How to Work While Going to School

Last month I started watching a new Crash Course series called How to College. The series is a great one for students who are first generation college students and or those who just don't have anyone to seek out for advice about things like paying for college and picking a major. The latest video in the How to College series is titled How to Work in College. 

Watching How to Work in College took me back to my days of loading trucks at RPS (now known as FedEx Ground) at night and in the early mornings to pay for my college education. I was fortunate that RPS put an extra 50 cents per hour into a tuition reimbursement fund that I used every semester to pay for my textbooks (they were a lot cheaper 20-something years ago). It's little perks like that and the networking opportunities that can come out of working in college that How to Work in College does a good job of explaining in the video. 

How to Work in College also does a good job of trying to help viewers understand the importance of scheduling their time and it provides some tips for blocking distractions when it is time to focus on school work. 

For more information about how to pay for college beyond working a part-time job, students should watch Crash Course's How to Pay for College.

4 Videos That Help Students & Parents Understand Financial Aid

The FAFSA and financial aid packages offered by universities can be difficult for the first-time college student to navigate. And if you're a first generation college student it can be even more difficult because you may not know who to turn to for advice. Fortunately, a lot of high school guidance departments are doing more than ever to help students understand the FAFSA and financial aid. Planet Nutshell produced two good videos that will also help students and parents understand the FAFSA and financial aid. The videos are embedded below.


Choosing Financial Aid in a Nutshell from Planet Nutshell on Vimeo.



Borrow Wisely: FAFSA in a Nutshell from Planet Nutshell on Vimeo.

Understanding how federal student loans are different from private student loans can help students and their parents choose the best financial aid package. The following two videos, also from Planet Nutshell, do a nice job of explaining private vs. federal student loans.



Understanding Federal Student Loans in a Nutshell from Planet Nutshell on Vimeo.



Federal vs. Private Student Loans in a Nutshell from Planet Nutshell on Vimeo.

These videos were produced by Planet Nutshell with funding from the U.S. Depart of Education, the Utah Higher Education Assistance Authority, and the Utah Education Network.

Understanding Federal vs. Private Student Loans

Getting into their colleges of choice is just the beginning of the process students and their parents go through to go to college. Figuring out how to pay for college is a huge and stressful part of that process too. Planet Nutshell recently released two videos that can help students and their parents understand student loans. Those videos are embedded below. Learn more about student loans at Borrow Wisely.


Understanding Federal Student Loans in a Nutshell from Planet Nutshell on Vimeo.



Federal vs. Private Student Loans in a Nutshell from Planet Nutshell on Vimeo.

The FAFSA and Financial Aid in a Nutshell

The FAFSA and financial aid packages offered by universities can be difficult for the first-time college student to navigate. And if you're a first generation college student it can be even more difficult because you may not know who to turn to for advice. Fortunately, a lot of high school guidance departments are doing more than ever to help students understand the FAFSA and financial aid. Planet Nutshell produced two good videos that will also help students and parents understand the FAFSA and financial aid. The videos are embedded below.


Choosing Financial Aid in a Nutshell from Planet Nutshell on Vimeo.



Borrow Wisely: FAFSA in a Nutshell from Planet Nutshell on Vimeo.


These videos were produced by Planet Nutshell with funding from the U.S. Depart of Education, the Utah Higher Education Assistance Authority, and the Utah Education Network.

ScholarPRO Helps Students Find Scholarships

There are a lot of services on the web that promise to help students choose and apply to colleges (I reviewed seven of them here), but there doesn't seem to be as many that will help students pay for college. That's the niche that ScholarPRO wants to fill.

ScholarPRO is a service that helps students locate and apply for scholarships that match their qualifications. To find the scholarships that they're most likely to have a chance of receiving, students complete a profile on ScholarPRO. The more information a student supplies in his or her profile the more accurate the search results are going to be. Students can apply for the scholarships on their own or use the ScholarPRO service to apply. The way that ScholarPRO makes money is through subscriptions to its "easy apply" service. But just to be clear, students can search for scholarships without a subscription.

Applications for Education
For high school students and current college students searching for new ways to fund their educations, ScholarPRO could be a very useful service. The College Board also has a scholarship search service that current high school students should try.

Infographic for Understanding Credit Scores

Your Wealth Puzzle is currently featuring a neat infographic that could be useful in a consumer education course. The infographic uses a board game format to demonstrate the steps a person needs to take in order to build and maintain a good credit rating.

Credit Report Information Graphic

Hat tip to Cool Infographics for the link to Your Wealth Puzzle.

Applications for Education
Your Wealth Puzzle's infographic provides clear steps that a person should take to build a good credit score. This information could be good to share with high school students as they prepare to start building their own credit ratings in college or in the workplace.

Here are some related items that may be of interest to you:
Economics Lessons Using Planet Money Podcasts
Investing in Plain English
A Pictorial History of Money

Financial Fitness for Teens

Today's episode of CNN Student News is very timely for me as the seniors at my school are missing classes this morning to attend a "Financial Fitness Fair" being hosted by area banks and credit unions. In today's CNN Students News there is a segment about a former Goldman-Sachs hedge fund manager who is teaching courses on financial responsibility to high school students in Harlem. This is topic that I think more high schools should try to address before sending students off to college or into the workplace. Watch the video below to learn more about what the students are learning in this course.

Exploring the Rising Cost of College

Today's episode of CNN Student News concludes with a brief segment about the rising costs of attending college in the United States. If you have high school students exploring their post-secondary options, you may want to share this short video with them.


Here are some related items that may be of interest to you:
College Crunch
Unigo - College Reviews by Students
EduPursuit - College Search by Location

University Parent Connection - College Planning Advice for Parents

The University Parent Connection is a relatively new website offering advice to parents of college students and college-bound students. University Parent provides advice about all of the typical concerns that parents have as their children prepare for college. In addition to advice about college planning, financing, and admissions University Parent provides online guides to specific colleges and universities. University Parent plans to have a parent community discussion forum in the near future. The discussion forum could be a good place for parents to share experiences and learn from each other.

After checking out the University Parent Connection, you may also want to give these college planning resources a look:
Ask About College
Green Note - Micro Student Loans
Freshman Fund
My College Calendar

Peer to Peer Lending For Micro Student Loans

Green Note is a company specializing in peer to peer lending for student aid. (Peer to peer lending is also known as social lending). Green Note, like the Fynanz service reviewed earlier this year, is designed to help students bridge the gap between financial need and the financial aid packages they receive from their college or university. Green Note facilitates loans between members of social networks. Loans can come from friends and relatives or from private investors looking to make low-risk loans. In their words, "get student loans from people who believe in you." Loan amounts are flexible and can be larger than $10,000 or as small as $100. For students the benefits are a low fixed interest rate and no co-signer requirement. For lenders the benefit is a low-risk investment opportunity.