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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
Aug 04 2009, 03:27 PM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Forget a job on Wall Street. If you want to make money when you get out of college, engineering is the current hot choice.
The National Association of Colleges and Employers released its 2009 ranking of the top 10 average starting salaries for new college grads, and petroleum engineering was No. 1, at a cool $83,121. Nine of the top 10 jobs have "engineering" in the title.
But does that mean you should change your major immediately? Hold on, said Darwin at Darwin's Finance. Not so fast.
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Posted
Aug 04 2009, 09:00 AM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
The Post-9/11 GI Bill that took effect with much fanfare will provide many veterans and military members with expanded educational opportunities.
Contrary to some reports, the older Montgomery GI Bill isn't going away with the advent of the new bill and, in some cases, may still be the better option. But for many, the new law will cover the full cost of a college degree.
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Posted
Jul 28 2009, 06:17 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Jim Wang at partner blog Bargaineering.
If you go back 10 or 15 years, there were two things you could do online that would get you laughed at: finding a date and getting a postsecondary degree.
With dating sites flourishing and online education popping up everywhere, the stigma associated with the online versions of both has all but been washed away. Meeting someone online no longer means you're meeting someone capable only of interacting with a computer, and getting a degree online no longer means you took some cupcake classes and paid for a diploma.
However, just as you still want to be careful whom you choose to meet in person from an online dating site, you'll also have to be careful which online university you choose to attend. Like dates, not all universities are created equal.
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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
Jul 17 2009, 06:12 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This is a condensed version of a post at partner blog The Dough Roller.
Student credit cards kind of remind me of the movie "A Few Good Men," starring Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson. If you've seen the movie, you remember well Lt. Daniel Kaffee's (Cruise) cross-examination of Col. Nathan R. Jessep (Nicholson). In that powerful cross-examination, all Lt. Kaffee wants is the truth.
When it comes to student credit cards, the truth is all we want, too. We want to peel away all the marketing hype that surrounds student cards, understand the pros and cons, risks and rewards of student cards, and then make an informed decision.
To do that, we've created this College Student's Guide to Credit Cards. The aim of this guide is not to convince anyone that credit cards are good or bad. Instead, the guide is designed to arm college students (and parents) with the information they need to make sound financial decisions about credit cards.
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Posted
Jul 16 2009, 12:34 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Expect credit card companies to make their final stand on college campuses this fall (except Connecticut; see below) -- enticing young adults to fill out credit card applications with offers of free T-shirts and pizza. Here's why:
- Starting Feb. 22, the credit card reform law that Congress passed will ban card companies from offering gifts on campus or at college activities.
- You'll have to be 21 to get a card, unless you have proof of income or other resources sufficient to pay it off, or a parent who is willing to co-sign.
- Also, universities and card companies will have to disclose how much the companies pay the schools to be able to market cards to students and alumni. That should be fascinating.
In light of the new law, CNN says, "this fall semester you can be sure credit card issuers will be hard at work trying to get students to sign up."
If you're a parent, what should you do? Have your college-bound child apply for a credit card now, one columnist recommends.
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Posted
Jul 07 2009, 12:57 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
What can you expect to earn after graduating with a bachelor's degree in history from Podunk U? Would that income increase if you had the same degree from an Ivy League school? How about if you had a journalism or engineering degree?
A peer-to-peer private student loan service called People Capital has devised a way of estimating the earning potential of college graduates based on a number of variables, like major, college or university attended, and academic performance. The result, called the Human Capital Score, is presented as an alternative to the FICO score for people who haven't used credit long enough to have a meaningful credit history.
Even if you're not in the market for student loans, this could make for interesting conversation -- particularly if you get a good score. So let's try this out.
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