In the same way that most high school students don’t feel that high school at all adequately prepared them for college, most college grads feel that college didn’t prepare them for the real world.
That’s especially true when you consider how much it cost to go to college in the first place.
Part of what makes the college experience so disappointing for many students is that, despite their formal education, they don’t graduate with real-world skills or knowledge. It is not unusual for college students to financially flounder after graduating — with no savings and no practical work experience, an alarming number of students work dead-end jobs, just trying to pay rent and survive, and are frozen in this situation for several years.
Having gone through this quagmire myself, it is interesting to look back and research how I could have saved myself some trouble. And though there isn’t anything I can do to change my past experience, I can offer a few strategies to new students to try and save them from the same fate.
- Set up a savings account. Growing up poor, my jaw dropped when I saw how much money I’d be getting from scholarships, stipends, and grants. Like any young, foolish college student, I spent most of what was left over after tuition and books on movies, music, concerts, clothes, and so on. My advice: Don’t do that. Not everyone gets free money from the school or the government (though there are hundreds of scholarships out there that could be yours) — if you’re lucky enough to get it, save it, don’t squander it. Shop around for a savings account that has an APY interest rate of about 4% or more; ING has a savings account that earns 4.5%. Put any excess money in this account every semester and do not take it out. That money will grow (though slowly) and more importantly, it will be there when you graduate and you really need it.
- Enable automatic deposits into your account. If you make any regular income, set up your savings account to automatically withdraw a small amount from your checking account. Even if it’s only a dollar a day, that’s still $1,460 after four years that you wouldn’t have had otherwise. Income doesn’t have to mean money you earn from a job, either — if you still get an allowance, save that, too.
- Take a personal finance class. You are on a university campus, so there is no reason you should graduate without having taken at least one personal finance class. Go to the Student Services department or the career placement department and ask around. In the unlikely event that your school doesn’t teach or have access to a class, visit sites like JumpStart.org or Practical Money Skills and start researching on your own. Banks are also a good resource for this kind of thing, and will gladly walk you through investments, savings, interest rates, mortgages, loans, and anything else you want to know.
Of course there are always ways to save here and there:
- Don’t eat out. (Eat at the cafeteria. That’s what it’s there for.)
- Don’t buy things you can rent or borrow.
- Shop at the Goodwill or Salvation Army.
- Put all your change into a jar at the end of every day.
- Find a part-time job, or start tutoring or offering lessons.
Although this advice is sound advice, having been a college student, I understand that it will probably fall on deaf ears. Money management is a problem that is light years away. But that won’t stop me from giving it, even if only because, as I get older, I’m beginning to understand the pleasure our elders get from saying “I told you so.”
Jemima Lopez is a freelance blogger and writer who writes for Zen College Life, the directory of higher education, distance learning, and best online colleges. She welcomes your comments at her email: lopezjemima 562@ gmail.com.
Image Credit: StudyGroupAlex
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