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Posted
Sep 04 2009, 01:00 PM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Wining and dining professors. Sales staff getaways at sexy locations. That's the life of a college textbook sales rep.
Who woulda thunk? That's part of the insider look at the textbook publishing business offered by David Weliver in a post at Money Under 30 called "Confessions of a textbook salesman." David used to be a textbook sales rep. "Students: I'm sorry," he said.
The cost of textbooks has become so ridiculously expensive that a national campaign has been launched at Make Textbooks Affordable, he said.
How do textbook publishers operate? David explains:
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Posted
Aug 28 2009, 08:57 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Some people are talking about a federal bailout for former college students. Forgive student loan debt, they say, and the economy will be instantly energized.
The Baltimore Sun's Eileen Ambrose polled readers of Consuming Interests about this, and, last we checked, readers were hugely in favor -- even though her post presented a solid argument about why it wouldn't work as advertised.
We voted no. "JLP" at All Financial Matters, who directed his readers to the poll, also said no. "Actually, I say HELL NO!" he wrote.
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Posted
Jul 23 2009, 05:24 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Want your college experience to be meaningful? Campus Grotto produced a comprehensive and insightful list of more than 100 tips to survive -- and actually learn something, which is why you're there. Right?
Some of the advice on the list won't vastly improve your prospects (although "Wear sandals in the showers" could prevent the distraction of itchy feet). But much of it could be critical, particularly as educators debate the pros (you save money) and cons (you work your buns off) of earning a bachelor's degree in three years.
(We did it, many years ago. Limited finances were a powerful motivator, and taking several advanced placement classes in high school helped.)
In fact, some U.S. colleges already offer three-year programs, the Houston Chronicle reports, adding, "But the programs aren't for everyone. Part-time students can't participate. Nor can those who lack discipline."
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Posted
Jul 20 2009, 11:11 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This guest post comes from "vh" at Funny about Money.
Tina, my associate editor on the day job and my moonlight business partner, sent a link to this interesting discussion. The main post itself has several links to relevant, equally interesting posts and conversations.
Given the astonishing burden of student loans that too many young people are saddled with -- my son's roommate's girlfriend, for example, remarked that she will graduate from a top-quality institution with a master's degree in international business and $1,400-a-month student loan payments -- assessing the "value" of graduate education is not a crass or pointless exercise.
It's well and good to love learning for learning's sake and so to feel that the graduate school experience is irrelevant to one's vocational prospects. However, once that graduate school experience ends, you still have to pay for it. You still have to keep a roof over your head, put food on your table, and foot the considerable cost of raising a family. When young people are saddled with five- and six-figure student loan debt, they should reasonably expect the financial investment in graduate education to pay off with jobs that will support them.
That, unfortunately, is too often not the case.
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Posted
May 26 2009, 11:52 AM
by
Joan Melcher
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
If you or someone in your family is preparing for college entrance tests, never fear -- there’s free online help available. Thanks to Nate Desmond at Debt-free Scholar, a couple clicks of your mouse will lead you to a wealth of information, tutorials and study methods that should make preparation for the SAT and GRE if not a breeze, at least not a hurricane.
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Posted
Apr 15 2009, 11:02 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
The times they are a-changing for many credit cardholders, who are reducing their dependence on plastic and paying off debt. Hopefully that includes college students, who last year used credit cards more than ever -- and not just for pizza and beer.
Put tuition on the card? Amazingly, about 30% did, according to a new study by Sallie Mae, up from 24% in 2004, the last time the study was done. About 92% used plastic for other educational expenses.
The average balance has grown to $3,173, and increases to $4,100 by graduation.
It gets worse, folks. A press release from Sallie Mae reports:
Sixty percent experienced surprise at how high their balance had reached, and 40% said they have charged items knowing they did not have the money to pay the bill. Only 17% percent said they regularly paid off all cards each month.
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Posted
Dec 09 2008, 06:48 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
He's no stranger to controversy, that "Mr. ToughMoneyLove." Whether it's help for homeowners in default -- he called that post "Homeowner bailouts destined to fail" -- or sympathy for a particular 54-year-old GM retiree -- "It's second-career time, my friend, and quit the whining," he said -- he's never shy with his opinions. Recently, he blamed free-spending universities for teaching impressionable minds that it's OK to carry huge debt. Try this quote on for size, from his post "The college student debt machine: A national disgrace" at Tough Money Love.
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Posted
Oct 06 2008, 07:50 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
The front-page headline in Sunday's Seattle Times was an attention-grabber: "Young, educated and drowning in debt." The accompanying article told some scary, scary stories. One young couple in med school will finish with more than half a million dollars in loans between them. A man who graduated with $152,000 in debt finds that monthly payments eat up one-third of his salary -- and he has a good job. Gargantuan loans taken out with no clear idea of how they'll be repaid. Sound familiar?
Actually, there's a crucial difference between subprime mortgages and student loans. You can't return your diploma to the school and walk away from college debt. In fact, such debt can't even be discharged in a bankruptcy. Student loans are with you until you pay them back.
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Posted
Sep 18 2008, 12:10 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
We've covered some of the ways to avoid paying the top dollar that textbook publishers demand in the U.S. -- like buying used. But if you can't find the book you need at a lower cost here, "SavvyFrugality" has another suggestion: Buy the international edition. Savvy says in a post at Savvy Frugality, "Believe it or not, students in foreign countries pay much less for textbooks than students here in the U.S." But you can find and buy those books online.
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Posted
Jun 24 2008, 05:45 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity: Do you want to know how I shaved nearly 13% off my college costs? I took Advanced Placement classes. I graduated college a semester early in part because I had loaded up on AP classes while I was in high school. Someone got it into my head that I could take AP classes for free (not counting the nominal fee for the exam) and get college credit for getting high marks on the AP tests. At the time, my brain wasn't thinking, "Oh, I can save money on college," but rather, "I can spend time now and have it count twice -- once in high school and once in college," so it was in part the bit of hustle inside of me that spurred me to action.
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