Getting Every Child A Teacher

About 61 million children in the world do not have access to primary education. As per estimation, we need about 1.7 million teachers to get every child into school. Of which, there is a requirement for 1 million trained teachers in the African continent alone.

Global Campaign for Education

Last year’s Global Campaign for Education addressed the issue of poor teacher resources against the demand for education for all. The campaign was called ‘Every Child Needs a Teacher’ that sent across the message for “well-trained and well-supported” teacher for every child.

Aim of the Global Campaign for Education

The aim of the campaign was to uphold every child’s right to quality education by focusing on the huge need for the teachers and the ways to tackle the issue. Apart from the problem of shortage of teachers, the problem of low-quality teachers is another big concern. The overall situation is a definite hinder to the goals regarding Education for All.

Thus, the campaign was aimed at increasing the number of trained teachers that can lead to quality education for all. To achieve this, the campaign was focused on targeting strategic areas such as financing policy, teacher management, and teacher training. The campaign was also targeted the need for gender equity in the teaching profession to enhance gender equality in schooling.

NRC's Alternative Basic Education (ABE) Program

To provide a second chance to the children who were abandoned from primary school education in Somaliland, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), a humanitarian, non-governmental organization, has established the Alternative Basic Education (ABE) Program.

Through this program, the NRC has worked to enhance the learner friendly pedagogical skills of the teachers in Somaliland where only 28% of primary teachers are qualified to teach. The NRC has supported the non-formal and untrained formal education teachers with in-service training, and school based mentoring and coaching activities.

The participant teachers of the program were qualified as teachers. This program made a significant contribution in increasing the teaching force under the Ministry of Education of Somaliland.

Exclusive Training For Female Teachers

As part of the program, the NRC has also worked with the pre-service training that enabled opportunity for secondary school teachers to get trained at Universities and Teacher Training Institutions in 2-year certified teacher training programs. This program was aimed at increasing the portion of qualified female teachers.

The initiatives by NRC have also strengthened the capacity of the Ministry of Education in Somaliland by developing a unified Teacher Education Curriculum, a National Teacher Education Policy, and a Teacher’s Code of Conduct that has been approved and translated into Somali Language.



Source: http://www.getteachered.com/blogs

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Rita F. Pierson – The Champion Teacher Of Kids

Rita F. Pierson, an educator for about 40 years, spent her entire life at the schoolhouse, on the way to the schoolhouse, or talking about what happens in the schoolhouse.

As an educator, she had a great chance to look at education reforms from a lot of perspectives. She learnt about the reasons behind the drop-out culture of kids which were usually the poverty, low attendance, negative peer influences, etc.

In one of her TED talks, Pierson talked about the importance of relationships in school and classroom between the teachers and the students for the learning process to happen.

Teacher-Student Relationship in a Classroom

In that TED talk, Pierson quoted James Comer who said that no significant learning can occur without a significant relationship.

She said that people think that we can either have it in us to build a relationship or we don’t. She also mentioned about Stephen Covey’s thoughts on relationships.  According to Covey, people can develop good relationship with others by making efforts like understanding, apologizing, etc.

Experience with Students

Pierson continued her talk by sharing one of her experiences with her students who were academically deficient. When she was wondering about how to raise the self-esteem of a child and his academic achievement at the same time, she found an idea and told her students that they are the best students and that she was the best teacher; they were put together to show others about teaching and learning.

She also asked her students to tell, “I am somebody. I was somebody when I came. I’ll be a better somebody when I leave. I am powerful, and I am strong. I deserve the education that I get here. I have things to do, people to impress, and places to go.”

Her students replied, “Yeah!”

Lesson About Teaching and Learning

Pierson shared her experience that taught her the important lesson about teaching and learning. When her mother died at the age of 92, many former students attended her mother’s funeral that brought tears in her eyes. The tears were because of the legacy of relationships that her mother left.

She concluded her talk by saying that “teaching and learning should bring joy and every child deserves a champion, an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection, and insists that they become the best that they can possibly be.”

Pierson believed that kids don’t learn from people they don’t like. She was truly a champion of kids.

Source: http://www.getteachered.com/blogs

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The Importance Of Teacher Development

What is the most important factor in school that influences a student to learn and achieve? Without doubt, it is the teacher. The role of a teacher to inculcate the passion for learning in a student’s life has been proved in every classroom. Everyone has their own favorite teacher who made them become passionate about different subjects like History, Mathematics, Chemistry, Languages, etc.

Thus, if we are to create experts, it is important that we develop their educators.

Teacher Preparation Programs

Today’s teacher preparation programs give importance to subject-matter mastery and practical training to the student educators. These training methods are being implemented following the methodologies used in a medical school or a law school training. Educators are given opportunities to work and learn through case studies. They are being involved and trained through education in best practices and internship opportunities. Exemplary teacher preparation programs allow teachers to get hands-on training in real classrooms.

The role of Universities and colleges in training student educators is inevitable. These educational institutions are now revamping their teacher preparation programs to give more emphasize on subject-matter mastery. Usage of educational technologies and innovative training programs have been developed for students who are looking for  new career options and wish to pursue degrees online.

Early Career Training

Mentoring and coaching in the earlier stage of the career is very important to retain teaching professionals. Without proper guidance in the high-demanding environment, young educators prefer to leave their profession during their first 5 years in the field. To prevent this, veteran colleagues should step-up to the plate and extend their hands to support and guide the young teachers of our nation to prepare the next generation of teachers as well as the students.

Preparation Strategy For Teachers

The best preparation strategy for teachers is to have ongoing and regular opportunities to learn from each other. Teachers should be able to update themselves through preparation programs about children’s learning methods, emerging technology tools for classroom, new curriculum resources, etc.

Thus, the best teacher development includes ongoing, experiential, collaborative, and connected learning from each other and opportunity to work with students and understanding their culture.


Source: http://www.getteachered.com/blogs/

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Do-It-Yourself Projects – A Best Way Of Teaching

Do-It-Yourself (DIY) projects are activities done without the help of others like a teacher or a trainer. Sometimes, they may require minimal supervision from a guide.

For successful completion of these projects, one may require utmost discipline, and understanding abilities & skills. DIY also demands a person to be passionate towards the activity to incorporate his or her own creativity.

Aim of Teaching and DIY

Teaching facilitates learning. Teaching through DIY activities offers scope for students to learn things by themselves. Furthermore, these activities inculcate leadership qualities and provide the required training to complete a task.

In particular, DIY activities increase the rationale and critical thinking in students by enabling them to use their minds in activities they perform.

Important Purpose of Teaching

The purpose of teaching and learning is to create diversity in the society with new contributions from each learner to the already developed theories.

When students try to do activities on their own, their individuality reflects with their work. Thus, these offer the opportunities for creativity and diversity in the resultant products.

Resources for DIY

DIY activities can be done by using objects that are easily available. Also, students can search for kits that are specially created for DIY.

Here, we shall look into some of the inexpensive tech hacks that teachers and students can consider to experience a greater learning session:

• Teachers can find useful information in websites such as Instructables and Make that offer plans, videos, and tips to teachers.


• For simple and inexpensive projects, teachers can browse for Howtoons where they can find these projects presented in an amusing cartoon format.


• In case of blogs, TeachClever is a great resource that makes quality teachers. It has great tech tips for modern educators. One of the worthwhile online resources is Tech Savvy Teachers.


• Another resource is an event called Maker Faire that is held twice a year. This event hosts an astonishing gathering of DIYers of all ages. In this event, kids and adults work on projects under the guidance of university lectures. People from all the age groups with diverse interests will showcase their interests in this event.

In today’s classrooms, enthusiasm and willingness to share expertise make DIYers as special ones. They are truly lifelong learners and teachers.


Source: http://www.getteachered.com/blogs/career-tips/

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How To Develop A Simple E-learning Course

In our Schools and Universities, online courses and online teaching methods are gaining importance every day. More Universities are looking for some kind of financial aid to develop such courses and to train teachers in the specific field. Thus, it is evident that online teaching skill is necessary for a teaching professional in this decade.

In this article, we shall discuss about how to develop a simple e-learning course. Below are the steps to develop an e-learning course that can be used to deliver a lecture inside a classroom. You can follow these steps and develop an e-learning course as a Power Point presentation or a proper course using any available software. The steps explained below are generic and are not focusing on any specific subject or concept.

Before starting to develop an e-learning course, choose a concept or method to teach. It can be a mathematical or a scientific concept or a grammar exercise or a historical event. Narrow the topic as much as possible and provide only the necessary content. Do not deviate or dump the course with unnecessary sentences or paragraphs.

An online course should be in crisp format with less content and more graphic representation on the screen. During the lecture, you can explain the concepts in a more detailed manner and ask the students to take notes.

To develop an e-learning course:

Step 1

In the first slide, provide the introduction to the topic and explain about the sub-topics that will be covered in the course.

Step 2

In the second slide, provide the objectives of the course. There can be 3 or 4 objectives per topic.

Step 3

In further slides, explain each sub-topic in separate slides with supporting graphic representations.

Sub-topic slide:

• Provide introduction to the concept of the sub-topic


• Provide bullets and numbering to explain the concept in detail


• Use graphic representations such as images and icons to explain concepts and processes


• Use animations to display the content and graphics

Step 4

In the final slide, summarize the concepts that are discussed in the course. Ensure that the summary points tally with the objectives.

The important advantage of developing an e-learning course for a lecture is the feasibility factor that allows the lecture to be mind-boggling with necessary graphic representations. This graphic support can add inevitable value and meaning to the concepts and can inculcate interest among the students due to high level understanding.

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The Education System Of The Economic Giant

Education is an organized learning process that happens in an institutional manner with the help of an educator, as per the societal norms. It provides an opportunity to learn properly. It plays a vital role in the civilization process of human being.

In the modern day context, education opens the doors of opportunities for pupils who receive proper mentoring. But the US education system is facing a different situation. It is up against many crucial problems that can obstruct its potential to deliver. The major problems include teacher attrition and unequal school funding.

Teacher Attrition

Teaching profession is a bitter-sweet situation. It is a profession that is both demanding and rewarding. It is tied with overwhelming amount of pressure and responsibility as well as satisfaction.

The US education system is facing the problem of attrition of teachers that is increasing in an alarming rate. Teacher attrition creates problems in education budgets and student learning process. In case of education budgets, $7 billion per year is being spent on the recruitment and retention process alone. This amount can be otherwise used to spend on other education resources for the schools and the students.

Teacher attrition also denies students from receiving high quality teaching due to the replacement of experienced teachers with the fresher candidates. This leads to substandard mentoring.

Unequal School Funding System

In the United States, Public schools are being funded by the federal government, state government, and local organizations. As nearly half of the funds are sourced from local property taxes, the system generates large funding differences between the wealthy and the impoverished communities. Such differences exist among states, among school districts within each state, and even among schools within specific districts.

Compared to other countries, United States faces huge difference in the quality of school buildings, facilities, curriculum, equipment for instruction, teacher experience and qualifications, class sizes, access to auxiliary professionals, and other resources. It would surprise most US citizens to learn that disparities such as these are simply not tolerated in other developed countries, where public schools normally receive equal funding for rich and poor communities alike. The funding is usually allocated on the basis of student enrollment numbers.

The above discussed problems cannot facilitate a smooth education process for the welfare of an individual and for the American society. So, the funding and the faculty system should be organized properly for the education system to serve properly for the society.

Source: http://www.getteachered.com/blogs/featured-articles/education-vs-teachers/

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5 Non-conventional Ways Of Teaching High School Students

Have your students become bored in the class? Have they lost all their enthusiasm in books and learning? Are you not able to get their attention at all? Then, it’s time that you revamp your teaching methods. Let go and let the students do something they want to do. While learning, these teaching methods can also inculcate some important life and job skills in your students.

Follow these 5 non-conventional ways of teaching in your classroom and see the difference in your students’ learning process:

Quiz Competitions

• Prerequisites – Prepare questions and back-up questions, in advance, from what you have taught to your students so far.


• In the Class – Divide your class students into teams and conduct the quiz. Give a time limit to answer each question. 


• Benefits – This method can promote team work, decision making skills and time management skills to your students.

Class Exhibitions

Prerequisites – Allot topics for students to work on and exhibit. Help them throughout the process and teach them about their work during the process. 

In the Class – Let the students exhibit their work and explain. Also, ask them some simple questions about their work to further their knowledge in the subject. 

Benefits – This method can promote creativity and the ability to explain from what they have learned.

PPT Presentations

• Prerequisites– Train the students on the Power Point Presentation tool and allot subject topics.







• In the Class– Let the students display and explain their presentations. Ask simple questions to the students at the end of the presentation. You can also use different tools like this to teach the students.


• Benefits– This method can help students to bring out their designing skills and creativity.

Songs and Stories

Prerequisites– Provide topics for students to write a song or create a story using the subject matter. 

In the Class – Ask the students to sing the songs and tell the stories. You can encourage the students to enact their stories like dramas.

Benefits – This method can create interest in the subject. It can enhance creativity and enthusiasm about the subject.

Debates

• Prerequisites – Provide a topic for the whole class to debate. Let the students choose their side in the debate.


• In the Class – Encourage the students to speak out loud and argue for their views. Guide the students whenever necessary by asking questions to them. Provide a conclusion for the debate.


• Benefits – This method can enhance oratorical skills among students and let them stand for their view.

While preparing to conduct theses activities in your class, make sure to let the students know about the day of the activity, in advance, for them to prepare well. At the end of each and every activity, congratulate your students for their active participation. Encourage them to perform either solo or in groups. Focus on the theme of learning in all of the activities. All the best and have fun!

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Factors That Can Affect The Student Learning Process Inside Classroom

There are many factors that can affect the student learning process, especially inside a classroom where prolonged attention is required to grasp a concept in a very short period of time.

Let us discuss about those factors that could affect the learning process inside a classroom:

Too many of Jargons in the explanation

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo – This is a grammatically correct sentence in American English. Believe it or not, this is what a student gets in a classroom if he or she does not understand the lecture.

One of the reasons that a student gets easily bored in a class session is the inability to understand or connect with the subject. This may happen if the student is not able to understand the meaning of the context in question or if the concept is too ‘alien’ from the student’s perspective. This is mainly because of too many technical terms in the context of the explanation which can drastically affect the students’ ability to grasp the concept.

Teachers should try to explain such difficult terms during the initial class sessions and make it a point to reiterate the same terminologies in order to keep the students’ minds refreshed. 

Very Strange Concepts

As said, alienation of a concept can turn the students’ interest off. To avoid this, teachers should try to explain a concept to the students with an example that they can remember.

The examples can be selected from everyday activities that would help a student to understand the concept and be attentive in the class.

Information Overload

Even if the lecture is very simple and easily understandable, students would get tired after a certain period of time. Some teachers would start teaching in a classroom in a relaxed manner, without focusing on the core subject, to get the attention of the students. But, it is also important to give a small break to the students in between the teaching session. This may be difficult for some teachers to interrupt their flow. But, they should also consider that if the students are not able to concentrate, understand and ‘follow’ the teacher, the lecture would become unproductive.

Thus, teachers should avoid teaching continuously for, say, 40 minutes. If possible teachers can opt for humor as a teaching method for the whole session to grab the attention of the students for prolonged classroom sessions.

One-Way Communication

A good lecture is considered successful only when it is interactive. One-way communication is another important reason that makes students contribute less towards the session as well as makes them less attentive. This also avoids active participation and learning on the students’ part.

There are some unavoidable factors that can make a student less interested in the class or towards education itself, including physical, emotional, and environmental factors. If a student is physically unwell or emotionally disturbed, he or she may not be able to concentrate in the class, at all.

If the environment at school or classroom is unfit for learning, a student would definitely struggle to learn.

But a teacher could resolve issues under his or her control and make use of the opportunities available inside the campus and the classroom to grab the attention of the students. Teachers can also follow some of the simple teaching strategies to improve their performance in the classroom and reap the rewards of a best interactive learning session.


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Teaching Methods That Facilitate Learning

Learning is a continuous process. A person can be a learner throughout his life. But, teaching is a quality that only some of us possess. A good teaching ensures learning. History has seen some of the great teachers in various departments across the world. This includes the renowned teacher-student hierarchy, Socrates – Plato – Aristotle – Alexander.

Historically, teachers have practiced various teaching techniques that are used even today in our classrooms. These techniques concentrate on the efficiency of a student’s learning capacity. During various periods in the history, the teaching methods have gone under constant change. Nowadays, gadgets have occupied significant place in conveying the subject material. But, teaching and learning is always the same. Even through a gadget, only a teacher teaches a student which will never change.

In this article, we shall look into some of the core teaching methodologies that can be used to help students learn.

Teaching by asking questions

This method triggers the students’ nature of curiosity to make them involve in the learning process. By questioning students and encouraging them to question, “Why?” and “How?” the teacher can inculcate and enhance the curiosity inside the students’ mind.

Curiosity can be defined as a strong motivating factor for learning. It is the first and foremost reason for human beings to start searching and researching about things around them. It is also the reason, children learn quickly.

A teacher should concentrate to bring out this quality in a student. If this can be perfectly achieved, the rest of the learning process can happen by itself.

Teaching by providing experience

This kind of teaching can be relevant to practical experiments where experience plays a major role. When the students do the experiments directly using their hands, learning becomes inevitable. More practice leads to more experience. But, it is very important to ensure that students progress during every attempt.

Teaching by facilitating observation

Students learn through observation. This technique can be used by a teacher to teach students using models. This observing technique is mostly used in science education. Students are asked to observe a chemical process or a specimen in biology or a model describing a mathematical concept.

Teaching by facilitating association

Using this method, concepts can be taught to students by associating it with their effect. A scientific concept can be efficiently taught by teaching its effect and applications. Thus, the student can learn by associating the theory with its practical application.

This method of teaching is very effective to help students remember the subject and concepts they learn in the classroom. This method can also help them to apply the theoretical concepts into real life situations. 

While enhancing the students’ learning capability, it is also important for a teacher to know about the factors that affect students’ learning process. This effort can eliminate major obstacles and can naturally enhance the students’ learning potential.

We shall discuss about this in the next article.

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Adult Education – An Increasing Need In The US Job Market

Teaching a child is different from teaching an adult. During the 60’s, Malcolm S. Knowles broke a new ground in the education sector by bringing out the idea that there is a difference between how a child and an adult learns. In the year 1968, he drafted ideas for adult educators to teach and help adult learners.

Generally, learners above the age of 25 are considered as adult learners. For the past 30 years, there has been a huge increase in their population in the US. The number has been increasing ever since.

There are various reasons for aged people to come back to school. The main reason is the changing job market in the US that expects employees to have higher levels of educational qualifications. The boom of online learning is also another important reason for the increase in the enrollment of adult learners who have to juggle between their work, family, education, and other life responsibilities.

Based on the competency level in the job market for various industries, they usually prefer career-related courses such as Education, Health, Business, etc. Thus, adult learning is no more just about the part-time or evening vocational courses. There is an increasing demand for graduate and under-graduate courses.

According to the market research done by the EducationDynamics, at present, there are about 7 million adult learners who have enrolled in various courses. The number is expected to grow to approximately 8 million by 2016.

The future too will not see any dearth as the unstable US economy would demand people from all age groups to continue their learning process and increase their qualification to withstand in a job. As said earlier, there is a huge difference between teaching a child and teaching an adult. Following are the facts derived from Malcom S. Knowles’ assumptions and process elements of the Andragogical model of learning.

Adult learners:

• Learn when the learning material makes sense (the learning material has to be interesting enough for them to continue reading)


• Are independent, but dependent on a teacher to learn a new subject or concepts


• Learn because of their curiosity


• Learn by understanding the subject


• Like to learn in a relaxed environment


• Do self-planning and self-diagnosis


• Set objectives for themselves


• Learn by inquiry and experience


• Evaluate with peers

It is important that adult educators as well as the adult education sector are flexible enough to address the above needs of the learners. Also, the education sector should introduce new courses, specific to adult educators to improve their capabilities to teach an adult, such as:

• M.S. in Higher Education (Adult Education) at Capella University


• M.Ed. in Adult Learning and Workforce Education at Northcentral University


• M. Ed. in Adult Learning at City University of Seattle

The goal of adult education is to reach adult learners using specifically designed programs. It is imperative that we prepare the next generation of adult educators to meet the growing demands of highly-increasing adult learners.

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Online Education and its Advantages

Online Education can be defined as access to education through an online platform. Using online platform, a student can learn any subject and obtain proper certification without having to go to an educational institution such as a school or a University, in person. Thus, online mode of education can also be called as distance education.

These days, post-secondary education through online has already made its way to the end users in various forms including short-term certificate courses, diplomas, undergraduate degrees, graduate degrees, postgraduate degrees, associate degrees, master degrees, doctorates, etc.

Online Education for Higher Studies

Students can get their basic school and high school education in the traditional classroom system. But with growing responsibilities with their age and career, many of them are not able to complete higher education. Thus, online higher education allows a potential student to complete a higher education degree. Even better, students can enroll for more than one online course at a time to save time. These can be short-term certificate courses. Students who are enrolled in a traditional school learning system also can opt for an online certification course.

Online Training for Employees

Online education or training was initially started to provide personalized training to the employees of an organization. This has been extended to educational institutions as a mode to deliver education to people who are not able to devote their full time to education and who want to continue their education. It is a boon to the full time employees to study and obtain degrees that could help them to update their qualifications and to further growth in their career.

Online Courses for Teachers

Online courses, in particular, play a significant role in the career of a teacher. The nature of the career demands a teacher to pursue education throughout his or her life. Thus, if a teacher has decided to pursue a course online, he or she can choose the course from an online University and complete it without having to compromise on the job. This will help the teacher to improve his or her qualification status.

The New Age Education

As we all know education and the mode of learning have undergone transformation over the years. The very particular and notable transformation in the education sector, in the recent times, is undoubtedly the education through online.

This mode of education is definitely finding its way to the college and University curriculum. Educational institutions have started to offer their degree programs through online. There are institutions that provide only online based courses. Growth of technology has made online education possible. In todays era, this is possibly the best opportunity to improve our career.

So far, in our blog series, we have discussed about each and every stage involved in pursuing higher education in the United States, which starts from preparation during the high school years till the financial aid required to study higher education programs. We have learned about both offline and online education sector of the US.

In the next blog, we shall discuss about the types of courses available in the United States, and nature and scope of each course.

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Student Loans – Available Repayment Options

Yes, higher education is a dream for many students. But if a student is not able to get one of those scholarships or grants, they do not have to lose heart. Student loan is the answer for their search for money.

Students must be aware that this fund has to be repaid after the completion of the course period.

We have already learned about various student loans available from the federal government and other loan providing bodies. In this article, we shall discuss about the various loan repayment options that students should consider to repay their loans to prevent any unpleasant surprises during the higher stages in their career.

Following are the repayment plans available for students who borrow Direct Subsidized loans, Unsubsidized loans, Subsidized loans, Federal loans, and Stafford loans:

Standard Repayment Plan:

When a student enters the loan repayment period, he or she is automatically assigned to the Standard repayment plan for the loan repayment. However, a student can change the repayment plan at any time.

This plan enables students to pay less interest than any other plans. Under this plan, a student has to repay the loan in 120 equal payments for 10 years, that is, 12 payments per year. The number of years to repay the loan reduces based on the amount. The minimum amount to be paid under this plan is $50.

Graduated Repayment Plan:

Similar to the Standard repayment plan, a student has to repay the loan amount within 10 years. But the interest amount is comparatively higher in this plan. The interest amount increases every two years.

Extended Repayment Plan:

In this plan, the loan repayment period is 25 years with less monthly payments compared to the 10-year standard plan. But, the overall payment is higher than the 10-year plan amount.

Income-Based Repayment Plan:

Students with partial financial hardship are eligible for this repayment plan that runs up to 25 years. The monthly payments are lesser than the amount repaid for 10-year plan. Thus, a student pays more compared to the 10-year plan. After equivalent amounts are paid for 25 years, any outstanding balance is forgiven for which the student may have to pay only the income tax.

The monthly payment is calculated based on the borrower’s income that is 15% of the discretionary income. Thus, the amount changes as per the income.

Pay As You Earn Repayment Plan:

As per this plan, 10% of monthly payment should be paid towards the loan for 20 years. This plan is applicable for student borrowers after Oct 1, 2007 and student borrowers of Direct Loan on or after Oct. 1, 2011. After equivalent amounts are paid for 20 years, any outstanding balance is forgiven for which the student may have to pay only the income tax.

Income-Contingent Repayment Plan:

Monthly payment is calculated each year based on adjusted gross income, family size, and the total Direct Loan amount. Time period to pay the amount is 25 years. After equivalent amounts are paid for 25 years, any outstanding balance is forgiven for which the student may have to pay only the income tax.

Income-Sensitive Repayment Plan:

Monthly payment is calculated based on annual income. Time period for the payment is 10 years. A borrower pays more than the standard 10-year plan. Monthly payment calculation differs with different lenders.

Payment method for Perkins Loan borrowers

Perkins loan borrowers have to start paying the loan amount latest after nine months of graduation or opting to leave school or opting to leave below half-time from the enrollment. If the student opts to leave below half-time status, he or she need not repay the loan amount for certain period of time called the Grace period. The student should enquire with the school regarding the Grace period.

In this article, we have discussed about various loan repayment options that a student borrower can consider based on the income after graduation and the time period required for repayment. In the next article, we shall discuss about education through online and its advantages.

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10 Things That You Should Know About FAFSA

FAFSA or Free Application for Federal Student Aid is the free application form that is used by the US students to apply for Federal student aids. Annually, the Federal government of the US provides about $150 billion as financial aid. This Federal aid can be availed in the form of scholarships, grants, Federal student loans, and work-study programs. To know more about the available types of Federal student aid:

Eligibility Requirements

Students who are applying to study higher education programs in the US, such as undergraduate and graduate programs can apply for FAFSA.

To avail the Federal aid, a student must satisfy the following eligibility criteria:

• Financial need – The student should have a financial need to pursue his education


• US citizenship or recognition as an eligible noncitizen


• Valid Social Security Number

 

• Registration with Selective Service (male students must register between the ages of 18 to 25)


• Enrollment confirmation in an eligible degree or certificate program


• Good academic records in school or college

 

Application Modes

Students can apply for FAFSA through the online application available on the official website. Students can also apply for Student Federal aid through paper application forms or by calling the official phone.


While applying through FAFSA, a student should be aware of the following information to successfully complete and avail financial assistance:

1. Personal Identification Number (PIN)

To sign the FAFSA application electronically, the Personal Identification Number or the PIN is required. A student should get the PIN as early as possible from the official website of FAFSA in order to avoid process delays of the application.

2. Necessary Documents

Following are the necessary documents to be submitted along with the FAFSA application:

• Student’s Social Security Number


• Parent’s Social Security Number


• Driver’s License Number (if available)


• Alien Registration Number (for non-US citizens)


• Federal tax information


• Untaxed income


• Savings, investments, and balance account information

 

3. Help Tools

While filling the application, students can use free help tools available on the official website of FAFSA to complete the application correctly.

 

 4. Filling out FAFSA

When starting to fill the FAFSA for the first time on the official website of FAFSA, students should click the button that says ‘Start A New FAFSA’. If the application is not completed at the first time, students should save the password to login to the application later to complete it.

5. List of Colleges

While filling out the form, students should provide the name of at least one college in order to complete the application. This information is used to calculate the amount that may be required for a student. A student can list up to 10 colleges in the order of preference.

6. Dependency Status

A student should declare his/her dependency status. If the student is a dependent, information about the parents has to be filled out in the application.

7. Unable to Provide Parent Information

If a student is not able to provide information about the parents due to any reason, he or she will not be eligible for any Federal student aid except the unsubsidized loan.

Such students will not be able to avail the Expected Family Contribution. In such case, they should immediately contact the financial advisor of their college to avail the unsubsidized loan.

8. Financial Information

FAFSA asks for financial information of the student that should be filled based on the income records of the previous tax year. Students can use the ‘Income Estimator’ tool available in the official website of FAFSA to calculate the tax return if there is any change in the income.

9. Availability of Tax Information via IRS DRT

To know more information about tax return, students should use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool. For other related queries, students can contact IRS using the provided number: 1-800-829-1040.

10. Submitting the FAFSA

After filling out the application with necessary details, students should sign the FAFSA with the PIN and submit it.

Once the FAFSA application is submitted, students should follow up and monitor the status of the application on the official website. Students can also make corrections and update their application after submission, if required.

In this article, we have discussed about how to apply for Federal student aid through FAFSA. If a student can avail grants or scholarships, the money does not have to be repaid. In case of loans, the amount has to be paid back with interest, by the student.

In the next article, we will discuss about various loan repayment options available to student borrowers.


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