The FCAT scores for 2009 are now out, and parents in Florida can find out where their children are headed academically and possibly financially. FCAT stands for Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. Students in grades 3-11 take the FCATs, and it’s never too early to start thinking about your child’s future, college and career.

Everyone knows that college graduates make more money. FCAT scores could help or hinder a high school graduate’s chances of getting into their university of choice.

Of course, if you don’t have stellar FCAT scores, that doesn’t mean you won’t be successful, but high FCAT scores just make it a little easier to follow the traditional path of college followed by a career.

Don’t be hasty

Of course, you’re probably going to need personal loans to send your child to college. If your student’s FCAT scores are so stellar that you get a scholarship to an Ivy League school, more power to you. But the reality for most people is that college is expensive.

So I must caution you: just because your FCAT scores in 2009 are good enough to get into an uber-expensive school, that doesn’t mean you should automatically send  your child there. So if you get your student’s FCAT results today, don’t automatically fax an application to Harvard. Here are some excerpts from an article I wrote on a SmartMoney study about private universities versus public.

Nuts and bolts

The SmartMoney report analyzed the cost of private school versus public schools based on out-of-state tuition. It looked at the cost of attending 50  universities and the salaries of alumni three years later and 15 years later.

The results are not surprising. While many Ivy Leaguers do make higher salaries, the extra money they spend repaying their student loans cuts greatly into the return on their investment.

Money-saving tips for college

For students who move to a different state to go to college, private schools cost about 30 percent more. Stay home to go to school and that difference jumps to about 75 percent.

So going to a public school in your home state costs a quarter of what it would cost to go to a private school.

One college-girl’s opinion

As a college graduate myself, here’s my model for the least expensive way to get a degree:

Go to community college first. Tuition is a fraction of what it costs to go to a four-year university. After you transfer and get your bachelor’s degree, it’ll carry just as much weight as everyone else’s.

FCAT scores can save you money

So, if your 2009 FCAT scores are good enough to get you into an expensive, private university, just think of the scholarships you could get for community college or a state school. You could end up getting to go to school for free!

So study hard, get good FCAT scores and embrace your future earning potential.

One of the most important investments a person can make in their lifetime is an education – it can keep you from needing payday loans.  However, one of the biggest hurdles that people face when contemplating matriculation at an establishment of higher education is perhaps the biggest hurdle that you can face when it comes to actually getting a degree, and that is the financing.

A two year degree at a community college can run you a few grand per year with ease, and four year universities will double those tuition costs.  Oh, and we’re only talking about public schools.  Private schools – forget about it.  To be able to pay for private university you’d have to work full time to be able to come close to affording it, and it would have to be a job so good that you wouldn’t need the education to get a better job in the first place.

So, where does that leave most of us?  In debt with student loans, and possibly credit cards to boot is where it leaves us, but that is considered a good debt – it virtually ensures that you will earn a decent living.  So – how to minimize those costs, or at least offset them becomes the problem.

Some tips and tricks

Well first off, don’t get hooked into using a student credit card.  That leads straight down a bad road, and it just isn’t a good idea to use those things very much anyway.  You’ll be forced to give up your food and shelter habits to afford the payments, and you definitely can’t look at payday loans as an option.  Instead, here are some good things to do about those student loans.

Paying some upfront:

Student loans all come in a state of deferment, meaning that you don’t have to make any payments until a particular time period after graduation, or whenever it is that you leave school.  You can arrange to make some early payments so that you can pay down the balance before the interest even starts accruing, and lower the balance.  Even if you only happen to pay a thousand dollars in total before you graduate, that is a thousand less dollars in debt that you are – which helps.  The average student walks away with about $20,000 in debt on the average these days.  How can it be done?  As it turns out, very easily.

Keep a change kitty:

Save the leftover change that you get from your cash purchases, and then at the end of every month or two, cash it in and put it towards a loan payment.  May not add up to much every time, but it will add up over time.

Donating plasma:

Donating blood plasma is a college student tradition.  Those who have never resorted to this valuable public service (it saves lives, and you get paid for it) have never really lived the student life.

Every Little Bit helps

Make every payment on time for the first 48 months.  If you can go 2 years without a missed, deferred, or late payment then they usually will knock a few interest percentage points off the top, and that will save you over the long run.  A four year degree will serve you well, and you may never have to think about payday loans as long as you live.

Companies are getting creative, too. As I scoured the internet today in search of some unexpected tidbits in the midst of all the expected headlines, here are some things I found.

A vacation from getting paid

Newspapers across the country are facing declines in advertising revenue, rising costs for printing and dropping circulation numbers. Most papers have responded to this by laying off employees, cutting sections and reorganizing their business models.

But one of the largest newspaper conglomerates in the country, Gannett Inc., has come up with an idea that I think is, quite frankly, brilliant. The company is ordering all employees to take a week of unpaid leave this quarter. This edict applies to everyone, from part-time workers to the CEO.

Like most newspapers, Gannett went through extensive layoffs last year. I highly doubt you will hear grumbling from employees if one week without pay means they get to keep their jobs. Because they will still be officially employed, employees can always get payday loans if an emergency comes up.

Going green to the extreme

There has been a lot of advice out there on how to save money on groceries and food in general. We’ve all heard about cutting coupons, buying in bulk, cutting out restaurants and investing in basic staples.

One commenter on a MySpace money forum reminded me that buying canned fruits and vegetables instead of fresh ones saves money. This makes sense because you don’t run the risk of produce going bad and ending up a waste of money.

Another MySpace poster brought up an idea that I honestly had never thought of. “Buy books on foraging!” he urged. It sounds a little extreme, but a quick search of books on Amazon revealed that there are indeed many books out there on how to identify wild plants that are safe to eat. They even have instructions for how to prepare them. Some of these books were as little as $8.

School of scavenging

Another idea occurred to me as I was reading posts by starving college students. Web sites geared toward young people attending school are all over the place and have been around for years. The starving student is a master of frugality.

The same advice aimed at individuals looking to be able to buy text books as well as Ramen Noodles can apply to families and individuals who are out of work or just plumb out of luck. I Googled “money saving tips for college” and got 14.5 million hits. You’re bound to find some applicable information in one of them.

Misery loves company

Many of us are struggling to keep our budgets and our debts under control. In times like this, it can be humbling to read about people who are going through — or have gone through — worse. Thus, I leave you with a collection of quotes from a MySpace forum titled “What Was The Poorest Moment in Your Life?”

“I remember asking the gas station attendant to pump a dollar in gas for me and I paid him with quarters.” – So Fly

“Eating condiment packages from McDonald’s,” – MG Sales.

“I invented … chili with tomato paste and corn, taco seasoning and baked beans,” -spam

My favorite “poor” story:

“My poorest moment was at a Korean store … I was short just 12cents for a can of Similac for my son. … I asked a person there if he could let me 12cents and I promise to give him back – (he) said no. Then I asked a man (homeless) that always hang-out around the store there and he gave me the 12cents. I treated him to Zippy’s 1/2hr later, gave him $50, and Thanked him!”

Just goes to show you can find help and hope in the most unexpected places. There also seems to be the message there that if you share what little you do have you’ll be rewarded.

This article was provided by your payday loans source.

It may seem early, but some states have February deadlines for turning in the FAFSA, the biggest source of financial aid for college students. So make sure you know the deadline in your state, and start filling out that paperwork.

Making the most of it

There are ways to get the most out of your financial aid package, without taking out payday loans and SmartMoney was kind enough to compile a list. The article lists five ways to boost the amount of money you receive.

Turning in the FAFSA as early as possible is the first item on the list. The feds will accept FAFSAs until the end of June, but universities and states can have different, earlier deadlines. Also, as time goes on, the financial aid pot shrinks. The closer you are to “first come,” the more you’ll be served.

Open up

Most financial aid applications require that you fill out your family’s income, but this may not be the best indicator of your financial situation. Write a detailed letter to the college letting them know of any changes in situation that won’t show up in the line item that shows income.

As long as you provide accurate information and any documents that back up your claims, you  have a good chance of ending up with some extra cash if you need it.

Get educated

FAFSA requirements have changed in the last year. Parents no longer need to report it if they received Social Security benefits and had children who received Social Security benefits. Excluding this amount can mean more federal funds in your pocket.

Scholarships

Before you go out and apply for every scholarship you can think of, make sure you know the consequences of receiving said scholarships. Any money you get from a scholarship will affect the amount that you can get from the Feds.

Say you got a $1,000 scholarship. It is possible that because of that scholarship you will lose out on a much higher amount of money from the government.

Don’t give up

If you or your family is in need of more money than what you’re offered, appeal, appeal, appeal. It’s worth a shot. But be careful, and only do this if you do, in fact, need more money. An appeal could cause deeper scrutiny of your family’s finances and assets, and it is possible that you will end up with even less money than they offered before.

So follow these tips to make sure you get it if there’s any extra cash out there for you, so you won’t need payday loans.

Most people know that education is a good investment. College degrees fetch higher salaries, thus giving the student a return on his or her investment. But does higher tuition mean a better education or a better salary? A report at from SmartMoney.com addresses this question.

Price difference

For students who move to a different state to go to college, private schools cost about 30 percent more. Stay home to go to school and that difference jumps to about 75 percent.

So going to a public school in your home state costs a quarter of what it would cost to go to a private school.

Speaking of price difference, the fees on payday loans are often less than the costs incurred from bounced checks or bills that are paid late.

Nuts and bolts

The SmartMoney report analyzed the cost of private school versus public schools based on out-of-state tuition. It looked at the cost of attending 50  university and the salaries of alumni three years later and 15 years later.

The results are not surprising. While many Ivy leaguers do make higher salaries, the extra money they spend repaying their student loans cuts greatly into the return on their investment.

All about the Benjamins

SmartMoney’s survey looked at financial gain only. It didn’t factor in the other reasons students go to college. It didn’t measure how well-educated graduates were.

The formula, which used PayScale.com to find out the alumni salaries, simply compares dollars and cents. For some students, college is all about the experience. Many graduates don’t even get jobs in their field of study. And private schools do boast a higher faculty-to-student ratio.

But in terms of cost versus earning potential only, it’s no surprise that public schools topped the list. Here are the schools that came out on top.

Winners

No. 1: University of Georgia, which offered an average 338 percent return on students’ investments.

No. 2: Texas A&M, 315 percent

No. 3: University of Texas, Austin, 306 percent

No. 4: Georgia Tech, 263 percent

No. 5: University of Washington, 225 percent

An imperfect model

Looks like Texas and Georgia are the places to go to get the most bang for your buck. But keep in mind that these figures are based on out-of-state tuition and fees. Also, the study only “looked at what graduates from 50 of the most expensive four-year colleges earn in their early and midcareers.”

So there are even less expensive schools out there that could potentially give you an even larger return on your investment. Another way to save money on getting an education is to get an associate’s degree from a community college, then transfer to a four-year college. Community colleges generally don’t charge out-of-state fees.

One college-girl’s opinion

As a college graduate myself, here’s my model for the least expensive way to get a degree:

Go to community college first. Tuition is a fraction of what it costs to go to a four-year university. After you transfer and get your bachelor’s degree, it’ll carry just as much weight as everyone else’s.

If you want to go to an out-of state school: Most states consider you a resident after you’ve lived there one year, as long as you only go to school part-time. So move to the place where you want to go to school, attend community college part-time for a year. Then you’ll be able to pay in-state tuition and fees for the rest of your college career.

In the end, extra money saved will turn into extra money earned, and you’ll be less likely to need payday loans.

If you’ve been reading my blog entries for a little bit of time, you know that I’m a sucker for a controversial news story. My desires were fed this morning with an article from USA Today’s website entitled, “NYC teachers sue to wear political buttons in school.”

In the report, it tells of how Universities, in various states, have forbidden their students, faculty, and staff, from not only wearing candidate-supporting garb, but also participating in partisan rallies and the like. Justification stems from an apparent law, proclaiming that all state employees are forbidden from participating in political rallies and/or expressing their support or opposition of a candidate.

Seriously, isn’t that what going to a public university is about; being able to learn of the world around you, by hearing from all viewpoints equally? At least that’s what I thought, also considering that in order to know who you support for elected office you must know where they stand. I also thought that, despite the predominate slant to the left, a public university is where you can believe what you choose, and shed fears of the prevalent agenda within our nation’s K-12 systems.

Brainwashing children

The late George Carlin explained the pitfalls of the public school system best during his 2001 HBO special, “Complaints and Grievances.” In it, he describes public schools as indoctrination centers, where children are sent to be brainwashed, stripped of their identities and become mindless members of a consumerist society. Brother, we applaud you for telling it like it is.

Further proof can be seen of this, within the evidence I gained during a recent conversation with my boss. During the meeting, she told me of one of her children who was told he was wrong when he answered “George W. Bush,” not “John Kerry,” in response to the exam question, “who do you support for president?” You’d never believe what my rightfully-seething boss was told when she confronted the higher-ups at the public institution.

“Kids in public school are taught that they must be obedient,” one of them responded. Certainly, if that were my child in the system, being told that they’re on the verge of flunking because their views clash with those of the majority, I would be outraged, as well. Because, hey, to say the least, what they’re teaching aren’t the tenets of the true American way; instead, they’re pushing for a socialist society, where we all live the way that Big Brother sees fit.

My stomach turns

Hearing of such things going on in our public schools never fails to make my stomach turn. I mean, the concept of Universities employing agenda-driven professors is nothing new, but today’s students ought to be completely free to learn about the world around them. Then, in the end, the option should be there to decide what they believe, not that of their legislative masters.

The same thing goes for another thing which, in tough times, is just as important as our constitutional right to free speech; installment loans. Just like the right for folks to express their political views on public campuses, the quick and convenient installment loans service has come under fire, with state and national politicians wielding the flame throwers.

Vote YES

We have the opportunity to stomp out the fires they’ve started, coming up on November 4. We can save the short term installment loans industry by voting Yes on Arizona’s Proposition 200, and no on Ohio’s Governor-backed HB 545. Otherwise, our school children will not only continue to be told to “sit down and shut up,” but our economies will suffer even further decay.