Setting Goals For 2014…That You Can Really Achieve

Setting goals has become an integrated part of many of our lives… whether you aim to pass maths with distinction, place more effort into science, complete a run in a shorter period of time or learn a new language… there are so many goals and it is so easy to extend your goal deadline. This week we take a look at why you should be setting goals and how to go about it!

Why you should set goals:

Goals are used by achievers in various fields like business and sports – business oriented people might set financial goals for the company whereas sportsmen and woman might choose to set goals like winning a tournament, being selected for a specific team or breaking a record. Much like the goals set by businessmen or women and sportsmen or women, your goals can give you long term vision and help you to benefit from seeing the progress to reach that long term vision.

How to start setting goals:

If you‘re looking at setting goals, you have to look at how they contribute to the bigger picture! Identify goals that you will be able to reach – if you keep to regular small goals, the chances of you being able to reach them is far greater. You will then be able to celebrate reaching your goals (which will do wonders for your confidence).

The best day to start is today. Stop delaying the process and start working on your goals today. Whether you want to achieve better marks so that you can get that dream job, whether you want to take a course to take a step up the corporate ladder or if you want to change professions, today is better than any other day to get that process going.

Are you looking to further your studies to reach your dreams? At Eduloan, we offer educational finance to assist you with school, collage, technicon and university tuition! We also offer loans for study-related equipment like textbooks, laptops, tablets and other study related equipment that you might need to complete your studies (like calculators, stethoscopes and musical instruments for example). Visit our website, speak to one of our friendly consultants (0860 55 55 44) or sms* ‘EDU’ to 32150 and we’ll call you back!

*sms charged at R1

Festive Greetings

We would like to wish you and your family all the best over this festive season. Thank you for your continued support during 2013. We wish you well into 2014, hoping that you reach all your dreams by unlocking even more potential in the new year.

We will be here to answer your calls and respond to requests throughout the festive season, hoping to assist you when applications for 2014 matter to you most! Our Call Centre will be open throughout the festive season!

Operating hours:

08h00 – 17h00, Monday to Friday. Closed on public holidays

Until next year!

Keep Your 2014 Registration High On Your Priority List

Whether you are enrolling your child into school, just got accepted to your chosen college or received your letter of acceptance from your chosen university, you will be faced with the registration process sooner, rather than later. This week we take a look at why registration is important, no matter where you are studying:

Scholars

Scholars generally register well ahead of the academic year. If your child is attending grade 1, you might have had to pay your deposit before a deadline or you have until the start of the 2014 first school term to do so.

College students

Many colleges require you to register in the December prior to the start of your academic year.

University students

Many of these institutions will require you to pay a registration fee when you register. This often acts like a deposit for your studies and can even be a term’s school fees in advance or a percentage of your study fees.

Many people forget that they will have to cover these expenses and run into problems during the registration process… remember to confirm the registration details of your school, college or university and to make sure that you have funds available at the time of registration.

#TIP: Plan in advance. Ask the right questions and save money to ensure that you complete the registration process as quickly and efficiently as possible, so that you do not have to pay penalties for late registration, or worse, miss registration all together.

Eduloan is now open for 2014 loan applications. We have various loan options available and offer solutions that can assist you with registration fees and study fees for school, university, college or training. Contact us today to find out how we can assist you!

What You Need to Know About Your Student Loan

Q&A with Eduloan’s Financial Guru

Whether you have your heart set on a certificate, diploma or degree at one of South Africa’s finest tertiary institutions or whether you want to further your education while working, an Eduloan study loan will help you unlock your potential.

It might be a good idea to establish some basic facts about a study loan before you dive into your studies. We chat to Eduloan’s Chief Financial Officer, David Scholtz, who explains the ins-and-outs of your student loan:

Q: What are the benefits of committing to a study loan with Eduloan?

Your study loan is made to your affordability criteria, ensuring you never feel the pressures of being overburdened.  Registration fees, outstanding study fees and other additional costs associated with your studies are covered by our study loans - all you have to worry about is achieving your educational goals. Whether you are looking to increase your salary through improved qualifications, qualify for a better job position or just for personal enrichment, Eduloan will be your partner for your educational journey.
You don't need to put down a deposit and we pay the amount you owe for your studies directly to the institution and then deduct the instalments from your salary or bank account each month, which means no admin for you. Finally, you get repayment periods of 6 to 24 months.

Q: What do I need to apply for a study loan?

Applying to Eduloan is easy! If you are not full time employed, anyone who is can sponsor you. You will need to complete and sign our loan application form (you can download this information from our website) and include the following documents:

• a quotation from the educational institution reflecting your name and student number, the study program, the balance outstanding (if applicable);
• a certified copy of your South African Identity Document;
• you or your sponsor's pay slip (not older than 3 months);
• you or your sponsor's bank statements for the last 3 months. If you or your sponsor are self-employed, we require you or your sponsor's business bank statements for the last 6 months and proof of business ownership as well as you or your sponsor’s certified ID and a quote from the institution.

Once you have compiled all of your document and completed the application form, you can apply online, visit your Eduloan office on campus or giving us a call on 0860 55 55 44.

Q: How do I know how much I can afford?

Eduloan will do an affordability assessment by using the income and expenditure information provided on your loan application form, and by looking at your accounts on the Credit Bureau and a register called the National Loans Register. Based on this, Eduloan will determine whether you can afford the full loan amount you've requested, or alternatively the amount that you would qualify for. Please note that Eduloan will not grant a study loan that is more than the amount that you owe the institution, as the money is paid directly to your account at the educational institution. You can also use our Instalment Calculator as an indication to calculate how much your monthly repayments would be based on your loan requirements.

Q: What if I don’t earn a salary?

If you are not full time employed anyone can apply for a study loan on your behalf, as long as they are in full time employment and provided that the Eduloan monthly instalments does not exceed 25% (based on a one year loan) of your sponsor's monthly basic salary.

Q: What is an interest rate and how is it calculated?

As we all know by now, debt is the amount of money you have to pay back to the person or institution (such as banks or retail stores) from which you borrowed. This amount consists of two parts – the actual borrowed amount, also known as principal debt or capital amount and the interest. Interest is the compensation paid to the person or institutions who lend you the money. It is normally expressed as a percentage of the borrowed amount, e.g. 15% per year. Therefore, it is wise to repay your debt on a monthly basis and not skip payments, as this will significantly reduce the amount of interest you repay at the end of the day. This is relevant to most debt incurred, like credit cards, clothing accounts, car finance etc.

Compound interest occurs when interest is added to the principal debt or capital amount, so that from that moment on, the interest that has been added also itself earns interest. This addition of interest to the principal debt is called compounding. A bank account, for example, may have its interest compounded every year: in this case, an account with R1000 initial principal debt and 20% interest per year would have a balance of R1200 at the end of the first year, R1440 at the end of the second year, and so on.

The effective interest rate is the interest rate on your debt restated from the nominal interest rates as an interest rate with annual compound interest payable in arrears. It is used to compare the annual interest between loans with different compounding terms (daily, monthly, annually, or other). Thus, the quicker you repay your principal debt, the less your effective interest rates will be.

The more diligent you are in repaying your debt, the more controlled the interest on your debt will be. In the end, the sooner you pay off your debt, the less time there will be for the interest to accumulate.

Q: Are there any hidden costs that I should know about?

At Eduloan, there are fixed monthly installments for your study loan which includes an affordable loan origination fee and monthly administration fee, which allows you to budget more effectively. There are no hidden fees and the payment periods are flexible according to your specific needs.

Q: What does my study loan cover?

Your study loan covers a whole lot of student related necessities such as registration fees, books, tool-kits, laptops, tablets and even accommodation for the duration of your studies, as well as your study tuition itself.

Eduloan has solutions for full-time and part-time students and even offer you the opportunity to deduct your fixed monthly repayments from your salary. For more information and to speak to one of our Eduloan consultants, visit our website (www.eduloan.co.za), like our page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/EduloanSA) and follow us on Twitter (@EduloanSA).

Early Applications For Your First Year Of Tertiary Studies – Don’t Leave It Too Late

Many schools, parents, colleges and universities encourage 2014 students to apply to their chosen tertiary institutions as early as possible. You might be thinking “what is the fuss about?”, mainly because you have tons of 2013 Matric commitments, responsibilities, activities and studies that you might want to focus on. Many colleges and universities open for applications in April and application deadlines can come as soon as 30 July. Here are 6 reasons to get you applying now:

Reason 1: Faster Application Feedback

Because there are less applications being submitted to the administration office, you might get a response a bit sooner. If you apply in June, your application may be submitted along with thousands of other students’ and you might get a delayed response.

Reason 2: Pressure

If you receive early acceptance to your chosen college or university, you will have one less thing to worry about – and an important one at that - when you are trying to prepare for your preliminary or final exams.

Reason 3: Applying For Accommodation

Many colleges and universities only consider applications for student housing and accommodation, once you have been accepted at the institution. If you are planning to study at a college or university away from home, you might need to take the time to plan and make sure you apply early enough to get a spot in student housing or accommodation.

Reason 4: Options

By applying early, you can ensure that you have options available. Many colleges and universities will allow you to change your degree or diploma after being accepted as long as you fulfill the requirements. And, if you change your mind completely, you still have time to do something about it.

Reason 5: Running Out Of Spots

Universities and colleges often have a limited number of places available in the program. This often depends on resources. By applying early, you can be sure that “we are unfortunately full for the current year of study” will not be a reason featured on your application feedback.

Reason 6: Financial Assistance

As soon as you have a letter of acceptance from your college or university, you will be able to contact us to find out how we can assist you. We can give you a study loan to cover your study fees as well as accommodation, textbooks and even a laptop or tablet.

Register for studies now to achieve your career goals

Many New Year resolutions focus on jobs, careers and money – and the education and training we need to get ahead. And for good reason: we spend a lot of our lives at work, so it is important to spend time thinking about the ways to improve our working life.

 

Time is fast running out for any chance of last-minute registrations. Students who register early have the best chance of getting the courses and classes they want.

Last year saw a drive by the Minister of Higher Education to encourage students to register early with the institutions of their choice to avoid repeats of the 2012 stampede and chaos caused by late registrations, so you may find that many universities have closed applications already and have put a halt to walk-in registrations altogether.

Here are some quick links for information on applications to the major universities in South Africa:

UNISA

University of Johannesburg

University of Pretoria

University of Cape Town

University of Kwa-Zulu Natal

Stellenbosch University

Rhodes University

University of the Witwatersrand

University of the Western Cape

University of the Free State

University of Venda

University of Limpopo

Tshwane University of Technology

Durban University of Technology

Cape Peninsula University of Technology

If you’ve missed the deadlines for your university of choice, you may have to either wait until the next registration cycle (some of which can start as early as April this year) or look at other options such as FET colleges, technikons or distance learning institutions.

If you’d like to speak to a customer service representative at Eduloan about study finance, give us a call on 0860 44 55 55 or visit www.eduloan.co.za for more information.

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10 tips on making good choices while studying - how the choices you make today will affect your tomorrows

1. Choose responsibility
Although heading off to the next chapter in your life can feel like a coming-of-age moment, it doesn’t mean that campus life is one long holiday.

Ever wonder why the older generation are so serious sometimes? It’s because they’ve come to realise that they spent their whole childhoods thinking that it would be amazing to be an adult, and their whole adulthood wishing they could go back to childhood, when everything was so much more fun…

Don’t put yourself at risk of losing focus and always put your studies first. Hanging out with the wrong crowd could have disastrous consequences, so think before you do something that could jeopardise your dreams for the future!

The moment you take responsibility for everything in your life, is the moment you can change anything in your life. – Hal Elrod

2. Choose balance
A large number of first-year students drop out because they haven’t found a balance between getting out there and socialising and the hard work that goes into graduating. There’s nothing wrong with going out with friends to experience the night life of the city, but doing so the day before an exam, or the night you were supposed to work on an assignment could end up dealing your career path a cruel blow. Make time to live your social life and time to study, and never give your social life preference over your studies.

3. Choose family time
If home is where the heart is, then don’t allow yourself to get distanced from it. If you can’t visit home, call home. Tell your family that you love them. They will help you to remember why you are doing what you’re doing.

4. Be careful with your heart
Hearts are pretty fragile things, and when things go wrong, it can affect your studies badly. So don’t give your heart to someone who doesn’t deserve it, and don’t get serious too quickly – if your significant other really loves you, they’ll wait for you, but your lecturers won’t.

5. Choose leadership
Forget what you learned in school - leadership isn’t just about wearing shiny badges and acting as though you’re more important that anyone else. Instead of others leading you astray, why not lead others in the right direction? Set up study groups and collaborate with other students who are serious about their studies.

6. Choose a cause
Campus life is the perfect place to find out what’s going on in the world, and getting involved with student unions, exercise groups, environmental causes and many other types of extra-mural activities can be beneficial to you and those around you.

7. Put your thinking cap on
Universities and colleges are different from secondary schools in one distinct way: they teach you how to think for yourself and use reason and logic in your arguments. If you can find a way of making a rational argument on any topic then you’ve won half the battle.

8. Choose bedtime
It’s easy to stay up late for any reason, whether it’s having a few more with some buddies or studying through the night for an exam. But if you don’t have regular sleep of between 6 to 8 hours long, your health and your brain’s ability to function under pressure could be impaired as a result. On a school night, try to get to bed before ten so that you can stock up on your beauty sleep.

9. Choose originality
In universities, plagiarism is a massive problem due to the availability of information on the internet and the ease with which it can be copied and pasted into an assignment. Yes, it’s safe to say that everyone researches their work on the internet, but resorting to copying someone else’s words may result in some serious consequences someday. Read and research, let the information sink in, then close your books and start writing on a blank page.
Be yourself, everyone else is taken.

10. Courage, not fear
Tertiary education can be a daunting thing once reality sets in and the pressure starts to build, but it’s important to never give up and continue to believe in yourself. Make yourself a visual board that explains who you are, where you’ve come from and where it is that you want to go and every time you’re feeling afraid that you won’t be able to do this, just take out that vision board and remind yourself of who you are and where you’re going to. Tell yourself that you’re not going to let anyone or anything get in the way of your future. You can do it!

Choosing to study a “scarce skill” – why should you do it?

Entering into tertiary education can be a daunting prospect. For one thing, you will get some perspective of just how many young people will be competing for the same type of job when you graduate. If you’re thinking about studying towards a Bachelor of Arts degree – including music and social sciences – chances are you might struggle for years to find employment because of the sheer numbers of people qualifying in the same thing.

The problem of the “unemployed graduate” has become an endemic one, and this year a labour market analyst released a report that found over 600 000 South African graduates were unemployed.

The key to avoiding joining this enormous and ever-growing number of unemployed graduates is choosing your field of study wisely.  Here are some ways that you can give your chances of settling into a great career a serious boost:

Study scarce skills

Here is South Africa’s current list of skills which are in short supply:

* Engineering professionals

* Natural & physical science professionals

* School teachers

* Higher education lecturers

* Health diagnostic & promotion professionals

* Business & systems analysts and programmers

* ICT network & support professionals

* Agricultural, medical and science technicians

* Fabrication engineering trades workers

* Bricklayers, carpenters and joiners

* Electricians

* Food trades workers

* Health and welfare support workers

* Call or contact centre information clerks

Finding yourself a study field on this list in which you can qualify will mean that the chances of finding employment after you qualify will greatly increase.

FET colleges

Another option to give serious consideration to would be to get a diploma at an FET (Further Education and Training) college. And if you think that diplomas aren’t as “good” as degrees, think again. The main advantage of getting a diploma is the hands-on training that you get in the subject you decide to study. A degree will give you theoretical knowledge of the subjects and teaches you to think for yourself, but university students often graduate from university with little to no practical experience, which can add to their difficulty in finding a job, depending on the type of degree they have obtained.

Diplomas, on the other hand, are there to address the skills shortages in South Africa, and focus on practical training rather than the theory of the subject. If you study towards a diploma, you can be assured that you will develop the skills you need to perform a specific job. University graduates might get paid better initially, but that’s only if they can find employment.

Another added benefit of studying for a diploma is that you can choose to upgrade your diploma to a degree at a later stage. Universities will give you credits towards your degree based on existing qualifications.

Work experience

If you have a good work ethic, a can-do attitude and the will to succeed, get out there and start working. You may find that as you work your way up, the opportunity to study further will present itself to you.

Whatever path you choose to take, remember that as long as you believe in yourself and work hard, you are bound to succeed, even if it takes a little longer than you expected. Whatever you do, don’t give up. And remember that Eduloan is here to support and assist you in making those dreams a reality wherever we can – call our customer service centre on 0860 55 44 44 to find out more about getting a study loan.