Catherine Targonski
Answers to Questions
Spring 2008
How do Americans pay for their college education?
Every year students across America apply to universities and colleges of their choice. There are many different options, from a variety of majors to different schools. Many students can choose to dorm, which is moving away from home or going to a commuter school. These commuter schools and dorming schools in America are not free and each has its own tuition price. The tuition varies at each school, depending on the location and if it’s public or private. Both public and private colleges and universities are now charging students $4,000 - $40,000 annually to attend school. According to Yahoo Finance, which converts Chinese money to American dollars: 4,000 American dollars is 28,413.2 Chinese Yuan Renminbi and ranges up to 40,000 which is 284,132 Chinese Yuan Renminbi. Numbers this big means that finding ways to help finance college costs is important. The tuition bothers many students these days and they debate on how they are going to manage to pay the sky rocketing tuition. Every year, many schools and their tuition are increasing and students struggle to pay loans.
There are many different options that help students these days to pay off their tuition. According to College Board, there are at least five different ways to help pay for a college education in America right now. You can use your own money, get a federal student loan or grant, apply for a private loan from a private bank, or get a college scholarship depending on your academic or athletic achievement. Student Grants are an important source, which pays some of the tuition or all of it. Also, the best thing about grants is that they don't ever have to be paid back. These federal grant programs help students pay for the cost of their education. By getting these federal grants, students have to apply to FAFSA, which is a document that is sent to the government. With this paper, the government determines how each student gets his or her federal grant.
Another way to help pay of tuition is federal student loans. This really only applies to three different types of loans that are available through the federal governmen. Loans are another way by which the government helps students pay for their tuition. According to College Board, there are three loan types - Federal Stafford Loans, Federal PLUS Loans, and Perkins Loans. Stafford Loans are true student loans and that means they must be paid back with interest. With the federal plus loan, parents can pay for a student's educational expenses as long as the student is a dependent undergraduate student enrolled at least half time. Federal Perkins Loans are low-interest (5 percent) and must be paid back to the school. Another way is applying for private loans from banks. The last way is to receive a scholarship by working hard academically or athletically. Sometimes these scholarships can pay the entire tuition or half of it depending, on what the school gives each student.
Last year, I myself applied to many different universities of my choice and got accepted to many. I chose Queens College a public university, because it has a nice campus for a cheap tuition price which I can afford. Personally, the tuition for me at Queens College is free. It’s free because I got scholarships and grants from the school and that is why I mainly chose Queens College. Also, it’s very close and it takes me less then twenty minutes to drive from home to school. I really wanted to go to New York University a private university, but the tuition price was very expensive and I couldn’t afford it so I had to make a very big decision. I personally didn’t want to get stuck with loans right now because I’m continuing my studies after Queens College. After Queens College, my dream is to go to medical school. Medical schools these days are very pricey in America and I would rather save every penny I have now towards medical school.
All these different options can be a really big help for students to pay for these tuition prices. These options are beneficial and needed for many of the students around America. Each year thousands apply to colleges and they need to find some way to pay the tuition.
What are your favorite TV shows and why?
TV shows for me are one source of entertainment that give me something to do and a way to relax or even escape reality for a few moments. I have many different favorite TV shows, but when college started it seemed that I don’t have time to watch anymore even though I try to them into my schedule. There are so many TV shows airing currently, from reality shows, soap operas, game shows and many more. My favorite TV shows are One Tree Hill, M. Jak Milosc, Gossip Girls, Dancing with the Stars and Your Mama Don’tDance . All these shows are my favorites and I began to watch them from the very first episode.
One Tree Hill and Gossip Girls are two shows that have tons of drama. These shows portray lives of teenagers and all their problems. I think I like these shows because it brings some excitement while watching them. Also many of my girlfriends watch these shows so we have conversations about the shows after they air. M. Jak Milosc is probably my favorite show out of all them because it has everything from romance to daily life problems. This show is aired in Poland but in my house we order the Polish channel because my family is Polish, and I’m able to watch it. I’ve been watching it already for 8 years and it’s fantastic. I never missed an episode because it airs during the weekend which perfectly fits my schedule. Also, I like watching this show because it gives me something to do with my mother. We both love this show and gossip about it all the time trying to figure out what will happen next. The last two shows Dancing with The Stars and Your Mama Don’t Dance are reality game TV shows. These shows are based on dancing and competition. I personally love to dance and by watching this show I am able to see different types of dance. Both these shows are cute and ditzy which I like.
Tv shows are fun and unique and each has it’s own style to entertain people. There are many different tv shows, and they can even air for many years. All these TV shows have different age group audiences also. Personally, I like watching TV whenever I have the time for it and it brings some excitement.