Don’t Live Off Your Credit Card

The economics of attending college are scary. College tuition in some cases is on par with buying a home. So every semester there will be times when money is tight. Even though it’s convenient try to resist the temptation of living off your credit card to make ends meet. Commit to going without instead. Yes, you have to eat, but you don’t have to eat out. Cook at home or if your parents live close by, go to their house for dinner. Save the credit card for real emergencies, like if your car breaks down and you need a tow, or you have to fly home on a moment’s notice. Because once you start digging yourself into a debt hole, it’s really hard to get out. And who needs the stress of debt on top of college?

Talk to Your Advisor Regularly

Whether you go to school online or on campus, you will be assigned a college advisor. When I went to college I knew people who never even knew who their advisor was until a scheduling disaster struck. Don’t wait until you need help to befriend the people that can help you. If you haven’t done so already make an appointment to meet your advisor either in person or at least by e-mail. Introduce yourself, talk about your major, explain your goals—in general, be pleasant. Make a good impression now when it’s clear that you don’t want something in return. That way when you do need help you and your advisor will already have some sort of relationship. (Which raises you to the top of the pile of people you’re advisor will help first.)

Budget Your Time

No matter how many years you’ve been in college that fall semester is always the hardest one to adjust to. You’re coming off two to three months of summer fun where you’ve been working, traveling, and probably NOT doing homework. Now all of sudden you have to figure out how you’re going to cram 30 hours of stuff in a 24-hour day. They key to getting it all done is good planning. Set a schedule that not only shows when you’ll work and go to school, but also when you will do homework, labs, seminars; whatever is expected of you. Also include pockets of free time to do things like take a walk or go for a bike ride. At some point you need to rest your mind and move your body.

Check Amazon to Rent e-Books

This summer Amazon announced that many of the textbooks assigned by college instructors will be available as e-book rentals. Check to see if your textbooks are on Amazon’s e-Book rental list. This is a huge cost savings if your books are in fact part of this program. Granted, your instructors will most likely know if the texts they assign are online, because they are usually the ones to ask Amazon to make them available. However, in some cases a book may be on the Amazon e-book rental list because other instructors requested it. Regardless of who stuck it out there, anyone can rent them, so it never hurts to check.

Check Apple’s New Student Pricing

This summer Apple revamped it’s education pricing and thus now more student discounts on more Apple items are available. Plus, until September 20, 2011, Apple is giving away a $100 Apple Store gift card to anyone who buys a Mac computer (even with the student discount). True, Apple is not known for heavy discounting but if you’ve have to get a new laptop anyway, and you’ve always wanted a Mac, now would be the time to get one.

Remember, when going to college every little bit of free advice helps. At the rate tuition is going up, advice is just about the only thing left that IS free. So take it while you can (and pass it on).

But even with these challenges, online eduction is on the rise. A 2009 report on online education, conducted by SRI International for the Department of Education, found that on average, distance learning students performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction. Which means that distance learning students are, in fact, discovering how to navigate the previously uncharted waters of online education. Like anything new you just have to figure out how to make the program work for you rather than the other way around. So if you’re on the fence about going back to school via the Internet because you think the obstacles are too big, check out these five online education challenges and how to overcome them.

Work vs. Family vs. School

Traditionally kids went from high school to college, so they probably didn’t have to worry about juggling school with jobs. However, many distance learners have been working fulltime for a while, so maintaining a job is a big consideration when going back to school. Plus, if you have a family to take care of, that makes things even more complicated.

The solution to fitting it all in is to sit down with your boss, coworkers and family members ahead of time and explain why going to college is important to you. Ask for some consideration at work by requesting flexible hours or getting permission to do homework on company time, if needed. At home, make a plan that describes how everyone will pitch in, which includes family members taking turns grocery shopping, making dinners, doing laundry, etc. Arrange for childcare ahead of time and have a back-up plan, just in case someone gets sick and can’t perform their duties. The secret to success in balancing work, family, and school is to be organized, plan ahead, and get everyone’s buy-in.

Self-doubt

Don’t let lack of confidence stand in your way of achieving your degree. Just because you didn’t finish college the first time doesn’t mean you can’t finish now. Timing is everything and now may be the perfect time to go to school, even though it wasn’t before. Many online colleges offer counseling and support groups to help you when you question your ability to succeed. Rely on these programs, as well as your friends and family to get you through the rough spots.

Household Distractions

When doing coursework online quite often you’ll hear the distractions of your home calling. For example, doing the laundry, dishes, dusting, vacuuming, etc., could all suddenly seem like the most pressing matter when you have an assignment due by 5 p.m. Don’t let these distractions dissuade you from getting your homework done. If you can’t help yourself go to the public library to do your schoolwork. You’d be surprised how much you can get done if you don’t have a dirty window staring at you.

Lack of Self-motivation

If you find you can’t do your coursework without a teacher standing in front of you then you may need a little help with self-motivation. There are a number of ways to trick yourself into getting your work done, the best being a little reward if you do it. However, if humans influence you more than treats consider putting together an online study group, where you get together at least once a week (online) to discuss the current week’s assignments. If you know you have deadlines BEFORE your homework is actually due, you’ll trick yourself into getting it done one time.

Lack of Technical Knowledge

For anyone born before 1990 technology can be a tough hurdle to get over in terms of online education. You do have to be able to use the Web proficiently, but fortunately it’s not rocket science to do so. You don’t have to be a computer whiz just to use online education just like you don’t have to know how a carburetor works to drive a car. If you’re concerned take a basic computer class at your local Apple store (if you have a Mac) or the Microsoft store (if you have a PC). Or if you have access to any eighth grader, just have him or her show you how to navigate the Internet.

Get free information about online education!

Unlike traditional college, where you make going to school your fulltime job, the time needed to partake in online education has to be retrofitted into your already busy day. This is not impossible to do IF you plan your schedule in advance. Organization is the key, that and a willingness to go the distance (with distance learning).

But it’s the big departures from old school that seem to make everyone’s head spin. So even if you’re just thinking about enrolling in the higher halls of learning, it might behoove you to use these next few languishing months of summer vacation to educate yourself on the new college frontier BEFORE you commit to anything. It’s not that college is any scarier than it’s ever been, it’s just different than it used to be. And nothing illustrates those differences more than these four new trends that are cropping up on college campuses all over the country.

Age Before Beauty

Used to be colleges were synonymous with young, attractive co-eds (who were barely old enough to vote) running from one frat party to the next, wasting “Daddy’s money” on an education that taught them little more than how to create the perfect beer bong. Not anymore. According to the education blog, Edvisors, 38 percent of all college students are over age 25, and they are serious about their educations. Even schools like Harvard and Notre Dame are seeing their average student age creep up to 27. Why? The reasons are varied:

People seeking career changes
College costs going up (forcing people to put off college to work first and save up tuition)
Job competition on the rise
People enlisting in the armed forces now, to get a free education later

College is no longer just fun and games, and nothing reflects that more than the new (wrinkled) face of the earnest student who is there to learn. The irony? This new demographic is old enough to legally drink, but is often too tired from studying to go out and party.

Distance Learning

If the face of the average college student has aged, then the campus itself has morphed into a computer screen. Distance learning, sometimes referred to as online college, has gone from a community ed novelty to a legitimate way for students to earn college degrees. Nearly four million people take some form of accredited college courses via distance learning, with almost every major college and university participating. And why not? It’s easy, it keeps costs down, and people don’t have to quit their day jobs to go back to school. And let’s be honest; once you have your degree very few employers care about the nuts and bolts of how you earned it.

Technology Over Textbooks

Textbooks used to add up to hundreds of dollars per term for any poor, starving college student. And boy, were they a bear to lug around. But now many of those same books fit nicely onto a smart phone, iPod, or laptop. Oh, you can still print them out and fill notebooks full of tree-eating paper, if you like. But the nice thing is, you don’t have to. Technology has changed the format of assigned college reading, to e-books, PDF files, blogs, and websites. Plus, students can communicate with their instructors via email, Twitter, Facebook, or comments on a blogsite. Some teachers even require their students to set up their own blogs as a means of submitting work.

Foreign Campus, American Degree

Used to be that if you wanted to travel you waited until after you graduated from college to do so, but now more students than ever are making the world their classrooms. Fortunately, it’s easy for them to do, since many American colleges and universities have set up satellite campuses in foreign countries. Originally designed to attract foreign students to American schools (without making them incur the expense of relocating to the United States), many American students have figured out that they, too, can attend these foreign-American schools and still obtain the same degree as if they stayed at home. The Institute of International Education reports that 260,327 American students studied outside the U.S. for college credit during the 2008/2009 school year (up 150 percent since 2000) proving that if students have opportunities to learn abroad they’ll take advantage of them.

Of course, none of these new trends should discourage you from starting or returning to college. On the contrary, with technology in the mix distance learning opens the doors to a whole new world of possibilities for the student who has to hold down a job while attending school. With all the changes we’re seeing in how people go to college many of the traditional barriers that kept people out of school are coming down, which means you have to ask yourself, “Is the time right for me to go back to school?” Could be the answer is yes.