Student Credit Cards

Getting a student credit card for your son or daughter has many more advantages than disadvantages; it's a first steep to building credit while in college. Getting a student credit card enables students to slowly build their credit, assuming they pay their bills on time every month. Good credit history will help them when they need good credit to apply for car loans and to pass credit checks when they rent apartments or residences after college. A basic credit building tactic involves getting a student credit card and staying within the credit limit to purchase clothing, school supplies, food and other essentials while at school - and making prompt payments when the bills come due. Make sure you son or daughter is responsible enough to use it wisely. If not, you might want to hold of on getting them one as their credit history will be with them for the rest of their life. They need to learn about the importance of being smart with money; this is one of the most important life-lessons that parents can pass on to their children.

When choosing the right college student credit card, look for the company offering a longer grace period so that you more time to make payments for your expenses, before accruing any interest on the balance. Credit card companies are anxious to acquire student customers, since they know that a good borrowing experience early on can earn them customers in the future. So there is no shortage of offers for both secure and unsecured credit cards in the mail. If you are a college student, whether in your first year or getting ready to graduate, one thing you need to start thinking about is your finances. One of the best ways to start building up good credit is to go ahead and get a student credit card. There are two types of student credit cards that you can get. An unsecured student credit card does not require that you pay any money up front. With an unsecured student credit card, you can usually request a credit limit increase after 6 to 12 months of timely payments of at least the minimum due or more. There are a variety of great benefits to having a student credit card.

Student credit cards have notoriously high interest rate and finance charges can accumulate easily. Interest is charged at a percentage of the overdue balance. Interest rates have been up lately and the lower interest rate cards have been few and far between, even to those with high credit scores. Your child will learn about interest, particularly if he or she is paying the bills. In fact, the only real difference between a student credit card and a regular credit card is that student credit cards have higher interest rates. Over time the interest keeps adding up and eventually if the student is only paying the minimum amount due they are in reality only paying off the interest and their credit card balance is never going to be paid off. Explain to your student that if they fall behind in payments, the credit card issuer will increase their interest rate. When credit cards were first introduced, they were a pretty simple proposition: use your card for purchases, and be charged a single rate of interest on your unpaid balance. Then came the rise of the ATM (cash machine), and credit card issuers realized they could lend money by allowing their cards to be used to withdraw cash on account, and could earn more this way by hiding away a higher interest rate for cash withdrawals in the credit agreement small print. Not to forget the different interest rate often charged for overseas use.

Students not only have tuition costs, but the cost of books, meals, gas, cell. A credit card for college students also provides you with the opportunity to learn how to budget your money and handle your finances as well. For students who are trying to get started early on achieving good credit, a student credit card is a great option. Many students can be tempted by what is apparently "free money", without thinking of the consequences. Likewise, late payment fees can be an eye opening experience for many young students. It's therefore essential that students always pay at least their minimum payment due on time and avoid late payments to build and keep a good credit rating. Track Spending: Students can effectively track their spending by reviewing and storing the monthly credit card statements that will be sent by the credit card company. This will help students understand the importance of budgeting and record keeping.

Global Education

If we could represent the demographics of the world into a village of 100 people, what would it look like? If we gave that global village access to 161 billion gigabytes of data, what would they do with it? If six billion gigabytes of data were shared in email in 2006, what would it contain? Most important of all, how is this incredible rate of exponential change be reflected in the education of children today? Where is the education really coming from, in schools, at home or on-line?

A Global Village of 100 People

If we could reduce the world's population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all existing human ratios remaining the same, the demographics would look something like this:

60 Asian

14 African

12 European

8 Latin American

5 US American and Canadian

Out of those 100 people:

51 would be male

49 would be female

The Standards of Living:

5 people (US citizens) would control 32% or the total wealth

80 would live in substandard housing

24 would not have any electricity

50 would be malnourished and 1 starving

33 would be without access to a safe water supply

67 are unable to read

7 people would have access to the Internet

1 would have a college education

Information Data Explosion in the Global Village

161 billion gigabytes of digital information was created, captured and replicated worldwide in 2006

More than one billion MP3 files were shared over the Internet in 2006

Almost 100 billion digital images were captured and shared using cell phone cameras

More than 500 billion digital images will be captured by 2010

Six billion gigabytes of data were emailed from one person to another in 2006 (excluding spam)

The number of emails grew three times faster than the number of people emailing from 1998 to 2006

Source: IDC & EMC Corp / The Expanding Digital Universe: A Forecast of Worldwide Information Growth Through 2010

What does this mean to Education?

A better question should be, "How should this be impacting are attention to education for children today?"

Did you know that 34 babies will be born in the next 8 seconds, 5 in India, 4 in China and 1 in the US. What will the world be like for them?

In 2006 there were over 1.3 million college graduates in the US, 3.1 million college graduates in India and 3.3 million college graduates in China.

How many of the college graduates in India speak English? 100%

In the next ten years it is predicted that China will be the number one English speaking country in the world.

The rate of change and development is increasing at an exponential pace. In ten years there will be courses and technology and topics that have not been invented yet. Social and cultural barriers are colliding, collapsing, merging and conflicting as rapidly as the access to real time communications, and far faster than political procedural doctrine can respond. How will the next generation use computers that are faster than the human brain, or capable of storing more data than the collective minds of the world population? How will the next generation be prepared for access to such knowledge in a changing world?

Do these facts interest you? Would you like to see even more amazing facts?

Visit http://www.executiveblueprints.com/education.htm to watch the amazing video presentation developed by Karl Fisch, with assistance from Scott McLeod, designed by XPLANE.

Then participate in the global conversation about education at www.shifthappens.wikispaces.com, or initiate conversations about the importance education in your own community.

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Words of Wisdom

"Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities, because in each of us there is a private hope and dream which, fulfilled, can be translated into benefit for everyone and greater strength for our nation." - John F. Kennedy

"The great aim of education is not knowledge but action." - Herbert Spencer

"Next in importance to freedom and justice is popular education, without which neither freedom nor justice can be permanently maintained." - James A Garfield

"The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future life." - PLATO

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John Mehrmann is a freelance author and President of Executive Blueprints Inc., an organization devoted to improving business practices and developing human capital.

How To Make Sure Your Online Degree is Worth the Value?

Online education has made it possible for you to earn your degree online from your comfort home; you no more need to go to a physical university to obtain a degree. An online degree program can easily fit into your busy schedule and you don't need to travel to attend classes. Many online universities and traditional on-campus universities offer online degree programs, some of these universities are accredited universities and others are not. Your degree will be worth the value if it is from an accredited university; in contrary, it will be valueless if it is issued by diploma mills. How you are going to make sure that your online degree is NOT from a diploma mills?

Some of you may think that it is not a big deal as long as you have a related degree to apply for you dream job. You may be right if you are earning your online degree from a diploma mill in the early day, where those scams just start to penetrate into online education field and many employers did not know about them. But, awareness about diploma mills have been increased among employers; majority of employers will treat a degree from university that they have never heard of to be suspicious and will do a re-confirmation about your degree before they decide to hire you. If they found you are holding a "fake" degree which is issued by a diploma mill, you definitely will lose your chance to win the job position.

The most common fast-track degrees that can be earned with a minimum education cost are Life Experience degrees. You can gain credit for what you have learned in your job or any past experience; some of these Life Experience degree programs come with zero hour courses; others allow you to complete in a few days. You must treat these especially with extreme caution because many diploma mills are issuing Life Experience degrees. Although there are online degree programs that count in you life experience, the credits from these life experience may just a small part of the total credit hours needed to complete the degree program. The rule of thumb, if it is too easy to get a degree, then it really is not worth the paper it is printed on.

In order to protect yourself from any trap of diploma mill and ensure your degree is worth the value, consider of taking a degree program that are:

* Required at least two years to complete the degree.

* From university that is listed in accreditation database of CHEA.org

* Followed degree courses and forget about life experience degrees

* Offered by reputable university that has many good or positive feedbacks from online forum, or any discussion board.

If you have suspicious on any of your preference degree program, it's better to drop it from your list then taking the risk to enroll it. You should be able to find the same online degree program from a prestige and reputable university.

In Summary

Online degree issued by diploma mill is useless, it not just can't help you in your career, it causes you to waste your money, time and efforts. You want an online degree that have value and is able to help you in your career move, and it can only be ensured by avoiding diploma mill.

Distance Learning Degrees: The Flexible Route To Higher Education

More students around the world are taking advantage of distance learning degrees and degree programs, thanks to the Internet and the willingness of educators to recognize the fact that many people can't attend traditional school campuses due to work or family obligations. While such issues used to keep hundreds, if not thousands, out of college, such restrictions of time and location no longer remain the key issue when it comes to higher education.

The transition to such opportunities has been a long time in coming, and is long overdue. Hundreds of thousands of dollars of lost earning wages due to lack of college degrees will no longer hold employees back from obtaining the jobs of their dreams, or from pursuing higher goals within organizations. The benefits of attending online schools are obvious, and detractors have little to say. As little as a decade ago, the idea of attending an online school brought snickers or raised eyebrows. People believed that distance learning education programs were just for those wishing to pursue dental or medical assistant careers, though that was, and still isn't, the case.

Major universities around the world now offer online coursework as well as degrees in just about every field of employment, including medical, education, and law enforcement careers, just to name a few. A well-rounded and accredited online college offers students the same quality and coursework as a traditional brick and mortar college, without having to attend classes on campus. In rural areas, or for people obligated to full time jobs and family responsibilities, online college coursework is a blessing.

Such schools are held to the same high standards as a traditional campus, and must pass an accreditation program just as thorough, if not more so, than those given to campuses around the country and the world. Accreditation experts look at student services, coursework materials, testing methods and financial records to ascertain whether or not any school is able to offer expert and qualified instructors and coursework materials. For those seeking information on online distance learning colleges and coursework opportunities, an Internet search will bring up hundreds of online campuses. When narrowing down your list of possibilities, keep important things at the top of your list. First, are student services available, and are you going to be able to talk to a live person during normal business hours? Will instructors be available online or via email to answer specific questions and issues concerning coursework, testing and lecture schedules?

Of course, financing is also important, and while one may expect to pay a little more to attend an online degree program, the extra cost more than makes up for lost wages or the inconvenience of driving to a physical school campus to complete coursework. Many online degree programs offer student financing, as well as student loans, so always check ahead of time to make sure you get the most from your chosen school.

Online distance learning degrees and programs are the wave of the future, and competition is fierce and continues to rise. Do your research, take your time, and find the online college that offers exactly what you need.

Best Medical School In The USA

When it comes to medical schools in the USA they can now be classified under two categories. There are those schools which concentrate on the research side and those schools which focus all their attention on teaching their students about primary care matters. However when it comes to choosing which is the best medical school can be very difficult to achieve as some have a much higher reputation than others. For example you could say that Harvard is the best, but this is probably world wide this is the most well known.

But even if we were to put together a definitive list of what are the best and worst medical schools in the USA today. It does not mean that a student which to attend them can just apply for admission to get in to carry out their studies. Unfortunately if a medical school ranks highly then their requirement standards will be much higher. Often such schools will expect those applying to them to have a better Grade Point Average (GPA) as well as they will want their potential enrollees to sit a much more difficult MCAT (Medical School Admissions Test). But there are also other factors a student will need to take into when applying to such a good medical school as the school in question will look at where the student actually resides and how well their essay that they need to complete as part of their application was written.

Although certainly there are a number of advantages to be gained from attending and studying at one of the best medical schools in the USA. Certainly the degree you obtain from this type of school will help in obtaining a better position and often those students who rank highly at such an institute will find themselves being rewarded a much better residency position at some of the best medical establishments in the country today. You can read more free advice on medical school acceptance at http://www.medicalschoolzone.com

When it comes to looking for the best medical school in relation to research studies and training there are a number of different ones that a student can consider. These are namely Harvard University, Duke University, John Hopkins University along with the University of California San Francisco. Whilst Oregon Health & Science University and the Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine are considered to be some of the best schools that provide students with excellent training relating to primary care matters.

Phoenix Schools See School Choice as a Necessity

Neighborhood schools are quickly becoming a thing of the past. With such things as school rankings, school "grades" for each school, and the No Child Left Behind act, simply sending our children to the grade school down the street is going the way of the dodo bird.

Today, Phoenix Schools' parents have the option of sending their children to almost any school they wish within the district serving Phoenix Public Schools. While some may indeed choose to stick with the neighborhood learning institution many, if not most, parents are enrolling their children in specialty schools that reflect their child's interests, strengths, or just the style of education they want for their student.

Phoenix Schools now offer various Magnet Schools to meet the growing demand for school choice. Called "Signature Schools", these Phoenix Schools offer numerous options for students attending a Phoenix Schools magnet program.

There is a downside to the Phoenix Schools magnet program. By sending children to schools further away from home families now need to import playmates or drive their kids across town to visit friends. Families in the Phoenix Schools need to balance their desire for the strengths of a magnet with the burden of travel time and being more spread out.

If you are interested in the magnet programs offered by Phoenix Schools here's a partial list:

Montessori - This program serves Phoenix Schools students in PreK through 8th grade. It follows the international curriculum developed by Maria Montessori.

Performing Arts - Phoenix Schools students in 7th and 8th grades have the opportunity to participate in the performing arts throughout the school year with an emphasis on drama, dance, choir and instrumental music. Kindergarten through 6th grade students also participate in these disciplines.

Math, Science & Technology - Phoenix Schools 7th and 8th grade students focus specifically on math, science and technology. The science campus at Lowell offers special benefits to prekindergarten through 6th grade students, as well.

Traditional & Balance the Basics - Prekindergarten through 8th grade Phoenix Schools students engage in a heavy emphasis on reading, math and writing.

Global Community or Donde Vivo - Donde Vivo students in 7th and 8th explore their global community through an interdisciplinary curriculum. Each year the students have the opportunity to experience their global community by traveling abroad.

Second Language Acquisition - Second Language Acquisition is the focus of a program at Herrera School for students in kindergarten through sixth grade. Students are immersed in both Spanish and English in all subject areas.

Science Investigations - Phoenix Schools students in 7th and 8th grades engage in physical and life sciences during their regular science classes, as well as through an after school club with mentors from Arizona State University.

Magnet Schools offer options, but they're not perfect. Most Phoenix Schools house magnet programs in less desirable parts of the city in an effort to draw more affluent and educated parents. But you and your child might find that it's the right place for you.

Improve Reading Speed and Comprehension in 5 Steps

Speed reading materials often concentrate on the brain by tweaking the ability to choose and process printed information in a matter of seconds. In order to increase the speed at which this takes place, the brain needs a bit of sharpening and training. With the assistance of decent speed reading software, books, and other programs, one can learn how to not only read faster, but also gain a better understanding of the text they scan.

With this higher level of information retaining - the more knowledgeable one will become. As a result, you also become more desirable and productive within the work world, as well as on the educational scene. In order to obtain the ability to speed read without compromising comprehension is a skill that takes practice. Below you will find five helpful ways on how to sharpen your skills in the speed reading department:

1) Scan Content Before Reading

Become a smarter reader by scanning the content of a book before starting to tackle the chapters. Each book alerts a reader to the kind of material within a book that is most useful (or a complete waste of time). By avoiding unnecessary or "fluff" chapters, you will be able to save a great amount of time and energy.

2) Vocabulary Increase

Understanding the words you are reading will help you with your speed reading goals. If you are unable to decipher words in your text, your rate of reading will decrease because you will pause more to figure out what you are reading. Also, pressing words require a quick look-up in the dictionary, which could be quite important in understanding a key point in reading material. This is especially significant for college students using speed reading to make their heavy load of study materials much lighter, as they often encounter information they have never seen before.

3) Prioritize

Some people succeed in improving their speed reading and comprehension by prioritizing their reading material. This means they will classify what part of the content requires a more urgent response. First, you will approach a chunk of text, chapter, or book by placing "very significant" and "less important" tags before you start to read. This technique not only helps you speed read through the material, but also enhances your comprehension.

4) Choose Suitable Reading Room

To improve how you read faster and comprehend the material in front of your face, it is important to select a comfortable and quiet reading arena that encourages better results. Your chosen place should be free of distractions, but not too much so that you will fall asleep. For instance, it is not suggested to read difficult or vital material while in the bed. The best approach is to select a location where you will not be disturbed while you speed read, which will only slow down your focus and overall flow.

5) Practice

How will you improve your speed reading skills if you never practice? It is vital to continue developing your capacity to read faster and comprehend more and the only way to give your brain sufficient training in reading and processing information at an elevated rate is to practice. This step is also important for training the eyes to move faster across a page.