College Salary Report

Hi All,

Summer is starting to end...and with that school is right around the corner.  With that in mind college students would do well to take a look at the 2015-2016 PayScale College Salary Report.  

Want to make a smart decision about college?  Let PayScale help you do your homework.  Choose the degree and school that will set you up for the career of your dreams.  The 2015-2016 College Salary Report has college rankings for over 1,000 schools by salary potential.  Find the best college and majors to increase your earning potential.

There are links to 2-Year Colleges, Best Undergraduate Schools, Top Graduate Schools, and a list of Majors that Pay You Back.

For more information on PayScale click on the 'About Us' link.

Enjoy the links,

Regards,
Stu

Free Financial Aid Resources

Hi All,

Check it out - its that time of year when college applications are due.  And once that happens, college acceptance letters should start rolling in. 

With that in mind students - and their parents - might be well served by visiting the New York State Higher Education Services Corporation website from the New York State government.  Click here to visit the site.

What does the site have you ask? Great question!  Three major sections will help students.  The first major section helps students prepare for college.  There is a section on your 'High School Plan' which will help you determine what to do year-by-year to prepare for college.  There is also a college fair calendar and a section on applying to college step-by-step.

Next is the 'How to Pay' for college.  22 NYS student financial programs are covered, federal financial aid is covered.  Sections on filling out and completing the FAFSA and TAP applications are listed as well.  There are also calculators, estimators and more on this section of the site.

Finally, the last section is called 'Repay' - paying off student loans.  Finally, readers of this blog entry can use this site to find FAFSA completion events in our area - click here to go to the site. 

Enjoy the site - and I hope the applying to college process is quick, painless and successful for you.

Regards,
Stu

Khan Academy - Educational site for Students

Hi All,

You might have heard about it, or read about it...its a very valuable, free, educational website for students from 1st grade to college!  What is it you ask?

Khan Academy. Khan Academy's mission is to provide a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere.  Now that's a broad, ambitious goal...but check out the site and the various topics they cover.  You'll be impressed with the coverage and broad array of topics available for study.

Subjects covered at the Khan Academy include Math, Science, Economics/Finance, Arts/Humanities, Computing, Tes Preparation, College Admissions and Coach resources. But wait, there's more.  Subjects are available for students from Kindergarten all the way up to the college level. 

Specific topics run the gamut of geometry, algebra, calculus, linear algebra, microeconomics, biology, chemistry, physics, art history basics, computer programming, SAT, MCAT, GMAT preparation and much,much more. 

Once users sign on to the site and choose the topic they navigate there way to videos that will explain the topic or the problem(s) that they are interested in.   Also, community questions are available for students to review and question answers are readily available for students.

More than likely, users will get the best possible experience from the Khan Academy by logging in and creating a free account. ,

Khan Academy partners include Dartmough College, The Aspen Institute, MIT+K12, NASA, The Brookings Institution, Pixar in a Box and NOVA Labs. 

Finally, for more information, click on this link for the Khan Academy blog.

Enjoy the site - and I hope it helps you to get better grades in school!

Regards,
Stu

Useful, Free Web Tools For Lifelong Learners

Hi All,

You've heard about it and read about it on the web and in magazines and in school and on tv...lifelong learning. Its not just a fad - its here to stay - and now with this extensive set of link (all from one page I might add) you don't have any reason for your life and your career not to soar anymore!

What is distance learning or distance education?  Click on this link from Wikipedia which discusses the comprehensive nature of the phrase. The  link also has explanations of what an open college is, what an open university is, criticisms of distance learning and benefits of distance education.

More to the point though, click on this link of 100 Useful, Free Web Tools For Lifetime Learners from  AdvangateEdu.com.

My favorites are: MIT Open Courseware, Open Courseware Consortium,  Tufts University Open Courseware, and the University of Pennsylvania Online Books Page.

Okay...one more...the Open Education Database link is very, very useful and well, educational!

Enjoy the links and the classes - and remember, the classes are free!

Regards,
Stu

Publications.USA.gov

Hi All,

Just a quickie post today about a US government site called Publications.USA.gov.  What is the site about?  Simple, it's a federal website where citizens can order government publications. 

Specifically the FCIC (Federal Citizen Information Center) has been "a trusted one-stop source for answers to questions about consumer problems and government services. "  Publications.USA.gov has replaced the old Pueblo, Colorado website.  For more information about the organization, click on this link. 

Users can search for publications by using drop-down menus on the homepage.  Categories include Animals, Cars, Computers, Education, Family, Health, Housing, Money and Travel among others.  Material can be ordered in printed, pdf, e-reader or online format.  Material also comes in Spanish and English.  Finally, users can search for publications using a text search which is also on the homepage.

Instead of using the drop-down menu's at the top of the page, users can choose categories at the left side of the homepage...(same categories are listed as in the drop-down menu).

Features publications are listed on the right side of the page (and are hyperlinked).  Examples of featured publications when I was writing this entry included 'Men: Stay Health at Any Age', 'Buying a Used Car', and 'How to Fix Mistakes in Your Credit Card Bill'.  

Note: not all publications need to be ordered.  In fact, many of the publications can be viewed online directly on the site by the viewer.  Advantages: You can see the publication directly and then you can decide whether or not print them out on your printer....

The 2015 Consumer Action Handbook is available on the site as well - which is a very, very popular publication!

And...users can sign up for email for free email updates on nearly topics (including benefits, grants, financial aid, health and nutrition, money, and taxes. Users can sign up for free email updates or to access subscribers preferences by clicking on this link.

Site users can order publications by catalog item number as well - click link for more information.

Finally, in order to display the variety of publication topics available on the site, I did a deep-dive in the the list of education publications.

Preparing For College
Examples of publications include:
Choosing Your Student Loan
Choosing a College: 8 Questions to Ask
Funding Your Education
My Future My Way: First Steps Toward College

Preschool
Helping Yor Child Become a Reader
Helping Your Preschool Child
Toddlers Get Ready to Read: How Parents Can Help Their Toddlers Get Ready to Read

K-12 Years
Choosing a School For Your Child
Extracurricular Activities: The Afterschool Connection
Imagine! Introducing Your Child to the Arts
Parent Power: Build the Bridge to Success

And on and on it goes...what a great free site from the federal government!

Enjoy the links and the publications.

Regards,
Stu

Hi All,

What does the number 529 mean to you?  Is it a batting average or a birthdate?  In terms of education - specifically your children - does it mean anything? Well...it does have a pretty darn important meaning if you want to send your children to college. 

A 529 plan is a college savings plan that is a tax-advantaged program that is created to help families save for a child's future education expense. (The name '529' comes from the IRS Code section that specifies the plans' tax advantages.)

Click on this link to learn about the general characteristics of 529 college savings plans, how it can help you save for college, what kinds of plans are available and choosing a 529 plan. In addition, this website has links for parents, grandparents and family & friends.

And, since many folks - okay, probably 95% of you - who read this blog live in Farmingdale/Long Island area, you might want to visit the New York State site for 529 plans.  Clicking on this link enables users to learn about the plan benefits, investments, open an account, a section of FAQ's and resources about 'all-things-529-related'. 

Finally, readers would be well advised to take a look at the site called 'Savingforcollege.com' - this particular link has an entry called 'Which is the best 529 plan available?' Alternatively, users can click on this link from the Huffington Post, titled, 'The Best and Worst 529 College Saving Plans of 2014'.

Finally, to learn more about the best and worst 529 plans, users can do a simple Google search for the phrase 'New York State 529 Plans Best Worst'.

Hope the post was educational and helpful.

Regards,

Stu