Sometimes, that first semester of college doesn’t go quite as planned. Maybe you want to change your major, and a different school seems more suitable. You may need to move closer to home because of family obligations. Or, maybe your current college just doesn’t feel like a good fit. Whatever your reasons for transferring schools, there are steps you can take to make the transition less stressful. These four tips are a good place to start.

Continue reading

Ideally, you should be able to sell your old textbooks. Sometimes, though, it doesn’t work out that way. A new edition may have just come out, rendering your textbook obsolete. Perhaps you’re in a highly specialized field, and not many buyers are biting. Whatever the case, you have other options for reusing or re-purposing your old textbooks. Take a look at these three ideas.

Continue reading

If you don’t have a summer job lined up yet, now is a good time to start looking. You may as well use your newly freed-up time to earn some cash, right? Or maybe you want to start gaining experience in your field of study. Whatever your goals are, you’ll find the job you want more easily if you start early. Here are a few ideas to help you with the hunt.

Continue reading

Summer break is here, and hopefully you’re dreaming of hot, sunny beach weather and all the fun things you can do with your new college buddies. But consider the summer a time for self-improvement, not just for fun. Whether you choose a job, internship, travel, summer courses, or volunteering, you’ll come back to school next year just a little bit smarter and more ready for the professional world.

Continue reading

Have you heard of Thrivent? They bring a unique, not-for-profit approach to everything they do—putting people before profits in all aspects of their business. It’s the philosophy and the mission they’ve been guided by for over 100 years. One that’s backed by over $116 billion in managed assets of people who trust and believe in a different way of doing business, and a unique way of looking at money as a tool, not a goal. They help they’re members be wise with money, because when people are more financially secure, they’re free to live more content, confident and generous lives.

Continue reading

There are many situations in life where you will need to work full time while going to college.  You may have a family to support, bills to pay, and can’t give up work to go to school. Even without these responsibilities, working full time while going to school is a good way to avoid too much student loan debt.

Regardless of your reason to work full time while going to school, you’ll need to plan carefully to balance work and college time, and still have room for free time to recharge.

Continue reading

For many first-generation students — students who are the first in their family to attend college — post-secondary education is a huge deal. They’re taking a different path than the rest of their family, one that their parents may not understand or even support. In many cases, they have more financial stresses than other students and may also feel like they don’t belong on campus. Thankfully, there are plenty of resources to help first-generation students adjust to college life.

Continue reading