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6 Financial Advantages for College Students

College Graduation.

For many people, the knowledge that you gain while in school is more than enough incentive to pursue higher education. For some, however, the little extras that come along with going to college make it that much better. When considering the option of college, think about the other financial advantages that you will have.

Health Insurance

There are a few different options with health insurance. One of the most beneficial to students is the ability to stay on a parent’s health insurance plan for a longer period of time. This can save a lot of money in the long run. Keep in mind the restrictions to this; for example, if you are married, you will not qualify.

Car Insurance

Many auto insurance companies offer discounts for students. You can find the discounts available by calling your insurance provider or checking out websites like 21st.com. Sometimes, you may be able to get larger discounts if you have good grades. 

Cell Phone Plans

Have you looked at the price of cell phone plans recently? It can get a little overwhelming. Luckily, if you are a student, many cell phone providers are willing to give you a break. Talk to your cell phone provider and find out if they offer a discount for students. You’ll never know unless you ask!

Checking and Savings Accounts

Many banks today are offering great deals for students. With a copy of your transcripts or student ID, you may be able to get highly reduced, or even free, bank accounts. Many of these accounts come with both checking and savings options, which is a great benefit for students. Having the ability to start putting money away into a savings account now will greatly benefit you in the future.

Local Businesses

Have you ever seen an advertised student discount at the places you shop, eat, or otherwise frequent? If so, you may already know the best places to find a great financial advantage. Many restaurants and other service-based industries offer a discount with a student ID. This is a great way to save a little money on the things you do regularly.

Tax Benefits

As a student, you may be able to get great tax benefits. Whether you do your taxes yourself, or you have someone do them for you, make sure to look into the options you have as a student. Each year these benefits differ, so don’t forget to check every year.
There are many benefits to being a student. Some of the benefits may seem small in the short run, but when you look at the overall savings that you will come across as a student, you start to see the bigger picture. Carry your student ID, you never know what discounts you may come across.

America’s Best Graphic Design Programs

Graphic designers design art and copy layouts for material to be presented by electronic media and visual communications media such as magazines, newspapers, books, television, and packaging. Graphic designers use a variety of techniques to communicate messages such as animation, illustration, color, type, and photography. Graphic designers work for advertising agencies, newspapers and magazines, the film and video industry, publishing houses, and government agencies, design firms, and public relations firms.

Although graphic design jobs are available in these industries and many others, the biggest employers of graphic designers are marketing and advertising firms. Many graphic designers work on a contract basis. Currently, 25.6 percent of all graphic designers are self-employed.

Depending on factors from the size of the firm to region, graphic designers can earn anywhere from $42,000 per year on the low end to $95,000 or more on the high end. Entry-level graphic designers usually earn the lowest salaries, but in most cases, these designers advance rather quickly—usually within 1-3 years.

Graphic designers are in high demand today, but positions are very competitive. However, most graphic designers will agree that the right position is well worth the effort because not only are these creative positions exciting and rewarding, they are also the most stable positions in the creative sector. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the job outlook for graphic designers is good, based on an impressive 13 percent increase in job growth between now and 2018.

So, what does it take to become a graphic designer? Employers prefer to hire graphic designers with at least an associate degree, but designers with a bachelor’s degree or higher will find more opportunities. They will receive higher starting salaries as well. Currently, more than 50 percent of all graphic designers have an associate degree or higher and more than 20 percent have some college experience, but no degree. More than 6 percent of all graphic designers have a master’s degree. 

It is important to note that education alone does not guarantee entry into or success in the field. Creativity, communication skills, and computer skills are a must. Web design and animation experience are also a must for most of the top firms.

Graphic designers come from many different educational backgrounds. Some have a degree in advertising or marketing communications while others may have a degree in fine art, multimedia arts, or even animation. If the focus is graphic design, students can expect to take classes such as flash animation, marketing design, website design, computer graphics, studio art, printing techniques, principles of design, commercial graphics production, history of graphic design and desktop publishing, to name a few.

In the U.S., there are more than 250 accredited postsecondary institutions with programs in art and design. Art & Design schools are twice as likely to offer a degree or certificate in graphic design, but many of the schools on the list below are traditional four-year colleges and universities. The list was complied by U.S. News and World Report. If you decide that the schools on the list aren’t for you or they are just too competitive, remember, many other schools offer graphic design programs. If you come across a school that you aren’t familiar with, just check to make sure the program is accredited by The National Association of Art and Design (NASAD) or other recognized accrediting agency. Visit Ed.gov for a list of recognized agencies.

America’s Best Graphic Design Programs 

  • -Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI
  • -Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, MI
  • -Yale University, New Haven, CT
  • -Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
  • -Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
  • -Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD
  • -School of Visual Arts, New York, NY
  • -California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA
  • -Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY
  • -California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA
  • -School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
  • -New School–Parsons School of Design, New York, NY
  • -Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY
  • -University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH
  • -Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Minneapolis, MN

How to Compare Colleges

One of the first things to consider when creating a targeted list of colleges is budget. If you plan to finance your education through loans and/or income from a full or part-time job, this will help narrow your search significantly. Many colleges offer grants and scholarships, so be sure to include these types of schools on your your list—even if the tuition is beyond your budget. If you want to find out about grants and scholarship programs, visit CollegeScholarships.org. Just about every college website also lists grant, loan, and scholarship program information. Go to each website’s financial aid section for details.

After you have considered your budget, price, and the type of financial aid each college on your list offers, it’s time to think about location. Do you plan to live on campus? In state or out of state? Do you prefer to commute? Once you have decided on a location, this should eliminate a good number of schools on your list. At this point, comparing colleges should be somewhat easy, but an even shorter list will make comparing colleges even easier.

To trim the list to just a few, consider your career path. What do you plan to major in? Engineering? Literature? Architecture? Not all schools offer all programs, so this will help shorten your list to just a select few colleges. If you are unsure about your location, major, and price, you can still compare colleges using the comparison criteria below.

Comparing Colleges

Now that you have your shortlist ready, it’s time to compare colleges. A good way to keep things organized is to use the following comparison criteria:

-Admission Procedures and Requirements
-Campus Life
-Cost and Financial Aid
-Location
-Type of School

Admission Procedures and Requirements
The admission procedures and requirements for any given college discusses the percentage of students accepted. This will tell you how competitive the college is. You will also find out whether an interview and/or essay is required, and any SAT and ACT requirements. The school website will usually list the minimum acceptable SAT and ACT scores.

Campus Life
This information is also located on the school’s website and will tell you whether or not the school is in an urban, suburban, or rural setting. This section also includes enrollment figures, so you’ll know what to expect regarding class size, male/female ratio, etc.

Cost and Financial Aid
Cost and financial aid information covers tuition and fee information for both in-state and out-of-state students. It will also list costs for room and board or room only.

Location
Location is all you need to determine whether you’ll have to commute, live on campus, or relocate to another state.

Type of School
The type of school affects price, financial aid, grant offerings, scholarship programs, and more. For example, private colleges cost more than public colleges, and public colleges offer more breaks on tuition than private colleges do.

When comparing colleges, the best place to find the most reliable and up-to-date information about any given college is the school’s official website. For a directory of colleges visit AllCollege.org.

How to Find a Legitimate Work from Home Job

 Work from home jobs are the toughest jobs to find, get and keep. Why? For starters, the demand is much higher than the supply. Stay at home moms, students, moonlighters, people with limited physical abilities, and those that prefer not to  commute are all competing for these jobs. Some may not mind the commute, but prefer to work in a relaxed and familiar environment. What this adds up to is thousands of workers lining up to compete for the few truly legitimate work from home jobs available. 

Next, some of the best work from home jobs actually begin as onsite jobs. A large percentage of workers get to the point in their careers where they can suggest working at home part-time. Eventually, if the boss is satisfied, these part-time situations move into full-time work from home positions.

If you’re fortunate enough to land a work from home job or convince your boss that it will work out better for everyone—great, but you’re still not home free. Stay at home jobs are not for you if you are unorganized, easily distracted, or tend to procrastinate. Many stay at home job seekers mistakenly believe that stay at home workers can work when they feel like it and they only have to answer to themselves. This is not true. In fact, if you work at home for a company, they will monitor you just as much as they would if you were working in an office—maybe even more. Stay at home workers still need to produce and employers will waste no time making sure you do.

Best Work from Home Jobs

The following list of work from home positions includes jobs that are suitable for all skill levels and personality types. Some may sound like fun, while others might sound like, well, work. It is important to remember that no matter how much fun these jobs are (or are not), in order to keep your position you must always remain professional and follow company rules to the letter. If you don’t, there are thousands of stay at home job seekers who are ready and willing to take your place.

Some of the best work from home jobs include: Customer Service Representative, Virtual Assistant, Medical Transcriptionist, Online Tutor, and Travel Agent.

Customer Service Agent – Customer service agents work in just about every industry. They work in travel, telecommunications, retail, insurance, entertainment, and more. True, many companies do outsource, but there are still some that prefer to hire workers right here in the U.S. Just a few examples include wireless cell phone services, auto insurance companies (claims), ticket agencies (concerts, sporting events), and travel agencies. To find a work at home customer service position, contact the company you’re interested in directly.

Virtual Assistant  – “Virtual assistant” is a fairly new job title, but it’s growing at a rapid pace. Companies and businesses both small and large, use virtual assistants to do everything from mailings and bookkeeping to marketing and data entry. There are several ways to become a part of this new industry. You can sign up with an agency (simply search through listings online) or you can start your own service. Our advice, to see how it’s done, try working with a service first. Use your favorite search engine to look for virtual assistant agencies online. 

Medical Transcriptionist – All transcription jobs require different and specific skills. If you are working for the medical industry, you must have a firm grasp of medical terminology or if you are working in the legal field, you should be familiar with legal terms. You must also be a fast typist. The minimum wpm for most positions is 65. To find medical transcriptionist jobs, use your favorite search engine to locate agencies. One of the most professional and reliable agencies out there is MedQuist (formerly Spheris). Visit www.medquist.com for job listings and information about how to get started.

Online Tutor – Most online tutoring agencies prefer to hire individuals with an associate degree or higher. You should also have excellent grades in the subjects you plan to specialize in. All online tutoring agencies will check your credentials. To locate online tutoring opportunities, just use your favorite search engine or visit www.tutor.com. There are literally hundreds of online tutoring agencies to choose from, so take your time and do your research.

Travel Agent – Online travel agents are much less expensive to hire than operating out of an office. Cruise lines, cruise travel agencies, hotels, and more hire travel agents (also customer service reps.) to help customers find the right travel package or the cheapest flights. You can check for openings for just about any cruise line or hotel by visiting the line’s official website or you can visit Locate A Travel Agency (LATA) for travel agency listings  across the U.S., www.locateatravelagency.com.

No matter how polished an agency, company, or business website looks, always do your homework. Check to make sure the company or agency has a physical and verifiable address. And no, PO boxes do not count. Also, make sure the agency or company has a phone number. Call to see if you can get through to a live person. Finally, find out if the company is listed with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) by visiting the BBB at www.bbb.org.

Tips and Warnings: If a company or agency asks you to pay an application fee, to pay for a list or to pay for equipment or software, do think twice. You should never, ever have to pay a fee or otherwise to obtain a position.

CIOs plan on increasing IT hiring

Here’s some more good news on the technology jobs front:

Technology executives expect information technology (IT) hiring to continue in the fourth quarter of 2011, according to the just-released Robert Half Technology IT Hiring Index and Skills Report (http://rht.mediaroom.com/ITHiringIndex). In the latest quarterly survey, 12 percent of chief information officers (CIOs) said they plan to expand their IT departments, and 6 percent expect cutbacks, for a net 6 percent projected increase in hiring activity. This is up two points from the previous quarter’s projections.

The economy goes up and down, but if you have a degree in the technology area you have a good shot at being in demand throughout your career.

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