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by Alexis Mattera

As a college student, my pockets were far from deep but they got even shallower when I stopped at the co-op to buy my books at the beginning of each semester. My wallet and I loathed the astronomical price tags (even for used copies!) with a passion because we both knew there had to be a way for me to get books and not be forced to subsist on Top Ramen until my next break. I was right…just kind of bummed it didn’t happen during my collegiate tenure.

Data from the Student Public Interest Research Group’s new survey disclose textbooks available for free online or sold in print for low cost could slash students’ textbook bills from $900 to $184 each year. Using eBooks and textbook rental services like BookRenter.com and Chegg.com can also reduce book costs by $300. Though 93 percent of students surveyed said they would rent “at least some of their textbooks,” Cerritos College student Donald Pass prefers the flexibility of open textbooks because he could read the material for free online, purchase a print copy with study aids or print it himself. (Daytona State's administration agrees and will begin offering eBook access to students this coming January.) Professors like Lon Mitchell of Virginia Commonwealth University, however, say this option is troublesome because students often bring only limited sections of text to class, making it difficult for instructors to review supplemental material in different chapters. Mitchell also said that a number of his students have resisted the online versions of the open textbooks because compared to the print versions, they felt the online text was lacking.

I hear what Mitchell is saying loud and clear but if a student can reduce their spending by up to 80 percent by using open books and textbook rentals, I have a feeling print editions are going to be seen less and less as the years go by. Students, are you utilizing eBooks and textbook rentals or are you still relying solely on hard copies you don't have to share or return? If you’re using both, is there a noticeable difference in the material quality like Mitchell said? What's your preference between these options?

by Alexis Mattera

Ah, the emergencies only credit card. Sounds great in theory but when a student’s cash flow is low, the term “emergency” can take on an entirely new meaning (some sweet new sneakers or a floor dinner at Chez Fancypants, perhaps?). If Mom and Dad aren’t too keen on the idea – maybe they’ve been there, done that and have the credit score to prove it – there hasn’t been much they could do to prevent their child from stopping by the student union during the first week of classes and signing up for myriad cards and repercussions…until Andrew Cuomo stepped into their corner.

Reuters recently posted an article detailing the State University of New York’s agreement with the New York Attorney General to adopt practices to protect students from unnecessary debt. SUNY, with 465,000 students on 64 campuses throughout the state, is the first university in the country to adopt this sort of reform, which calls for mandatory financial literacy programs to educate students on loans, credit cards and finances in general to minimize the nearly $4,100 in credit card debt and $20,000 in loans that most four-year college students graduate with. Letters have also been sent to the state’s approximately 300 higher educational facilities insisting that they evaluate any existing contracts with credit and debit card companies, prohibit the sharing of students’ personal information with card companies without authorization, limit on-campus marketing and never accept percentages of charges imposed on students.

When I began my freshman year at UConn in 2001, I made the decision not to sign up for a credit card for one simple reason: I knew that when I tired of my wardrobe or dining hall food, it would have been all too easy to bust out the plastic. That being said, I knew plenty of people who were tempted by the free t-shirts and bottle openers and they would have surely benefited from Cuomo’s reform and tips like these. Now to our readers: Have any financial wins or woes from your college days you'd care to share? Would you have made different choices if more information was available? Were the sneakers worth it?

by Alexis Mattera

Scenario: You’ve been accepted by College A and College B - your two top choice schools - and have been awarded generous financial aid packages by both. You decide to attend College B but one year in, a project is announced that would increase the fees you’re paying...on top of the already hefty sums of tuition, books and housing. Are you on board? If so, you’re in good company.

State funding for colleges isn’t what it used to be so when a school needs new dormitories, laboratories and classrooms, students have become more willing to fund these endeavors because they will benefit their educational experience. In Colorado, mandatory student fee increases range from 18.5 percent (University of Colorado at Colorado Springs) to 611 percent (Mesa State) since 2006 but current students are readily handing over the cash…even though the majority will have graduated long before the projects are finished.

"I won't be a student here when the projects are complete, but I do know my degree will only gain in value," said Sammantha O'Brien, a student at Metropolitan State College of Denver. Brad Baca, vice president of finance and administration at Western State College in Gunnison, agrees. "We're in a very competitive environment and having high-quality amenities and facilities is an important factor," he said. And if the upgrades aren’t reward enough, students at these schools are more informed and involved: At Western State, for example, 40 percent of the student population participated in the fee vote – a record turnout.

What do you think, readers? Would you pony up the dough for a dorm you won't live in or an academic building in which you’ll never hear a lecture?

by Jessica Seals

A typical soon-to-be college student’s priority list probably looks a little something like this:

• Step 1: Stay focused in high school by keeping a high GPA and doing as many extracurricular activities as possible.
• Step 2: Make a list of possible college choices and start on applications early.
• Step 3: Make a final decision on where to attend college.
• Step 4: Move into the dorms and get ready for four incredible years!

But wait!!! With all of the excitement of starting college, students can forget to get their finances together to pay for it all! Many students don’t realize that they can eliminate student loan headaches simply by starting the scholarship application process early. By doing so, students have more time to get their application materials together and apply for more scholarships because they are not rushing to submit everything on deadline day.

From my own personal experience, I found it advantageous to apply for scholarships early. I joined websites like Scholarships.com so that I could keep track of deadlines and scholarships that I qualified for. I sent it all of my materials early and when I started receiving letters that began with “Congratulations!” it made the time that I spent applying for scholarships worthwhile.

Another bit of advice that I found helpful was applying for scholarships even if the amount seems small. During my freshman year of college, I applied for the new member scholarship for the Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society despite the fact that the award amount was $300. Nothing could make my smile turn into a frown that day because winning the scholarship meant that I wouldn’t have to pay out of pocket for books in the upcoming semester.

My final advice: Apply for as many scholarships as possible because you might just be what the scholarship committee is looking for. Even the smallest award can help pay for something!

Jessica Seals is currently a senior at the University of Memphis majoring in political science and minoring in English. At the University of Memphis, she is the secretary of the Pre-Law Society, the philanthropy chair of the Phi Kappa Phi Student Council and a member of Professional Assertive United Sisters of Excellence (PAUSE), Golden Key Honor Society, Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society, Sigma Alpha Lambda Honor Society, and Black Scholars Unlimited. She also volunteers to tutor her fellow classmates and hopes to attend law school in the near future.

by Suada Kolovic

Here at Scholarships.com, we love the idea of students going to college debt-free but the reality is that student loans, for the most part, are a necessity in today’s educational world. And while private student loans should be a last resort when paying for college, it can help bridge the gap for families who have maxed out federal loan limits. The silver lining: Sallie Mae is lowering its interest rates on student loans.

The new cap on Sallie Mae’s rate will be 9.875 percent plus LIBOR, which is the interest rate that banks charge each other for loans. The new lowest available rate will be LIBOR plus 2 percent, which reflects a half percent rate reduction. But remember, the exact interest rate Sallie Mae assigns to a specific loan will vary depending on the borrower’s credit score and repayment option. They’re also offering students the option to make $25 monthly payments while they’re in school to counter interest costs or defer payments until graduation. Another added bonus: For loans disbursed between July 1 and Oct. 1, Sallie Mae is offering free tuition insurance for a year.

All these perks aside, Sallie Mae can’t compete with federal loans that come with a fixed rate of 6.8 percent but a cut in student loan interest rates is still a win in my book.

by Jessica Seals

Students with hopes of obtaining college degrees in the state of Tennessee now have more issues to worry about other than just getting accustomed to the college lifestyle: Negotiations have been taking place that will place an even bigger burden on the financial status of students.

Currently, students who have been living in Tennessee for at least a year can apply for a lottery scholarship formerly known as the HOPE Scholarship. This scholarship provides $4,000 to students who attend four-year public or private schools and $2,000 for students at two-year schools. A student could receive this award during each fall and spring semester for up to five years; however, legislators are currently working to put a 120-hour cap on the scholarship before the 2011-2012 school year begins. A 120-hour cap means that some students who have chosen to have more than one major will more than likely lose the scholarship before they graduate and have to find alternative ways to pay for school. This cap will reportedly only apply to students who began attending college in 2009 or after but depending on where students go to school, they could also be hit with tuition increases. Schools such as the University of Tennessee in Knoxville are hoping to implement a 12-percent tuition increase for the upcoming academic year.

This increase, along with a cap on lottery scholarships, has caused more students to become stressed out because it will be even tougher to pay for school. These limitations on financial aid could lead to an increase in students who drop out of college, a decrease in the number of students attending college and an increase in the amount of loans that students will have to take out. Will these changes impact your college experience? If so, how do you plan to address them?

Jessica Seals is currently a senior at the University of Memphis majoring in political science and minoring in English. At the University of Memphis, she is the secretary of the Pre-Law Society, the philanthropy chair of the Phi Kappa Phi Student Council and a member of Professional Assertive United Sisters of Excellence (PAUSE), Golden Key Honor Society, Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society, Sigma Alpha Lambda Honor Society, and Black Scholars Unlimited. She also volunteers to tutor her fellow classmates and hopes to attend law school in the near future.

by Suada Kolovic

The start of every new semester calls for a new set of textbooks- very expensive textbooks. Students can’t really think about the cost of college today without factoring in the skyrocketing cost of textbooks. For years students have improvised on ways to dodge buying a new copy- purchasing a used one, borrowing a copy from the library, sharing with a friend, renting one, downloading an illegal version, or simply going without. We recently posted about how e-textbooks and textbook rental services are saving students money but it may not be too long before they’ll be a students’ only option. The plan is to have colleges require students to pay a course-materials fee, which would be used to buy e-books for all of them (whatever text the professor recommend, just as in the old model).

And why not? Electronic copies are far cheaper to produce than printed text, making a bulk purchase more feasible and with colleges ordering books by the hundreds of thousands, they can negotiate a much better rate than students were able to get on their own, even for used books. The hope is to thwart the possibility of students dropping out because they could not afford textbooks, whose average price rose 186 percent between 1986 and 2005, and continue to shoot up each year faster than inflation.

"When students pay more for new textbooks than tuition in a year, then something's wrong," says Rand S. Spiwak, executive vice president at Daytona State, who is leading the experiment there. "Our game plan is to bring the cost of textbooks down by 75 to 80 percent."

But not everyone is buying into the hype of the e-textbook. Issues of ethics have aroused, for instance, what if a professor wrote the textbook assigned for his or her class? Is it ethical to force students to buy it, even at a reduced rate? And what if students feel they are better off on their own, where they have the option of sharing or borrowing a book at no cost?

by Darci Miller

In college, money becomes a legitimate concern. For the most part, parents have taken care of finances until now and unless you’re lucky enough to come from a wealthy family, college is the first time you’re largely on your own financially.

In the weeks leading up to my first semester as a college student, my dad was adamant that I get myself a job. I’d failed in my attempts to get one that summer and was beyond broke. After many a stern talking to, it was decided for me that I’d apply for jobs at my campus’s wellness center because not only was it right next door to the freshman dorms, but it was related to my sports administration major. At least two weeks before even leaving for Miami, my dad told me to get my application in. Right then. At that moment.

I thought that applying for an on-campus job weeks before I even set foot on campus as a student was a bit of overkill, but I listened to him and shot off an application. I got a phone call from them the next day, had an interview set up for a day or two after I arrived and had a job before classes even started.

Getting this job was one of the smartest decisions I (or my dad) made that first year in college and I encourage all of you to follow the same advice. On-campus jobs understand that you’re a student before you’re an employee, so they let you do homework during down time and have very flexible scheduling. Being on campus, they’re conveniently located and often offer the potential for promotions and pay raises. They’re a great way to meet new people and, well, hello spending money!

However, on campus jobs aren’t always easy to get because they’re so in demand. If you’re heading to school for the first time or returning for a new year, start scouting the field and getting applications out within the next few weeks. Employers are always looking for people before the semesters start or during summer/winter breaks, when most students are away. Good luck and happy job hunting!

Darci Miller is a New Yorker studying journalism and sport administration at the University of Miami. When she’s not writing for the school newspaper, you can find her at the gym, either working or working out. She loves all ‘80s pop culture (the cheesier the better!), and glues herself to her TV when the Olympics are on. She dreams big, and believes the sky’s the limit!

by Radha Jhatakia

When we begin college, we all have ideal jobs we want after graduating. We explore the majors which will allow us to go into these fields and choose schools based on which ones have the best programs for our intended futures. Then we graduate, ready to achieve those goals, but how many of us actually get our dream jobs right away?

While some students are offered jobs in their fields quickly, others aren’t as fortunate. Many recent grads spend months interviewing before settling on something – anything – to pay the bills or realize they can’t do what they wanted with their degree and must gain additional certification or experience. Nothing can guarantee you will be able to do what you’ve always dreamed right out of school but there are ways to prepare yourself for either situation.

Use your college resources from the beginning. All colleges have career centers and counselors who can assist you with internships, jobs and post-college options. Meet with them and create a career plan first semester freshman year instead of last semester senior year. By doing so, you could obtain a job freshman year to help you gain some work experience, serve as a TA during your sophomore year and gain an excellent recommendation letter, score an internship in your field of study during your junior year and continue it in your senior year, then either get a job offer from that internship or at least have a resume or portfolio to present to potential employers who will be amazed with your dedication. Not bad!

If you haven’t found your dream job after you graduate, don’t give up your hope. Everyone has to start somewhere and for most people, it isn’t what they would consider ideal. If you are persistent, work efficiently without complaint and show that you are capable of doing much more, your employers won’t waste your potential.

Radha Jhatakia is a communications major who will be transferring to San Jose State University this fall. She’s had some ups and downs in school and many obstacles to face; these challenges – plus support from family, friends and cat – have only made Radha stronger and have given her the experience to help others with the same issues. In her spare time, she enjoys writing, reading, cooking, sewing and designing. A social butterfly, Radha hopes to work in public relations and marketing upon graduation.

by Suada Kolovic

It seems like a life of excess is so last year. According to a Chase Slate-U.S. News survey, young adults between the ages of 18 and 34 are more likely to say they want to save more, spend less, pay down debts and develop a budget in 2011 than older generations. In a national survey, 1,000 American adults were asked if they planned on changing their financial habits in 2011 and while 54 percent of respondents aged 18 to 34 said yes, only 27 percent of those aged 55 to 64 and 23 percent of senior citizens agreed with that sentiment.

So why the shift? According to David Weliver, founder of the Money Under 30 blog, the recession taught 20-somethings to create a financial safety net for themselves. "We're starting our adult lives knowing the importance of having savings to fall back on in the event of job loss, and that we cannot simply buy a home and ride its perpetually increasing value to retirement. We're more goal-oriented about our finances—because we have to be." The report also noted that young adults are more optimistic about their finances and the economy overall and more likely to use online money management tools to help them stay on track.

Did your list of New Year’s resolutions include changing your spending habits? Let us know what you’re doing to avoid debt.