Posted by CDP @ 9:00 am on November 30th 2009

At What Point Should You Consider College?

Many students go to four year colleges after they graduate from high school. These students then earn a college degree once they have successfully completed a program of study. You can earn a bachelor’s degree in the arts such as English, history or the science such as computer science and engineering.

A community college is a two year college that awards associate’s degrees once a student has completed a two year study course. Some two year colleges award grant certificates to those students who have fulfilled course requirements and whom are prepared to practice in their chosen fields.

If you would like, you can begin your post secondary education at a two year school and then transfer to a four year college. This is a good way to save on the cost of college. A two year college also is a good way to bring your grades up so you can get accepted into a four year college.

Be aware of the fact that there are both private and public colleges. A private college costs more to attend because they do not receive as much money from the state and local governments. A public college gets most of its funding from the state and/or local government so it can charge students who live within the state less money to enroll.

—————————————————————————————
College Degree Programs | College Degree Courses | Accredited Education | Accredited Classes | Online Degree Courses | Accredited College Degrees

Posted by CDP @ 5:40 pm on November 24th 2009

What a College Degree Can do For You

If you decide to attend college and earn a college degree, you should know that you will earn more money throughout your life than your friends who do not go to college. You will also have many more job opportunities and more freedom. On average, a person who goes to college and earns a college degree will earn over $1 million more than a high school graduate.

To illustrate this: Bob went to college for two years and now works as a dental assistant. He can buy groceries for a week after working just one day. Sam is a high school grad and works in a department store as a clerk. It takes Sam three day’s worth of work to buy the same amount of groceries. When Bob wants to take out a three year loan to buy a new car, he is well qualified to do so based on his salary.

When Sam attempts the same thing, he cannot get a three year loan, but has to settle on a five year loan instead. You should have a talk with you high school counselor or other adults who can assist you in looking at all of the options you have regarding attending college.

—————————————————————————————
College Degree Programs | College Degree Courses | Accredited Education | Accredited Classes | Online Degree Courses | Accredited College Degrees

Posted by CDP @ 8:52 am on November 20th 2009

President Obama Meets Families Trying to Pay for College

In April, President Obama met with a family who is struggling to afford college and he underscored his commitment to cut wasteful spending on federal student loans. Obama talked about the strain that is being placed on middle class families who are trying to get their kids through college so that they may earn a college degree.

The President proposes to reform student loans to make college affordable. He says that by 2020, American will have the highest proportion of college students in the world. He also states that the future of America’s economic growth depends on the quality of our students’ education.

The United States once had one of the most educated work forces in the entire world, but it now is in the middle of the pack. Just 38 percent of young workers in the U.S. have a college degree which is lower than nine other countries. Obama said that the U.S. does not offer enough financial aid to its students due to the fact that the student loan program spends $5 billion more than what is needed, subsidizing banks and other lenders.

Obama’s budget includes a $2.5 billion fund to improve college access and to help colleges and universities graduate more students. Now, only 65 percent of students beginning at four year colleges actually earn a degree.

—————————————————————————————
College Degree Programs | College Degree Courses | Accredited Education | Accredited Classes | Online Degree Courses | Accredited College Degrees

Posted by CDP @ 8:33 am on November 19th 2009

College Tuition Rates Continue to Rise

Earning a college degree is certainly not getting any less expensive and a poor economy is not helping the situation. The average tuition and fees at four year public colleges rose 6.6 percent this year, which has pushed more students into seeking financial assistance.

In-state students at four year colleges are paying an average of $6,185 this year, up $381 from last year. Tuition rose 6.3 percent at the four year, private schools to the sum of $23,712 average. The price at two year colleges rose 4.2 percent to $2,361.

Students are footing more and more of the bill with private bank loans and loans from student loan companies. Private borrowing grew 12 percent to 14.5 billion in 2006-2007.

Less than ten percent of all college students attend schools with tuition that is over $30,000 a year. 56 percent of students at four year schools attend colleges that cost under $10,000 a year while one third are enrolled in schools that charge less than $6,000.

George Washington University in Washington D.C. recently was in the news for becoming the very first big university who published its prices that include room and board–the price was more than $50,000.

—————————————————————————————
College Degree Programs | College Degree Courses | Accredited Education | Accredited Classes | Online Degree Courses | Accredited College Degrees

Posted by CDP @ 9:01 am on November 18th 2009

A Student Loan Guide

It can be a very daunting task to find the correct financial aid package but by doing just a bit of homework, several thousand dollars can be saved over the life of the loan itself. There are a few things about student loans that you should know about before taking out a loan.

There are three types of basic loans: direct loans, subsidized private loans and unsubsidized private loans. Also, the basic Stafford loan is available which comes with it a maximum interest rate of 6.8 percent. Even though the Stafford loans have a maximum 6.8 percent interest rate, many lenders will decrease that to as low as 5.5 percent.

You can have your student loan payments debited directly from your checking account to save another quarter or a half of a percentage point, but in spite of this, less than one in six borrowers sign up for this option.

Some lenders will allow you a grace period of 15 to 30 days, while others will consider your payment late if they do not receive it by the due date.

Some lenders will waive the 2.5 percent fee that is deducted from the Stafford loans. One thing here to be cautious about is the fact that if you later decide to consolidate your college loans with another lender, you may be forced to repay the fee.

—————————————————————————————
College Degree Programs | College Degree Courses | Accredited Education | Accredited Classes | Online Degree Courses | Accredited College Degrees

Posted by CDP @ 8:40 am on November 17th 2009

Harvard to Replace All Loans With Grants

Harvard University has announced that it will expand its financial aid, reducing the price of tuition by thousands of dollars, even for families earning six figure incomes.

Harvard says it is going to replace all loans with grants and spend $22 million more each year on aid, mostly aimed at middle and upper-middle class students wishing to earn a college degree from the school. Students who come from families who earn less than $60,000 annually are paying nothing to attend Harvard.

With the new changes, however, parents who earn between $60,000 and $120,000 will have to pay nearly 10 percent of their income for the tuition. Families who earn between $120,000 and $180,000 will have to pay a straight 10 percent of their income.

Nearly half of all Harvard students receive some sort of financial aid to attend the world’s most expensive university and this includes even students who come from families who earn over $200,000 annually. For those students who must pay full tuition, the cost of room and board plus tuition is over $45,000 a year. That compares to an average of $27,000 for all private, 4 year schools according to figures from the Dept of Education.

—————————————————————————————
College Degree Programs | College Degree Courses | Accredited Education | Accredited Classes | Online Degree Courses | Accredited College Degrees

Posted by CDP @ 3:33 pm on November 13th 2009

Earn an Associate of Science Degree at Provo College

If you have always dreamed of working in a professional or corporate office and you love the thought of managing the day to day operations for an office setting, then Provo College’s Business Management degree is right up your alley.

You can expect to finish this college degree program of study at Provo in as little as 20 months, ensuring that you will quickly get out of the classroom and into an new and exciting career.

Provo trains its business management graduates in accounting and business principles, word processing, spreadsheets, database technology, business fundamentals and employee management.

Student enrolled in this college degree program can expect to have to take oral communications, logic and critical analysis, ethics, psychology, computer fundamentals, and career development courses, to name a few.

Provo College is conveniently located in Utah and the top-notch faculty is well equipped to teach you everything you know to successfully run a office.

In spite of the fact that the economy is sluggish and that people are losing their jobs and finding it hard to find employment, earning an associate of Science Degree at Provo will ensure that you are in a great position to secure your future.

—————————————————————————————
College Degree Programs | College Degree Courses | Accredited Education | Accredited Classes | Online Degree Courses | Accredited College Degrees

Posted by CDP @ 6:33 pm on November 12th 2009

Medical Assisting Degrees

If you are interested in a medical degree because you love to help people, then Provo College’s accredited Medical Assisting college degree program may be just what you are looking for.

Medical assistants are in high demand all across the United States. This career is estimated as being among the fastest growing careers for the next several years, with a projected need for 589,000 jobs within the next seven years. These statistics are complements of the U.S. Dept. of Labor.

Medical assisting graduates are trained in ECGs, injections, transcription, charting, patient growing, minor surgery assisting, and phlebotomy and pharmacology. The course work involves 90 quarter hours and students must take courses such as mathematics and science, English, business applications, basic patient care, nutrition, medical laboratory procedures and medical review, just to name a few.

There is little doubt that a college degree is valuable. If you have always dreamed of working within the medical field, medical assisting offers you a wide range of possibilities and will guarantee that you will have very little trouble finding a career once you have completed a program of study in the field of medical assisting.

—————————————————————————————
College Degree Programs | College Degree Courses | Accredited Education | Accredited Classes | Online Degree Courses | Accredited College Degrees

Posted by CDP @ 7:33 pm on November 11th 2009

Study Finds That Attending Community College Makes You Richer

A recent study found that women who graduate from community college with a two year degree earn nearly 46% more per year than those who only have a high school diploma. Men who enroll at a community college and earn a two year college degree earn 12% more per year than their male counterparts who just graduate from high school. The study was done by Dave Marcotte, Ph.D. from the University of Maryland Baltimore County college.

The U.S. National Center for Educational Statistics show that almost 40% of all students who are enrolled in college are enrolled at two year schools. More and more people are going to community college due to the easier enrollment policies, lower tuition prices and the wide selection of classes offered. Typically, community college students performed less well than do those who go to four year schools. Disadvantaged students are finding that community college offers them a viable way to earn a college degree.

The average lifetime earnings for a graduate with an associate’s degree is $1.6 and that is $.4 million more than what the average high school grad will earn over a lifetime.

Those students who leave a two year school without a degree, 53% of them completed more than 30 college credits, which is half the number of required credits needed for an associate’s degree.

It is clear that enrolling in college degree programs to improve one’s skills, even without earning a degree, has significant economic advantages.

—————————————————————————————
College Degree Programs | College Degree Courses | Accredited Education | Accredited Classes | Online Degree Courses | Accredited College Degrees

Posted by CDP @ 9:33 pm on November 10th 2009

Study Finds That Higher Education Plays a Big Role In Gender Wage Gap

A new national study has found that for all teens, having a mentor means a 50 percent greater likelihood of attending college. For disadvantaged teenagers, mentorship nearly doubled the chances of attending college.

A student’s potential can be quelled by the social environment and data shows that mentors can help college students to overcome these negative forces.

The new study was authoried by Brigham Young University’s Lance Erikson, professor of sociology. The research done shows that half of disadvantaged students report having an adult mentor and only seven percent of these had a teacher as a mentor. This information came from over 14,000 teens who took part in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.

The authors say that much needs to be done to help disadvantaged youth to connect to the adults in their lives. Comments from the participants indicated that their mentors were not doing anything remarkable, but were simply being involved and treating the youngsters as important human beings. Significant differences still remain in the majors chosen by men and women. This is one of the main reasons for the gender income gap.

—————————————————————————————
College Degree Programs | College Degree Courses | Accredited Education | Accredited Classes | Online Degree Courses | Accredited College Degrees

Next Page »