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university student

General

How A Low GPA Affects Your Financial Aid In College

your GPA is important if you rely on financial aidEver since your earliest years in grade school, you’ve been taught that your number one concern in school is achieving high grades. Students everywhere work their hardest to get top marks from preschool to college, and it is in college that the concern for good grades takes on more significant importance. When a slipping GPA could cause you to lose your financial aid, there is no room for error. Education is expensive, and many students wouldn’t be able to go on without aid. But how can a low GPA truly affect your financial aid?

In general, there are two kinds of financial aid. Some kinds of financial aid are need based, while others are merit based. Certain special cases may combine these two types of aid into a scholarship, but in general they are kept separate. Need based aid includes the federal government aid for which students apply every year through FAFSA. These funds are allocated to students based on their financial situations. Merit based aid is typically offered by schools and other non-government institutions to help exceptionally talented students finance their education.

If your GPA begins to slip, merit based financial aid is typically the first thing that will go. Students who are given scholarships based on academic performance need to keep that performance high in order to keep receiving funds from scholarship providers. If your grades start to slip, you can expect your merit based financial aid to be revoked. Academic scholarships are given to top performers, and yours will go to another hard-working student if you begin to neglect your studies.

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Debt

5 Tips For Graduating From College Without Debt

how to graduate without debtMost of us would agree with the fact that it is a smart decision to go to college and earn a degree; especially being that there are many studies to support the fact that the average college graduate earns about $20,000 per year more than someone in the workforce who only has a high school diploma.

That’s not to say that college is not a huge financial investment. So much in fact, that an overwhelming majority of college graduates leave college with as much as $23,000 worth of student loan debt that must be paid back.  It doesn’t have to be that way for everyone, though. Below, we’ve enclosed five tips on how you can graduate from college without owing a single dime.

Take some college courses in high school. When you go to college, you are paying for each class that you take. The good news is that a large majority of high schools offer advanced placement classes that are available to juniors and seniors. By taking a few of these qualifying classes, high school students can easily shave off a semester or two of college once they enroll. (Also check with your guidance counselor to see if there are actually college courses offered at your school as well.)

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General

The Most Common Financial Hurdles For College Students

You might think that getting into the ivory tower of learning is difficult, what with the vast number of students vying for only limited admissions. But just wait until you see the bill. While some students are lucky enough to have parents who can pay their way and others have the mad skills to nab them a scholarship for partial or full tuition (and even additional expenses, in some cases), far more find themselves on the hook for a lion’s share of the costs associated with seeking a higher education and earning a degree (which generally amounts to thousands of dollars each year). This can leave the average collegian facing some major hurdles when it comes to finances. But armed with the knowledge of what to expect you may be better prepared to face and overcome these challenges. So here are some of the most common financial problems that students face.

The main issue for many students stems from a marked inability to earn the money that would help them to cover expenses. In addition to the obvious cost of tuition and books, you may also have to pay for expenses like lodgings, food, and other extras. Of course, if you choose a school that is close to home you may be able to save quite a bit by continuing to live with your parents. Even if they can’t afford to offer you cash contributions they can almost certainly help you to save some money by giving you free room and board. But many students don’t have this option because they end up at a campus that is far from home.

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Money Saving Tips

5 Of The Best Frugal Living Tips For Broke College Students

A college student with a limited amount of money; Gee, is there any other kind? Whether you’re on scholarship or financial aid, work study or you have a part-time job, no matter what your financial situation may be, there’s one thing that we know for sure: You’re trying to find ways to make your money last for just as long as you possibly can.

We’ve been there and we can totally relate. If you are looking for some frugal living tips, ones that will give you the ability to enjoy the college life without getting (financially) stressed out, we have five suggestions that can easily help you to reach that goal:

Cut out bad habits. Yeah, we know. College tends to be the time when you start certain habits more than you think about stopping them. But, if you’re a smoker, drinker or junk food eater, if you looked at the receipts for those purchases over a months’ time, it could literally cause you to go cold turkey. Vices come with a price, in more ways than one. Make sure to remember that.

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Money Saving Tips

How You Can Save Money In College And Maintain A Social Life

One of the best lessons that college will teach you is how to stretch a dollar (and by that, we mean a really long way). Whether you’re fortunate enough to attend school on scholarship, you are on financial aid and/or you need to hold down a job in order to make ends meet, we have some smart ways for you to save money while you’re enrolled so that you can enjoy all that college has to offer; including having a great social life!

Stay away from credit cards. Credit card companies love college students; so much, in fact, that you’ll probably see some of their representatives hanging out in your student union at least once a month. The main thing to remember about credit cards is that they are loans that you must pay back with interest. For that reason, you’re best sticking to cash and saving up for things that you really want.

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