myUsearch blog

Today we have a guest post from Josef Katz from Straighterline, a company that offers a new way to complete your required college courses online with convenient and affordable online college courses that you can take on your own schedule.

A new report from the U.S. Census Bureau predicts that the more you learn, the more you will earn during your working career:

• High school graduates will earn an average of $1.2 million over their careers
• College grads with bachelor’s degrees will earn $2.1 million
• People with master’s degrees will earn $2.5 million
• People with doctoral degrees will earn $3.4 million
• People with professional degrees will earn $4.4 million

Source: The Big Payoff: Educational Attainment and Synthetic Estimates of Work-Life Earnings 

Photo by gadget dude

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Today we have a guest post from Lynn O’Shaughnessy. 
O’Shaughnessy is the author of The College Solution, an Amazon bestseller, and she also writes a college blog for CBSMoneyWatch and TheCollegeSolutionBlog. Follow her on Twitter.

Ever hear about college taxes?

No this isn’t a joke. If you aren’t careful you could owe college taxes on your 529 plan.

Nobody tells you that you could ultimately owe taxes on a 529 college plan, but plenty of people discover this nightmare during tax season.

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Due to the rising cost of college, over 70% of college students now consider taking out student loans. While these numbers are a sad reflection of the cost of college, the fact is that student loans are very good debt to have. (more…)

During this time of economic volatility, we are all beginning to realize that life as we know it will forever be different. But that doesn’t change the ever-present questions on the mind of most high school seniors: What are my college options? What colleges should I apply to? Do I want my parents to foot the bill for an expensive education?

So what exactly should you do to gain access to the best college opportunities during this uncertain time?

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FACT – In 2004, nearly two-thirds (62.4%) of graduates from public universities had student loans. (Source)  Given this level of borrowing, there is no doubt that the current mortgage and student loan crisis has the immediate attention of parents and students.   The student loan squeeze is a  three part series that will answer  a  few of the most  important  questions on the  minds of  students and  parents  around the country.

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I remember back in the 80’s when Reebok came out with their new “pump” style sneakers.  The shoe had a rubber ball shaped pump at the top of the tongue, and when you squeezed it, the sneakers would inflate around your heels.  If I was ever going to dunk the basketball, the Reebok Pumps were my ticket.  Of course when I presented the situation to my parents, I got the same response I always got when I asked for money…”do you think money grows on trees?”   My dreams of playing professional basketball were shattered. 

Now that I’m taller, and a financial aid director, I’m starting to believe that my parents were wrong.  Perhaps money really does grow on trees. (more…)

I know there are plenty of parents out there that are saving to pay for the college education of their children.  First of all, I think that is a noble and honorable thing to do and I applaud parents who are doing it.  Your children will be better off because of your intuitive thinking and fiscal intelligence. (more…)

The student loan industry has been viewed with much skepticism over the past few years due to the fact that the percentage of loans over grants and scholarships has increased drastically. This is bad news by itself because many students will not graduate and find a job that enables them to pay off the loans, leaving them to either default or reduce their standard of living. Some schools default rates are so high that federal loans are being removed from the financial aid package entirely.

Until today I thought that default rates and ability to pay the loans back were the only issues. (more…)