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Posts Tagged ‘Air Force’

Military Heroes Gain Scholarship Support For Their Children

March 16th, 2010 by Matthew C. Keegan | 6 Comments | Filed in Scholarships

American military personnel who have lost life or limb often leave behind spouses and children who must cope with the grief of their loss or the profound changes families must make when a wounded vet returns home. Children who want to attend college may find it more difficult to do so especially if family finances and circumstances makes it difficult to fund their education.

Scholarship Fund

freedom alliance
Thankfully, the Freedom Alliance Scholarship Fund (FASF) is in place to help the children of America’s military heroes attend college. Freedom Alliance founders LtCol Oliver North, USMC (Ret.) and the late LtGen Edward Bronars, USMC had a vision to start this fund in 1990.

Since then, more than $3 million in college scholarships have been awarded to these children with new opportunities announced just this past week.

“Families of killed or permanently disabled service members face hardships that most Americans can not imagine,” Freedom Alliance President Tom Kilgannon said. “To honor the men and women of our Armed Forces by providing scholarships to their children is a privilege. Paying for a college education is one hardship that these students should not have to endure.”

Student Eligibility

To determine eligibility, you must be the dependent son or daughter of a U.S. soldier, sailor, airman, Marine or Guardsman who has been killed or permanently disabled (100% VA disability rating) in an operational mission or training accident, or who is currently classified as a Prisoner of War (POW) or Missing in Action (MIA). You must also be a high school senior or registered as a full time undergraduate student and under the age of 26 to qualify.

To learn more about the Freedom Alliance Scholarship Fund and/or to apply please visit http://www.fascholarship.com/ or call 800-475-6620. The application deadline is July 31, 2010.

Charity Navigator

Freedom Alliance is a 501(c)(3) organization and is recognized by Charity Navigator as a four star charity, the highest rating given by this nationally recognized industry charity evaluator. The Freedom Alliance welcomes donations from the general public in support of its college scholarship fund.


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5 Ways to Stay Ahead of the College Tuition Curve

February 26th, 2010 by Matthew C. Keegan | 4 Comments | Filed in College Budgeting

How do you keep up with a 32 percent increase in tuition? Well, you can’t. At least if that hit takes place within one academic year. But that’s the number facing University of California students who see a huge tuition spike taking place this fall due to a depleted state budget.

Higher Education

college studentMost college students won’t face anything near that much of a percentage increase this year, but whatever they are hit with will most likely outstrip the inflation rate and force some students to come up with ways to stay ahead of the curve. Short of a tuition rollback (yeah, right) you may need to develop your own plan to keep pace. To that end we offer to you five ways to help you stay ahead of the college tuition curve:

Tutor or consult. If you are a leader in a particular class, why not offer your services as a tutor? Many colleges arrange for tutors to work with struggling students, but you can also offer your services directly to classmates. Consider using your talents to help out a local company or a business through the web. Offer to consult or provide a flat fee for helping to launch a website or work as a virtual assistant.

Rent textbooks. By now you know that textbooks can be a real budget buster. Private enterprise knows this as well with several companies having gotten into the textbook rental business. Borrow your books for the semester, pay a fee, and then return them when you are done. Save hundreds of dollars annually, perhaps enough money to offset your tuition increase. Businesses renting college textbooks include Chegg, BookRenter.com, eCampus.com and CampusBookRentals.com.

Cut back. You can’t always earn more money to cover your costs. Too much work means too little time for studying although working your way through school is an option more students may want to consider. Realistically review the way you live: do you have a cell phone? A car on campus? Do you plan on visiting Texas, Florida or other warm destination for spring break? You may find that your lifestyle is much more costly than what you can afford. Perhaps you need to evaluate your spending priorities.

Consider a transfer. When you started out at college, did you fully grasp how much it would cost you to go to school? Unfortunately for a lot of students and their families that answer is no. Importantly, do you know what your starting salary will be in your chosen field? If you will be leaving college with tens of thousands of dollars in student debt perhaps switching to a more affordable school makes sense. Elite Private College may be where you are getting your education, but State University may be much more affordable for you, while still providing an excellent education.

Go Navy. Or Army. Or Air Force. Or Marines. One way to cover some of your college costs is to enlist in the military. Think that I’m kidding? No, the federal government offers a generous education package to members of our military. You don’t have to enlist full-time either: reserve or guard duty offers enormous benefits while allowing you to continue with your education.

Get Radical

Some of the ideas suggested here may sound a bit radical to you. And they are. That’s because higher education costs are spiraling out of control and unless you want to go deeply into debt, other options besides student loans, credit card borrowing and poverty should be explored.

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Military Friendly Schools: Is Yours Listed?

September 4th, 2009 by Matthew C. Keegan | 3 Comments | Filed in College News

The men and women who serve our country via our Armed Forces are to be honored for their service  to our nation. Putting their lives on the line everyday, many have paid the ultimate price and have left family members and loved ones behind.

Serving Our Veterans

The University of Notre Dame was among the schools recently cited as being military friendly.

The University of Notre Dame was among the schools recently cited as being military friendly.

A number of colleges and universities are considered to be military friendly schools, institutions of higher learning who help veterans make the transition from military service to civilian life through educational opportunities and career guidance.

G.I. Jobs, the web portal designed to help members of the Navy, Air Force, Army, Marines, Coast Guard and National Guard succeed in civilian life, recently named what it considers to be the top schools for veterans. These schools are listed as follows in alphabetical order:

  • American University
  • Arizona State University
  • Auburn University
  • Ball State University
  • California State University (Fresno, Monterey Bay and Long Beach campuses)
  • City College of San Francisco
  • Creighton University School of Nursing
  • Drury University
  • Embry Riddle Aeronautical University
  • Florida State University
  • Illinois State University
  • Indiana State University
  • John Carroll University
  • Johns Hopkins University Engineering for Professionals
  • Kansas State University
  • Marquette University
  • Miami University
  • Oregon State University
  • Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics
  • Syracuse University
  • Texas A & M University
  • The Ohio State University
  • The University of Akron
  • The University of New Mexico
  • Tulsa Community College
  • University of Louisville
  • University of Notre Dame
  • University of Oklahoma
  • University of Southern California
  • Vanderbilt University
  • Virginia Military Institute
  • Webster University

G.I. Jobs also launched a new website containing interactive tools and search functionality to help prospective students find a school that suits their needs. Called the G.I. Education Handbook, the site can also be reached at militaryfriendlyschools.com.

Adv. – All hope isn’t lost even in a tough economy. SayMyCareer.com offers timely advice on how you can succeed, offering job search links, career information, even advanced education tips and ideas at no charge to you.

California College San Diego (CCSD) has been serving service members for over 30 years. CCSD has been helping veterans and military candidates receive all educational benefits they are eligible for. With its accelerated college degree programs, the college also assists candidates with benefits like Vocational Rehabilitation and Military Tuition Assistance


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GI Bill Overhaul A Boon To Returning Veterans

July 21st, 2008 by Matthew C. Keegan | 1 Comment | Filed in College Financial Aid, College News

US Military

American military personnel who have been fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan are getting a heap of thanks from this country due to an important overhaul of the GI Bill signed into law by President Bush late last month. For the first time since the initial bill was enacted in 1944, significant changes have been put into place, updates which will make it easier for returning veterans and their families to benefit from their service to this country.

Key provisions of the Post-9/11 GI Bill include the following important points:

  • All service personnel who have been active since September 10, 2001 and/or who have been honorably discharged are eligible to participate.
  • A housing provision of up to $2600 per month is now included for retired military personnel.
  • An increase in tuition assistance kicks in; a yearly books and supplies stipend payable to the student of $1000 is also included (active duty personnel are not eligible to receive this benefit). A one time payment of $500 is given for people who must relocate from a rural area to attend school.
  • Under certain conditions, benefits can be transferred to spouses and to their dependent children.

Provisions of the new bill do not kick in until August 1, 2009, with various benefit percentages granted depending on their length of service from September 10, 2001 on. Ex-military members are eligible to receive benefits for 15 years from their last period of active duty of at least 90 days.

The changes to the GI Bill have long been in the making, ending several years of frustration on the part of advocates who called for the end of partisan wrangling and for the passage of the bill. Some states and private colleges are already developing plans to offer in-state tuition rates or discounts to eligible students ahead of the August 1, 2009 start date or other incentives to attract new students.

(Source: www.gibill.va.gov)

Adv. — Do you need tuition assistance for college? Private student loans and other financing options are available to you. You can borrow as much as $45,000 annually to cover your college costs.


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