have the grades and test scores to gain admission to Arizona State. For a barista with at least two years of college credit, the company will pay full tuition; for those with fewer credits it will pay part of the cost, but even for many of them, courses will be free, with government and university aid.

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