The Value of a College Education

Everyone attending college hears the quote “People with a bachelor’s degree earn a million more dollars over their lifetime” but what does this really mean. A recent nationwide analysis of degree data by Zaback & Crellin, (2012) shows that people who receive a bachelor’s make more than 71% than those with a HS diploma. That study also broke down the wage increase by field which is more helpful when considering what to major in. The two highest paying fields are Science/ Technology /Math (STEM) and Health care and this is true for both bachelor’s and associates degrees.

Another common myth is the Bill Gates story that if he doesn’t need college then you don’t either because college costs are rising. While, college cost have risen well over 200% so has the gap in income between those that attend college and those that don’t and the unemployment rate for college grads is significantly lower than those without college. In statistics, we measure things using the bell curve and it’s assumed that 95% of people fall into the same category. Bill Gates does not fall into the 95% of the population. Actually, a study by Wadhwa, Saxenian & Siciliano (2005) showed that of 500 startup companies founded those started by college graduates performed better than those started by someone with a HS diploma. The knowledge that a college education imparts is critical thinking and learning how to structure your thoughts along a proven framework based on hundreds of years of research by scholars and researchers.

Yes, college costs have risen dramatically and this is why researching the right major and school is so critical to transitioning to a college environment. If you’re planning on attending college and unsure of the economic value of a major then a good place to start researching is http://live.sheeo.gotpantheon.com/resources/publications/economic-benefit-postsecondary-degrees

Scholarships for Military Children Program

The Defense Commissary Agency business partners and others are in the 12th year of awarding scholarships and in 2012 more than 600 scholarships were awarded for a total of a million dollars.

Only dependent unmarried children under age 23 of active duty personnel, reserve/guard and retired military members, or survivors of service members who died while on active duty or survivors of individuals who died while receiving retired pay from the military, may apply for a scholarship.

Recipient must be enrolled or planning to enroll full-time in a four-year undergraduate college or university or students attending a community college must be enrolled in a program of studies designed to allow the student to transfer directly into a four-year program accredited in the U. S. They must have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 basis. The minimum GPA requirement applies to both high school and college students.

The scholarship provides for payment of tuition, books, lab fees and other related expenses For more information please see: http://www.militaryscholar.org/sfmc/application.html

Military Members Qualify for Student Loan Forgiveness

The College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007 created a new public service loan forgiveness program for military members with federal student loans. The servicemembers must have made 120 payments over 10 years while in the service in order to have the loans discharged. Since the program was only enacted in 2007 all payments must have been made after Oct. 1, 2007 and the earliest date to have your loans discharged will be Oct. 2017.

Military service is one of the qualifying jobs and the service must have been full time as defined by the College Cost Reduction and Access Act which for National Guard members means that they must be “full time” National Guard as defined by section 101(d)(1) and (d)(5) of title 10, United States Code. In order to have the loans discharged the student must be working in a qualifying occupation at the time of discharge and there other jobs that count towards the requirement.

Public service jobs other than the military that qualify for the program are jobs with federal, state, and local government organizations, teachers, first responders (police, fire, EMT), public librarians, social workers, public defenders, and those employed at public schools and colleges.

The program covers federal Stafford, Grad PLUS, or consolidation loans as long as they are in the Direct Loan program however it does not cover Parent PLUS loans or private student loans. The federal Direct Loan program is a federal program where the college becomes the lending agency and manages the funds directly, with the federal government providing the funds. To determine if your loans are in the Direct Loan program and for questions please call the Direct Student Loan program at 1-800-848-0979. If the federal student loans are NOT in the Direct Student Loan program than they would have to be consolidated into the program in order to be eligible for forgiveness and this can be done at the federal website for consolidation at http://loanconsolidation.ed.gov.

Qualifying payments are payments made through Direct Loan Program in any of the following payment plans, the Income Contingent Repayment plan, Standard Repayment plan and the Income-Based Repayment (IBR) plan.

Because this is a new program students should keep W-2’s for the ten year proving qualifying work experience for the ten year time period as well as a record of student loan payments that can be verified. More information will be available as the Oct. 2017 date approaches, for updates please visit the Direct Loan Center at https://www.dl.ed.gov.


References:

1. http://www.finaid.org/loans/forgiveness.phtml

2. http://www.ibrinfo.org/what.vp.html

3. https://www.dl.ed.gov/borrower/BorrowerWelcomePage.jsp

4. https://www.dl.ed.gov/borrower/contactUs.do?BORROWER=1

5. http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdf/E8-24922.pdf

Scholarship for Military and veterans

The deadline of January 5th is rapidly approaching for the Department of Homeland Security’s Scholarship. The scholarship is for students who believe their degree program supports the DHS mission of securing the country and preserving our freedoms. The student must be enrolled in a major or concentration in any of the following areas:

Advanced Data Analysis and Visualization
Biological Threats and Countermeasures
Border Security
Chemical Threats and Countermeasures
Communications and Interoperability
Community, Commerce and Infrastructure Resilience
Emergency Preparedness and Response
Explosives Detection, Mitigation and Response
Food and Agriculture Security
Human Factors
Immigration Studies
Infrastructure Protection
Maritime and Port Security
Natural Disasters and Related Geophysical Studies
Risk, Economics, and Decision Sciences
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Transportation Security

For more information please go directly to the website at: http://www.orau.gov/dhsed/

Military Spouse Education Benefits program

*DOD announced that the MyCAA program will resume operations on March 13, 2010, at 12 p.m.,for military spouses who currently have existing MyCAA accounts. Those who have an existing account will have access to the Web site, including the ability to create and have financial documents approved. Those who do not will have to wait until more information comes out*

The military spouse career advancement program is a Department of Defense (D.O.D) program that pays for education and training to include degree programs leading to employment in portable careers.

To get started the spouse must establish an account at https://aiportal.acc.af.mil/mycaa
The spouse must have an established and approved career goal and have an approved degree program.

Any spouse of a military member on active duty, Coast Guard deployed with the Navy, Active/Guard Reserve (AGR) and Reserve component members on active duty for more than a year are eligible.

To apply for the program a spouse must call a military OneSource consultant at 1-800-342-9647 to create a career plan and academic goal. The program only covers tuition up to $6000 dollars a year and it does not cover fees and other costs.

The program is sponsored by the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Military Community and Family Policy and the program is designed to decrease the stress of Permanent Change of Duty Stations (PCS) on military families.

Free College for N.Y Veterans and Gaurd

N.Y State recently announced that combat veterans and N.Y State Guard members are eligible for free college at any of the S.U.N.Y colleges. This program allows officers and enlisted to attend SUNY for free up to a master’s degree.

There are simple rules. You must have the served in a combat zone and you must be a NY state resident. Eligible veterans can receive 98% of tuition or $4,287.50, whichever is less, for full time study at the State University of New York. Questions regarding eligible service or how to document service should be directed to the HESC Scholarship Unit at 1-888-697-4372. For more information please go to http://www.hesc.com/content.nsf/SFC/2/Veterans_Tuition_Awards

The basics are that if you have deployed as under one of the following conditions then you are eligible:

Vietnam Veterans who served in Indochina between February 28, 1961 and May 7, 1975.
Persian Gulf Veterans who served in the Persian Gulf on or after August 2, 1990.
Afghanistan Veterans who served in Afghanistan during hostilities on or after September 11, 2001.
Veterans of the armed forces of the United States who served in hostilities that occurred after February 28, 1961 as evidenced by receipt of an Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Navy Expeditionary Medal or a Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal.


This program brings N.Y State in line with many of the other states that have recognized the extraordinary sacrifices that combat veterans have made to their country.

According to the US Census Bureau, the average earnings for a bachelors degree is $54,000 and for a masters degree it is $79,000 or so therefore earning a college degree but in particular an advanced degree can go a long way towards closing the economic gap for veterans.

For more information for NY state Combat veterans go to the NY Division of Veterans Affairs.