Scholarship Daily Word

Oregon adults! Do you have a partially completed undergraduate degree and at least five years displacement from college? If you have any plans to return to finish up your Bachelors, consider the University of Oregon’s Osher Reentry Scholarship. The Bernard Osher Foundation has just anted up an additional $50,000 for its non-traditional scholarship program, reports the UO. Qualified applicants may earn $2,000. Sounds like incentive enough to finish up.

The Truth About College Student Debt

FAFSA season brings on a lot of talk about the role parents play in making sure all the forms get filled out. But the mountain of student debt is really a college student problem. Fresh college grads, unless they immediately launch themselves into grad school, are responsible for repayment of college loans a quick six months following graduation. You know how quickly six months can fly by?

But if you think college students only have their student loans to juggle, think again. Credit card debt on college campuses is a problem some say is not addressed nearly enough. The actual problem though is lack of financial advice to students or lack of training in the fine art of personal finance:

“Too many college students go off to school without understanding finances, said Shalonda Jones, a representative of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. Parents make the mistake of not introducing financial literacy to children at a young age and most parents are equally clueless as to what it takes to remain financially stable, she said.”

Students who shop at the mall, such as The Gap, Victoria’s Secret and others might regularly pay with cash, but the temptation for the retailers credit cards may just be too much. Most retailers offer each buyer the on-the-spot opportunity to receive a store credit card with the added incentive to save a percentage on their current purchase. While the spirit may convince the flesh that it will cut it up afterward, the flesh is weak, weak, weak.

The CNN article underscores the situation of a college freshman who is already “$9,000 in debt,” not to mention “the thousands of dollars in student loans” she’ll face after graduation.

Financial Resources for Students

Most college students likely only run on the teaching of their families. A few programs are becoming well-publicized and recognized for their potential to fill the financial savvy gap:

For NCAA student athletes The Hartford has developed a series of online tools and tutorials. “Playbook for Life” offers financial planning ideas and elementary concepts that lay a basic foundation for a new financially-conscious lifestyle, even while in college.

Middle Tennessee State University offers a course in The Stock Market Game, an opportunity for students to manage their own make believe investments for a semester. The hands-on, albeit fictional, curriculum provides valuable skills not learned elsewhere.

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