Seven Facts You Must Know Before Going Back to College

Transcription

1 --an Education 2.0 Special Report-- Seven Facts You Must Know Before Going Back to College Have you thought about going back to college to finish your? Maybe you need an advanced to get that promotion at work. Do you have a teenager who will be off to college in a few short years but you have no clue how you are going to pay for it? You are not alone. In these tough economic times people are looking for ways to save money and find the best value for their hard earned dollars, including their education dollars. This special report is for people like you. It s for people who want to separate fact from fiction when it comes to a college education. It s for people who want a but don t want to mortgage their future to get it. It s for people who want to get their as quickly and painlessly as possible. You can t afford to not earn your college! Lifetime Earnings $6,000,000 $5,000,000 $4,000,000 $3,000,000 $2,000,000 $1,000,000 $0 Less than 9th grade High school dropout High school graduate Some college, no Associate Bachelor's Master's Doctoral Professional

2 Fact #1: College is expensive! The cost of college tuition has gone up 439% since What does that mean for you? In 2009 the cost to enroll in a public four year college averaged $6,585 a year, up 6.5% over the previous year. A private four year college would cost you over $25,143 a year 2. Typical College Costs $160,000 $140,000 $120,000 $100,000 $80,000 Private university Public university (out of state) Public university (in state) Typical distance education college Education 2.0 $60,000 $40,000 $20,000 $0 Annual tuition and fees Annual total costs Cost of four year Fact #2: Tuition is not the only expense. 1) Parking fees: If you don t live on campus you will probably want to drive to class. College campus parking fees have a wide range: from as little as $20 per semester to over $400 dollars. This is something you need to consider in your overall cost. 2) Student fees: Make sure you check all the fees before you enroll in college. Kate Pickert wrote a Time magazine report Hidden College Cost: Rising Fees. In this report she found Faced with rising costs, decreased funding and laws in many states designed to keep public universities from hiking tuition, many state school systems are making up for budget shortfalls by tacking on fees for everything from technology to energy. In some cases, these fees amount to several times a school s base tuition. 3 3) We haven t even gotten to textbooks yet! Textbooks can be a big expense. It s amazing that the textbooks from last semester are no longer good enough even 1 bureau of Labor Statistics 2 According to College Board 3 Hidden College Cost: Rising Fees September 2008 Time magazine report written by Kate Pickert

3 though it s exactly the same course. Why? Because you can buy used books at a fraction of the price of new books. Schools want you to buy the new books because it brings in extra revenue. Some professors will even recommend several textbooks for a course and then not use some of them. 4) Computers: Some colleges have computer labs you could use but it would be less convenient. In fact, computers are so integrated into a students life that is makes it almost impossible to go to college without their own computer. 5) Software: Depending on the course your taking you may need expensive software. How much can it cost? Here are a few examples: Microsoft Office: $ ($ student version) Microsoft Project: $ AutoCAD: $2,200 ($1,200 for AutoCAD LT) Microsoft Visual Studios (programming): $ ) Test Fees: If you need to take a test at the college you will probably be charged a test center fee plus any additional fees for the test itself. Fact#3: You cannot buy a legitimate. You ve seen the ads in 1 week. It s from some university in Zimbabwe that no one has ever heard of or its from a business that only generates documents that look like the real thing. The problem is that it isn t legitimate. Don t waste your money on diploma mills that charge you exorbitant fees and promise you no one will know the difference. People can tell! You end up with a useless but expensive piece of paper. We all know the saying if it sounds too good to be true it probably is. What are some of the signs that you are about to be scammed? Probably the biggest indication is offering s based on life experience. While there are legitimate life experience credits available they almost always are based on programs that have been evaluated by a third party. An example is military experience and military schooling that has been evaluated by ACE (the American Council on Education). IT certification also can often earn you college credit. Another sign is any organization that promises you a if you send in a check. In all my years of experience I ve never come across one that was not a diploma mill. HR managers are on to diploma mills. There are several organizations that maintain lists of known diploma mills. If you do fall for their scam you will get caught. Most of the time this will result in disciplinary action up to and including termination. Yes, they will fire you for this as it is viewed as a breach of integrity. Fact #4: It s not all bad news! According to the bureau of labor statistics the higher the level of your education the lower your chance of being unemployed. In these uncertain times it is vital to do

4 everything you can to keep your job. One of the best ways to do this is to earn your college. Another thing to consider is your earnings potential. If you have a bachelor s you make 80% more than a high school graduate. This goes up the higher your level of education. Fact#5: Financial Aid is available if you know where to look. There are sources of financial aid available including government grants and loans. Go to and click on college student loans and grants. You can also check out fast web for information on scholarships. Don t forget to look at your states website to see if grants and loans are available. Fact#6: More expensive doesn t mean better When it comes to getting your college you have to ask yourself what you want to accomplish. Do you need to go to an Ivy League school? Would a less expensive program be as useful in winning the job you want? There are some professions that no doubt benefit from and Ivy League. For the other 90% there are better values to be had. You don t believe me? Then consider this: do you know what school your dentist went to? If you are like me you probably care more that he/she went to dental school and is licensed to practice!

5 Several studies show that elite schools result in higher salaries and pay for themselves over time. In fact several studies support that and show Ivy Leaguers make on average 34% more than their state school counterparts. The problem is that these studies are flawed. Researchers Alan Krueger and Stacy Berg Dale compared students who went to Ivy League schools with their state school counterparts (graduates of the class of 1976). By 1995 the Ivy Leaguers earned 30% more. Krueger and Dale questioned whether it was the school or other factors that contributed to this. They hypothesized that it was the harder working and more talented students that went to elite schools. To eliminate this factor they compared the Ivy League students to students that were accepted to Ivy League schools but chose to attend a less sexy but selective state school. This essentially eliminated the actual school as a success factor. What they found was that the income varied little between schools. In other words the student s ability and willingness to work made all of the difference. This fits well with real life anecdotal experience. In my personal experience-and to everyone I ve spoken with-where you got the from didn t make a difference. Fact #7: There are some very affordable college options out there Most people just aren t aware of them. We created education 2-0 to show people exactly how to get the they want in less time, with less stress, and for a whole lot less money. Go to our website at for more information. What are my next steps? 1. The first thing you should do is learn more. Go to to learn more about distance learning and how to protect yourself from diploma mills. 2. Send this report to a friend. While this report is copyright protected we do allow you to share it with your friends. Feel free to give it to anyone you wish. The only things we require are that you keep it in its original form, you give us full attribution, and that you don t sell it. 3. If you decide distance learning is right for you buy our system. We do the hard work for you. Go to to learn more Copyright 2009 by BLEE Enterprises LLC Printed in the United States of America. All rights reserved under International Copyright Law. Contents and/or cover may not be reproduced in whole or in part without express written consent of the publisher. This publication is designed to provide general information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If legal, accounting, or other professional services are required, the services of an independent professional should be sought. From the declaration of principles jointly adopted by a committee of the American Bar Association and the committee of the Publisher s Association. Products sold as is, with all faults, without warranties of any kind, either express or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.