| There are some very good reasons why people | | | | cover all your expenses. That's where part two |
| over the age of 25 are going back to school. The | | | | kicks in. Go access a good search engine such as |
| Department of Labor projects that over the next | | | | Google, Yahoo! or Bing. Simply type in "returning |
| few years, 75% of all jobs will require some sort | | | | student financial aid" and see what happens. You |
| of degree or vocational certificate. As of 2008, | | | | will literally find over one million individual listings |
| the average salary of a person with only a high | | | | offering advice and access to college funds. |
| school degree is barely $28,000. A person with a | | | | This is where the student needs to be a little bit |
| two year degree moves into the mid-30s. As for | | | | careful. Some good tips include if a web listing |
| someone with a bachelors? Why, their average | | | | asks for money from you upfront - don't do it. |
| annual salary is slightly below $52,000. Those are | | | | Even if all they ask is a credit card or bank |
| some very good reasons indeed. | | | | account number, get off of that site. There is |
| Still, many adults hear scary talk about going deep | | | | more than likely some fine print that says they |
| in debt to finance that education. That only | | | | will hit you for something they'll call a "search fee" |
| happens if they take out college loans. As it | | | | or something similar. |
| happens, there is now an incredible array of | | | | Even if you remove 90% of all these listings, that |
| scholarships, grants and other financial aid out | | | | should leave you with over 100,000 potential |
| there. The funds are available through both the | | | | sources of financial aid. If you still have any |
| public and private community, too. | | | | doubts about the legitimacy of a particular site, go |
| Probably the best way to start is actually a | | | | again on your search engine and type the name |
| two-fold approach. First, research a number of on | | | | of the organization and the word "scam." If you |
| campus and online colleges and find out what they | | | | start seeing pages of scam alerts about that |
| offer. As it stands, the student body of the | | | | group, you know you should drop them. |
| average institution of higher learning is composed | | | | Even removing 90% of the remaining 100,000 |
| of more than its share of returning, mature | | | | listings, you'll wind up with about 10,000 possible |
| students; some as high as nearly 50%. Find out | | | | sources. That's a lot of potential income out there, |
| what courses they offer but, more important, | | | | more than any human being can reasonably fill out |
| find out what kind of financial aid programs they | | | | in a timely manner. So only comply with the ones |
| offer. These grants and such will probably be the | | | | you feel suit you best. Do even a few dozen and |
| easiest ones to obtain. | | | | you could very well have your tuition paid for |
| There's a probability, however, that this will not | | | | entirely. |