I do this because I love you, because I do not want you to be in bondage, because I want you to own your future, and I want you to experience the real freedom that comes with an education without strings. I have seen so many of you through my years at A-State, and so many before you wish they had heard this earlier. So let me say it loud and clear. You pay attention now, apply yourself. Listen to this podcast and use what you learn. Come see me if you don't understand, I will give you a hand grasping ideas and brainstorming options. The Financial Aid and Scholarships office is also there to help you, just remember loans, grants, and scholarships are three different things.
Keep your ear to the ground and do not miss out on program, department, and college scholarships. It is a shame when those go unused and you are going around borrowing money. Make it easier for future you! What other scholarship opportunities are out there? Share links in the comments so other students can see them. Share the wealth!
This is one thing that has stuck with me through all of the courses in this program. The Borrowed Future podcast is a must listen for all students, future and present. This podcast has given me the clear mindset on my ROI. Though it is not clear on how long or how much my ROI will be, it gives me a perspective. As a young man, a young married man, my finances are a large part of what drives my decisions. My wife is currently finishing up pharmacy school and her ROI is a little more obvious. But, I believe these episodes shed light on the decision making process any person has to go through when deciding what education to get, what job to take, or what route they want their life to go. The Borrowed Future podcasts are a must listen and I cannot stress that enough. Being financially aware and allowing yourself to live freely is the best route to go and these episodes will help you!
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you and your wife both benefited from the podcast assignments. They have served their purpose then. I am so appreciative that you let me know =)
DeleteThis post is a great reminder of the one thing that many students must keep in the back of their minds when it comes to advanced degrees. Many students choose not to pursue advanced degrees because of the debt they know they'd incur. The drawback to this is limited career advancement opportunities and limited pay. Conversely, students who do choose to pursue a single or multiple advanced degrees have to worry about the debt they'll incur. But, if they're in a career field that pays nicely, they don't have to worry as much, because they can get the loans paid off quickly.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I don't have as much student loan debt as many people across America do, but nevertheless, I still have it. When I'm finally done with school, I'll be looking to get rid of it as quick as possible, because I don't want that on my conscience. Thankfully, the return on my investment is looking pretty promising, because I'm earning an advanced degree at an early age (23) and I'm in a profession that progressively increases my pay as time rolls on (education).
The Borrowed Future podcasts do a good job of reminding adults that you can take control over the financial outlook of your life; you just have to be strategic about it.
If you are a teacher like me, check out these websites for scholarships! I hope it helps:
https://www.teacher.org/scholarships-grants/
https://www.alleducationschools.com/financial-aid/teaching-scholarships/
Thank you so much for the extra resources, those will be a blessing for future students. I appreciate your helpful disposition so very much!
DeleteI love this post and have seen in previous classes you talk about the podcast Borrowed Future. This podcast should be a must listen for all students planning to go to college. My wife and I were a part of a David Ramsey's Financial Peace University course several years ago at our church and learned a great deal about becoming debt free. Something the we have tried to share with two of our sons that are currently in college, along with myself who has returned to college for my masters. Going through college the first time around for my Bachelor's, I was fortunate enough to not have to borrow any money as everything was paid for with scholarships and grants. Before ultimately deciding to go back to school myself, I decided to do some research as I knew that I was more than likely going to have to take a student loan out this time. Upon doing research, and weighing the cost versus my return on investment, I decided to go for it. Like the individual in the other comment, I am also an educator and upon completion of my masters will receive a raise in my salary due to my level of education. This pay raise in my current school district will be around $4,000 per year. Along with the raise, this will add to my teacher retirement fund and will increase my share upon retirement. Furthermore, I was also able to find a grant (TOPS Grant) for educators from the Arkansas Department of Higher Education that will reimburse me $3,000 per year. Since I started the program in January, I will be able to apply for this grant for both the 19-20 and 20-21 school years. Along with that, I have begun looking into the federal teacher loan forgiveness program. For me this program can potentially forgive up to $5,000 off of my students loan because I work in a school district that qualifies under their guidelines. Personally, my wife and I have encouraged our boys to search out financial aid and apply for everything that they are eligible to receive. This should be something that all school counselors, teachers, and parents should try to share with future college students.
ReplyDeletehttps://scholarships.adhe.edu/financial-aid-for-teachers/
You guys are killing me with kindness. Thank you for the helpful resources you all are living for your classmates here. This is fabulous! I love it
DeleteI loved this podcast. I was always very set on getting through college with as little of debt as I could. I was always lucky to have parents to help me when I needed but when I graduated high school I attended a community college while I lived at home. I also worked to pay my tuition with what my scholarships did not cover. I graduated with my basics and then went to ASU for my 4 year. I applied for as many scholarships as I could and luckily I received the Hope scholarship which paid for mot of my tuition while I worked for my living expenses. In 6 years of school I had no loans to pay back and a lot of people cannot say that. I qualified for loans and it looks appealing at the time especially if you do not receive any scholarships but I resisted the temptation of taking any out to live on and decided to work to pay for living arrangements. A lot of younger kids will also take extra money out then what they really need to cover such expenses and not realize the interest on the higher amounts. It really does take financial planning and self control when temporary money in put in front of you. 7 years later and I decided to go back for my masters and now I had to take out these loans that were offered to me and now I have to pay them back. Within 1 year and a few months I now have 10,000 in loans I have to pay back. Unfortunately there is not a lot of scholarships offered for graduate school so not having any debt from previous schooling was good. I have also payed monthly on my current loan to try to keep interest down by taking advantage of paying the principle balance down when it was offered. I work with student athletes now and I try my best to educate them on taking advantage of a free education when they can get it and try to use my story as an example.
ReplyDeleteGreat job passing along your wisdom to the younger generation. That's a good thing you are doing. I am proud of you.
DeleteDr. Benavides,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this podcast! As someone in their 30s and with kids, I can't tell you how crippling student loan debt is and how freeing it can be when it is paid off. Through college I worked as much as I could to keep my student loans down. I walked out of college with about $20k in debt and in 10 years I was able to pay it off this past year. It felt amazing! And now currently I am taking out only a small fraction of loans for tuition, paying the rest as I go with my own money, and paying monthly installments already on the loans to keep the interest down. Thank you for the guidance!
I believe that this is very important information that every college student should know. It can be very overwhelming to deal with the high costs of a college education.
ReplyDelete