We hand the microphone over to a group of students from Flagler-Palm Coast High School who talk about life after high school...which may include student loans and student debt.
Advice to students, from student...coming up now. This is Focused on Flagler Schools and I'm Jason Wheeler Community Information Specialist with Flagler Schools. We want to share the achievements and challenges facing our students, teachers and staff right here in Flagler County, Florida. So let's dive right in. For this edition of focused on Flagler Schools, we're going to do something a little different. We're reaching the end of the school year and we wanted everyone to know that our students are not coasting into the summer months. There's a community problem solving team from Flagler-Palm Coast High School that has asked to borrow our podcast to pass along some information to their fellow students, and the kicker, they're freshmen. So take a few minutes and listen in. Because we recognize the student voice is so important here in Flagler Schools.
Jaena Srivastava:Hello, Flagler Schools. My name is Jaena Srivastava. And I'm here with Tanya Feldman, Peregrine Pourchot, and Roman Savko. Our mission is to decrease student debt for the benefit of our students feature. Today we will be talking about our strategies and options you have to help you make the best financial decisions in your future. To backup this issue with some statistics, one in eight Americans have student debt according to the May 2021 US census data. This alone can disrupt a student's feature career trajectory that can affect job choices marital status, and personal life. After schools jobs don't always pay off and money can be tight for a long portion of the career due to the debt they are in. That causes many people such as those who are lawyers to have severe stress over their accumulated debt they need to put themselves through school. Even after student loans are paid off debt continues to follow person around with such things like credit cards. According to The Financial over half of Gen Z survey respondents admitted that they cannot keep up with those bills.
Peregrine Pourchot:To better explain the hard decisions about debt that students face. Let's say Mary who has moderate grades and a modest SAT score wants to go to her college of choice, but Mary can't afford to go there without taking out large student loans. Luckily for Mary, she has some options other than going into debt. Compromises do have to be made. But being debt free can be very freeing.
Roman Savko:One day you may to be stuck in Mary's unfortunate situation. So here's some of the best options you have to avoid dreaded student debt. First, try to apply for sources of free money. Apply for merit scholarships file for free aid in search for any scholarships you find interesting and would like to apply for second attempt to earn college credits through high school programs such as dual enrollment, or even consider earning a general education certificate. This could save you from taking a class you need in college or save you from housing rent as school. Third, strive to get a work study job during high school. Even if you don't save enough for your whole tuition through your summer job, you will still earn a few $1,000 towards your future. Every dollar you save is $1 less you have to borrow.
Tanya Feldman:Fourth, see if a tuition payment plan is the right thing for you. Instead of taking out money for student loans, tuition installment plans split up college loans into monthly installments usually without fees or interest. Instead of borrowing money, this allows you to save money every month as you work. But especially in finances, make sure you read the terms and conditions for every contract you sign. Fifth, see if a less expensive school is the better option. Sometimes it might make the most sense again undergraduate degree a community college to keep tuition costs low. In state public colleges. They also tend to have a lower tuition costs and more scholarship opportunities when you go to college in this day or under high school diploma, six and one of the most important steps graduate on time. According to advisors com How To Make my student loan debt 20 CNBC just for 1% of college students graduate in four years, each additional year of study adds an additional year of debt. transferring to another college or switching academic majors can add a term or two to your college career. Do your best to finish in four years to keep your overall costs down.
Peregrine Pourchot:It's also important to keep up with paying your interest to keep any loan amounts from growing. To find more information about that we would recommend looking into the advisors.com website about how interest rates on student loans work plan for repayment budget and always think about what option would make the most sense financially in four years from now.
Jaena Srivastava:Thank you for taking time to hear us out and for all your listeners. We wish you successful venture into the real world
Jason Wheeler:And we want to thank you for listening to Focused on Flagler Schools, a production in the Flagler County School District. New episodes are released every other Thursday. If you like what you hear, subscribe, and check out Flagler Schools at WWW dot Flagler schools.com. Or on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. We're there at Flagler Schools. Thanks for listening and remember, Let's Keep Focused on Flagler Schools.