Category — Financial Aid

I hate dealing with financial junk. I personally have the worst of luck with banks and organizing my financial data. I came across an amazing financial planning website that rocks my financially unorganized world. It is called Mint.

Mint is fresh, intelligent online money management. Not only is Mint free, it saves you money. While existing personal finance software packages require hours to set up, a passion for accounting (is that possible?) and hours of weekly maintenance, Mint is virtually effortless.

With Mint, you can achieve better online financial management in less than five minutes. After that, revolutionary, patent–pending Mint money management software does the rest, with virtually no more work required. It automatically pulls together your bank, credit union and credit card data, and provides up–to–date and amazingly accurate views of your financial—life from the big picture to specific details, in a friendly and intuitive way.

Mint seems to be simple and secure and will make organizing all my finances that much easier and more cozy. Being able to jump in and really see what you are facing is sure helpful.

A big part of going to grad school is the funding, and many students turn to student loans. The Project on Student Debt is an organization that offers advice on loans to student borrowers. The site includes a list of schools that have made pledges towards giving students an opportunity to apply for financial aid, so they will not have to rely on loans. It also explains student loan initiatives and policies that have been/could be passed in Congress, and a section where you can tell your own story about having debt because of your education. Definitely worth checking out if you are looking into financing your grad degree.

According to CNNMoney.com, “Investors spooked by the current unrest in credit markets are shying away from student loans . . . tepid demand for these seemingly safe investments is not only driving up the cost of borrowing for students, but it is also threatening to limit the amount of loans available.”

This is bad news for future borrowers of both private and federal student loans. Because of the poor demand of the securities, loan issuance could go down by next month. Even students with good credit could have trouble getting funds. Read the rest of the article here.

Source: CNNMoney.com

One of my old coworkers recently opened my eyes to the world of Upromise. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s a website that allows you to get cash back on certain purchases made online, and certain partner companies offline. The money you make is put into a 529 account for the child of your choice (your kid, your sibling’s kid, a neighbor, whoever!). The great thing is that the money adds up and grows, hopefully giving the child some money for college.

Unbeknownst to me, Upromise is now also open to students who have a Sallie Mae student loan. You earn cash back on the site, and the money is then transferred to your student loan account quarterly. If you don’t have a Sallie Mae serviced loan, they will send you a check once you have earned enough money. I’ve only earned $6.11 so far, but I can’t refuse free money to help me pay off my debt!

One thing you’ll want to consider before deciding if graduate school is for you is whether your financial investment will pay off in the end.

Think about it–getting a higher education costs major money, but it can also lead to a higher salary. According to the US Census, people with master’s degrees make 2.6 times as much as people with high school diplomas. But is the salary you would be able to get with a master’s degree high enough to justify the tuition spent on a graduate school education?

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I’m in debt. I’ve had no choice but to turn to MyRichUncle in order to heep more debt as I begin my search for a grad school opportunity. Debt was never my goal. But none the less it’s a choice I face in order to achieve my aspirations and goals in life. Luckily I’ve found a great website, and what appears to be a great organization.

MyRichUncle provides student loans and approaches the student loan industry from a different angle. They believe students are credit-worthy. Thank God!

Creditworthy borrowers have a history of borrowing responsibly and paying off debt in a timely manner. Your creditworthiness is typically determined by your credit history.
borrowers. We believe student loan debt should be taken seriously by borrowers and lenders alike. Students need to pay attention because their decisions matter now. MyRichUncle offers changes in the student loan industry that work better for parents, schools and most importantly, students.

MyRichUncle pays close attention to the obstacles students face. People seem to forget all about these things. This company has really helped and allowed me to apply once and let them do all the footwork for the loan application process. It’s not a given. MyrichUncle chooses its investments wisely. So I’m taking a wait and see approach to this whole process and will let you know.

If I quality MRU will give me the money I need to pay for Grad School, and in return I will pay my loan back based on future income. Rates for graduate students start at 0.1% per $1,000, for up to 10 years, with a maximum rate of 0.4% per $1,000, depending on such things as my major, my employer, and my academic performance. Amazing. Wish me luck.

You may not have heard about Harvard deciding to provide grants for low income students instead of loans. Plenty of other Ivy League Schools are doing it too.

Duke, Williams, Princeton, Davidson, Amherst, Colby, and Wellesley have decided to phase out loans in favor of grants for certain groups of students. And in its never-ending game of catch up, Yale’s president promises his own “major announcement” in January regarding financial aid overhaul. Better late than never.

The Ivy League Tuition Arms race means maybe we can keep the cost of education down for low and middle class families and instead of having to increase debt we increase opportunities for people who really do need it. Yale’s changes will surely result in increased applications and possibly expansion, but who knows time will only tell if the prime Ivy League Schools can continue growth or if more people will continue turning to cheaper alternative forms of education like MBA’s Online.