I Got this from Nigeria Thread Sm1 please any comment on this.
Gentiger: You can go back to school here in the States to increase your earnings and have an edge over your contemporaries. You need not spend a fortune to do that. You can take full advantage of Federal and Private loans and repay over time. The Good thing about taking and repaying loans as of when due is that it builds up your credit history and makes you credit worthy. So my advice to all new immigrants is to begin building your credit ratings. How do you do that? The moment you have a job, you can approach any of the stores in your locality offering credit cards to customers. For those in California, try out Marshall or Macy stores. There are many others. You can begin by taking $500 - $1000 credit card facility from these stores for your shopping. These stores mentioned and others are where I buy my clothes. Their services are exceptional.
Back to What we were saying, going back to school need not be tedious. I'll advice each and everyone already in the States to evaluate their certificates or academic credentials with the appropriate evaluation centers scattered. across the States. This is a very important step if you must go to school. Secondly choose a course of study most sought after. Do programs that will make you indispensable. Always verify average yearly income for any program you choose and job availability. When you are satisfied with your chosen program, then you can proceed to the next level.
You must choose schools with the necessary accreditation for the desired course of study. Ensure you review the schools in your locality for competitiveness and financial aid availability. This is very important . Private schools are expensive but better in terms of academic output. Again, they churn out graduates much faster than government schools. Classes are not congested and students are given personal attention, usually, you may be assigned to a professor to guide you through your chosen course of study. This is the advantage of private over public schools.
When you have chosen your school and your course of study, the next phase is how to pay for tuition and other related expenses. This is where federal grant and federal/private loans come in. I will break it down for you to understand. Let's proceed.
When you enroll for any house of study in a college or university setting, as a green card holder you are entitled to $5500 grant. It's called the Pell Grant and is non-refundable. It's awuf. With this grant, your school fee is reduced by $5,500. All schools will draw this grant to your attention. It is your entitlement. America sweet die!!!
Next, you need to create a pin for your Federal Government loans. Loans are not grants. Loans from the government are repayable over a period of 10 years with a fixed but low interest rate in comparison to Private loans. Avoid private loans as much as you can. To get your pin, log on to
www.pin.ed.gov. Fill out the required forms and allow a maximum of 3 business days to have your pin approved. Your pin is your financial power as far as government loans are concerned. Do not share it and do not disclose to third parties.
Below are the various Federal government grants you can take advantage of. It covers all levels of studies, college students, undergraduates or graduate students.
1.Federal Stafford Loan
2. Federal graduate plus loan
3. Federal Parent plus loan
If you don't want these loans but want to be employed by your school and have your salary used to service your tuition, Then take advantage of the
4. Federal Work study.
To apply for Federal Stafford loan, you must first have your admission for your program of study, Then log on to
www.fafsa.gov. You can also take a look at this site for additional information:
www.studentloans.gov. I wish everyone a lovely study life in the US.
A word of advice:
If your highest level of studies is WAEC/NECO, please don't travel down to the States without atleast 5 WAEC/NECO scratch cards. You will need it here. Trust me when I tell you this. Again, if you are a graduate of any field of study, approach your graduate school and have your transcript processed. Keep a personal reference copy and have your school send a copy to any one of the certificate evaluation services here in the States. I wish I had someone to tell me all these before I left Nigeria. I plan travelling down though. Log on to
www.Wes.org. This is one of the best certificate evaluation service providers you can find. There are many others. Google them up and ensure they are properly accredited to provide that service in the US.
God bless you all. Gentiger signing off from Los Angeles.
