Student Debt And Finance: What You Need To Know
Whether you’re already in debt, worried about getting into debt or looking for ways to minimise the amount of debt you accumulate, this page has been put together with you in mind.
I know all about student debt from personal experience, my other half Louise and I met at University and it took us over 6 years after graduating to finally pay off our student loans. I did some quick research on the topic and it would appear that we were actually quite lucky.
USA
A recent study by the National Center for Education Statistics shows that about 50% of recent college graduate have student loans, with an average student loan debt of $10,000. The average cost of college increases at twice the rate of inflation; the College Board estimates that public school costs an average of about $13,000 a year and private schools costs $28,000. Parents will pay more, too. The rate on Parent Loans for Undergraduate Students, or PLUS loans, will jump to a fixed rate of 8.5%, from the current variable rate of 6.1%.
Canada
On average, bachelor graduates with student debt owed about $20,000 to all sources. College graduates owed almost $13,000. Most education debt was to government student loan programs: 41% of college graduates and 45% of bachelor graduates left school with government student loans. College graduates with debt to government student loan programs owed an average of $12,600 and bachelor graduates owed $19,500.
UK
The average student debt in England and Wales jumped 10% in 2003 as the costs of studying rose. The average student leaves higher education owing
Cheap Landline Vs. No Landline
With the increasing prevalence of mobile phones, the days when everyone had a landline telephone connection are over. It was once predicted that when mobile phones became predominant in the telecommunications market, everyone would abandon their landline connections because of the increased flexibility offered by mobile. It was widely believed that the average person would cancel a landline service subscription to save money when mobile phones became affordable, rather than accepting a mobile contract as an additional cost.
However the reality has not proven to be quite so straightforward. Although there has been a significant drop in the number of residential fixed landlines in the UK (now totaling 23.7 million according to Ofcom at the end of 2010), the number of people who have both a landline and mobile connection is far greater than had previously been estimated.
So why have so many people decided to keep paying for landline connections? There are a number of reasons. One of the most important is that whilst mobile services have improved greatly over the past decade, they are still far from perfect. Although coverage on the larger mobile networks is now very comprehensive, no network offers total coverage of the UK. There are still some areas, known as ‘not-spots’, with little to no 3G coverage whatsoever. For the people and particularly businesses living and operating in these areas, there really is no alternative to using a landline connection.
Another excellent reason to have a cheap landline connection is to dodge excessive charges from mobile phone operators for certain services. Some mobile phone operators will charge you for receiving voicemail messages, a service that is usually free if you have a landline handset with an answer phone facility.
Even more frustrating can be charges from mobile phone service providers for calling 0845 or 0870 numbers. Often these can be exorbitant, and this has been a problem for many students in the UK who return to university to find that their loan payments have not been received. Student Finance England requires telephone queries to be directed to an 0845 number and regularly puts callers on hold for periods of several minutes or more. With many providers charging 20p per minute or more, the cost can quickly add up.
Battery life, per-minute costs, and the benefits of being able to list a business number in the telephone directory can all be important considerations for certain phone users. For example a business may want to be reachable at all times and by anyone in the local area with a minimum amount of fuss. Mobile phone numbers not only seem less professional to consumers, they are also less reliable. Especially for users of high-end mobile phones, battery life can be limited and this can create problems too. Having a landline as backup can be invaluable in situations when an important call must be made and battery life is running low. Finally, the per-minute cost of making calls from a landline can be cheaper than the cost of making calls from a mobile. Check with your provider to make sure there are no surprises when you receive your landline or mobile phone bill.
Alternative Student Loan – Do You Need Extra Money For College?
Are you trying to pay for college and you cannot get enough money from regular financial aid? Do you need extra money for tuition, books, fees, and living expenses? There are ways that you can get more student loan money with an alternative student loan if you know where to look. Here are some helpful tips for you.
First, when you are looking at your budget and figuring out how much money you need for college you should always over exaggerate. This is important because if you just assume you will be fine on what you think you need, then how are you going to deal with an unexpected expense like a car repair or trip to the hospital.
Second, with an alternative student loan you can get extra money to help you so that you do not have to work and you can concentrate on your studies. There are various types of alternative student loans out there for you and all you really need to do is talk to your financial aid office to find out what you can qualify for.
Last, when it comes to any type of loan for schooling it is important that you make sure the loans do not have to be paid back until you have graduated. They should give you some sort of a grace period after graduation before they begin to ask you to pay for your student loans. This is important because you do not want this stress while you are taking classes.