Spam Free Safelist

Hopefully by now your child has decided which college to attend this fall, and you are beginning to formulate your financial strategy for how you will fund the college experience. An excellent option is the PLUS Loan or Parent Loans for Undergraduate Students, recommended by NextStudent, a leading Phoenix-based education funding company. As long as your child is enrolled in school at least half-time, this federally backed student loan allows parents to borrow funds to cover such things as tuition, housing and meals and even books and supplies, up to the total cost of the student’s education, minus any other aid. In order to be eligible for the PLUS Loan (http://www.nextstudent.com/plus_loans/plus_loans.asp), both students and their parents must complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). According to NextStudent, parents cannot be turned down for the PLUS Loan based on too high or too low an income, because the student loan is not based on financial need or how much money parents earn. However, parents can be turned down for an adverse credit history. Once the FAFSA is submitted and reviewed by the government, parents will receive a Student Aid Report, which will allow them to apply for the PLUS loan. Applying for a NextStudent PLUS Loan is simple and easy and may be done either over the phone in as few as five minutes, or it may be done online using E-Signature. Availability after Tuition is Paid Makes PLUS Loans Convenient A welcome feature of the PLUS Loan is that it is available even when parents already have paid for their child’s tuition and other related educational expenses. Although the maximum interest rate on the PLUS Loan is set by the federal government, NextStudent offers many opportunities for parents to save money through incentives. For instance, when borrowers fund their PLUS Loan through NextStudent and pay via auto-debit, they will receive a .25 percent reduction on their interest rate. In addition, after making 12 consecutive on-time payments, borrowers will receive a 3 percent cash rebate on their remaining principal balance, and a 2 percent rate reduction after 48 consecutive on-time payments. Grad PLUS Loans Offered by NextStudent A similar federal student loan product called the Grad PLUS Loan (http://www.nextstudent.com/plus_loans/graduate-plus-loans.asp) is available for those individuals who decide to pursue graduate or further professional studies and enables students to fund their education themselves. Again, students may finance the entire cost of their graduate work (minus federal aid) and use the funds to pay for any associated costs such as supplies, books and other materials. While the Grad PLUS Loan Program’s maximum interest rates are set by the federal government, just like with the PLUS loan Program, NextStudent offers many money-saving competitive benefits for those pursuing postsecondary education. An additional incentive is that students have the option of postponing repayment until after graduation. Additionally, like PLUS Loan borrowers, Grad PLUS loan borrowers may be eligible for a federal student loan consolidation (http://www.nextstudent.com/consolidation_loans/consolidation_loans.asp). NextStudent believes that getting an education is the best investment you can make, and it is dedicated to helping you pursue your education dreams by making college funding simple. Learn more about Student Loans, Private Student Loans, and Student Loan Consolidation (http://www.nextstudent.com/) at NextStudent.com.

Jeff Mictabor is an enthusiast on the topic of student loan issues in the news. He has been writing for the past 10 years for a variety of education publications. He now offers his writing services on a freelance basis.

Spread The Word and Add this Post to:

Have you ever heard those familiar words, “I’m bored,” coming from the mouth of your child?  If so, then kid crafts are the answer.  Provide the kids with craft materials and boredom will be a thing of the past.  Read on for ideas about kid crafts.

Kid crafts essential materials include paper, crayons, safe scissors, and glue.  Paper for kid crafts can include construction paper, plain typing paper, cardstock of various colors, and many other options.  Even junk mail and old magazines can make interesting art projects.  Crayons are nice for younger children, but the stores are now filled with other options, such as washable dry-erase markers, watercolor pencils, and gel pens.  Kid crafts supplies can run into money, but even on a budget there are many possibilities.

Other materials kids can craft with include recycled junk and found objects.  By recycled junk, I’m referring to empty cereal boxes, toothpaste boxes, cardboard from packaging, plastic containers, and even tin cans.  If you let kids craft with tin cans, however, you need to make sure the open edge of the can doesn’t have any sharp edges.  Simply file these off or squeeze them flat with a pair of pliers.

Found objects include leaves, twigs, rocks, snakeskins, and other natural item a child might find.  Perhaps there is a sheep farm nearby.  If so, wool scraps can often be found stuck to the barbed wire fences.  Any or all of these items can be used in kid crafts.

One of the most fun and popular kid crafts is making a collage.  Kids can glue anything down when making a collage.  Use heavy paper for the background, and then let the creativity begin!  For an extra challenge, a collage can be built around a theme, like food, animals, or babies.  Old magazines can be searched for just the right pictures, which can be cut out and glued to the background.  The older child might wish to cut out details from magazine pictures and reassemble them in new and interesting ways.  They might cut out interesting words and headlines and add them as well.

Younger kid crafts can include collages made of glued down pasta, beans, popsicle sticks, leaves, and many other materials.  Don’t forget about glitter, too.  If the budget allows only a few kid crafts splurges, remember that kids of all ages, particularly girls, really enjoy crafting artwork that includes glitter.  But whether your kids are boys or girls, young or older, suggest some kid crafts the next time your kids are bored!

Spread The Word and Add this Post to: