My Norwich University Experience : Paying For School

Need a School Loan? Not so fast!

WheelCipher — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 02:55:00 GMT

I was going to write a list of predictions for 2009 regarding the growth of distance education. It might have been an easy prediction to believe that more people will be going to school with the economy in its current state. More people out of work should normally result in an increase in people looking to upgrade their skills and knowledge.

But not so fast! Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few months, you know that a lot of the problems we’re facing now have caused the lending institutions to be very tight with their money.

What this means is that if you were looking to take out a loan for school, this is just as bad of a time to do that as it is to buy a house, car, or anything else. When Congress passed the last stimulus bill, it was supposed to go toward buying bad mortgages and covering for other bad decisions that people and banks made. Instead, it seems to me that the billions of dollars that were injected into the markets went to executive bonuses and extravagant perks for people that (in my opinion) should be in jail.

The result of this mismanagement by Congress, the banks, and anyone else who got the cash (and Congress won’t tell us who got the cash) is that money for education loans are very limited.

I found a great article that outlines all this at:

http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2009/01/24/2350276-college-financial-aid-system-facing-stiff-test

"The financing system for college is in real crisis," said Barmak Nassirian, associate executive director of the American Association of College Registrars and Admissions Officers. "Every one of the participants in the system is experiencing hardship — higher education institutions, states, aid donors and families all are cash-strapped."

I also found another article that will help you if you are looking for financial help:

Diligence, speed will help secure 2009 college aid

Good luck to all!

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Fan Mail From Angel

WheelCipher — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 02:24:00 GMT

Scott, I've read your post on Elearners.com about your experience in Kaplan. I'm 32, out of school since 1993, looking to get a BS in Business with Finance or Accounting. There are so many online schools out there that it can get overwhelming at times, besides your comments, I've many online with lots of people complaining about their financial department. Did you ever encounter any issues with them? Can you elaborate in your experience? How are their classes set up?

I never had any issues with their financial department. I used FASFA (Federal student loans) and my out of pocket through four years at Kaplan was minimal. Whenever they wanted money, they just let me know. Usually, the amount was small enough that I could pay on the spot. If the amount was a little out of my reach, they were more than willing so set up monthly payments. They were very flexible.

You have to keep in mind that it is in their best interest to be flexible. I am sure some of their goals include keeping enrollment up. That’s the case with any college. If they can make some decisions that help the student while keeping them in school, it turns into a win-win for everyone involved.

The classes are set up in a certain order that makes the learning process very sequential in nature. Some of the classes have prerequisites. If you come in without any other credits, you will take about 40 classes. They let you take two at a time. If you can prove yourself, you should be allowed to take three at a time later on. I was able to do this.

I hope this helps. I have heard other negative comments about the financial aid department at Kaplan. But I have nothing but good things to say. I never had a problem.

Do you have any questions about distance education
or anything in this post? Feel free to contact Scott anytime!

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Education Legislation

WheelCipher — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 14:47:00 GMT

I have some good news to report. Politico has a great article detailing some of the changes in an education bill that recently passed Congress and is expected to be signed by President Bush. Here are some of the highlights:

In general, this bill is supposed to make college “more affordable and more accessible” to everyone. Unfortunately, these are used as political buzzwords that don’t carry much weight with average people who are really concerned with the issues if education. So, let’s move on to the next one.

The bill is said to include provisions to rein in tuition hikes, curb predatory lending to students, expand federal student aid and impose regulations on textbook companies. What this means is that the schools, lenders, and textbook manufacturers will have to be up-front with all the fine print. Although I knew what I was getting into when I started school, I can’t help but to think that some of this is going on. With distance learning taking off in the past couple of years with no downturn in sight, it has become very easy for almost anyone to get into school. One has to assume that some wrongdoing has been taking place at some point (even if that only entails not fully informing the student of what they are getting into).

Furthermore, Pell grants will become more widely available. Usually there has to be a very high level of need demonstrated by the student in order to get this grant. With the new rules in place, it will make it a little easier to get. The cap on a Pell grant is a little over $4,000. While that’s not a lot of money by today’s educational standards, anything will help.

A lot of the expenses incurred by a student are those associated with textbooks. This is a huge market. It seems that if a textbook simply has a few minor changes over the previous version, the student is required to buy the new one. This puts a damper on the used-textbook market as well. Under the new law, the textbook companies will be required to disclose the price of each textbook to the professor who orders it, as well as disclose any changes made over previous editions. By doing this, students, faculty, and school administration will be able to make an educated decision as to the need for the “new” version of the book.

In closing, I think this bill is very good news. I am very happy to see some legislation to keep things in check. Read the article and see for yourself. I am sure you will agree.

Do you have any questions about distance education or anything in this post? Feel free to contact Scott anytime!

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Changes to the GI Bill

WheelCipher — Wed, 14 May 2008 15:30:00 GMT

The GI Bill is a very valuable recruiting tool for the military. It is also a very nice benefit for members of the military. In a perfect world, an individual would join the military, usually separate from the service around age 22 and go to college to get their education. That’s becoming harder and harder now with the rising costs of education. The current benefits offered by the GI Bill don’t cover as much education as it used to. Now, some of our elected members of Congress is trying to change that. It should be a no-brainer, but there are some issues to be worked out.

The current proposal provides a full-ride scholarship to an in-state university. I think this is great! The hang-up is that the Democrats want the benefits to kick in after three years of service, and the Republicans want them to kick in after six years. As someone who has been in the military, I can absolutely understand the perspective that three years is way too short. This whole GI Bill proposal is very expensive, and I would want to make sure I was getting a good return on investment if I were the government (or the taxpayer).

I think that a 5 year commitment would be a great compromise. This allows for the service member to get the normal 3-4 year term under their belt to see if signing up for another short stint is worth it to them. If they feel like putting forth the extra effort, they payback can be enormous. Then again, based on the length of contracts in the military, there would really be no difference between a five or six year agreement. The service member would still have to sign up for the first time, then re-enlist when that initial term is over.

With the rising costs of school, this program is as good as gold. At the same time, there is a real recruiting and retention tool for the military. If the government and the Pentagon can come to an agreement on this, I see no downside. But I do agree with the Pentagon that the term should be more than three years as proposed by Congress.

Thomas Sowell on Education

WheelCipher — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 12:00:00 GMT

The great economist Thomas Sowell recently published a 3-part essay on the economics of going to college. As usual, he makes perfect sense.

Read part 1, part 2, and part 3.

In this three-part series, Dr. Sowell tackles two of the most significant issues in education. First, we must find alternative methods of paying for education that don’t include tax payer subsidies. The second issue is the cost of education and why it’s so high. Sowell asks, "How many people would go to college if they had to pay the real cost of all the resources taken from other parts of the economy? Probably a lot fewer people."

Dr. Sowell explains that the cost of education is so high because so much of it is government subsidized, and as long as that continues to happen, the schools will continue to raise the cost of education. Until something changes, there will be no incentive for schools to lower tuition. One good way to generate incentive is to change the way the students pay for college.

Instead of relying on FASFA and other similar programs, he suggests that students sign a promissory note that states the student will essentially trade a college education for a certain percentage of their future earnings. This way, fewer people will actually go to college because that type of agreement requires more thought than simply filling out a FASFA form and going to school.

As it stands, the government is throwing money at people (and schools) no matter what the cost is. People will rack up a debt to be paid after graduation. In his plan, people will think twice as it will hit them in a more significant way than it does now.

Dr. Sowell is one of the smartest economists around. He has tons of essays on the web. You should find them and learn some things from someone who knows what he’s talking about.

Scott is also active on LinkedIn.

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