The Guardian (2011) suggests that 15% fewer applicants have been received for courses starting September 2012. Students are now expected to leave university with a £53k debt (BBC, 2011) compared to the average debt being £25k in 2010 (The Guardian, 2010). Furthermore the salaries at which graduates can demand is at its lowest since 2003 (GRB, 2012). The prospect of graduating from the university with an ever larger debt and the belief that it may not be financially rewarding will only discourage College leavers from furthering their education. However Dan Hawes (GRB Director) argues persuasively that completing a higher education course offers its financial rewards. Dan Hawes continues to support this by suggesting that graduates’ financial rewards are far greater than those who decide to enter the job market instantly after leaving college.

With the UK having one of the most reputable education in the world combined with the long term financial rewards that this offers, how can one decide not to take a higher education course? The long term benefits of completing such a course heavily out-weigh the short term costs incurred. We here at The Graduate Recruitment Bureau are here to help you walk straight into your ideal job role with free services tailored to your needs.

This Guest Post has been written by Laurence Chandler on behalf of The Graduate Recruitment Bureau

The conclusion we can draw is this: we should all build credit, but only do so in a responsible way. As a college student with no credit history, here are ten strategies to consider for building your credit.

1. Student Loans

The great thing about student loans is that they are one of the few things you can qualify for, even if you have little to no credit history. Here’s more info about federal student loan eligibility and private student loan eligibility.

2. Student Credit Cards

Unlike regular credit cards, student credit cards are especially designed for students and are rather easy to get approved for. However as we all know, they can definitely lead to spending problems. If you think you’re susceptible to that, then you may want to consider the next strategy on the list.

3. Secured Credit Cards

With these, you put up a security deposit and you’re only allowed to spend up to that amount. For example, if you put up a deposit of $750 then your credit limit is $750. The nice thing about this setup is that it prevents you from spending more than you have. Secured accounts are also a great option for rebuilding credit since you don’t need a credit history to qualify.

4. Charge Cards

Contrary to popular belief, a “charge” card is actually different from a credit card. With a charge card you are required to pay the balance in full each month. That means with charge cards it is impossible to rake up long term debt. As a result, it’s a good deterrent for overspending since people know they will have to pay back the money quickly. The two entry-level charge cards from American Express are good options for students; the Zync ($25 annual fee) and the Green ($95 annual fee). Obviously the latter is a bit expensive, so Zync usually makes more sense for students.

5. Store Credit Cards

Generally speaking, cards from department stores and other retailers should be avoided because they usually come with few benefits and excessively high interest rates. However one good thing about them is that they are easy to get approved for. But if you’re not a student who is extremely disciplined with money, store credit cards are best to avoid because their high rates can lead to out of control debt – or at the very least – overspending at the affiliated store.

6. Auto Loans

It’s relatively easy to get auto financing, even if you have little credit history. However the downside is that the less credit you have, the higher the interest rate you will pay. As a result, it’s probably best to avoid buying a car with a loan until after you graduate college and have a full-time job. Because as we all know, during college finances are tight and you don’t want to add a car payment on top of that.

7. Co-signing Accounts

Did you know that you can build credit without even having your own accounts? That’s right, someone can add you as an authorized user on their credit cards and/or loans. As a result, their account will show up on your credit report. A fair number of students do this with their parents but it’s important for you to understand the risks. If they make late payments or default on the account(s) your credit score will be affected to the same degree that theirs is. In short, if they mess up their account, you will also pay the consequences. (Important: If you do this, don’t do it with a friend or significant other, as that almost always leads to fights or even ruined friendships.)

8. Deposit Account Loans

These operate in a way similar to secured credit cards. Basically, banks will let you take a loan out against the amount you have in your CD account. Even though this is a strategy to build credit, I think it’s a bad idea because if you already have (or will have) student loans, then there’s no point in getting a deposit loan too. After all, why pay to borrow money from yourself?!

9. Utilities

Let me say up front that utilities will not help your credit score. Why? Because the only time they will show up on your credit report is if you don’t pay (and obviously that will hurt big time). Aside from that scenario, your utilities such as power bills, cable TV, cell phones, etc. won’t help build a credit score. However they can still be helpful in the sense that they help you become accustomed to paying a bill every month and budgeting for it. So you can almost think of utilities as good “practice accounts” for credit and loans.

10. Checking Credit Reports

Again, this is something else that won’t directly build your credit. Checking your own credit reports directly won’t have any effect on your score, neither positive nor negative. However, it’s still an important strategy in the credit building process because you need to know what’s on your report. Sometimes there is erroneous information that shouldn’t be there. So make sure you check your reports regularly. On AnnualCreditReport.com you can check your reports for free from all 3 credit bureaus once every 12 months. What I recommend is spacing these out and checking 1 bureau every 4 months.

Author Bio: Mike is a full-time personal blogger on consumer finance. You can find him blogging about all things credit on his site Credit Card Forum.

Student loan was the only major loan category growing in the middle of the last year. Credit cards and auto loans were flat to some extent. Moreover, according to researchers, with the tremendous increase in college enrollments and costs of attendance, this balance is predicted to continue its rising trend.

The Fed economists wanted to know how poorly debtors perform on paying off their loans. Additionally, they wanted to identify what type of balances people owe into their 30s and 40s. The data shows that approximately 66% people who take student debt are under the age of 40. Nearly 62% borrowers have loan balances under $25,000 and 43% have balances under $10,000.

In view of a repeat of home mortgage delinquencies, the Fed researchers wanted to see how these loans are performing. At this point the analysis becomes quite tricky because most of the loan programs allow students to defer their debt until after they are out of school or even after a few months grace period. If we observe the data straight up, without considering any grace period, it looks like student’s debt is in no worse off than other credit categories.

Out of 37 million borrowers who have outstanding student loan balances as of third quarter 2011, about 5.4 million borrowers have at least one past due student loan account. Collectively, these past due balances are equal to $85 billion, or around 10% of the total outstanding student loan balance. Keeping all things in perspective, the same 10% rate applies on average to other types of household delinquent debts including credit cards, mortgages and auto loans.

However the 10% delinquency rate is not accurate. According to the Fed data, these deferred student loans are not included in the past due balances but are included in the total balance from which the delinquency rate is derived. So, Fed economists had to adjust for this bias. They disqualified about 47% of all students who appeared to be exempt because they were either in grace period or school as they owed as much as or more than they did in the previous quarter while maintaining a zero past due balance.

Subsequently, researchers recalculated the proportion of borrowers with a past due balance excluding this group of borrowers and they found that 27% of borrowers have past due balances while the adjusted proportion of delinquencies is 21% which is much greater than the unadjusted rates of 14.4% and 10% correspondingly.

The research conducted by Fed researchers highlighted student loan borrowers who have a balance as of third quarter 2011. While those students who had taken out a loan at one point but repaid it before third quarter 2011 are not responsible for.

ROI across Different Degree Levels

According to the U.S. Census, there are some college degrees which offer better ROI than others, they are :

• An associate’s degree can help you increase your salary by about 30 percent in about 2 years. As it is available both online and through traditional mode, it can be considered by working professionals as well. It offers general education as well as applied vocational training.
• Bachelor’s degree is spread over duration of four years and can help you get about $23,300 more per year.
• A master’s degree chosen in a specific field can help you get better career opportunities and higher salary as compared to bachelor degree. This can help you to get advanced training to gain a competitive edge over others without a master’s degree. According to the U.S. Census in 2002, advanced degrees like master’s degree can help you earn 2.6 times more than high school graduates.
• Professional degrees can help you get maximum ROI as your earning power will increase substantially. The Census report estimates about $4.4 million of lifetime income which is quite high and about four times higher than income of those with a high school graduation.

Choosing College Courses for ROI

The following degree programs offer better ROI:

• Master’s in Business Administration (M.B.A.) can help you get a higher salary, and based on the statistics provided by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) in 2008, there is an increase of about 39 percent median salary with an MBA when compared with the salaries of pre-graduate degree holders. MBA graduates get promotion within five years of getting this degree. You can improve the ROI by spending less and by considering online degrees.
• Based on the figures provided by the Department of Labor, Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering can get you the highest starting salary. While the entry level salary can be as much as $50,000 annually, a specialization in a specific area can help you to earn double in five to 10 years. Moreover, it offers you maximum job security with nuclear, petroleum engineers and computer hardware engineers earning very decent salaries. However, environmental and biomedical engineers have a prospect of over 20 percent growth predicted through 2016.

A college degree can be an important investment in your life and can lead to a high ROI. Moreover, knowledge and skills that one gets are acknowledged by most employers resulting in better salary and job security. Even if the economy slows down, stocks show a downfall or there is an increase in expenditure, you can always depend on your career training to pay dividends throughout your life.

College Expenses for College Students

Here is a list of likely college expenses for college students so that they can start budgeting for college and keep a track of their expenses.

• Tuition is considered to be the largest college expense for students. If you are planning to join a college you should evaluate its tuition rates and compare with other similar colleges. There might be other expenses like laboratory costs or equipment costs which you need to consider as well.
• Apart from this, living expenses like accommodation costs should be taken into consideration. Your child might want to live at home and travel to college or take a dorm room, on-campus or off-campus house with other students to share the expenses.
• College students should decide meal plans based on what can fit in their budget.
• Transportation is another major expense as kids need to travel to and fro college every day. You can either consider buying them a vehicle or encourage them to use public transport. Most public transportation, like a bus or rail offers student discounts which they can avail. If they decide to use a vehicle then additional expenses like parking fees, car insurance, gas as well as vehicle maintenance and vehicle tax will be included.
• You should prepare your children for living expenses as well, which include computers or laptop and other daily requirements as well as suitable clothes for college. They would desire other things like television, music system, microwave which could add to the expenses. Tell them to share their room with their classmates and avoid buying things which can be shared.
• Apart from these onetime expenses, your child will be incurring monthly expenses like stationery, internet access and electricity. You should talk to them to develop a college student budget to avoid overspending especially if they have a credit card.
• College students can incur college expenses like stationery, and if your child has chosen a specific major which requires various supplies then that adds to the college expenses. You can encourage them to share, borrow from seniors, rent or buy used course books and supplies to avoid excessive spending.
• You need to prepare them for additional expenses like health insurance. If your child is below 26 years, then they can be included in your health insurance plans. They need some money for leisure as well and other extracurricular activities. Also they need to be prepared for unexpected emergencies like illness or unplanned travel which can incur sudden expenses.

College students incur a sizable amount of college expenses, which if not managed properly can lead to overspending and even debt. You should look at budgeting for college and if need be opt for student loans or different types of financial aids.