Alex Chediak

Helping young adults thrive at college and beyond

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Under 40? Got Student Debt? Good Chance You’re Poor

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Walter Hamilton writing for the LA Times: College graduate heads-of-household under 40 with student debt have a median net worth of only $8,700, according to the analysis by the Pew Research Center. That’s a fraction of the $64,700 the same group without college loans is worth. They're not  all drowning in student debt--the median student debt for this group is about $13,000--it's that "because of the other loans they’ve taken out, the median total indebtedness of college graduates under 40 with student loans is $137,010...compared to $73,250 for their counterparts with no college debt." … [Read more...] about Under 40? Got Student Debt? Good Chance You’re Poor

The Myth of Working Your Way Through College

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Svati Kirsten Narula, writing for The Atlantic:  "the average student in 1979 could work 182 hours (a part-time summer job) to pay for a year's tuition. In 2013, it took 991 hours (a full-time job for half the year) to accomplish the same." Read the whole thing. FYI - My new  book has tips on saving for college, lowering the costs of college, and earning money during college. … [Read more...] about The Myth of Working Your Way Through College

Should We Become a Cashless Society?

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Confession: I hate carrying and spending cash. Always have. I like the convenience of putting everything on one credit card, being able to have an instant record of my spending, and (of course) earning 1 percent cash back. I'm not prone to impulse purchases, and I've always paid my bill in full and on time. But Derek Thomas has a provocative article in The Atlantic on the downsides of our becoming a cashless society. Thomas writes: "In the 1970s, fewer than 20 percent of the adult population owned a credit card. Today, between 70 and 80 percent of the adult population does." So what? Thomas … [Read more...] about Should We Become a Cashless Society?

Is Your Child Prepared to Major in a STEM Field?

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Fascinating post by Lynn O'Shaughnessy on the popularity of STEM majors and the importance of preparation for success in them.  The 2013 report she cites notes the need for students to "understand what takes place in a specific major or occupation." When they do, the report shows, their ACT scores rise, which implies better preparation for the rigors of college and a greater likelihood of success in a family of majors with a higher than average attrition rate. Like I explained in Chapter 9 of Preparing Your Teens for College, we need to help more HS students understand what's required for … [Read more...] about Is Your Child Prepared to Major in a STEM Field?